Miles has arrested the corrupt marshal of Silverton and has been holding him in jail until the train departs for Durango. During the night, the marshal’s deputies tried to break him from jail only to face the justice of Miles’ gun and their own folly. Miles and Morgan Appleby, Wells Fargo agent, are in the process of identifying dead bodies while waiting for the doctor to appear. It’s one hour until the train leaves the station. Will Miles make it with his prisoner? Join with me in another exciting tale from yesteryear.
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A man burst through the doorway, cursing when he saw the bodies. I didn’t know him, I reckoned him to be the new doctor in Silverton. After surveying the bodies on the floor he looked over at Morgan standing beside me, then his gaze went to me. “I don’t know who you are, Mister, but Marshal Johnson will have your neck for this!”
“He payin’ you?” I asked in a congenial manner.
That stopped him for a moment, then he asked, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Are you on the take? Do you cover for Johnson and his deputies?” I replied, then added. “I just want to know if I need to arrest you for being a part of Johnson’s crooked schemes. Oh, and by the way, I’m Deputy United States Marshal Miles Forrest, and I have your marshal locked up and under arrest.”
The doctor didn’t take well to that news. “On what charge?”
I pulled on my moustache, “Oh, murder, attempted murder, extortion, interfering with the duties of a federal officer, misuse of his office, and anything else I can think of before arraignin’ him in Durango.”
He glanced out towards the street. “You’ll play Hades getting him to Durango.”
I gave him my best smile. “Looks like it has already started. Now, all I need for you is to identify these men by name. Give them to Mr. Appleby here, then you can get on your way. If I miss my guess, I think there are some wounded men about.”
Morgan helped the doctor with the men lying on the floor. The one who had been holding the dynamite was unrecognizable, but most likely was a deputy named Sawyer. I looked up at the clock on the wall and was sort of surprised that it was still working. I had less than an hour before the train would leave. Time to be retrieving Johnson from his cell.
“Why don’t you go ahead and leave, Morgan. It’s time for me to take Johnson to the depot.”
He wanted to help me, but I convinced him that he would only be a target. I told him that I would leave the jailer locked up. I wasn’t going to bother with him on this trip.
Johnson was standing up by the bars when I walked in the cell room. He only had one boot on, and I could see that when he moved he was in pain. The wrist was definitely broken, and I wasn’t sure about the shoulder.
“Where’s my boot?” he hollered.
“You don’t need it,” I informed him. “Just be careful of where you step.”
“I need a doctor,” he moaned.
“There’s a good one in Durango. I’ll make sure he sees you. Now let’s go.”
We moved on through the cells out into the office which was now clear of men and only dead bodies lying on the floor. When we came to the entrance I thrust the Greener up under his jaw. “I see any of your men makin’ any kind of move and I pull the trigger. Savvy? It won’t be a pretty sight.”
As we began to move down the boardwalk we gained quite a crowd, following and watching their town marshal limp down toward the station. It was just in front of us when three men walked out in the street to stop our progress. I pushed the barrel up under Johnson’s jaw. I leaned toward him whispering, “Ever think that they might want you out of the way?”
He tried to swallow. I didn’t stop, but kept moving forward, the three men moved to the side two to one side and one to the other, causing me some discomfort. I couldn’t watch them all. They allowed us through, but now they were to my back. I turned Johnson to the side making him walk sideways down the street. He stumbled and almost fell causing the shotgun to dig into his throat.
“Easy there, Marshal. This gun almost went off.”
We stepped onto the passenger car and entered. I pushed Johnson down against the side of the car. He let out a yelp, then a groan. I wasn’t really concerned. Looking out the window, I watched as two of the men walked to the front of the car and entered, sitting down in front.
They had just sat when the train lurched, then proceeded to move on away from the station. I sat down in the seat behind Johnson. I surely hoped that the two wouldn’t start anything on the train as there were several passengers aboard–all their eyes in my direction.
As the train started moving down the canyon, I thought to myself that this might prove to be an interesting trip, then smiled whispering a little prayer. “Okay, Lord, You can stop stirrin’ things up now…