Showdown at Dead End Canyon

Chapter 6

HEADING TOWARD THE BRILLIANT SCARLET AND gold sunset beneath the darkening vaulted sky, the Western Flyer made its way west across the Wyoming landscape. Inside the Baldwin 440 locomotive the engineer worked the throttle while his fireman threw chunks of wood into the roaring flames of the firebox. The train was exactly on schedule, passing a milepost every 180 seconds.

Behind the engine and tender was a string of coach cars, inside of which the passengers were getting down to the business of eating their supper. Although America liked to call itself a classless society, nowhere were classes more evident than on a transcontinental passenger train.

The third-class passengers were the immigrants seeking better opportunities out West than they had found in the East. The immigrant cars were filled with exotic smells such as smoked sausages, strong cheeses, and fermented cabbage.

The second-class passengers were those in the day coach. Often, these were not transcontinental passengers, but merely people traveling from one city or town to another along the route. Most of them were eating their dinner from the boxed meals they had bought for twenty-five cents at the previous stop.

The more affluent, first-class passengers occupied the parlor cars, and they took their meals in the dining car at linen-covered tables set with gleaming china and sparkling silverware. They made their meal selections from expansive menus that could compete with the finest restaurants in the country.

One of the diners stopped the conductor as he passed by the table. “I say, how long until we reach Green River?”

The conductor was wearing a watchfob, chain, and watch across his vest. With an elaborate show, he pulled the watch out and opened it.

“We shall be there in exactly two hours and forty-seven minutes,” he said. “Barring any unforeseen stops.”

To his relief, Hawke discovered that as he walked, his leg felt better, and after a while he lost the limp altogether. When he and Pamela Dorchester reached the railroad, Hawke dropped his saddle with a sigh of relief, then climbed up the little rise to stand on the tracks.

Before him the empty railroad tracks stretched like black ribbons across the bleak landscape, from horizon to horizon. The tracks gave as little comfort as the barren sand, rocks, and low-lying scrub brush of the great empty plains, but Hawke was certain that a train would be coming through before sundown.

“Oh,” Pamela said. “I don’t believe I have ever walked this far in my entire life.”

“You did well,” Hawke said.

“Well? Ha! That’s because you don’t see the bruises and blisters I have on my feet now.”

“No, I mean you did well because you didn’t complain all the way here,” Hawke said. “You’re a strong woman, Miss Dorchester.”

“It’s the Brit in me,” Pamela said. “And the fact that my father would have it no other way.” She sat down and gingerly unlaced her moccasins.

“Your father must be quite a man.”

“Brigadier Emeritus of the Northumberland Fusiliers, Sir James Spencer Dorchester, Earl of Preston, Viscount of Davencourt,” Pamela said as she rubbed her feet.

“That’s quite a mouthful.”

“Of course, here in America he is simply Mr. Dorchester. He gave up his title and his holdings when we left England.”

“And your title too,” Hawke said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You would be Lady Dorchester. No, that’s not right, it’s your father’s title, not your husband’s, so it would be Lady Pamela.”

Pamela tilted her head and looked up at Hawke with a quizzical expression. “Oh, my, I’m very impressed, Mr. Hawke. How is it that you know such a thing?”

“I picked it up somewhere,” he replied.

“I’m beginning to suspect that you are not quite the itinerant you appear to be.”

Hawke chuckled. “Thanks. I think.”

“I don’t suppose you have a watch?”

“As a matter of fact I do,” he said, and pulled his watch from his pocket. “It is lacking fifteen minutes of seven.”

“Ah, very good. We shall have no more than a fifteen minute wait.”

“You carry a timetable in your head, do you?”

“In a manner of speaking. The westbound train reaches Green River at nine P.M. every day. We are forty miles from Green River, and the train proceeds at a velocity of twenty miles each hour. Therefore, it will be here at seven o’clock.”

“I can’t argue with that logic.”

As Pamela had predicted, fifteen minutes later they saw a train approaching. Hawke knew that it was running at a respectable enough speed, but because of the vastness of the prairie, it appeared to be barely moving. Against the great panorama of the wide open spaces, the train seemed very small, and even the smoke that poured from its stack made but a tiny mark on the big, empty sky.

He could hear the train quite easily now, the sound of its puffing engine reaching him across the wide flat ground the way sound travels across water. He stepped up onto the track and began waving. When he heard the steam valve close and the train began braking, he knew that the engineer had spotted him and was going to stop. As the engine approached, it gave some perspective as to just how large the prairie really was. The train that had appeared so tiny before was now a behemoth, blocking out the sky. It ground to a reluctant halt, its stack puffing black smoke and its driver wheels wreathed in tendrils of white steam that purpled as they drifted away in the fading light.

“Perhaps you had better stay down here until I call you,” Hawke cautioned.

“That’s all right by me,” Pamela agreed. “I don’t feel like walking, or even standing up, until I have to.”

The engineer’s face appeared in the window, backlit by the orange light of the cab lamps. Hawke felt a prickly sensation and realized that someone was holding a gun on him. He couldn’t see it, but he knew that whoever it was—probably the fireman—had to be hiding in the tender.

“What do you want, mister? Why did you stop us?” the engineer asked.

Hawke knew that his appearance was not all that reassuring.

“My horse went down,” he explained without going into detail. “I need a ride.”

“You’ll have to take that up with the conductor,” the engineer said.

Even as the engineer was talking, the conductor came walking up alongside the train to see why they had made an unscheduled stop. He was holding an open watch in his hand.

“Smitty, what’s going on? Why are we stopped?” he asked. “We’ve got a schedule to keep.”

“This here fella wants a ride,” the engineer replied. “His horse went down.”

The conductor studied Hawke, obviously put off by his trail-worn appearance. He shook his head no and waved his hand dismissively.

“We don’t pick up drifters,” the conductor said to Hawke.

“Are you saying you’d leave a man stranded out here?” Hawke asked.

“When we reach the next stop, I will inform someone that you are out here,” the conductor replied.

“Well now, that certainly isn’t very Christian of you, Mr. Marshal,” Pamela said, coming up from her place of seclusion.

The conductor gasped. “Miss Dorchester! My Lord, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Did you know the whole line has been looking for you? What happened? Did you fall from the train?”

“I was kidnapped,” Pamela said.

“Kidnapped? What do you mean, kidnapped?”

“I mean that when the train stopped for water, someone came on board and kidnapped me.”

“Oh, heavens!”

“This gentleman saved my life. Now we are trying to get back to Green River. That is, unless you plan to make us rely on shank’s mare.” Pamela looked over at Hawke and smiled, calling his attention to the fact that she had acquired the Americanism for her own.

“No, of course I would never do anything like that,” the conductor said, falling all over himself now to please her. “I can find accommodations in one of the first-class cars for you, and your friend can ride—”

“In the first-class car, with me,” Pamela said, interrupting the conductor.

The conductor cleared his throat. “Uh, yes, ma’am. Yes, of course, he can ride with you as well.”

“I appreciate that,” Hawke replied. “Oh, and by the way—Smitty, is it?” Hawke called up to the engineer.

“That’s what folks call me. My real name is Malcolm Smith.”

“Well, Mr. Malcolm Smith, you can tell your fireman to take his gun off me? I’m just another passenger now.”

“Billy,” the engineer called. “Come on out.”

There was a rustling sound as the fireman climbed out of the pile of wood. He leaned the shotgun against the edge of the tender, then began brushing himself off.

“How’d you know he was there?” Pamela asked.

“He had to be somewhere,” Hawke said. “It takes two men to drive a train, and Mr. Smith was the only one in the cab.”

“Billy, you were pointing your gun at me?” Pamela asked.

“No, ma’am, not you,” Billy replied. “I was just pointin’ it at him.” He nodded toward Hawke. “Hope you didn’t take no offense at it, mister,” he added.

“No offense taken,” Hawke replied. “Under the circumstances, it was the prudent thing to do.”

“This way, please,” the conductor said, starting toward the rear of the train.

“Do have someone bring us some food from the dining car, would you?” Pamela said. “I haven’t eaten for some time now, and I am famished.”

“Oh, that won’t be possible, I’m afraid. The dining car is closed,” the conductor replied.

“Open it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Hawke followed Pamela onto the train, dropping his saddle on the platform deck just before they went into the car. There were two men and two women in the car, all sitting in overstuffed, comfortable chairs. They were well-dressed, as befit their station, and they looked up in curiosity and ill-concealed irritation as Hawke and Pamela invaded their domain.

“Good evening,” Pamela said, smiling brightly at the others in the car. No one returned her greeting, and a moment later Hawke overheard one of the men grumbling to the others.

“I’m all for picking up unfortunate souls who may be wandering around in the desert. But to put them in the car with us is unconscionable.”

Hawke glanced over toward Pamela to see if she heard, but she had taken her seat and was looking through the window. It was getting dark outside, and because it was well-lighted inside the car, Hawke could see her reflection in the window. Her face expressed no reaction to the comment.

Shortly after the train got underway, the conductor came into the car, accompanied by two dining car stewards. Each of the stewards carried a silver-covered serving dish. A table was set up between them and the meal served.

“Oh heavens,” one of the women in the car said. “Now they are going to eat here. Well, I say, this is just too much.”

“Indeed it is,” the older of the two men said. “And I shall certainly complain to the railroad, you can rest assured of that.”

“Anything else I can do for you, madam?” the conductor asked as, with a flourish, the two stewards unfolded white napkins and gave them to Pamela and Hawke.

“Yes,” Pamela said. “Our fellow passengers seem to resent our presence. Perhaps you could find other accommodations.”

“Well now, that’s decent of you, madam,” the older of the two men said. “I have nothing against you personally, you understand. I have nothing but compassion for those who are down on their luck. But I’m sure you can see our position.”

“Other accommodations?” the conductor asked.

“For them,” Pamela said as she picked up a fresh asparagus spear and took a bite.

“Yes, ma’am,” the conductor replied. Looking toward the other passengers, he held up his hand. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask all of you to leave this car,” he said.

“What?” the older man replied in loud disbelief. “Do you know who I am? I am Addison Ford, Administrative Assistant to Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano! And I am undertaking the journey on official cabinet business. You might even say that I represent the President of the United States! How dare you ask us to leave!”

“Yes, Mr. Ford, I know who you are. But don’t worry, I’m sure I can find accommodations on one of the other parlor cars that are just as nice as these.”

“See here, I will not be put out of this car. I paid good money for my passage.”

“Indeed you did, sir,” the conductor replied. “But it has come to my attention that you would prefer not to share this car with Miss Dorchester and her guest. Therefore I am sure you will be more comfortable in one of the other cars. Come along, please.”

“Well, I never!” one of the women said. “Addison, do something.”

“What would you have me do, my dear? Wrestle them off the car?” Addison replied.

Grumbling and complaining, the four passengers left the car, glaring at Hawke and Pamela as they passed the table where the two were eating. Neither Hawke nor Pamela glanced up at them.

“You seem to have some influence with the conductor,” Hawke said after everyone was gone.

“I think the conductor feels beholden to me because my father owns some stock in the railroad,” Pamela replied as she carved into her piece of ham. “Is the food satisfactory?”

Hawke smiled. “I’m sure if it wasn’t, you would find some way to make it right. It’s quite good, thank you.”

When Addison Ford and his party came into the second parlor car, they were greeted by Bailey McPherson.

“Addison,” she said with a smile. “How nice to have you join us.”

“It wasn’t by choice, Miss McPherson.”

“Oh?”

Addison stammered. “I didn’t mean it that way,” he said. “What I meant was, the conductor threw us out of our car in favor of the two people that we just picked up when the train stopped.”

“And two more unkempt and disagreeable people you’ve never seen,” Mary Ford said. “They are filthy, and dressed in rags.”

“And with the most boorish manners,” Lucy White said. “Why, do you know that she is actually wearing men’s clothes?”

Bailey McPherson looked questioningly at the conductor. “Is that right, Mr. Marshal? You threw Mr. Ford and his party out of the car to accommodate a couple of indigents?”

“It is Miss Pamela Dorchester, Miss McPherson,” the conductor said. “As I’m sure you know, she disappeared from the Chicago Limited a few nights ago.”

“Yes, I read about it in the paper. Well, how delightful that she has been found safe and sound. She is all right, isn’t she?”

Marshal sighed. “I assure you, Miss McPherson, she is quite all right.”

“Well, in that case, Addison, Mary, you, and your son-in-law and daughter are certainly welcome to join Mr. Dancer and me. Isn’t that right, Mr. Dancer?”

Ethan Dancer made no direct response.

“I, uh, thank you for the invitation,” Addison said.

“Do make yourselves at home,” Bailey invited. “But I ask you to excuse me for a few minutes while I go pay my respects to Miss Dorchester.”

“I can’t believe you are actually going to go speak to that horrid woman,” Mary Ford said.

“My dear, that ‘horrid woman’ is Pamela Dorchester.”

“Should that mean something to me?”

“Well, for one thing, her father owns one hundred thousand shares of this railroad, as well as six hundred thousand acres of land. You might have heard of his ranch, Mr. Ford. He calls it Northumbria.”

“Northumbria?” Addison said. “You mean, the eminent domain section?”

“That is exactly what I mean.”

Addison smiled. “Well, I’ll be damned. It’s almost worth getting thrown out of the car for that.”

“I thought you might appreciate the irony.”

Hawke and Pamela were just finishing their meal when Pamela looked up to see the small woman come into the car.

“Bailey,” Pamela said. “What a…surprise.”

“Yes, isn’t it?” Bailey McPherson replied. “Ever since we heard you disappeared from the train to Chicago we have been worried to death about you.”

Hawke had stood when Bailey came into the car, and when she approached the table, he towered over her.

“I’m sure you were. But as you can clearly see, I’m fine,” Pamela said.

“I am so relieved.” Bailey looked up at Hawke. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your handsome gentleman friend?”

“Bailey McPherson, this is Mason Hawke. Mr. Hawke is my knight in shining armor.”

“So, I take it we have you to thank for Pamela’s rescue.”

“Nothing heroic,” Hawke said. “I just happened to stumble into the cabin where she was.”

“Oh, it was much more than that,” Pamela said. “He killed the two desperadoes who kidnapped me.”

“Killed them?” Bailey said with a gasp. She turned toward Hawke. “Oh, my, you must be very brave to take on two men in a fierce gun battle.”

Hawke chuckled. “It wasn’t like I had a choice,” he replied. “They forced the fight on me.”

“Yes, I’m sure they did.”

Bailey turned toward Pamela again.

“How fortunate you were to have this gentleman come to your rescue. Well, you will have a story to tell to your grandchildren, won’t you, my dear?”

“I will indeed,” Pamela said. “Won’t you join us for tea?”

“No, thank you, but I have people waiting for me in the other car.” She laughed. “In fact, they happen to be the very people you displaced from this car.”

“Oh. Do you mean Mr. Addison Ford, Administrative Assistant to Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano?”

“Then I see that you do know who he is.”

“He informed us of his identity. He was quite put out, I’m afraid.”

“Never mind about Mr. Ford. I will do what I can to soothe his ruffled spirits,” Bailey promised. “I’m glad you survived your ordeal. And, Mr. Hawke, it was a pleasure meeting you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Hawke said with a slight nod. He waited until she had left the car before he sat down again.

“What did you think of her?” Pamela asked.

“Your friend is rather small,” Hawke said. He could think of nothing else to say.

Pamela laughed out loud. “She is small. But I would hardly call her my friend. She is a scheming opportunist who doesn’t let a little thing like ethics stand in the way of her goal.”

“Oh,” Hawke said. “Well, you can understand my confusion, I’m sure, but you two were carrying on like best friends.”

“Women aren’t like men, Mr. Hawke, anxious to settle differences with fisticuffs. We can hide our most bitter disagreements behind disingenuous smiles.”

“So I see,” Hawke said.