Dance with the Deacon

"Well Ed, you should rethink that one. If I go down there and shoot up that camp, the whole damn tribe might come after your herd. You would lose not only your cattle but your hair as well. Of course if that is what you want, I can go down and bring back the cattle or the hides. I am pretty sure that is probably all that is left." I had just shown him the logic although it was all lies.

"Let me think on this a while," Ed suggested. I knew right then I had heard the last of it. The idea that Ed might lose everything over ten head of cows was logic enough for him to let it go. I was beginning to like the idea of talking rather than killing.

Ed and I managed to stay away from each other till we reached the rail head. He changed his mind about the horses. I left camp that morning with $62 in coin and all the gear of the three men I shot. I also carried the carpet bag containing the deacon's suit.

Fortunately there were small towns all along the railroad tracks. I rode into Hastings Kansas around noon on the second day. The town's livery man bought the horses and saddles from me. Including the horse I rode and the saddle I had my ass in. I got a hundred dollars in paper for all of the animals and saddles. I could have done better selling them one at a time, but I was in a hurry to get on a train. I had a plan in the back of my mind.

Half hour before the east bound train arrived I sold all the extra guns to the towns general store. The guns were old and poorly cared for. I bought a can of light oil from him first. I used it and a rag he had in the back to clean them up before I sold them to him. Even with the cleaning I received only $28 in coin and a small light weight .36 caliber five shot revolver. He did toss in a box of twenty cartridges for the English made piece. I was happy with the little pistol, The English made finely crafted firearms. They couldn't mass produce them, but what they did turn out were excellent pieces.

The short hop to Saint Louis was only a long days travel on the train. When I arrived I took a room in a hotel on a side street close to the rail station. I spent three days in that room doing my homework. The event itself was anticlimactic.

I sat in the alley behind the Cattleman's Association Bank. I made sure the deputy patrolling passed a few minutes before I pulled on the rain coat. Only after both did I kick in the back door of the bank. I found two of the four employees in the bank a half hour before it opened. I chose that bank because the owner's picture hung on the wall. He was quite handsome in his blue uniform. Beside the picture was a list of the battles he had supposedly been in during the war of Yankee aggression. Seemed only fair that a Yankee colonel paid for my war time.

"Gentlemen, I realize the money belongs to someone, but it ain't you so it ain't worth you dyeing over. Just fill up this here gunny sack." I waited while they did. I was surprised neither resisted nor said a word. I stayed long enough to be absolutely sure I had it all. As far as I could tell I did not leave a penny.

I tied and gagged them before I left the bank through the rear door. I had about fifteen minutes before they could raise and alarm. In that time I dumped the red bandanna and the cowboy hat I had worn with my hair pushed up under it. I also found the empty carpet bag I had left behind a trash can. The can sat at the rear of a ladies ready to wear store. I filled it with the money then walked into the lobby of the small hotel where I stayed. I checked my pocket watch. I found I had just a couple of minutes to change into the black suit of the Deacon.

I had checked into the hotel as Pete Sims. I left it as Deacon Burke. Deacon Burke had a letter from the church elders in Saint Louis. The letter directed him to travel west setting up churches as he went. I also had his school documents and his personal references. I left with Pete's ill gotten gains. Also I left with the Deacon's spotless reputation. That was my plan at least.

I walked into the train station in a black suit and unarmed to anyone who might have been checking. The colt was almost the only thing in the carpet bag, save the stolen money and a spare shirt. The Morris .36 cal was inside the specially made shoulder holster quickly assembled by a harness maker in Saint Louis.

I walked from the hotel a block to the train station with my carpet bag and rifle in hand. I had to risk the rifle. I wasn't about to leave it behind. When I bought the ticket it was to the end of the line. Actually to a small town I never heard of at the end of the line. My plan was simple. Hide out until the robbery was forgotten then slip back home to Virginia. Once I was home with the money I had made mining silver in west, I could buy back my Dad's farm. It was a nice long range plan. The short range plan was to just hide out for a while without using too much of the money. Going on a spending spree was how most of the bad guys got caught. They left a trail of greenbacks a mile wide. I was determined to get away with the robbery then go straight.

The town's sheriff's deputies came to the platform all in a huff. They went up and down looking over the waiting passengers. They gave me only a glance as they continued on their search. I looked at my watch after they had gone. It showed one hour and ten minutes since I walked out the rear door of the bank. The employees hadn't given much of a description I was sure. They probably got the gun right and that would be about all. The Colt was carried by half the men in the the west. At that moment it was not carried by me. The yellow rain slicker was in a trash can less than a block from the bank. It had been bought in a different town on the way to Saint Louis. If there was anything to tie me to the robbery it was the time of my departure. Nobody had noticed me leave the hotel through the fire door at the rear. As far as they knew I left as the cowboy who had entered. Pete Sims might be wanted for questioning but he had disappeared. He might resurface in a year or so. If so it would most likely be in Virginia.

I found my way to an empty coach seat. Even though it was padded to some degree, I knew it was going to be a long ride west. I waited along with the other passengers while another train filled with cattle passed. It suddenly occurred to me how large a job it must be to keep east and west bound trains from colliding. Especially since both used the same set of tracks. I actually remember hoping the little men who ran the stations stayed awake until I got where I was headed. The thought of finally being rich then to die in a train crash was more than I could stand. It would be the ultimate irony. My lying by the side of the tracks with my ill gotten gain floating in the air.

I shook my head to clear it of the black thought. After all I was a Deacon off to do God's work. Surely he would protect me. The train began to move.

My thoughts turned to where I would go from the town at the end of the line. The papers carried by Deacon Burke had mentioned a town called Sadie's Gulch Nevada. According to the letter it was suggested that he stop there to open a church. There was the veiled warning about something the bishop has discussed with him before he left Saint Louis. I had no idea what the something was but the idea appealed to me. It would definitely help make the Deacon more believable if he were found to be in the place he should be. Within an hour of starting the trip I had decided my next move. I did realize it would be two very long days before I could do anything.

The first afternoon there were no meal stops planned. The train would be stopping for a half hour to allow the tracks ahead to clear, but it would not be until six P.M. I had been told by the station master in Saint Louis that there would be somewhere to eat during the long stops. I had not eaten breakfast since I was nervous about the bank job. I was beginning to feel the empty feeling in my belly. If I had been on horseback it would have been possible to ignore. However sitting on the train left me nothing else to do but feel the hunger.

We stopped to take on mail and a few freight boxes in a small town somewhere or other. On the platform there were children hawking fried meat pies. I bought two for ten cent well over twice what they were worth. Still I had plenty of money and I was starving. My only regret was that I had to wash them down with tepid water from the crock at the end of the car. The pies themselves were very good. They were spicy enough so their cool temperature was palatable. The boy was more than likely the son of the boarding house owner. I was told the food usually came from such a kitchen on the short stops. She had to be making a killing with the over priced food flying from his little wooden box.

After the lunch I managed to drift off into sleep. I was awakened by a woman shaking me gently. "Reverend, I am sorry to wake you but the seat beside you is empty and I would like to sit there."

It took me a moment to realize she was speaking to me. "Of course madam," I replied moving to make room for her. "I am sorry that I have taken so much room. Would you like to sit by the window?"

"No thank you sir. Far too much dust for me." She was smiling as she spoke.

I looked about. The train was moving quite fast. It didn't appear that it had made a stop while I slept. "Excuse me Miss?" I made it a question.

"Wilson Reverend, Edith Wilson," She replied.

"Miss Wilson I am not a preacher. I am but a humble deacon." I had learned a few things in my childhood church attending days. I could see by her curious look that she didn't understand the collar. I changed the subject to get her mind off it. "Did you just come aboard"

"No Deacon, I can call you deacon?" She seemed to be a bit disturbed by the name thing.

"Yes I am called Deacon by most folks. My last name is Burke. Now if you did not come aboard recently where have you been sitting. Also why did you find it necessary to move not that I object to the company mind you?" Actually I did mind the company. The more people I talked to the more likely I was to make a mistake. If she stayed she was likely to hear me snore a lot more than I would have alone.

"I was seated alone in the next car back. A rather loud and rude cowboy sat next to me at the last stop. I am a married woman Deacon. I am meeting my husband at the end of the line. I did not want the cowboy to get the wrong idea. I do hope you don't mind the company."

"Not at all, would you like for me to have a word with the young man?" I asked not sure what I would do if she said yes.

"Oh no please, if you would just allow me to sit here." There was some emotion in her eye but I couldn't place it.

"Very well," I replied formally.

Fifteen minutes later I had begun to regret my decision. Edith Wilson was a chatterer. She was filling me with stories of her Ohio home and family even though she should have known it bored me to tears. It was so boring I fell asleep often. I am not sure whether she stopped talking while I slept or not. She might have continued to ramble for all I know. I do know that whenever I awoke she would begin again or maybe just continue.

I dozed off and on until the train pulled onto a siding for the east bound train to pass. The conductor advised us we would be on the siding for a minimum of thirty five minutes. That being the case there was a wagon outside to take those who wanted to the boarding house for real food. For the others there were again children with boxes of biscuits and beef. I decided to take the wagon since it would be only natural for a deacon to have a little money. Besides which I was hungry. It did leave me with a bit of a problem. Carrying my bag would draw attention to it. Leaving it unattended was a gamble. "Are you going to the house for dinner?" I asked the man sitting behind us. He wore a suit. He also spoke like a businessman. I asked it because he looked as though he were not going to rouse long enough to go anywhere.

"No, I think I will get a biscuit and just go back to sleep."

"My name is Deacon Burke," I extended my hand to him. "I have a rather expensive dear rifle up in the luggage rack. I wonder if you might deep an eye on it for me. I would hate to see it wonder off while I eat dinner."

"I expect I would awaken if anyone came near. Hell, everything else wakes me up today. "Sorry Preacher," he smiled a smile like a kid caught with his fingers in the cookie jar.

"I'm just a deacon sir. I too have been known to succumb to the urge to express myself colorfully." I wondered where the fancy words were coming from. It took only a second to remember the tutors who came to the house during he summer months when I was a child. Dad had been a believer in education. Then too there was his status to consider. Dad owned the largest farm in the county. His only son had to at least sound educated.

Th war of Yankee aggression changed all that. Three years in the army surrounded by less educated 'young gentlemen' lowered my language skills. Then there was the pure hell of killing men from a hundred yards away. Somehow I had slipped into Colonel Boyd's raiders. We were mostly used to ambush the blue bellies. We delayed their advance for the last year of the war. Always staying a few miles in front of them playing hell with their advanced scouts.

What I did was not really in the heat of battle killing. It was cold blooded murder in the name of patriotism. It bothered me less at the time than it did when the war ended. I was lucky they didn't hang me. When word came down of the surrender Colonel Boyd himself came by to give us the word. He also told us to dump the uniforms and drift west. His best advice was don't go home. The yanks are going to be looking for us all. My guess is that they will hang us on site.

I didn't listen. I doubt anyone else did either. I rode home on the horse I had ridden into battle. If you chose to call how I fought the war battles. When I saw what was left of the place my heart broke. I knew my mother and father had been killed in Richmond while there on business. I supposed he was trying to find a way to save the farm. I found out it was going to be sold for taxes. All of the south was since no one had paid any taxes to the Yanks. There sure as hell wasn't any money to pay them now. It looked as though the Yankees who had profited from the war would be coming down to buy up the cheap land.

With no family and no inheritance the move west was easy to make. I hated leaving the place but then there was nothing but ashes left for me in Virginia. As a final act of revenge I burned the house to the ground. It looked as though the memories were the only thing left to me by my parents. They were sweet and gentile but not of much use to me. The memories of Colonel Boyd were much more valuable.

All that seemed to flash by in a half second. I nodded my thanks to the man then stood to stretch before following Edith into the aisle. She had decided to join me for dinner without being asked. It was a common practice for a woman traveling alone to find a suitable protector. I found it amusing that men seemed to be willing to die for a strange woman. I never quite figured that one out. To die for a woman you were married to, or at least in love with was one thing. To die for an almost total stranger was something else again. Those thoughts ran through my mind because of her encounter with the cowboy earlier. I had a feeling there might be more trouble from him. I would be expected to protect her. I would never have even considered it in my former life. I supposed in the life of Deacon Burke it would be expected of me. For the first time I realized the plan might have a down side. I had to act like a deacon.

I allowed her to lead the way to the end of the car. There I stepped ahead of her to help her down the steps. When she was safely on the platform I looked around. I saw a wagon with three seats parked by the high platform. It was possible to step almost directly into the wagon. The bed of the wagon was only slightly higher than the platform. It was possible for eight passengers to ride to the boarding house. Nine if one of them drove, leaving the young man to walk along beside. I rode in the wagon only because Edith accompanied me. The ride was no more than a few hundred yards. Still Edith would most likely have been uncomfortable walking it in the early fall afternoon. What with all the clothes a woman wore in those days. I found the suit coat I wore almost uncomfortable. I could have taken the coat off. She on the other hand could not remove the heavy traveling dress she wore.

The old lady who ran the boarding house must have been doing well with the train business. The place had a new coat of paint on the walls and a few new boards in the porch. Inside the house the long hallway led to two dining rooms. One had probably been the parlor before the conversion to a boarding house. It had probably lasted until the train had reached the small town. I figured if she were smart the old lady. she knew it wasn't going to last. If the stop became permanent there would soon be a restaurant nearer the station.

The food was simple. There was a stew heavy with gravy and vegetables. It was probably the most economical of dishes. It suited me fine. Stew was filling and quick to get onto the plate. It was almost as quick to get into the belly. The old lady or one of her kids made much better biscuits than I ever got living on the move. My own mother made better ones of course but that had been before the war with the blue bellies. The coffee was hot and only slightly on the weak side of perfect. For desert there was a sort of dry apple cobbler.

The meal was expensive. Probably because it was the only game in town. It could have been worse. I paid my two bits while looking for Edith. I saw her still at the table with her money purse open looking thoughtfully into it. I could tell from her expression she was regretting the expense of the large meal. I should have known better but I paid for the meal. I made a point of telling the old lady who the second two bits was for.

As I waited for Edith and the others to join me for the wagon ride back to the station I noticed that the men were all dressed in suits. It seemed the cowboys didn't care to part with the money for a real meal. I expected like I had previously done they satisfied themselves with the meat pies from the children on the platform.

The wagon left soon after I finished my meal. Edith didn't mention my having paid for her meal so I did. I didn't want the thanks but I also didn't want the old woman to collect twice for the food.

"Edith, that old lady didn't try to collect for dinner from you did she?" I asked.

"No Deacon she didn't. Thank you," she replied.

"It was my pleasure. I asked only to be sure she didn't try to take advantage of you. Please think nothing of it."

"Oh but I do. It was a kind and generous gesture. When I reach my destination I will tell my husband what a wonderful companion you have been."

"I really wouldn't do that were I you," I replied.

"Oh why not?" she asked with a look that told me she knew full well why not.

"He might get the wrong idea."

"But you are a man of the cloth?" It was a question.

"Yes but I am not a preacher. I am but a deacon and not above sins of the flesh."

"Then I suppose I will leave that part out." She was wearing a broad smile. It was the most attractive thing about her up until that point.

A couple of hours after dinner it began getting dark. If I had been traveling as myself I would have joined one of the many card games in progress up and down the aisles. Since I was not myself I slipped into sleep. Edith was not the chatty type when tired thank god, so I was able to nap off and on without interruption. I awoke sometime in the night to find her head on my shoulder as she slept beside me. It was most disconcerting even for a deacon. I had that thought as I laughed inwardly. I am afraid I had some most un-deacon like thoughts about the young lady beside me. For a moment I regretted the pretense. Then I remembered the money. It also came to me that if she hadn't thought I was safe, she would never have been beside me at all. It was the left handedness of it all that made it so amusing. Not amusing enough for me to forget the warm feeling Edith gave me. Even though I had the desire I had the good sense not to act on it. I intended to stay in character no matter what. I also knew Edith was a married woman and not interested in an encounter even with a well meaning Deacon.