By Beth Goodman
Copyright 1999
V. Into the Eye of the Storm
Jimmy, Cody, and Lou rode toward Fort Kearny in silence most of the way, combating the weather and doing their best to proceed at their fastest speeds though the thick, sticky mud often felt as if it would swallow up their horses altogether. It seemed as though the closer they came to their destination, the harder the pellets of rain began to beat down upon them.
The sky was blackening even more because of the dense, ominous clouds that were lurking overhead, so it was hard to believe that it was actually daytime. The fierce roaring of the thunder persisted, and the riders realized that they were heading right into the eye of the storm as the flashes of lightning became increasingly more frequent.
It was lucky for the riders that they knew the way to Fort Kearny extremely well because the trail was completely washed out and had been since the violent rainstorm first swept through the territory several days ago. But now, to make matters worse, the speed of the wind was intensifying, whipping the rain horizontally and into the faces of the three riders so it became more and more difficult to see.
The riders had never ridden through anything like this before. It felt like they were riding straight into Hell. Still, they pressed on, although knowing that once they made it to Fort Kearny, they'd have to get right back out there only to battle Mother Nature once again.
VI. Fort Kearny At Last
When Lou, Cody, and Jimmy finally reached their destination late that evening, they brought their previously incessant pace down to a slower trot. They surveyed the desolate streets of the usually bustling township, finding the only activity present to be in the less-than-crowded saloon. It appeared that only those few who were really hard-up for liquor were willing to go out in such torrential rainfall.
Making their way to the army base, the three Express riders seemed somewhat more at ease now that nothing out of the ordinary had happened to them while travelling to Fort Kearny to deliver their message. All of them seemed to simultaneously breathe a sigh of relief as they dismounted their horses outside the gates of the army fort.
"We've gotta find this Lieutenant Davies, like Teaspoon said." Cody had broken the long-standing hush that had come over the riders since they first departed from Sweetwater.
Jimmy, Lou, and Cody approached the gates which were being guarded by two armed soldiers who looked as though they were going to collapse if they had to stand out in the horrible rain any longer.
"Excuse me," Jimmy stated, very seriously, "but we've got an urgent message for Lieutenant Davies."
"What's so urgent about it?" The taller of the two guards asked in a tone indicating extreme caution. After all, he didn't know who these three strangers were. They could be looking to cause trouble.
"We ride for the Pony Express. We're from Sweetwater, and Teaspoon Hunter sent us. We have information about an army dispatch that was intercepted two days ago," Cody declared, after the soldiers failed to respond to their prior statement.
The two guards looked warily at each other. They were not sure if the riders could be trusted. It could be some kind of trap to infiltrate the fort.
Jimmy was getting extremely irritated at the situation as the guards were wasting their precious time when every moment counted like an eternity. "Look, either you let us in right now," his hand moved his coat aside to reveal one of his beautiful, yet deadly, Navy pistols, "or we'll make our own way in."
"Jimmy..." Lou warned, shaking her head. Hesitantly, Jimmy nodded in compliance, and backed his hand away from his holster.
Lou saw that the guards were just not being receptive to their arrival, and Jimmy threatening them did not make matters any better. So, she decided to take a different approach. She would try to be calm and reasonable with the soldiers.
"Look, mister, we don't want no trouble. We're just here to stop it. That's why we gotta talk to Lieutenant Davies. Why else do you think we'd be out here on a night like this?" She paused as she studied the unwavering expressions on the guards' faces.
"You've gotta believe us. If you don't, there will be big trouble and you'll be too late to stop it," Lou added.
Finally, trusting the honesty and sincerity in Lou's gentle voice, it appeared the guards were going to give in. They reluctantly opened the gates, and one of the guards escorted Jimmy, Cody, and Lou inside the fort.
VII. Looking for Answers
The uncooperative soldier that had once guarded the gate of the fort was leading Cody, Lou, and Jimmy inside, they hoped, to Lieutenant Davies. Everyone's clothes were totally rain-soaked, causing them to leave a distinct trail of wetness as they traveled inside the army building.
They passed dozens of uniform-dressed soldiers, each time hoping it would be the man who could help them in their terrible predicament. After walking down several long corridors, the escort stopped outside an entrance to a large office where a middle-aged man sat studying some documents intently behind his desk.
The guard straightened himself before he spoke, "Lieutenant, sir!" His voice was strong and deliberate. He saluted as the man behind the desk raised his eyes from the papers he had been deeply concentrated on. "These three are riders from the Pony Express. They say they have an urgent message for you."
The lieutenant removed his reading spectacles and began speaking, "Corporal Flanders, you are dismissed." The soldier who had led the riders to Lieutenant Davies saluted a final time before exiting, closing the door behind him.
Davies continued when he was sure that he and the Express riders were alone. "Oh, good. I've been expectin' that dispatch for two days now. I was gettin' ready to send out some men to look for you. But seein' as how the weather's been, I just figured you got caught up in the storm."
Obviously, he thought the riders were there to deliver the original documents that had gotten stolen. They looked at each other for a moment, wondering who was going to be the one to tell him of the horrible events that had happened.
Lou had the message from Teaspoon in her saddle bag, so she removed it, stepped forward towards Lieutenant Davies, took a deep breath, and began explaining, "My name's Lou McCloud, and this here's Jimmy Hickok and William Cody. Actually, Lieutenant, we're here with a message from Teaspoon Hunter, Marshal of Sweetwater." The last part was almost phrased like a question, and Lou waited for confirmation that Davies remembered who Teaspoon was.
"Ah, yes, Teaspoon," Davies smiled. "Well, what is it?"
Lou handed the envelope to Lieutenant Davies and told him the gist of what was contained in the letter at the same time. "Two days ago, three Express riders from the Plum Creek station were on their way here with your dispatch. They were robbed. Two of 'em were killed and the other's hurt real bad." Lou watched as Davies' face fell. Then she continued, "We need to know what was in that dispatch, sir, so we can find the men who did this."
The lieutenant's facial expression revealed that he was deeply saddened by the news of the murdered and injured riders. But also in the forefront of his mind were the contents of the stolen army dispatch.
"That dispatch contained a very important map. It was sent all the way from Fort Laramie on its way here. The map reveals the exact location of a hidden cache of gold. Over $500,000 worth of gold bars." Lieutenant Davies paused momentarily, letting the impact of the magnitude of the dispatch sink in with the Express riders.
Their eyes widened when hearing the enormous sum of money the map led to. The riders had known trouble was on the way, they just didn't expect there to be half a million dollars worth of it.
"So you don't know where these men that stole the map might be headed?" Jimmy asked, thinking that maybe the answer to their question was actually in Fort Laramie, not in Fort Kearny.
"Hold on, I didn't say that," Davies said, rising from behind his massive mahogany desk. "I said the map pin-pointed the exact location of the gold. I know within about a two or three mile radius where the gold is, but the map details the precise spot."
Jimmy, Lou, and Cody were slightly relieved when they heard that at least they would find out the general area where the killers would be headed.
"You see, the gold is hidden very well, and has been for over ten years. It was taken from California durin' the Great Gold Rush and hidden in a secret cavern in the base of Lookout Mountain, 'bout 35 miles northwest of Fort Laramie. At the time there were Indian uprisings almost every day, and the army battalion that was responsible for transportin' the gold all the way to Washington ran into trouble. They felt it was safer if they just hid the gold out West and saved it for later on to buy guns or whatever was needed to fight off the Indians or any other enemy. They made a map indicatin' exactly where it was hidden."
"So why was the map not sent 'til now?" Cody questioned.
"On its way back to Washington, the battalion stopped off in Fort Laramie, which the government had only just purchased and made as one of its outposts along the Oregon Trail. There was only one copy made of the map, and it was kept locked in a vault 'til now. Only a handful of the head officers in the army knew about it and the cache of gold, but no body made a move to retrieve the gold 'til word from the government in Washington came."
Lieutenant Davies swallowed hard, trying to regain his breath after talking so long and so fast. "Now that there's talk of secession of the South and the threat of war, Washington wants us to take the gold since it's already out here and use it to buy reinforcements to distribute to the army posts in the territory."
"You mean guns, Lieutenant." The disdain in Jimmy's voice was apparent. He hated being forced to get involved in military affairs.
"Yes," Davies responded.
"But the trouble's back East, why do you need to worry about the war all the way out here?" Lou asked, her brow wrinkled in confusion.
"Many people out here think the same as you. They say, 'No, I'm safe out West.' Well, don't you believe it! War spreads faster than a prairie fire on a hot summer's day. We've already seen what it's doin' out here. Just look at the Kansas-Nebraska border. There's guerilla warfare actin' up more and more each day. Soon, there won't be nobody left who hasn't been touched." The army lieutenant closed his eyes for a moment and sighed heavily. Though he was in the business of war, he still hated to see the horrible affects of it on so many ordinary people.
"The other problem we have, Lieutenant, is figurin' out how those men who robbed the Pony Express knew that the map was on its way here in the first place," Cody stated matter-of-factly.
"Couldn't it have been a random attack?" Lou wondered. "I mean, people try to rob the Pony Express all the time, most of the time not knowin' what they're after, just knowin' that we usually carry important documents...maps, shippin' schedules, treasury bonds."
"Naw, that just don't make sense, Lou. Remember Teaspoon told us how Michael said these men were waitin' for 'em. They knew what they were goin' after." Jimmy turned to direct his question to Davies. "Did anybody else here at Fort Kearny know about the arrival of the map?" Jimmy asked.
Lieutenant Davies quickly responded, shaking his head, "No, nobody else knew except me. I was waitin' for the map to arrive, then I was gonna assemble a group of men to go out and find the gold and bring it back here." He paused and thought for a moment. "No, the only other person who knew about the map bein' sent here was Captain Johnston over at Fort Laramie. That is, unless someone else there knows that I don't know about. But I am certain that nobody here knows the contents of the dispatch."
Jimmy sighed in disappointment, "I guess we'll have to see if we can catch up with the killers and get the gold back 'fore we go lookin' for this rat at Fort Laramie."
Lou and Cody nodded in agreement.
There was a long silence before the lieutenant spoke, "Do you know how many men we might be up against?"
Lou shook her head, frustrated. "No, Michael passed out 'fore he could tell us more. Teaspoon and the other boys at the station are keepin' an eye on him 'til we get back. When he wakes up, they'll find out the rest. So, we gotta get back to Sweetwater as soon as we can."
"And I'm comin' with you," Davies declared. "It's not just about findin' the men who killed your friends, it's army business now. I'll be leavin' with you, and I'll bring fifteen of my best men with me. Hopefully that'll be enough to even the odds. I'll also have a message sent to Colonel Johnston in Fort Laramie tellin' him that they have an informant among them."
"Well, let's go then," Jimmy grumbled. He certainly was in no hurry to get back out in the rain, especially at night, but they couldn't afford to waste much time.
"Actually, I think we should wait and leave in the mornin'," Lieutenant Davies interjected. "Your horses will be rested, and I believe if you three go ridin' back out there the same way it looks like you rode in, you'll fall down in the mud 'fore we're five miles outta here."
Lou, Cody, and Jimmy looked at each other, knowing that what the lieutenant was saying was true. They were exhausted, not to mention hungry.
"Alright, first thing in the mornin'," Jimmy replied for his fellow riders.
"Good. It's settled." Lieutenant Davies gave a slight grin. "First thing we need to do is get you fellas a hot meal over at the best restaurant in town. Compliments of the United States Army."
On to Chapter Four
