Riding dark
With the sun now set, the Morning Star traversed the Badlands, ebbing ever closer to Low Dashi and their quarry. The cloud cover of the night did plenty to blot out the moon, thus drenching the landscape in nothing but inky black. To prevent detection the locomotive ran dark, with not a single lamp or candle lit, with even the engine’s headlight disabled to prevent anything that could prematurely announce their arrival. They needn’t have to travel to Low Dashi itself, only to a tunnel through a mountainside, one that housed a curiosity that would hopefully swing fortune in their favour.
As soon as the train vanished into the mountainside, it slowed to a crawl, with Jacques jumping out and running alongside it. He reached the track change lever and gave it an almighty heave before locking it back in place. The Morning Star trundled upon its new diversion, a disused line within the tunnel itself, which in turn opened up to a large space dotted with rusted mine carts.
The Morning Star lit up once again, radiantly bathing the rock surfaces with light, revealing three lines of cart tracks running horizontally into the mountain, barricaded with a partition of wooden slats. A handful on board disembarked, surveying the surroundings, a number of the Bluecoats were ordered to break down the barricade, which they did easily.
Marshal Juniper unfurled the first of a number of hefty rolls of paper, laying it across the yard floor, weighing it down with whatever debris was to hand. Wyld was dressed in a blackened outfit, her hooded poncho all matching the deepest black that they could muster with shoe polish and rubbing coal dust into the material. She stood beside Misu, observing the paths that twisted across the paper. Juniper began.
‘Low Dashi is an old mining town. A couple of decades ago people up and left when it dried up, leaving the surrounding settlement a ghost town. From what your informant revealed, Wilheim has set up shop here, which causes us considerable difficulty. These outposts dotted near the track route – signal boxes, watchtowers, farms, all of these are to be considered hostile. Wilheim will have men there watching out for anybody who intends to approach.
‘Make no mistake – if we go in early, we’ll be seen and Franco will no doubt be killed. Equally if you’re detected and the alarm is sounded, Franco dies. Try not to dispose of anybody unless you have to. If people are missed, suspicions will be raised. Again, Franco dies. Nobody wants that. There’s no reason for the mines to be occupied so you should have a straight path through and out. As for your exit you’ll have to make it out on your own accord. If the elevator fires up there’s no chance it won’t be noticed. That is, if it’s working at all.’
The marshal unfurled the next roll, keeping it in place with a number of rocks.
‘This is the mine that the town was built upon. This is where fortune is with us. It runs deep but this shaft right here –’ he pointed to the newly revealed entrance ‘– is an adit. It feeds the workers with oxygen. It leads to the vertical shaft that houses an elevator, slap bang in the middle of the town.’
Misu tapped the precisely drawn lines. ‘As soon as you emerge, it’s important that you get to cover and stay there. You’re there to observe and report back. No heroics, no matter how inviting it may become. Don’t do anything that could jeopardize the plan.’
‘This ain’t my first rodeo. I know full well what’s required,’ Wyld declared, checking her equipment for the umpteenth time. The knife was well fastened to her belt. She checked her revolver once more, spinning the cylinder with a number of rapid clicks.
‘You don’t need that,’ Misu flatly protested.
‘Better to have it and not need it and all that …’ she mumbled, clipping it to its holster as the next map was loudly placed down.
‘When in Low Dashi itself, there’s a number of key structures that could be Wilheim’s base of operation. The refinery here, the shipyard here … I’ll be honest, he could be anywhere, as could Franco. This is just speculation so you’ll be snooping about finding out whereabouts. Our success depends on this information, got it?’
‘Got it.’
‘Because without it, the plan is sunk. As are any chances of getting our man out alive.’
Wyld nodded. ‘Since when have I let anybody down?’
‘Don’t start now. I would be most displeased.’ Misu tried to remain stern. The odds were against them, something that made her considerably uneasy. The plan, she was told by some, was practically suicide, nothing but chance dressed up in the fanciness of hope. Misu disagreed but their concerns were beginning to be make her question her own decisions. Were they right? Was this all a foolish endeavour?
Misu patted Wyld on the shoulder, handing her a small oil lamp. It wasn’t much but it would provide some illumination on her journey.
‘You need to be out before dawn. You’ve got about six hours, give or take. Any more and you’re really risking it. It’s not like we’ve got the resources to rescue both of you from there.’
‘Not a problem.’ Wyld held the lantern steady as Misu lit it with a match, fiddling with the burner to adjust the luminescence. In turn the match was set upon a cigarette hanging from Misu’s lips before being shaken out.
Misu withdrew her smoke. ‘Good luck,’ she stated, easing it back.
‘Watch out for Knockers,’ the marshal suggested, half in jest though the moment he did, he turned red-faced. The old tale of creatures rapping on mine walls to coax cave-ins was a bedtime story, one miners told their children to make their jobs more exciting. Nobody took them seriously.
‘I am surprised. I never took you for the superstitious type, Marshal,’ Misu said. ‘They’re the product of bedtime stories designed to scare I wager, nothing more.’
‘Superstitious nothing. I figure it’s just good practice that your girl here is prepared for any eventuality, no matter how outrageous.’
‘Please, Marshal,’ Wyld stated confidently with a broad grin. ‘You don’t know me like her, but let me tell you something. Because of the things I’ve seen and done in this lifetime, anything scurrying around in the tunnels should be concerned of me.’
Wyld wasn’t one for a lingering goodbye. She took to the entrance of the mine at a jog and before long the glow of her light was swallowed by the darkness inside. As she did so, Juniper reflected on the dangers that lay before her, before all of them in fact.
‘Think she’ll pull it off?’ he asked, rolling up the maps one by one.
* * *
Misu sized him up for a moment, with a staggered inhalation. Wyld’s ability wasn’t in question and she had long proven herself to be an ally. The Bluecoats on the other hand were unpredictable. The passionate nature of all lawmen concerned her. Bullets could fly early. Hell, some could even have been bought outright without him knowing. It was difficult not to entertain these possibilities.
‘It’s not her I’m worried about, Marshal,’ Misu replied, strolling back to the train.