and the rain swirled up around us as we powered ahead.
“We’ve been traveling on an uphill grade ever since we crossed the river leaving Texas,” I said. “By them bypassing the safety brakes, they will roll freely downhill. Using the handbrakes to control their speed as they go.”
“So the air brakes,” Virgil said, “work disconnected from the engine?”
“According to George Westinghouse, they do.”
“George Westinghouse?”
“The fellow who invented the air brake.”
Virgil just shook his head, looking south into the dark night.
“The air line runs from the engine all the way back,” I said. “If that line loses pressure, the brakes close automatically on any coach that is disconnected, and that coach—”
“—stops by itself,” Virgil said.
“Yep, that’s right,” I said.
“Next thing you know they’ll be putting wings on these damn things and we’ll be flying around like birds.”
“Well, there’s one thing for certain those robbers will be thinking, Virgil.”
“The farther away from us, the better for them,” Virgil said.
“Yep, they are going to roll back as far as they can go,” I said.
“You think they planned this somehow?” Virgil said.
“Hard to figure,” I said. “Must have. Might have been a backup plan. Seems likely, more than likely, one or some of them are train hands, know what they’re doing.”
Virgil shook his head.
“What do you figure we do?” I said.
“We get up to the engineer. Get this train that’s rolling forward to get going backward,” Virgil said. “ En este momento .”
23
VIRGIL WASTED NO more time with words or thought. He started moving forward up the aisle at a quick pace, and I followed. He spoke to the undertaker as we stepped over the dead man: “Take care of this fallen fellow. And be diligent about it.”
We continued walking forward. When we crossed through the rain from one platform to the next, there was a hard jolt in the movement of the train.
When we reentered through the rear door of the uphill coach the passengers turned in their seats and looked back at us. They were wide-eyed watching us as we hurried up the aisle.
Virgil opened the front coach door, and when he did we quickly understood why the train had previously jolted.
We had been disconnected and were drifting away from the first passenger car and engine. Rain was swirling and it was dark, but we could vaguely see the silhouette of someone on the back platform. He was watching us as we faded away from the front section of the train.
“Hellfire,” I said.
Whoever it was, whoever had disconnected us, whoever had outmaneuvered us, was now traveling on into the distant darkness.
Virgil said nothing.
The train was now in three separate sections: the engine and first coach with Emma and Abigail on board, the second and third coach with us, and the fourth coach back to the caboose with Vince, the remainder of the bandits, Bloody Bob, and, if they were still alive, the governor and his wife.
I got down on my knees to check the air-line valve and quickly determined it had already been closed.
We were still moving forward from the momentum, but in no time we would soon be rolling backward.
“Looks like we’re now gonna be bumping into Vince and Bloody Bob sooner than we expected,” I said. “That’s a fact.”
I got back to my feet.
“And a hell of a lot sooner than they expected,” I said.
Virgil just shook his head slightly.
“They will roll slower than us,” I said. “With us in just these two coaches, we’ll be rolling downhill faster.”
Virgil didn’t say anything. He just remained looking forward.
“And when we do,” I said, “we’ll need to ride these handbrakes, controlling our speed.”
Virgil continued looking up the track as if he didn’t believe what was happening.
“They got a head start, but we’ll catch up to them,” I said. “Hopefully before they bottom out. They got more friction, more cars.”
I felt as
“We’ve been traveling on an uphill grade ever since we crossed the river leaving Texas,” I said. “By them bypassing the safety brakes, they will roll freely downhill. Using the handbrakes to control their speed as they go.”
“So the air brakes,” Virgil said, “work disconnected from the engine?”
“According to George Westinghouse, they do.”
“George Westinghouse?”
“The fellow who invented the air brake.”
Virgil just shook his head, looking south into the dark night.
“The air line runs from the engine all the way back,” I said. “If that line loses pressure, the brakes close automatically on any coach that is disconnected, and that coach—”
“—stops by itself,” Virgil said.
“Yep, that’s right,” I said.
“Next thing you know they’ll be putting wings on these damn things and we’ll be flying around like birds.”
“Well, there’s one thing for certain those robbers will be thinking, Virgil.”
“The farther away from us, the better for them,” Virgil said.
“Yep, they are going to roll back as far as they can go,” I said.
“You think they planned this somehow?” Virgil said.
“Hard to figure,” I said. “Must have. Might have been a backup plan. Seems likely, more than likely, one or some of them are train hands, know what they’re doing.”
Virgil shook his head.
“What do you figure we do?” I said.
“We get up to the engineer. Get this train that’s rolling forward to get going backward,” Virgil said. “ En este momento .”
23
VIRGIL WASTED NO more time with words or thought. He started moving forward up the aisle at a quick pace, and I followed. He spoke to the undertaker as we stepped over the dead man: “Take care of this fallen fellow. And be diligent about it.”
We continued walking forward. When we crossed through the rain from one platform to the next, there was a hard jolt in the movement of the train.
When we reentered through the rear door of the uphill coach the passengers turned in their seats and looked back at us. They were wide-eyed watching us as we hurried up the aisle.
Virgil opened the front coach door, and when he did we quickly understood why the train had previously jolted.
We had been disconnected and were drifting away from the first passenger car and engine. Rain was swirling and it was dark, but we could vaguely see the silhouette of someone on the back platform. He was watching us as we faded away from the front section of the train.
“Hellfire,” I said.
Whoever it was, whoever had disconnected us, whoever had outmaneuvered us, was now traveling on into the distant darkness.
Virgil said nothing.
The train was now in three separate sections: the engine and first coach with Emma and Abigail on board, the second and third coach with us, and the fourth coach back to the caboose with Vince, the remainder of the bandits, Bloody Bob, and, if they were still alive, the governor and his wife.
I got down on my knees to check the air-line valve and quickly determined it had already been closed.
We were still moving forward from the momentum, but in no time we would soon be rolling backward.
“Looks like we’re now gonna be bumping into Vince and Bloody Bob sooner than we expected,” I said. “That’s a fact.”
I got back to my feet.
“And a hell of a lot sooner than they expected,” I said.
Virgil just shook his head slightly.
“They will roll slower than us,” I said. “With us in just these two coaches, we’ll be rolling downhill faster.”
Virgil didn’t say anything. He just remained looking forward.
“And when we do,” I said, “we’ll need to ride these handbrakes, controlling our speed.”
Virgil continued looking up the track as if he didn’t believe what was happening.
“They got a head start, but we’ll catch up to them,” I said. “Hopefully before they bottom out. They got more friction, more cars.”
I felt as
Similar Books
