Tag: story
100 Word Story – Police Blotter – Pizza Night Part 2
Here is Part 2 of the Pizza Night Police Blotter Story! This is a 100 Word Story based on an actual item from my hometown police blotter!
If you haven’t read Part 1, do so by CLICKING HERE.
As always the Police Blotter item as well as a link to the police blotter appear below the story. Enjoy!
Pizza Night Part 2
By Grant Baciocco
Simon Caruthers cackled with delight as he ate slice after slice of the piping hot pizza that had just been delivered. He peered through his blinds over to the Stevenson household and imagined the confusion and angst the family must be going through.
For years, Simon had endured living next to the Stevenson’s and their loud brood of children and for years he’d seen their delirious glee when a pizza was delivered every Thursday night. He had turmoiled over how exactly to rankle them and then it hit him. Next Thursday, he’d simply order a pizza and have it delivered.
–
Murchison Drive, 8:03 p.m. July 2 A person wrongly accused of pizza theft reported being upset.
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 15
Part 15 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Reunited with Doris, Grisom and Charlie race towards Yankton.
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 15
By Grant Baciocco
Grisom, Charlie and Leland were far from the village but not so far as to not hear the gunshots. They stalled the cart for a second as the shots rang out. The two scouts who were escorting them turned and rode off in the direction of the ruckus. Grisom, clicked his tongue and spurred the horses on faster towards the West. The plan was to make a great loop and almost re-circle through where they had camped last night and continue north on through to Yankton.
Charlie tired his best to keep his leg comfortable with all the jostling of the cart. His leg didn’t seem to bother him much though, now that he had Doris back at his side. He held her tight as they rode along, even when she became fussy that she couldn’t run alongside the cart as before. Charlie reminded her that that’s how the Pawnee had spotted her. She reluctantly agreed and just contented herself with pestering Leland as they rode along.
“You mad I didn’t make Doris stay?” Charlie said to Grisom after some miles.
“Nope.” Grisom said. “You asked her her opinion. She chose you. Seems fair to me.”
“But do you think they should be together? The two prairie fires?” Charlie asked.
“Well,” Grisom replied, “I think eventually, for the good of their species, yes they should. But they seem content to wait.”
Charlie nodded.
They rode a few more miles and then Grisom said, “She’s much more valuable now. Moreso than when we thought she was the only one. Now that there’s two, you need to take extra special care of her. Make sure she’s able to provide a future for the prairie fire kind.”
Charlie nodded again.
He looked down at Doris who’d hopped back up in front with him and Grisom. He reached down and patted her on the head, then scruffled her ears. She whistled contently and then laid down next to his leg to nap.
Charlie decided he would do whatever Doris wanted. She was a sentient creature and able to make good decisions. When the time came for her to stay with Pahaat or anywhere else for that matter, it would be her choice.
They continued to ride on into the afternoon, passing the camp they had been at the night previous. They could tell by the tracks that Jane had been through there. Grisom hoped she was still dealing with the Pawnee and that would give them time to get far ahead of them.
Grisom had been sure the Pawnee could handle Jane, but as dusk began to settle over the prairie, a large black column of smoke began to rise from the southeast in about the distance the village would have been. Charlie caught Grisom staring at it, but he didn’t ask. Even Leland saw it and knew what it had meant. Things between Jane and the Pawnee didn’t go well.
Over supper that night, under the moon, Leland asked, “Why’s that girl after you Grisom?”
Grisom ignored the question and kept eating.
“I mean the way she’s tearing after you, the way, i reckon, she and her men did today to those indians, she wants to catch up with us. It’s not just the trunk I’m beginning to reckon.”
“No. It ain’t just about the trunk.” Grisom said. He paused then added, “I killed her father.”
This was news to Charlie, who looked over at Grisom in disbelief.
“Her dad was an Agent of the Vault, like me. Like Charlie will soon be. He was sworn to the same pledge to the Coalition as me, to protect history. But these things we protect are very valuable and Jane’s father, Clinton his name was, began rescuing the historical items, but then keeping them for his own uses. As someone who was his friend, but also an Agent, I tried to get him to knock it off. He refused. One night we reached an historical item at about the same time. I wanted to make sure it got back to the Vault. He wanted it for himself. I couldn’t let that happen.”
There was quiet as this sank in.
“So this girl wants revenge.”
Grisom nodded. “Make no bones about it, she wants the trunk. But more than that she wants me. Dead.”
Again, silence.
“I will add, if you figured you were in trouble if the indians got ahold of us, those things you said in yer little story about what they’d do, ain’t nothing compared to what she’d do if she catches up to us.”
Leland was dead silent.
“In fact,” Grisom continued, “If she catches up to us, you’re going to get your gun, because we’ll need to fight with all we’ve got against her. Or you’ll want to use that gun on yerself to make sure she doesn’t get her hands on you.”
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 13
Part 13 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Grisom, Charlie and a reluctant Leland head out to find Doris!
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 13
By Grant Baciocco
There was no real sleep for anyone in those remaining hours before the sun started to crawl across the prairie floor in the east. Leland had not been untied and being hogtied made it difficult to get any rest. His arms and legs ached. Charlie and Grisom were unsympathetic. Grisom kept watch as there was still the threat of the Pinkertons finding them. Charlie’s wound kept him awake, but even if he hadn’t been hit by that arrow, he would have been awake with worry about Doris. He’s wanted to set out immediately, but Grisom had been right. There would be no way to track the indians in the dark.
When it was finally light enough to leave, they had the cart packed. Leland was happy to be stretched out in the back of the wagon as they’d finally untied his hands from his feet, though he was now tied to the wagon. They rode out to where Doris had been taken. The indian’s buffalo hide disguises were scattered where they had lain in wait. Grisom hopped off the wagon and looked them over closely. Finally he stood.
“Pawnee.” Grisom said solemnly.
“Well that’s fantastic.” Leland piped up from the back. “Nothing more I like to do than start my day tracking down some Pawnee injuns.”
Grisom let the buffalo skin drop to the ground. He walked around where the skins were looking for tracks. After a few minutes of following tracks for a few yards from the circle, he pointed south east. “They went that way. Probably camped near the Platte river.”
Grisom turned back towards the wagon and climbed back in. “River’s about half a day’s ride from here, I’d figure.”
“We’re headed away from Yankton.” Charlie said quietly.
“We are.” Grisom replied.
“And since we’re headed back partially the way we came, we may run into the Pinkertons.” Charlie said, the realization dawning on him.
“We may.” Grissom said, matter of factly.
Charlie was silent for a minute as the cart rambled on. “We don’t have to go after her, if it’ risks the trunk.”
Grisom smiled, “Kid, there are some things more important than that trunk. You’re prairie fire is one of them.”
Charlie smiled at Grisom. Still he couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty for sidetracking their mission of getting the trunk to Yankton. He was pretty sure that a true Agent of the Vault would sacrifice anything to keep the historical artifacts safe and sound.
They rode most of the morning in silence. Leland had fallen asleep with the rocking of the wagon and Charlie found himself dozing as well. It wasn’t until the sun was high overhead and Charlie heard a loud whoop, that he roused awake. He looked around nervously.
“Easy.” Grisom said quietly. He pointed straight ahead where, about 20 yards ahead, two indians on horseback were approaching the wagon. “Scouts.”
Charlie shifted uneasily.
“Take it easy kid, they aren’t posturing hostile. They are just checking us out.” Grisom said as he slowed the wagon. He then reached behind them and slapped Leland on the shoulder.
Leland sputtered awake, “What? What’s happening?”
“Shut up Leland. We’ve got company.”
Leland craned his neck around and saw the riders approaching. He sighed, “This is where it all ends. Fantastic.”
Grisom back handed him. “Shut up, or we’ll leave you with them.”
When the scouts were close, Grisom brought the cart to a halt. He whispered out of the side of his mouth, “Hands up. Do NOT reach for you gun.”
Charlie nodded and raised his hands along with Grisom.
The scouts approached stone faced. One stopped in front of the cart, the other made a long slow circle, inspecting everything about the cart. Glaring extra long at Leland, who refused to meet the indian’s gaze. The investigating scout then met back up with the other scout at the front of the wagon.
“Where are you going?”1 one scout asked.
Grisom cleared his throat and spoke back in the best Pawnee he could remember. “We come to see your chief. We believe your braves may have taken something from us in a raid last night.”
The two scouts looked at each other. “We do not know of this.”
Grisom nodded, “Perhaps not. But we would like to speak to your chief.”
The two scouts conferred with each other for a minute. “Why is the man in back there bound?”
Grisom turned and indicated to Leland. “He is a thief. We are taking him for trial in city.”
“You travel with a thief. Perhaps he is the one who took what you are missing.”
Grisom shook his head. “No. What was taken was a prairie fire.”
At those words were spoken, the scouts got nervous. This, to Grisom, was a clear indication they had the right group of Pawnee.
Grisom continued, “We only want to speak to your chief. We come bearing no harm.”
The scouts again spoke softly with each other for a moment. One of the scouts looked at Grisom.
“You will ride with us to camp. But first, all guns must be given to us.”
Leland spoke up from the back, “Don’t give them your guns! Don’t be fools.”
Grisom pulled out his pistol and reached back and clocked Leland in the head.
“Fine. We will turn over our weapons. We will want them back when we leave.”
The scout nodded as the other one rode up and began collecting the firearms. Two pistols and a shotgun from Grisom and Charlie’s pistols. The scout carefully looked over the contents of the back of the wagon and then returned to the other, dividing up the guns between them.
“Follow us.” Said the first scout and Grisom started the horses following them as they rode towards the river. After about 10 minutes Grisom and Charlie could see the village ahead. One of the scouts let out a whoop and a minute later, two braves rode up to meet them. They stopped for a moment as the scouts and the braves talked softly. The scouts handed the guns to the braves and then rode back past the cart.
“Where are they going?” Charlie asked.
“Back out to their post. We’re in their hand’s now.” Grisom replied, indicating the two braves. One of the braves motioned for them to continue and they did. After a few more minutes of riding, they were at the camp.
“Rest your horses here.” The brave said, a squaw came towards them with two water buckets. She placed them down for the horses to drink.
One brave dismounted. The other took his horse, and the guns and rode off. Grisom and Charlie climbed down off the wagon. Charlie gingerly favoring his leg.
One of the braves looked at him, “What’s wrong with his leg?”
“One of your arrows from last night.”
The brave nodded. He motioned to the squaw and barked out an order.
Charlie looked at Grisom, “What did he say?”
“You are to go with her to their medicine man. He will look you over.”
“I don’t think I want—“
Grisom cut him off, “Go. This backtracking will make it longer until we see a real doc. Their medicine man is better than nothing. I think they want to help us.”
“But what about what Leland said?” Charlie whispered tersely to Grisom. “Keeping us healthy just so they can torture us?”
“Don’t believe anything Leland tells you. Ever.” Grissom replied, putting a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Now go with her.”
Charlie nodded and started hopping in the direction of the squaw who walked to him and let him put his arm around her shoulder to help him walk.
The brave indicated that Grisom should follow him. At this moment, Leland came to and looked around.
“Grisom. Hey! Where are you going?” he whispered.
“To see the chief.”
“And you’re going to leave me here?” Leland replied, indignantly.
“Someone has to watch the gold and the trunk.”
“Untie me then.”
“Not going to happen. If they start messing with our gear, you holler and I’ll come running. Otherwise you stay here and shut up.” Grisom replied. Then with a smile added, “You cause any trouble, I’ll leave you here. You know what they do to white men don’t you?”
Leland slunk down in the back of the wagon as Grisom walked away after the brave. They came to a large tent in the center of the village. All around the Pawnee people were curious as to the three white men in the camp, but other than lingering stares they went about their business. The brave motioned for Grisom to stand outside and he ducked into the tent. A moment later he reappeared, holding the tent flap open for Grisom to enter.
Inside the tent it was dark and smoky from several small bowls of smoldering sage. At the far side of the tent sat the chief. A large imposing man, older than most of the men he’d seen so far wearing elaborate, ceremonial robes. The brave indicated a spot for Grisom to sit and he did, removing his hat and bowing reverently. The Chief returned the bow, but eyed Grisom wearily.
“Why are you here?” the Chief said after a moment.
“Some of your men have taken something that belongs to my friend.” Grisom answered.
“The one with the hurt leg?”
“Yes.”
“Your friend, the boy, was in possession of a sacred thing. A thing belonging to the land. A prairie fire.”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“My scouts saw the prairie fire running along side your wagon as you crossed the land. I sent them to retrieve it.” The Chief said. He stared at Grisom. “How did he come into possession of such a thing?”
“His father’s father was given the egg of the prairie fire, by the mother who was dying during the great drought many years ago.”
The Chief nodded solemnly.
“It is not right for man to keep what belongs to the earth, especially one so sacred as a prairie fire.”
Grisom nodded. “Yes. I agree with you, Chief. But this prairie fire was not born in the wild. She was born with man, so man is all she knows.”
The Chief’s eyes narrowed, “What is the boy’s purpose with it?”
“Purpose? To protect it. Keep it from men who’d take it away. Men who would use her for bad purposes. Harness it’s fire for war. Attempt to make more and use them in battle.”
The Chief shook his head and looked to the dirt floor of the tent. “These things must not happen.”
Grisom nodded in agreement. “Yes. You are correct. That is why the boy is protecting him.”
The Chief nodded. “You have two large trunks in the back of your cart.”
Grisom nodded. “Yes. One is filled with gold. Gold stolen by the man who is bound in the back of the cart. The other trunk must get to Yankton. The big city north of here. Inside of that trunk is an item of great importance.”
The Chief looked at Grisom, “You seem not like the other white men we have encountered. You seem not bent on greed. Taking the land, making it yours.”
Grisom smiled, “That is true. My life is preserving history.”
The Chief nodded. He called out to the brave who had been standing outside the tent. The brave entered and crossed to the Chief. The Chief spoke quietly to the brave. He nodded and then crossed and exited the tent.
“You must know, the reason I sent braves to capture the prairie fire is because I believed it was traveling with men because it had been captured. My braves thought the boy had been sleeping and the prairie fire was escaping. We meant only to capture to release onto the prairie later tonight when you had ridden on.” The Chief was quiet. “The prairie fire has been missing from the plains for many years. My braves were surprised to see another one.”
“Another one?” Grisom asked, raising his eyebrows. “You mean you have seen another one?”
Grisom’s question was answered when the brave returned to the tent and held open the flap and in came Doris and another prairie fire behind her. Doris saw Grisom and leapt into his arms, kissing his face repeatedly.
Grisom held her away from his face, “Okay, okay. I’m glad to see you.” He began petting Doris who whistled happily and snuggled down into his lap, but he was staring at the other prairie fire.
The other prairie fire stared back. Sniffing wildly in the direction of the newcomer that his fellow prairie fire was whistling over. Grisom held out a hand but the prairie fire took a step back. Doris looked quizzically at him and whistled three low whistles. The other prairie fire took a tentative step toward Grisom. Grisom, again, held out a hand. The prairie fire sniffed at it.
“Pahaat has lived near our tribe for decades. He is free to come and go, we do not hold him, yet he prefers to stay amongst our people. He has been our great secret.” The Chief said.
Grisom nodded, scratching behind Doris’ ears, “Much like Doris here has been the boy’s great secret.”
The Chief continued, “We believed him the last one. When we saw yours we wanted to get them together. Perhaps they are the last two prairie fires alive.” The Chief was quiet for a moment then added, “We would like to release them into the prairie where hopefully they can bring the population back.”
Grisom nodded, “That is not up to me. Or up to you. I think this will be a question for Charlie, the boy. And for Doris.”
At the sound of her name, Doris perked up and looked at Grisom, stopping her pawing game with Pahaat.
The Chief stood, Grisom rose as well, Doris tumbling to the ground and tackling Pahatt. The Chief looked at Grisom, “We shall ask the boy.”
“Yes.” Grisom nodded. “But remember, he is a boy.”
The Chief laughed. “As we all were until life opened our eyes to it’s grand design.”
Grisom nodded and stepped aside so that the Chief could exit the tent first. The brave motioned for Grisom to follow. Doris and Pahaat scampered around Grisom’s feet.
The Chief, Grisom and the brave walked across the village. Doris and Pahaat tumbling and roughhousing as they walked behind them. The Chief led them to where the medicine man was. The brave stepped inside the medicine man’s tent and a moment later reappeared.
“He will be out soon.” The brave said.
Suddenly from across the camp there cam a whoop. A brave came riding through the village of tents towards the chief. Others in the Pawnee tribe scattered as the brave thundered up to the Chief. The brave hopped down from his horse and crossed to the Chief. He whispered in his ear.
The Chief looked at Grisom, “You have those that follow you. Brave say that they found your camp. Found buffalo hides my braves left. Headed this way just now.”
Grisom scoweled. “Pinkertons. The greedy, evil men I spoke of.”
“Brave say woman rides with them.”
Grisom smiled, “This women is their Chief but she is greedier and more evil than the other white men you have met.”
The Chief smiled for the first time.
“We must go quickly. They are after the trunk. We must get away from you, your people before she finds this village. She will bring nothing but trouble to you. Blood.”
The medicine man’s tent opened and Charlie came out. He was limping, but not as much as before.
“Good as new.” Charlie said to Grisom. “Almost.”
At the sound of Charlie’s voice, Doris let our a screech that had all covering their ears. She barreled over to him, crawled up his leg and clung to his neck.
“Hey there girl!” Charlie said, hugging her tight. “I was worried about you.”
Doris replied with repeated licks on the face.
Grisom turned to Charlie, “Glad to see you’re okay kid, but we have to get a move on.”
“Why?” Charlie replied in between being slobbered on by Doris.
“Jane is on her way.”
Charlie nodded, “Well, I got Doris, so I am ready go.”
“Kid, I want you to meet Pahaat.” Grisom stepped aside and revealed Pahaat who’d been sitting on the ground next to Grisom’s feet.
Charlie’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. Doris stopped her outpouring of affection and turned to see what Charlie was looking at. When she saw Pahaat, she shimmied down Charlie and tackled the other prairie fire.
“There’s another one?” Charlie asked.
Grisom nodded, “Yes. And the indians think maybe they should stay together.”
“Stay together? How am I going to handle two of them?” Charlie replied with a laugh. He looked from the tumbling prairie fires up to Grisom’s face. The moment he locked eyes with the older man, he realized what was being suggested. Charlie’s heart sank.
“You didn’t promise that did you?” Charlie demanded.
“No,” Grisom replied, “Of course not. I told them that it’d be your decision and you’d decide what’s best for Doris.”
Charlie looked down at his friend, playing roughly with Pahaat. They batted at each other’s tails and tumbled wildly around in a ball.
He looked back up at Grisom.
Grisom smiled, “It’s up to you kid, but we gotta hurry. Jane and her men are en route now. We need need to get going or there’ll be no way we can escape without her seeing us.”
Charlie looked again at Doris. He clicked his tongue and she immediately stopped roughhousing and trotted over to him.
“Hey girl,” he said, patting her between the ears. “Listen, Do you want to stay here with Pahaat or do you want to come with us?”
The Chief chuckled. He looked at Grisom, “He talks to it?”
Grisom nodded. “Yes. And she understands him. Does Pahaat understand Pawnee?”
The Chief shook his head, “No one has ever thought to talk to it. Just an animal.”
Grisom shook his head and pointed to his temple, “Very smart.”
They both looked back down at Doris. First she took a few steps towards Pahaat, who got into a defensive position, assuming a tackle was incoming. But then Doris turned and looked back at Charlie. She looked him in the eye.
She then slowly walked towards Pahaat and embraced him. Their tails entwined for a moment. Then Doris whistled to him. He nodded and whistled back. Then in a heartbeat, Doris ran back to Charlie and scampered up his leg and arm to take her spot on his shoulder.
Charlie looked at Grisom, “She’s made up her mind.”
Grisom shook his head with a smile, “It would appear so.”
“Grisom,” Charlie said, “Tell the Chief I will bring her back. But she is not ready to stay just yet.”
Grisom nodded and relayed Charlie’s message to the Chief. The Chief nodded and said to Grisom, “I understand. He seems to have a good heart. We look forward to the return of the other prairie fire.”
Grisom nodded to the Chief and then turned and helped Charlie limp back to the cart.
The Chief sent a brave after them. “Chief say we take you west around big rock. Best to avoid those who chase you.”
Grisom nodded, “We’ll be happy for the escort.”
Moments later Charlie, Doris and Grisom were on the cart. Leland, was thankful they were on their way, and they headed out of the Pawnee village.
1 Translated from Pawnee.
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 4
Part 4 of Agents of the Vault.
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 4
By Grant Baciocco
It was pitch black when the train came to a sudden, lurching stop, sending the occupants of the passenger cars tumbling forward. Charlie instinctively grabbed the saddle bag as he woke, making sure it was secure. He stood and looked at Grisom who was picking himself up off the ground. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” replied Grisom. “Something’s wrong. Train’s don’t make unscheduled stops in the middle of the night. But get your gun ready.”
Charlie’s saddle bag shifted. A whistle fluttered out. Charlie’s hand quickly grabbed the side of the bag. “Easy Doris. Easy.”
Grisom looked towards the back of the car, “Let’s step outside and see what we can see.” He then nodded towards the bag, “Keep her quiet.”
Charlie reached into the bag and stroked the soft fur of the creature that huddled inside of it as he followed Grisom down the train’s aisle towards the back of the car. Passengers were busy standing, readjusting luggage and wondering what had happened. They peered out of the windows and into the darkness as Grisom and Charlie passed them and chattered amongst themselves, throwing out possible theories for the train’s sudden stop.
Charlie and Grisom went out the door at the back of the car and Grisom motioned towards the ladder leading to the roof of the freight car behind the car they’d come out of. They ascended and once on the roof, they crept along the top, keeping low so they couldn’t be seen by anyone of the ground. They could see torches lighting the area around the door of the freight car on the left side of the train. On their bellies now, they slid forward just enough to see over the edge of the roof.
Three men on horses with torches and bandanas around their faces waited near the freight car door.
Charlie whispered, “Are those Jane’s men?”
Grisom shrugged, indicating he didn’t know. Just then, from one of the passenger cars further up the train, came some shouting. Grisom and Charlie looked to their right and saw a fourth bandit on horseback forcing another man to walk towards the freight car. As the two figures came closer, Charlie and Grisom could see it was Mr. Brandle. His mouth was running non stop.
“—The truth! There’s no gold on this train.” Brandle pleaded.
The man on horseback kicked him further along the side of the train. “Be quiet and keep walking. We know there is gold on this here train. Our man in Yankton says so. Also says that you, Mr. Brandle, have the only key that can release the trunk with the gold from the special slot on the train floor.”
Brandle was a bundle of stuttering now. “Ab-ab-ab-surd! Why the thought of it is outrageous. I have told you that there is no gold, why are you so reluctant to not believe me.” They were now standing at the door of the freight car.
In one quick motion, the man on the horse leaned down and knocked Brandle out cold with the butt of his revolver. Brandle fell with a splat in the dirt next to the train. “Jimmy, search this fat jasper for any keys he’s got on him.” The man on horseback barked.
Jimmy hopped down of his horse and turned Brandle over. His pockets were rifled through and the bandit came out with a set of keys on a ring. He held them up for the leader to see.
“Buck, help Jimmy get that door open and get in there. It ain’t gonna be long before one of the passengers gets the fool notion to try and take us on. We don’t need blood spilled tonight. Let’s just get the gold and git.”
“RIght Leland,” one of the other men said as he hopped down from his horse to help Jimmy open the freight car doors. The leader slipped his hand under his bandana and gave two short, sharp whistles. As the whistles echoed in the darkness, Doris began shifting uneasily in the saddle bag to Charlie’s left.
Charlie reached a hand down into the bag and whispered, “Shhhhh. Easy girl.”
Suddenly a creaking could be heard approaching the train in the darkness. Charlie and Grison strained to see just what was going on. Below them they felt the door of the freight car rumble open and heard Jimmy and Buck clanking about inside. After a minute, a horse drawn cart entered the flickering ring of light the torches were casting on the prairie floor.
The man driving brought the cart around in a wide circle so that the bed of the cart was even with the floor of the freight cart. As he did, Grisom and Charlie heard Buck and Jimmy straining as they lifted the gold chest across the freight car floor and into the back of the wagon.
Leland looked around. “Okay, now let’s get to riding. This has taken way too long.”
“Leland?” came Jimmy’s voice from inside the freight car.
“What is it Jimmy? I said let’s get moving.”
“You gotta see this.”
Grisom shifted uneasily next to Charlie. “The trunk.” He whispered softly.
“What the hell are you flapping on about?” said Leland as he brought his horse closer to the door of the freight car.
“This trunk. Look at all the fancy markings on it. Looks expensive. Old, but expensive.”
Leland held his torch in through the door of the freight car and peered inside. After regarding the trunk for a moment, he pulled his horse back. “Bring it. We’ll open it later.”
Charlie turned towards Grisom, “What do we do?”
“What can we do? We can’t let them take the trunk.” Grisom slid back from the edge of the car quietly, Charlie followed his lead. Grisom had his guns out checking to see that they were loaded. “Charlie, you slide off the other side of the car here and go at them from underneath. I’ll distract them until you get down there. We gotta be fast, if they take off we’ll lose them in the dark.”
“But, what should we—“
Grisom cut him off. “No time. Go!” Then Grisom stood up on top of the car and walked to the edge with his guns drawn. “All right, hold it!”
Charlie scrambled off the far side of the car as he heard the men shout in confusion at Grisom’s words.
Leland looked up at Grisom, “Listen old man, we don’t want any trouble. We’re just going to take these things and be on our way.”
“You can take the gold. Leave that other trunk.”
There was a moment of silence.
Leland looked at the trunk then back up at Grisom, “Well now, old timer, your protectiveness of the trunk makes me very curious as to what could be inside.”
“A writing desk. Some papers. I’ll open it and show it to you if you’d like.” Came Grisom’s reply. Charlie was now under the train by one of the sets of wheels. He was near Leland, but realized he didn’t have a clear shot unless he broke cover. In the saddle bag, Doris was shifting nervously with the tension she felt in the air.
“Something tells me there’s more to what’s inside that trunk than just a writing desk and some papers. So I think we’ll take it along with us.”
“I’d hate to see you do that, because then I’d have to kill you.”
Another moment of silence and then Leland and his men busted out laughing.
“Kill me? You do realize you are seriously outgunned at the moment?”
“I may be. Or I may not be. I may have you surrounded. You can’t be sure.”
Leland pulled the reigns of his horse back, starting the animal in walking backwards, while keeping a gun on Grisom.
“You can’t be sure that we don’t have this entire train surrounded.” Leland said, still slowly backing up. He reached a hand under his bandana again and gave a long sharp whistle.
Suddenly from out in the darkness came the sound of a shotgun firing. Grisom heard pellets hit the back of the train car behind him. He fell flat to the floor. Under the car, Charlie spun around to try to see where in the darkness the shot had come from. As he did, his saddle bag shifted and Doris came tumbling out.
Doris was a small creature similar to a koala bear. Gray, fuzzy, but with huge black eyes taking up the sides of her head. She had a long prehensile tail that she curled around her like a ball as she tumbled from the bag. She landed on all fours with her back arched like a cat, ready to attack. He long incisors glistening in the torch light. Her long claws digging into the wooden railroad tie she landed near. A low whistle coming from her mouth. Being so small none of the men noticed her. Charlie realized she was out and was just about to whisper for her to return to the bag when the horse that was pulling the cart caught wind of her and reared back with a loud whinny. Doris replied with a small puff of fire from her mouth that frightened the horse even more and made it bolt. The man at the reigns of the cart, completely unawares of what had happened, held on for dear life as the cart sped off, full tilt, into the darkness.
Buck, who had been standing on the back of the cart when it began moving tumbled to the ground and landed next to Brandle’s, still unmoving, body. The other bandits panicked in the commotion, and began to take off, firing wildly in the direction of Grisom and the train.
“Let’s go! Follow the cart!” Leland barked as he turned his horse. Buck had scrambled to get up and chased after the cart as it rumbled away. He reached it just as it disappeared into the darkness and hauled himself up onto the flatbed back.
Jimmy, seeing his partner’s flight, scrambled out of the freight car and dashed for his horse. Doris saw this and leapt forward, sinking her teeth into Jimmy’s calf. Jimmy tumbled to the ground instantly paralyzed.
Charlie, scrambled out from under the train car, “Doris! Bag!”
Doris looked towards Charlie, her teeth still firmly in Jimmy’s leg.
“Doris, bag NOW!” said Charlie sharply.
With a sad chirp, Doris released her bite hold Jimmy’s leg and scrambled off, across the dusty prairie floor, towards Charlie. She gracefully climbed up Charlie’s leg and scurried into the saddlebag. Charlie walked towards where Jimmy was lying down on the ground, still breathing. His eyes were still able to move and he was awake, but he was completely paralyzed. Charlie knelt next to him.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine in about an hour’s time.” Said Charlie to the, obviously, panicked Jimmy. Charlie looked back toward the car and saw Grisom climbing down off of it and walking his way. He also saw the conductor and others were now making their way to the scene of the action. One person was helping Brandle up off the ground.
“She got out when the shots fired from behind us,” said Charlie, indicating the bag. “Spooked their horse.”
“We’re going to have to go after them. They have the trunk.” Grisom replied, shaking his head, clearly frustrated.
The Conductor made his way up to them. His lantern spilling light every which way. “Is that one of them?” he asked.
Grisom nodded as he stood.
“He dead?” the conductor queried.
“No.” Grisom replied. “Bit in the leg by a rattler.”
The conductor peered down at the fallen bandit. He saw the puncture wounds in the leg. “Looks too wide to be a rattler.”
“Well it was,” Grisom replied. “I saw it slither off.”
“Hmmm. Well you two best get back on the train. Engineer wants to move out as soon as possible.”
“We aren’t going back. Those men made off with our trunk and we aim to get it back.” Grisom looked back at the train and the folks gathered around the freight car. “We’ll take their horses.” Grisom said, indicating Buck and Jimmy’s steeds that were left behind after the skirmish. He looked down at Jimmy, “Can you hold him on the train and turn him in at Yankton?”
The Conductor nodded. “Not sure there’s a doctor on the train for his bite though.”
Grisom looked down and locked eyes with Jimmy. “He’ll be fine. I was able to get most of the poison out. He’ll he right as rain in about an hour I imagine.”
The Conductor nodded again and whistled for two other train employees to come help him get Jimmy back to the train. Grisom and Charlie walked to gather the horses.
“How we gonna know which way to go? It’s pretty dark.” Charlie said.
“The wagon tracks should be pretty easy to follow.” Grisom replied. “Hoping we can borrow a lantern from the train staff to light our way.” Grisom stopped and turned to Charlie. “We gotta get to them and get that trunk before they try to open it.”
Charlie nodded, “Or before they run into Jane.”
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media