The Train To Destiny

A Ben Wade Story

By Layne Richards

 

CHAPTER ONE:

Taking a seat in the last car on the train, Ben Wade had to smile. He wondered just what the owners and shareholders in the Southern Pacific Railroad would think if they knew that the outlaw responsible for robbing them twenty-two times and stealing over four hundred thousand dollars had just boarded one of their trains as a passenger.

Ben chuckled softly at that thought. They oughta be happy he had actually bought a ticket and that they were getting at least a few dollars of their money back. But he doubted they'd see it that way. And he grinned broadly at the image of Butterfield's face had he known that Ben Wade was a passenger on the train.

"If you know something funny, Mister, please share." A voice broke into his amusing thoughts. "I could use something to laugh at right now."

The voice was coming from a young lady, who plopped herself unceremoniously into the seat directly in front of his. Tall, slender, blonde and blue-eyed, she wore a blue traveling suit that just matched her eyes. Her blonde hair hung loose down past her shoulders.

She looked hot, tired, and frustrated and, unlike the few other women seated in the car, was making no attempt to be ladylike and hide the fact. With a sigh, she removed the bonnet that matched her suit and fanned herself with it.

Ben was amused at her behavior. The woman across the aisle apparently was not. Sitting straight and stiff, this woman frowned at the girl, obviously disapproving of her unladylike demeanor.

The girl's bag was sitting at her feet. Ben rose and picked it up. "May I stow your bag for you, Miss?" He swung the bag easily into the compartment above their heads.

"Thanks. My name's Katie. Katie Richards." She offered her hand, again in a most unladylike way, making the woman across the aisle frown even harder.

"Ben Weston." He gave her the name he'd given when he bought his ticket. He didn't often use any name other than his own, but he thought giving his real name in this case might result in his being removed from the train long before he reached his destination.

Which was what? He wasn't sure yet. Only knew that he needed some time to think. To analyze what had gone on with Dan Evans, and Charlie Prince and his gang a few days ago. And to decide where he went from here.

Since he'd begun his career as an outlaw, Wade had started over many a time. New gang. New territory. New targets. But he'd never dealt with the kind of emotions he was feeling after the deaths of Dan and Charlie. He was feeling the need to take stock of his life. Maybe take on a new direction.

There were decisions to be made and, for the first time in a long time, Wade was feeling a need to be somewhere else to make them. Somewhere neutral. He was heading for Oklahoma. A town called Destiny, Oklahoma. No particular reason why, except that he'd never been there and no one should be looking for him there. It should be a good place to lay low and think.

Wade heard the conductor shout his last "All aboard!", felt the car give a jerk and a shudder. They were moving at last. For a moment, an unfamiliar feeling of melancholy gripped him. So much had happened recently. He felt as though there were a lot of things he was leaving behind.

Handing his ticket to the conductor, Wade noticed no look of recognition in the man's eyes. Matter of fact, he didn't even look at anyone very closely. Ben supposed that, in a job like his, everyone started to blend into the background after awhile. Good. Blending into the background was exactly what he was looking to do.

After another brief scan around the interior of the car to make sure no one was scrutinizing him too closely, Wade removed his black hat, preparing to lean his head back and close his eyes. With a touch of amusement, he noticed that the young lady in blue had now removed the velvet jacket of her suit. She'd tucked her feet underneath her, folded the jacket and was using it as a pillow on the arm of her seat.

The frown of the woman across the aisle was even deeper. Ben just grinned to himself. This train was hot and the girl was tired. Looked to him like she was making a lot of sense. Putting his head back, he closed his eyes.

He woke up some time later with a stiff neck. Right before he opened his eyes, he'd found himself staring into Charlie Prince's blue ones again. Ben was gripping the front of Charlie's leather jacket, holding Charlie's gun as he put a final bullet through his heart.

As Wade sat up, he shook his head to clear the fog. Saw the woman in the seat facing him--Katie, that was her name, he remembered--giving him a sympathetic look. "You have a bad dream?" she asked, offering him her handkerchief to wipe his face.

Shaking his head no, he accepted the handkerchief and mopped his face with it. "No. Why?"

"You were mumbling someone's name," she said. "Sounded like you were saying 'Anne'."

Dan, he realized. Dan Evans. He'd seen Dan's face in the dream too, as well as Will Evans.

Shaking his head again, but not speaking, Wade rose and walked to the front of the car. There was a water spigot there, with a tin cup for drinking. He swallowed one full cup and then another. Then he filled the cup again. Took it back to Katie Richards.

"Thank you. Very much." She spoke with a slight touch of surprise, almost as though she hadn't expected him to be so polite. Nodding, he waited until she finished, then returned the cup to its place.

There was no more conversation. Most of the people around them seemed to be either still dozing or studiously ignoring one another. Outside the windows, dusk was approaching. It seemed like no time before the conductor was announcing that dinner was about to be served in the dining car.

Miss Richards had shaken the wrinkles from her jacket and was putting it back on. Ben held the sleeve for her as she groped for it. "Thank you." She smiled at him. "Would you care to share my table if you're not dining with anyone else? I hate eating alone."

Once again, Wade could see the woman across the aisle taking in everything they said and did. He found himself becoming annoyed with her constant observance and disapproving looks. "I'd be delighted, Miss Richards," he announced in his charming drawl, a little more loudly than was necessary. "Been awhile since I shared a dinner table with such a beautiful young lady." He had a hard time hiding his smile as the woman looked up.

By this time, they were moving into the aisle and Katie Richards found herself right beside Mrs. Upholder-of-Everyone-Else's-Morals, as she'd come to think of the woman. Short-tempered to begin with, Katie did not like someone sticking their nose into her business. Giving the woman a broad smile, she turned back to Wade and said, "You know, they'll be making up the sleeping berths while we're gone. If there should be a shortage for any reason, you're more than welcome to share mine."

Mrs. Upholder gave an audible gasp and Katie laughed. "I guess that'll teach the old busybody," she murmured to Ben, who had given a loud laugh as well. She was pretty, but he could tell she wasn't serious--just trying to give the woman a good dose of humility. He found himself approving.

"Might wanna be careful there, Miss Richards," he said with a grin. "I can tell you're pretty independent and she's got no business stickin' her nose in where it's not wanted, but you might just say somethin' like that to the wrong man one of these days. Might find yourself in trouble."

"You look harmless enough." Katie eyed him. He was an attractive man with a beautiful voice and beautiful eyes, as well as hair she'd loved to have run her fingers through. But he seemed not to be interested in anything at all other than conversation.

Maybe he thought she was too young. Anyway, flirting with men was her older sister's way of doing things, not Katie's. She'd always been daddy's girl. While her sister stayed right by their mother, learning to cook, sew, run the household and be a lady, Katie had always been out on a horse with her father. Helping drive the cattle. Helping at branding time. Learning to do the books. "My little tomboy," he'd always called her fondly.

She'd grown up with men looking at her sister, always wanting to see them to dances and such, but put off by Katie's tomboyish ways. Katie had learned to shrug it off. She'd much rather be out riding than at some ridiculous dance anyway.

For his part, Ben Wade found that he was enjoying the young lady's company without any thought of anything more for once. She was pretty and she talked sensibly, rather than chattering away thoughtlessly.

During dinner, they talked about cattle and horses, politics, and where they were headed. He told her he was going to Oklahoma, not mentioning a particular town there. It amused him highly when she revealed, reluctantly, that she was headed for finishing school in Boston.

"I don't know why Daddy's listening to Mama this time!" Katie was highly agitated. "He never has before. When she tried to get him to make me stop riding and helping out with the cattle, so she could trap me indoors and make me learn to be 'more ladylike and refined', he just laughed and said, 'I never had a son, so Katie's going to be the one to follow in my footsteps. Leave her alone.' I don't know what got into him this time!"

After finishing their dinner, people began going back toward their car in twos and threes. Wade walked beside Miss Richards back to the berth she'd identified as hers. "Hope you have a pleasant evening, Miss," he said quietly, then leaned over to whisper, "If that busybody bothers you again, do a little moaning and calling my name. Maybe she'll faint and you'll both have a more restful night." He grinned at her before moving on toward his own berth. Heard her laughing behind him.

As he was slipping between the curtains, Wade saw his first sign of what could mean trouble on this trip. Halfway down the car from him, a woman had glanced his way. He recognized her. He'd met her in a saloon in Bisbee, Arizona. If he remembered correctly, and he usually did, her name was Emmy.

ON TO PART 2

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