Once Upon A Time On The Rails, Chapter 3.

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As night descended upon the roundhouse at Wolf Creek, A.J. slumbered calmly in the cab of his locomotive. The roundhouse was quiet and empty and only the sounds of the wind blowing across the smoke jacks on the roof could be heard with the subtle sounds of metal cooling. But over in the Hotel on Main Street, a dark furred canine was putting his boots on in his room. He yawned, stretched, and then placed a small satchel in his pocket. He then began to make his way to the door. He had come in by horse earlier that day from Lake City, CO. His wolf like face sighed as he walked down the stairs. The last time he passed through Wolf Creek he had all but fallen head over heals for a woman he barley knew.
However today was not a day for sad recollection, rather he was in a very celebratory mood, for in that satchel was over a thousand dollars in gold dust! He had decided to go to the assaying office at nightfall, to not be seen in case someone wanted to relive him of his hard earned dust. The assaying office was right down the wooden boardwalk along the street; it was a typical false front building. Many of which lined the streets of Wolf Creek.
He opened the door and walked into the warmth of the room. The office contained a desk with weight measuring tools several chairs, a safe, and a filing cabinet full of all the local area clams. Though the real important documents were locked in the safe. The wall was decorated with several paintings showing a cityscape of Wolf Creek and other depicting near by areas and land marks. Sitting at the desk was a middle-aged man, he was carefully measuring dust, determine its value. On the desk was a plaque that read: Enoch Wilson.
He looked up at the canine, and gave a slim smile. “Howdy Eli, been a long time since you passed threw.” Eli plopped the sack on the desk. “Well, I’ve been a little busy, take a gander at this for me?” Enoch raised one eyebrow and gave a humorous smirk. “Is this at least half dust rather then dirt?”
“Oh yeah, good enough to stake a land clam on I‘d wager! Old Chester picked up half over by Cutter’s Bend. ” Eli laughed. “Might make it worth our while to do some prospecting while we wait for the mail to roll threw.” Enoch took the satchel in hand and began to open it. looking threw bag.
“Well, it looks promising this time. I’ll have an assaying report in no time if you’d like to stay for a while.” Just then the door opened and in stepped two coyotes. Rough looking and in black leather coats and ammo belts, their spurs clinking on the wooden floorboards.
“Evening gents.” was all the tall coyote said in a deep, raspy, ominous voice. The shorter one standing next to him with a similar demeanor. Each of them wore a gun rig around their waists. The tall one had a Colt model 1861 Army holstered while the short one had a Remington Army model. Both were .44 caliber and both were converted to use cartridges. There was a pause between Enoch, Eli, and the two unexpected guests.
“Uh… m-may I help you, gents?” Enoch then asked. Then the two coyotes drew their pistols and ominous grins spread across their maws.
“You just reach for some air.” The tall coyote ordered. Eli and Enoch both raised their arms up, caught at off guard. The tall coyote then smiled sinisterly. “Now that’s more considerate of ya‘.” he then said, waiving his pistol at the two. Motioning them to move aside.
“Now what right do you have to just burst into my office and point guns at people, you know guns ain’t allowed in Wolf Creek?” Enoch blurted out, very much like an old man scolding a child. Not that the bandits paid much heed to it.
“Now you can’t pull a hold up very well without them, can ya‘?” The short coyote mocked. Eli growled as the tall one kept a gun on them while his pal opened the safe. Enoch kept growling and didn’t notice it, but the bandit didn’t look interested in the money in the safe, but rather the claim files. He clumsily slipped some lose cash in his pockets and continued routing through the safe. Eli noticed they both where of the same build and looked alike enough to be brothers.
“Who’s running this office?” The tall one then asked. Enoch turned to the outlaw nervously.
“I…I do the assaying.” Enoch replied timidly, his nerves already starting to make him shake a little. The coyote then stepped closer to him.
“Then you’d be the feller who can pull out some land deeds, right?” The tall coyote then continued. Enoch then looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Y-Yeah…but why would you want to look a th-those…?” the assaying agent then said in response. His voice a little shaky. The tall coyote glared at him with his cold eyes.
“Cut the stallin’ and find me who owns the land around Cutter’s Bend.” ordered the coyote. His tone quite unnerving. Enoch looked at him and took a gulp of air.
“W-Well sir….I do.” Enoch replied. The coyote was quiet for a brief moment, but his stare was no less piercing.
“Well that‘s convenient.” Said the coyote. Though this time the tall one’s voice had a very grim sound to it. He cocked the hammer of his gun and aimed right at Enoch’s face! Then in a split second Eli drew his own pistol and hastily aimed for the tall coyote and fired! The bullet sailed across the room and into the coyote’s neck! He gagged and the impact through off his aim. He pulled the trigger, the resulting shot hit Enoch in the shoulder! The older man then dropping to the floor quickly in pain. The coyote held the open wound of his neck with his free hand, blood dripping from between his fingers. Amazingly the round hit nothing vital. Soon after Eli’s first shot he fired another round which buried itself right into the tall coyote’s chest! They canine outlaw rode the bullet back against the wall and then collapsed to the floor.
The short Coyote jumped up from the safe and pulled out his pistol as soon as he heard the gunfire. The short coyote went to fire just after Eli’s second shot. Eli saw the second bandit and ducked below the desktop, the bandit’s bullet shattering a window. Eli then popped up and fired a few rounds and the remaining coyote did as well! One of Eli’s shots missing the short coyote, but shattering the kerosene lamp behind him. The glass chimney shattering and extinguishing the lamp light. One of Eli’s rounds did hit the bandit and he cried out it pain from the impact.
Suddenly, the office was enveloped in darkness. So much so that Eli wasn’t sure if he had hit the bandit or not. For a few moments the office was silent, the only sound being the crickets outside and the far off steam whistle of the yard switcher… and the heavy breathing of the three men. Eli stretched out his hand, and he felt a chair. He waited a second and then with all his might, shoved it over. A flash of light and the chair had a hole in its seat, splintered before it even hit the floor! The muzzle flash had given the outlaw’s position away and he was crouched down behind the safe, out of range. Eli ventured over slowly to the right, avoiding the light from the window. He then dove forward and fired the gun. The outlaw cried out in pain and Eli heard the clattering of his Remington thud against the wooden floorboard.
Eli then wandered around, nearly blind and found another lamp. Along with some matches, also found, he lit the lamp and brightened the flame enough to view the aftermath. Both coyotes where dead, the tall one with a hole in his throat and his chest. While the shorter one was shot in the arm and his head. Both lay lifelessly on the floor. Enoch panted and groaned holding his left shoulder with his right hand.
“H-Holy Mosses… They… They were going to k-kill me!!” Enoch exclaimed between pants and groans. The area around his shoulder red with blood from the bullet wound. Eli was panting himself, his heart still racing from the adrenaline in his system. “Yeah….” was all he managed to say, bending over to look at the two would be robbers. He then turned to Enoch to check on him. “You stay here and guard the door, and I’m going to go get the sheriff.” Enoch gave him a wide eyed, peculiar look.
“Wh-What..!? I was nearly killed and shot in the arm and you’re just going to leave me here!?” Enoch objected. Eli looked at the man and sighed.
“First off, that’s your shoulder. Not your arm! And I’ll bring back a doctor, too! Ok?” responded Eli. Enoch nodded impatiently in response.
“Yeah! You had better!! But there is one thing for sure!” Enoch then continued. Eli had already began making his way to the front door and stopped just before stepping through it and turned around toward Enoch. “Your assaying report, I’m doing it for free!!” then said Enoch before cringing in pain again. Eli smiled and then ran out of the assay office, heading right for the Sheriff’s office.

A.J. yawned and stretched out in his hammock. It was early Sunday morning, and he wasn't due out of town for another four hours. He rolled out of the hammock and folding it up, placed it under the seat box as per usual. Looking around the roundhouse he noticed several steam locomotives raising steam, and that one, Terra‘s locomotive, was gone.
“It looks like Terra slipped out. I wonder what they did with her engine‘s pilot?” He said to himself. Then his ear’s perked up at the sound of a very familiar voice.
“Good Mornin’ A.J.!” was what the feline heard. A.J. leaned out the cab to see Leach jabbing a clinker stick threw the ash pan. “Was wondering when your snoring would stop.” the old man then commented. Continually poking away with the clinker stick.
“I don’t snore Leach, you aught to know that!” A.J. laughed and Leach shrugged.
“Well. I reckon it’s hard for one to know if he’s not awake to hear it.” chuckled the old man, who looked more like an old miner than a locomotive fireman. A.J. then started dressing himself for the day, putting on his usual green collared shirt, canvas work pants, and leather braces.
“Well, we’ve got four hours before we need to sign in on call. Anything I should know before I run off to the Church?” He yawned just before climbing down from the cab. Leach shrugged. “Oh nothing’ much. Just there was an attempted robbery last night at the assaying office. Has Sheriff Gabe all strung up on it. Seemed they where more interested in land grants then the gold in the safe. Tried to kill a fellow.”
“Kill?” the tiger then said, now feeling fully awake. Leach nodded in response.
“Don’t worry, the little weasels got it right back, some feller‘ keen with a six-gun took swift care of em‘. They’re both down at the morgue” A.J. rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little unnerved about it all. Wolf Creek was usually a pretty calm place. Sure it would have its disturbances, but it was all usually minor things. Not a hold up with attempted murder! It was bad enough he had Terra starting to turn herself onto him suddenly.
“Hey Leach, did you see Terra head out?” A.J. asked his aging fireman friend. The old man looked up at him with a bit of a sarcastic expression.
“How could you miss her! The way that engine was spluttering and hissing, she rode the safety valves right out of the roundhouse. The johnson bar in the corner hogging for power as the drivers spun wildly. The whole town heard her!” That’s not like Terra to beat on equipment like that, A.J. thought to himself. Something was more than odd about her and the way she’s been handling that engine of hers, but the tiger shook that from his mind for the moment, and proceeded out of the roundhouse.
“All right, I’ll see you and Fiesta later!” And with a smile and a wave the tiger headed up towards the town’s church to attend Sunday morning service.
Terra was never much of a church attendee. So it wasn’t any big surprise to see her working on Sunday, what was a big surprise was the way she was working. Her engine looked a little odd without its pilot jutting forth like normal. A temporary pilot beam and switching steps were added so she and her engine can carry out their duties. Her engine pushed against the end of a wooden caboose. The empty ore drag was heading up hill before the down grade decent towards Wolf Creek. The train was composed of 45 wooden, four axle ore cars. Terra’s 4-4-0 blasted away at the rear of the caboose. It seemed that either her engine had too much steam, or not enough. She was sporadically opening and closing the throttle, as well as letting her clock fall and rise. The 4-4-0 was spitting fit to burst, or so it seemed. Her fireman was having a heck of a time trying to keep the locomotive properly stoked. The engine might as wall be at the hand of an amateur!
As the train climbed over the hill and started around the bend towards Wolf Creek. It passed a maintenance-of-way crew replacing a broken joint bar in the siding. The work crew gave a few friendly waves. Terra neither responded with the whistle, or waved back as her 4-4-0 passed slowly by on the main.
Meanwhile, Coburn leaned against the depot wall in Wolf Creek. He watched as the ore drag rolled into the yard across the street. As it rolled in, he slowly turned, and started to follow it. Unknowingly the coyote blundering into A.J. returning, from morning service, to the depot to go “on the clock.” The two men crashed together. Coburn almost knocked A.J. to the wooden floor of the platform. The tiger was immediately apologetic with the encounter.
“Oh! Excuse me! I’m sorry I didn’t see….” A.J. began to say, whether it was his fault or not he was sincere in his apology. However the coyote cut him off before he could finish.
“You stupid fool!! Next time you ought take the time to look where the hell you’re walking.” Coburn spat then stomped off. He began heading towards Terra’s locomotive, still coupled to the rear of the train.
A.J. stood there for a moment trying to process what had just happened. He shrugged it off then moved on toward the depot. As the door of the depot closed behind him he heard the cry of Terra’s safety valves echoing off into the valley.
“Something is definitely not right with that locomotive.” The ticket salesmen said nodding his head as A.J. passed by, but he paused and looked at the man.
“No, it’s not the engine… It’s the engineer.” the feline said simply as he entered the depot, checking the door behind him.