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  Endsville

  The Endsville Saga, Volume 1

  Harlan Finchley

  Published by Culbin Press, 2020.

  Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 by Harlan Finchley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

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  Further Reading: Return to Endsville

  Also By Harlan Finchley

  Chapter One

  “HOW FAR IS IT TO ENDSVILLE?” Jesmond Drake asked.

  “It’s around a mile that way,” the rider said, backing his horse away from him and the rest of the group. He gulped and then with a shaking hand pointed at the crest of the rounded hill to his left. “But if you’re heading west to Ash Point, you should keep to the trail.”

  The man turned in the saddle to signify the route, although that meant he pointed toward the noon day sun first before directing them along a path that avoided Endsville.

  “That doesn’t seem like the quickest way.”

  The man tipped back his hat. Then, with a shake of the head, he moved his horse on, and when he’d ridden past the group he sped up. The leader of the group, Bodie McCloud, was the first to speak.

  “What was he worried about?” he said.

  “Us, I’d guess,” Jesmond said.

  “That’s what I’m worried about.” Bodie rounded on Jesmond, as if the failure to get a full answer had been his fault. “So from now on, we avoid talking to anyone we don’t have to.”

  He waited until he’d received a round of grunted affirmations. Then he moved off the trail and up the hill. As promised, when they reached the crest a settlement of around a dozen buildings was below.

  Nobody was on the short main drag. This suggested Endsville was an ideal place to stop, as they’d hoped it would be ever since Cresswell Tweed had mentioned the town.

  “If you’re scared about that man remembering us,” Cresswell said, “I can go after him and make sure he doesn’t ever tell anyone what he saw.”

  His comment made Yardleigh Jarrett and Flynn O’Doherty nod, but Bodie firmed his jaw.

  “If anyone misses him, that would make things worse, so we’ll stay calm.” Bodie indicated a tangle of trees that stood farther along the crest of the hill. “But we will change our plan and Marcel will hole up over there.”

  He turned to Marcel Renaud, the man who would be waiting here with fresh horses, and shooed him away, but Marcel eyed the trees without enthusiasm.

  “That doesn’t look a good place to stay,” Marcel said. “It’ll be easier if I just wait in Endsville tonight like we agreed.”

  “Which is a place where you’ll be seen and remembered.”

  Marcel frowned and rubbed his jaw, suggesting he was trying to come up with a valid argument to counter Bodie’s order. When nothing presented itself, he gave a reluctant nod.

  “I’ll be waiting with the horses in the trees for you to return some time after noon tomorrow,” Marcel said. “Don’t be late or I might decide to go down into Endsville and get myself some liquor.”

  “Do that and I’ll shoot you to hell before making off with your share.”

  Marcel turned in the saddle to Bodie, but when Bodie snarled, he took control of the five free horses and moved on. When he reached the trees Bodie edged his horse closer to Jesmond.

  “I reckon we can trust Marcel to still be there when we return,” Jesmond said.

  “I’m sure he will be,” Bodie said. “I guess that traveler’s attitude spooked me, but perhaps there’s no need to worry about him.”

  “I agree. He was just concerned about meeting six men on the trail when he was on his own.”

  “Perhaps he was,” Bodie said with a shrug. “But I got the feeling he was more concerned when he heard our destination was Endsville.”

  Jesmond frowned. The town seemed too small and too quiet to make them change their plans, so he shook his head and with that, they swung away to head east toward the railroad.

  Chapter Two

  THE BRAKES ON THE TRAIN squealed with an insistent cry. The sound echoed in the narrow Bluff Pass, as the engineers accepted they couldn’t break through the heap of burning logs that covered the tracks.

  The railroad tracks through Bluff Pass followed a sharp incline and the train shuddered to a halt quickly. Then Bodie McCloud made his move. While Cresswell, along with Flynn and Yardleigh, covered them from hidden positions at the top of the pass, Jesmond scampered down one side and Bodie climbed down the other side.

  Jesmond reached the bottom first. In the nearest car several passengers were cringing away. So to assuage their concerns and to ensure they didn’t get involved, Jesmond gestured with his palms facing down.

  Then he moved on to the final car and stood to one side of the wide door. He waited until Bodie had scooted around the back of the train to stand on the other side of the door. Then he nodded to him after which Bodie gave a short wave. A rapid burst of gunfire tore out from the top of the pass and splattered lead along the car above the door.

  “We’ve got ten guns trained on this door and you don’t stand a chance,” Bodie shouted when the gunfire echoes had receded. “This is your only warning. Hand over the payroll and you’ll get no trouble from us. Resist us and you’ll die.”

  Bodie caught Jesmond’s eye and Jesmond winked. Then they both awaited developments. Jesmond hadn’t expected Bodie’s opening ruse to work and he had been prepared for fierce opposition. So even when the door slid open for a fraction, he expected the guards to fight back, but to his surprise a tentative voice spoke up from inside.

  “We don’t want no trouble.”

  “Then throw out your guns,” Bodie demanded.

  Murmured comments sounded within. Then a six-shooter came flying through the gap. Another murmured conversation sounded ending when someone shouted over the other speakers ordering them to comply with Bodie’s demand.

  Then several more six-shooters and two rifles were slotted through the gap and dropped to the ground. Jesmond couldn’t help but smile behind the kerchief that hid the lower part of his face.

  More guards were inside than Bodie had expected and that meant if they had put up a fight, the raiders would have struggled to prevail. Bodie reached up to the door to drag it fully open.

  He edged forward and then nodded to Jesmond, who hurried forward to cover him while he clambered inside. Five guards were within and they were standing with their hands thrust high.

  Bodie grunted a demand and he was directed to a strongbox that was big enough to contain the payroll. Bodie moved quickly to secure the box before anyone noticed that their numbers were less than he had claimed they were. Bodie shoved the box along until he reached the door and then tipped it forward for it to crash to the ground and then roll on until it fetched up on its side.

  “We’re much obliged,” he said
with a mocking tip of the hat before he jumped down.

  While Bodie examined the strongbox, Jesmond kept his gun on the guards. Before long the guards turned to each other, presumably as they noted that the promised large gang wasn’t outside.

  Thankfully, the strongbox lid had broken in two on impact and Bodie was able to prize the box open to reveal the contents. Two bulging saddlebags were within and Bodie’s low whistle confirmed they had claimed the payroll.

  “You won’t get away this,” one of the guards called. “U.S. Marshal Trent Dobson is helping the railroad now. He’ll be on your trail before sundown.”

  “All he’ll find is our trail dust.”

  Jesmond walked sideways to Bodie and looped one of the saddlebags over his left shoulder while Bodie took the other bag. Then Bodie backed away to the slope. The guards edged forward to follow his progress so Jesmond gathered up their discarded guns, which he hurled aside.

  Then he joined Bodie in backing away. When they reached the bottom of the slope they surveyed the scene. The guards were still in the end car while the passengers had stayed inside. A few passengers along with the engineers were visible, but nobody was showing any sign of launching a counter-attack.

  “This raid went better than I could ever have dreamed,” Bodie said.

  “Yeah,” Jesmond said. “It looks as if this is going to be our lucky day.”

  Bodie laughed and then scurried up the first section of the slope while Jesmond covered him. Then Bodie settled down and covered Jesmond until he joined him. When they were a third of the way up Bluff Pass, the scene below was still quiet, so with nods they agreed to move on quickly.

  They set off, but they had covered only a single pace when a gunshot tore out. The report came from ahead and Jesmond presumed that one of their colleagues had fired a warning shot. He checked behind him, but nobody was acting aggressively below, so he turned back only to find that Bodie was raising his gun.

  Then he worked out what had concerned him. Ten yards ahead a man was lying on his chest between two boulders and he had already taken aim at them. The gunman loosed off a shot that scythed into a rock a foot to Jesmond’s side and then with Bodie taking aim at him, the man rolled sideways to disappear from view behind a boulder.

  “I’m U.S. Marshal Trent Dobson,” the man shouted. “This is your only warning. Surrender now or die.”

  Although the terrain afforded plenty of cover, there didn’t appear to be a path that Dobson could have used to leave the train and then crawl along the side of the pass without being seen. As Bodie held his gun on the boulder, waiting for Dobson to reappear, the thought hit Jesmond that if the marshal had sneaked up on them, others might have done so, too.

  Feeling spooked, he turned around to face in the other direction. Nobody was there, but Dobson’s intervention encouraged the guards to act. Two men jumped down from the train and sidled along beside the tracks while the other guards kneeled down in the doorway.

  Within moments the first two men used the available cover to disappear from view. As Jesmond had thrown their guns in this area, he got Bodie’s attention and pointed up the slope. Bodie nodded, his narrowed eyes confirming he understood the urgency of the situation.

  They both blasted lead at the boulder where Dobson was hiding. Even without Bodie issuing an order, the shots gathered their colleagues’ attention and they fired down at the same spot.

  While still keeping his gun trained on the boulder, Bodie set off and Jesmond followed him in scrambling up the slope. When they reached the gap between the boulders Dobson was no longer there.

  They moved on and they had covered another ten paces when rapid gunfire cracked behind them. Clearly the guards had now claimed their guns and their action encouraged Dobson to bob up and splatter lead at them from farther down the pass.

  The slugs kicked up rock shards beside Jesmond’s right boot while Bodie flinched when another shot came even closer to him. Both men hit the ground and then crawled along to use the available cover that their elevated position afforded them.

  Jesmond raised his head. Dobson wasn’t visible, but the guards who had stayed in the train were now scurrying on to join the others. Several passengers were also edging out of a car and they were all armed and chatting eagerly as they prepared to join the fight.

  With the situation looking as if it would soon turn bad, Bodie gestured up the slope. They still had to climb for another fifty paces and the rocky terrain would provide cover, but their colleagues had stopped firing.

  “The marshal’s pinned us down,” Bodie called. “Cover us.”

  “We can’t see nothing to shoot at,” Cresswell shouted.

  “Then keep it that way!”

  “Taking on a U.S. Marshal is a big mistake, Bodie,” Dobson shouted from behind a boulder that was around twenty paces below them.

  Bodie snarled and got up on his haunches. With steady care he launched a burst of lead around Dobson’s position and that helped Cresswell to work out where he had to shoot. A ferocious volley of gunfire followed from the top of the pass so Bodie stopped firing and leaped to his feet.

  Jesmond joined him and the two men scurried up the pass, this time ignoring what was happening behind them. They had halved the distance to the top when gunfire blasts sounded from below, the shots all thankfully wild.

  When they’d covered another twenty paces, the slope became less steep and they were able to speed up. Presently, the other raiders came into view and they were continuing to fire down at Dobson and the others.

  Cresswell stopped firing to wave them on. Then he hurried on to the horses to ensure they could make a quick escape. With it now looking as if they would get away from Dobson, Flynn and Yardleigh joined Cresswell in hurrying to their horses.

  Bodie stopped and with a whoop of defiance he blasted a shot into the pass. A moment later a returning shot tore out and with a cry of pain Bodie stumbled and then fell to his knees. Jesmond turned, finding that Dobson had jumped to his feet and fired, but the marshal dropped down from view before Jesmond could aim at him. So Jesmond hurried to Bodie’s side finding him kneeling with his head bowed.

  “The damn marshal got me,” Bodie said through gritted teeth.

  Jesmond moved to help Bodie get up, but Bodie waved him away, so Jesmond leveled his gun on the last place Dobson had appeared. The marshal stayed down giving Bodie enough time to stagger to his feet.

  Then Cresswell arrived leading Bodie’s horse. He took the saddlebag from Bodie, and Flynn claimed Jesmond’s saddlebag. While Yardleigh took over the duty of covering them, Jesmond hurried to his mount.

  Within moments all five men were mounted up, with Bodie being the last to raise himself into the saddle. Then they rode away from Bluff Pass with Jesmond slipping in at the back of the group.

  Bodie was riding stiffly and he had had a patch of blood on his side, but as they couldn’t do anything about that now, Jesmond moved on to ride alongside him. Bodie cast him a pained grimace. Then, with a determined swing of the head, they rode on toward the distant Endsville.

  Chapter Three

  THE GROUP RODE AT A steady gallop heading west. Jesmond checked behind him frequently expecting that Marshal Dobson would be giving chase. The train had three freight cars and they could have contained horses, but when Dobson didn’t appear, Jesmond presumed they would have some time before the pursuit began.

  They had accepted Cresswell’s suggestion that Endsville was a good place to leave fresh horses as it was three hours from Bluff Pass, but they had been riding for only an hour when Bodie drew back. He was listing in the saddle so Jesmond called ahead for the others to slow down, which they did without question.

  Jesmond dismounted and helped Bodie down from his horse. While the others spread out to keep watch, he bade Bodie to sit down which he did gingerly. He gave him a water canteen, but Bodie had stiffened up and he struggled to raise the water to his lips.

  Jesmond reclaimed the canteen and helped him gulp down a mouthful. Th
en he nudged his jacket aside. Underneath, the shirt was soaked in blood so fearing the worst Jesmond removed Bodie’s jacket and then raised his shirt.

  He had only ever seen one bullet wound at close quarters before and that had been on a man who had later died. This time he struggled to even find the source of the bleeding.

  “How bad is it?” Flynn called.

  “I’m not sure,” Jesmond said and then lowered his voice. “Tell me when it hurts.”

  Bodie snorted a laugh. “I’ll be sure to let you know.”

  Jesmond poked Bodie’s chest in various spots and it was only when Bodie winced that he worked out what had happened. He favored Bodie with a comforting smile.

  “I reckon you got lucky.” he said. “The bullet only ran along the side of your chest and cut a furrow.”

  Bodie winced. “Are you sure? It feels like I’ve bust a rib.”

  “You might have done, but the bullet’s not in you so I reckon I can fix you up.”

  Bodie nodded. “In that case stop the bleeding and we’ll get moving.”

  Jesmond turned to Flynn, who was already searching for something to use. He settled on ripping a spare vest in two and then throwing the strips down to Jesmond, who tore one half into smaller sections.

  Then he wadded the cloth over the wound and secured it in place by tying the larger strip around Bodie’s chest. When he drew the strip tight, Bodie tensed suggesting he may have been right and the bullet had busted a rib. Bodie breathed shallowly several times and then nodded.

  “Are you ready to travel?” Jesmond asked.

  “I will be when you’ve finished what you’re doing.” Bodie pointed at the pieces of cloth that Jesmond hadn’t used.

  “I’m saving those for later.”

  Bodie winced, but the rest appeared to help him as he got up on his own and then took another swig of water unaided. Jesmond moved closer in case he needed help to mount up, but Bodie rolled into the saddle and rode off. The other riders waited until Jesmond had mounted up and then surrounded him.