Venom of the Mountain Man Page 26

  Wee was in the back of the Blackwell Emporium, sitting on the floor playing the game of pickup sticks. “Lorena, watch me get that one.” He pointed to a yellow stick lying across two other sticks.

  “Oh, that one will be hard.”

  “Not for me.” With much concentration and his tongue sticking out of his mouth, Wee was able to press down on the back end of the stick and swing it around clear of the others without moving them.

  “Oh, wonderful!” Lorena said, clapping her hands.

  “You’re going away, aren’t you?” Wee said.

  “Yes, honey, I am.”

  “Mama told me.”

  “I’m really going to miss you.”

  “Lorena, you know how I always told you that I was a big boy, and didn’t want you to be hugging me?”

  “Yes.”

  Wee stood up. “You can hug me now.”

  Lorena didn’t do a very good job of hiding her tears as she and Thad walked back to the hotel. Thad reached out to take her hand in his.

  * * *

  Because there were six of them going back to Big Rock, Smoke hired a Concord coach and driver from the Northwest Stagecoach Company. Seven hours after they left Mule Gap, they stopped by Wiregrass Ranch to let Sara Sue and the others off. Sam came out to meet the coach, looking much better than he had the last time Smoke had seen him.

  After a joyous embrace of his wife and son, he turned to his friend. “Smoke, there’s no way I can ever thank you for rescuing my son.”

  “No need to thank me,” Smoke said. “He did it himself.”

  “He rescued all of us,” Lorena said proudly.

  “You were kidnapped as well?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Sara Sue introduced Sandra and Lorena to Sam. “They will be staying with us until they can get resettled.”

  “Wonderful,” Sam replied. “I look forward to their company.

  “It’s good to see you up and about, Sam, but now Pearlie and I must go,” Smoke said.

  “Must you leave so quickly?”

  “He has to, Sam,” Sara Sue said. “I’ll tell you why.”

  With Sara Sue making his excuses for the quick turnaround, Smoke urged the driver to get them to Sugarloaf just long enough to get some fresh clothes, then on to the depot.

  * * *

  By the time Smoke and Pearlie reached the depot a Baldwin 4-4-2 engine, tender, private car, and caboose were sitting on a side track. Wisps of steam drifted away from the drive cylinders.

  “We didn’t know when you would get here, so we kept the steam up,” Clyde Drake, the station manager said. “You’re stocked up with food, and I’ve got three crews for you. That way there will be no need to stop and rest. As you pass each major point, the track will be cleared in front of you.”

  “What about the regular scheduled trains?” Smoke asked.

  “Ha!” Drake said. “They’re all excited about being part of this. Everyone wants to see just how fast this trip can actually be made.”

  “How fast can the trip be made?” Smoke asked.

  “I see no reason why we can’t get you there in three days,” Drake replied with a broad proud smile.

  “Then let’s go,” Smoke said.

  The chief engineer was Cephus Prouty, but he told Smoke to call him Doodle.

  “I’m Smoke. He’s Pearlie.”

  “Well, Smoke and Pearlie, if you’ll climb aboard, we’ll get underway.”

  New York City

  Ryan, Doolin, McDougal, Keagan, and Quinn were sitting with Gallagher at a table in the back of Paddy’s Pub. Like Gallagher, Kelly, and Brockway, the five men had been part of the original Irish Assembly.

  “So, ’tis wantin’ to put the Assembly together again, are you?” Ryan asked Gallagher.

  “Aye. ’N if you five join, there’ll be eight of us. That’ll be a start, ’n ’tis my thinkin’ that within a year we’ll be back as big as we were before.”

  “It’ll take a bit o’ money to get started again,” Doolin said. “’N have you thought of that, Ian Gallagher?”

  Gallagher smiled. “Aye, I’ve thought of it. ’N would ten thousand dollars be enough, do you think?”

  “Ten thousand dollars? ’N would you be for tellin’ me how ’tis you’ll be comin’ up with ten thousand dollars?” Ryan asked.

  “Warren Kennedy will be bringin’ the money,” Keagen said.

  “Kennedy, himself who got us into a battle with the Five Pointers? M’ brother was killed in that battle. ’N yer for tellin’ us that we’ll be workin’ with Kennedy again? Thank you, no, but I’ve no wish to be workin’ with the likes o’ him.”

  Gallagher laughed. “I’m sayin’ Kennedy is bringin’ ten thousand dollars so he can take a woman that we’re holdin’ for him back to Wyoming.” He smiled. “Only what he don’t know is, there ain’t neither one of ’em that’ll be goin’ back. Once Kennedy sees the woman ’n gives me the money, I intend to take care of both of ’em.”

  “Blimey,” Quinn said. “You have the woman that Muldoon has been lookin’ for?”

  “Aye, all safe ’n secure,” Gallagher said.

  “Ten thousand dollars?” Doolin asked.

  “Aye.”

  “The Assembly could be back on its feet with that much money. You can count me in,” Doolin said.

  “Me too,” Ryan said.

  “I’m in,” Quinn added.

  Keagan and McDougal added their assent as well.

  When Gallagher returned to the fourth-floor walk-up on Third Avenue, Brockway was in the living room, and Kelly was in the small kitchen, cooking ham and potatoes.

  “Did you meet with any o’ the old lads?” Brockway asked.

  “Aye. Ryan, Quinn, Doolin’, McDougal ’n Keagan. They’re in,” Gallagher said. “They’ll be with us when we meet Kennedy.”

  “Where are we goin’ to meet him?” Kelly asked.

  “I have the perfect place picked out,” Gallagher replied.

  Chicago

  It was nine o’clock in the evening, thirty-two hours after leaving Big Rock, when the train rolled into Chicago’s Central Depot in the middle of the city. Smoke had already been informed that it would take a couple hours to secure track clearance from Chicago to Cleveland, so he and Pearlie left the small train, which had been pulled onto a side track.

  They accompanied Doodle to the Western Union office, Doodle to arrange for track clearance, and Smoke to send a message on to Cal.

  “Are you here to tell me that you left Denver yesterday?” asked the telegrapher.

  “Yes, sir, one o’clock yesterday afternoon,” Doodle said. “Why, there were times when we were runnin’ at sixty miles to the hour.”

  As Doodle continued arranging for track clearance, Smoke checked to see if there was a telegram for Warren Kennedy.

  “Kennedy? I thought your name was Jensen,” the telegrapher replied in surprise.

  “I am Kennedy,” Pearlie said quickly.

  “Oh. Well, yes, sir, Mr. Kennedy, we’ve been holding it for you,” the telegrapher said. He located the telegram and handed it to Pearlie.

  MEET AT ABANDONED COTTAGES BETWEEN 10TH AND 11TH AVENUES ON 52ND STREET STOP ADVISE WHEN YOU WILL BE THERE STOP HAVE MONEY WITH YOU STOP

  “Doodle, when do you think we’ll reach New York?” Smoke asked after he read the telegram over Pearlie’s shoulder.

  “We’ll be there by ten o’clock tomorrow morning,” Doodle promised.

  Unseen by the telegrapher, Smoke penned a telegram to Gallagher and handed it to Pearlie. He in turn took it to the telegrapher to send.

  HAVE MRS JENSEN READY FOR TRAVEL AT NOON TUESDAY STOP I HAVE MONEY IN HAND STOP KENNEDY

  Smoke then sent a telegram to Cal.

  WILL BE AT GRAND CENTRAL DEPOT BY TEN OCLOCK TUESDAY STOP SMOKE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  New York City

  Sally was aware that some other men had joined Gallagher, Brockway, and Kelly. She had not yet seen any of the new men,
but she had heard enough additional voices to imagine that the small living room must be quite crowded. This morning, the voices were much more animated. As she listened to determine if she could learn anything from the conversation, her mind whirled.

  “Today at noon,” Gallagher said.

  “And are you sure he’ll be there?” Brockway asked.

  “Aye, the telegram came last night,” Gallagher said.

  “Does he have the money?”

  That was not a familiar voice, so Sally realized the question had come from one of the men she had not yet met or even seen. They are talking about money. Are they talking about Smoke? Has he come to New York to pay the ransom?

  “Kennedy will have the money,” Gallagher said. “For he knows what will happen to him if he doesn’t.”

  “Aye,” one of the men replied. “But does he know what will happen to him even if he does have the money?”

  A great deal of laughter followed that comment.

  “Will you be meeting him by yourself?” Kelly asked.

  “No. For one thing, I think ’tis good that we all go so that Kennedy can’t be for pulling any tricks on us. ’N for another, ‘’is to show each of you that I’ll not be for holding out on any of the money.”

  They’re talking about Kennedy. Would that Kennedy be Smoke’s friend from Mule Gap? Sally wondered. Why would Smoke be sending Kennedy with the money, instead of bringing it himself ?

  “Ha! ’Tis betting I am, that when Kennedy asked us to snatch the woman, he had no idea we would be usin’ the money to get the Irish Assembly goin’ again,” Kelly said.

  “Aye, especially since the son of a bitch is the one to cause it to be destroyed in the first place,” Gallagher said.

  Kennedy is the one who arranged for me to be kidnapped? Yes, it would have to be him, Sally realized.

  Kelly had told her that it was someone in Wyoming. She scolded herself for not realizing that earlier. After all, who else in Wyoming would not only know who she was, but also have a New York connection?

  “Are we goin’ to turn the woman over to him?” Again, the voice was from one of the men she had not yet seen.

  “Oh, yeah, we’ll turn her over to him, all right,” Gallagher said.

  “If he takes her back, and she goes back to her husband, what’s to say he won’t come after us?” Kelly asked.

  “What do you mean, ‘come after us’?” another of the new voices asked.

  Gallagher laughed. “Don’t be for paying Kelly any mind. He’s been reading dime novels about the woman’s husband ’n what a hero he is.”

  “But ’tis like I said, they would not be writing books about him if he wasn’t like they say he is. Why, he once took on a whole gang of train robbers all by himself,” Kelly insisted.

  “Even if he is the hero you think he is, how is it he’ll be comin’ for us? He has no idea where we are or even who we are,” Gallagher said.

  “I know Mrs. Jensen,” Kelly said. “Do you think she won’t be for tellin’ him who we are and where we are?”

  “How is she going to do that?” Gallagher asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Think about it, Kelly. If we aren’t goin’ to let Kennedy go back, how is the Jensen woman goin’ to go back?”

  “Well if she doesn’t go back, what will we do with her?”

  “What do you think we’ll do with her?”

  “Wait a minute. You told me the woman wouldn’t be harmed.”

  Brockway laughed. “Do you know what I’m thinkin’, Gallagher? I’m thinkin’ Kelly has fallen for the Jensen woman. Tell us, Kelly, when you ’n the woman has been alone, have you been climbin’ inter bed with ’er?”

  “No, nothin’ like that,” Kelly replied resolutely. “I was just commentin’ is all.”

  “Don’t comment. Just listen,” Gallagher said.

  * * *

  Although the special train had been granted clearance to come into Grand Central Terminal, the track that had been allocated was the most distant from the depot. As soon as the train stopped, Smoke and Pearlie stepped out of the private car, and Smoke walked up to the engine. Even at rest, it was alive with the sound of boiling water and vented steam.

  Doodle was looking out of the cab window. “Sorry we’re so far away, but this is the track they gave us,” he called down.

  “After being cooped up for so long, the walk will do us good,” Smoke replied. “I want to express my thanks to you and the entire crew for getting us to New York so fast.”

  “It was a pleasure,” Doodle said, smiling broadly. “For the entire time I’ve been an engineer, I’ve always wanted to open ’er up ’n see just how fast I could go. Why, for a little stretch there, we were running almost seventy miles to the hour. I’m the one who should be thankin’ you for the opportunity.”

  Smoke smiled back at him, and with a final wave he and Pearlie started the long walk past all the other trains to the terminal. Once outside, they took a cab to the Fifth Avenue Hotel.

  When they reached the hotel, Smoke started toward the front desk with the intention of getting Cal’s room number, but even before he reached the desk, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

  “Smoke!”

  He turned to see Cal coming across the lobby toward him.

  While the meeting between the two men would normally elicit a smile, the expression on Cal’s face was one of worry and shame. He reached out to take Smoke’s extended hand. “I’m sorry, Smoke. I was supposed to look after her and I failed. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure you would be willing to shake my hand.”

  “Nonsense,” Smoke said. “It happened. Now, we’re going to get her back.”

  Cal shook hands with Pearlie then turned and motioned toward a uniformed police officer who was standing some distance back. “Mickey, come up here. I want you to meet my two best friends in the whole world. Smoke, Pearlie, this is Officer Mickey Muldoon. We’ve been working together. We were on his beat when Miz Sally was taken.”

  Cal explained how it happened.

  “Officer Muldoon,” Smoke started, but he was interrupted.

  “Sure now, the lad, Cal ’n I are usin’ first names between us, ’n seein’ as the two of you be his best friends, I’d like it if you’d be for callin’ me Mickey.”

  “All right, Mickey. If this is your beat, I’m sure you’re very familiar with it. The man who set up the kidnapping was someone I had considered to be a friend. His name was Warren Kennedy. He was from New York and—”

  “Warren Kennedy is it?” Mickey said, interrupting. “I know the man. He was leader of a gang that called themselves the Irish Assembly, ’n ’twas an evil man he was, too.”

  “I found that out,” Smoke said. “I’m ashamed to say, though, that he had me fooled for a long time.”

  “No shame to it, m’ lad. ’Tis many a man Kennedy ’n his slick tongue had fooled.”

  “Apparently the man he was working with here in New York is named Gallagher,” Smoke said. “Is that a name you can associate with Kennedy?”

  “Aye, that would be Ian Gallagher. Some would say that the Irish Assembly is no more, ’n ’tis true, they are no longer the gang they once were. But there are still enough of them around to cause trouble, ’n Gallagher is one of them.”

  “Mickey, didn’t you say that O’Leary was part of the Irish Assembly?” Cal asked.

  “Aye, lad, that I did, ’n I was thinkin’ there might be some connection. ’Tis glad I am that you brought me a name,” Mickey said. “I think we can find him, ’n maybe get an idea as to where yer lady might be.”

  “No need to go looking for him,” Smoke replied.

  “What do you mean, we don’t need to look for him?” Cal asked. “Have you got something else in mind?”

  “If everything goes as we have it set up, he’ll meet us at noon, and he’ll have Sally with him.”

  “So, you’ll be payin’ the ransom, will you?” Mickey asked. “Well, I can’t say as I’ll be
blamin’ you. I would probably do the same thing if ’twas my loved one.”

  Smoke shook his head. “I’ll not be paying the ransom.”

  “Askin’ too much, is he?”

  “Mickey, I just spent fifteen thousand dollars to rent a train to bring Pearlie and me here in record time. There’s no such thing as too much money as far as my wife is concerned. I don’t trust him to turn her over to me, even if I have the money in hand, so I have something else in mind. That’s why I sent a telegram, asking him to meet us.”

  “And he agreed?” Cal asked.

  “Yes. Apparently there are some abandoned cottages on 52nd Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets. Do you know the address, Mickey?”

  “Aye . . . there is a whole row of deserted houses there, ’n ’tis a place frequented by brigands ’n hoodlums. ’Tis not a place for a decent citizen to be.”

  “I thought it might be something like that.”

  “Do you think, maybe, Gallagher might suspect Kennedy has something set up for him?” Pearlie asked.

  “That could be the case,” Smoke said. “Or, perhaps Mr. Gallagher has something planned for the late Mayor Kennedy.”

  * * *

  Back at the apartment where Sally was being held, Kelly stepped into her bedroom then held his finger across his lips, signaling her to be quiet.

  “Ever’one but Gallagher has gone to meet Kennedy,” Kelly said. “Gallagher is downstairs ’n he sent me to bring you down. But if you do just what I tell you to do, I’m goin’ to help you escape.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Kelly. That is a courageous thing for you to do.”

  Kelly opened the door and looked outside, then he turned back to her. “There is a fire escape on the back side of the buildin’ that goes down to the alley. Once we get into the alley, follow me.”

  Sally nodded, and Kelly held his hand out toward her, holding her back as he made one final check.

  “All right. There’s nobody here. Let’s go,” Kelly said.