Ralph Compton Train to Durango by Ralph Compton

El Lobo. “You do not go back on your word, or I hate you.”
    El Lobo laughed. “We kill bastardo Dragon before it kill us.”
    Renita’s face was pale, and it cost her, but she took her stand with Tamara.
    â€œWes will do what he feels he must do,” said Renita, “and I will stand beside him.”
    With admiration in his eyes, Bryan Silver looked from one of them to the other. Molly Horrel would be arriving on tomorrow’s stage from Santa Fe. He could only hope the girl would have the courage of these two who had already been to hell and back, and were more than willing to go again, if they had to.

Chapter 5
    Boulder, Colorado, March 29, 1885
    Just minutes before the eastbound train would depart for Kansas City, Gandy Franks spoke to the baggage man who was loading sacks of mail.
    â€œI didn’t get this letter posted in time, and it must reach Kansas City today.”
    â€œThat ain’t my responsibility,” said the baggage man. “I just load and unload sacks of mail.”
    â€œI realize that,” Franks said. “I’m making it worth your while.”
    With the sealed envelope, he handed the baggage man a double eagle.
    â€œThere’s nothin’ on this envelope but a name,” said the baggage man. “I never heard of no Morton Tindall.”
    â€œThe name’s all you’ll need,” Franks said. “Just leave the letter with the telegrapher. I’ll telegraph Tindall that it’s coming, and he’ll pick it up, just like a telegram.”
    â€œIf that’s all I got to do, then I’ll do it,” said the baggage man.
    Franks quickly left the depot, satisfied that Drade Hogan could find no fault with his handling of the situation in Dodge. He had dared not telegraph Gannon in Dodge, for he well knew that Wes Stone had friends there. His instructions to Tindall in Kansas City he was sending by letter, for its very nature forbade use of the telegraph. The letter itself could be deadly evidence if it fell into the wrong hands. Franks immediately sent a telegram to Tindall.
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    Morton Tindall was waiting when the eastbound train reached Kansas City, and he watched as the baggage man delivered the letter to the telegrapher. He waited a few minutes before going to the telegraph office to claim it. The unsigned letter was two pages long, and when Tindall had read it, he read it a second time. One paragraph stood out.
    There is a reward of twenty-five thousand dollars on the heads of each of these three men: Bryan Silver, Wes Stone, and Palo Elfego.
    Within the envelope was a second sealed envelope, and within it, drawn on a Kansas City bank, was a draft for fifty thousand dollars. With it was a note that read: Hire as many men as you must, for as long as may be necessary. You know the penalty for failure.
    Tindall swallowed hard, again referring to information provided in the letter. Just how difficult could it be, killing three men in Dodge?
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    Dodge City, Kansas, March 29, 1885
    The stage from Santa Fe arrived in the late afternoon. Molly Horrel was the last of the dusty, weary passengers to emerge.
    â€œMolly,” said Silver, “this is Harley Stafford and Foster Hagerman. You remember the rest of this bunch, I reckon.”
    â€œI feel like every bone is my body is broken, or at least fractured,” Molly said. “If I had it to do over, I think I’d just walk.”
    She made it a point to go immediately to Renita and Tamara, for she hadn’t seen them since they had been taken by the outlaws in El Paso.
    â€œYou and Tamara are wearing guns,” said Molly. “Are you still in danger?”
    â€œYes,” Renita said, “and so are you. Silver has a lot to tell you.”
    â€œShe’s right,” said Silver. “The situation is far more dangerous than when I sent for you to join me here. Let’s