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large open doors into
the dark interior of the stable. A number of horses were in stalls
to both sides of the tall figure. His eyes darted around the
animals until he spotted his own pony tied up in a stall to his
right.
    The pitiful creature was still saddled.
    He was about to go towards it when he heard
raised voices out in the street behind him. Iron Eyes somehow
managed to reach the pony. He searched its saddlebags until he
found a half bottle of whiskey. He pulled its cork and swallowed a
third of its fiery contents before his eyes spotted a ladder.
    Iron Eyes moved around the pony
and climbed up into the hay loft. He dropped into the hay and
crawled to the loft door. He stared through the narrow gap between its
weathered boards.
    The street was no longer quiet.
    Gleaming deputy stars flashed in the early
morning sun.

Chapter Four
    The bell of the massive
locomotive had rung out across the arid plains for more than twenty
minutes before the long train reached the small settlement. A blast
of steam brought the deafening whistle to life as the long vehicle
came to a halt. The engineer and stoker had not seen anything
untoward as they expertly brought the iron horse to a standstill
beside the water-tower. Dead-man ’s Flats appeared to be exactly the same
as it always was.
    But the peaceful scene was about to
alter.
    As passengers slowly disembarked to take
advantage of the sun-drenched stores which faced the six cars, they
did not notice the seven men who lurked unseen in the shadows.
    Snake Adams walked to Brewster
and Mayne, who had been keeping their six mounts quiet behind the cafe. He
snapped his fingers and drew their attention to him.
    ‘ You
and One Ear take the mounts a few miles down the tracks to where
the trail heads off south, Ferdy!’ Adams ordered.
    ‘ You
reckon there’ll be enough time for you boys to get the job done by
then, Snake?’ Mayne asked, rubbing his bearded chin.
    ‘ Whatever happens, you wait there for us!’ Adams added
firmly. ‘I’ll make sure the train stops there for us to get off,
Ferdy.’
    ‘ You
sure that it’s on there, Snake?’ Brewster questioned. His eyes
focused on the last car of the long train. A car unlike all the
others. A car with no windows and a solitary sliding
door.
    Adams nodded.
    ‘ It’s
on there OK, One Ear!’
    Both men stepped into their stirrups and
hauled themselves on to their high saddles. They shared the reins
of the five other horses between them.
    ‘ See
you later!’ Mayne nodded as he and Brewster spurred their horses.
Snake Adams inhaled deeply and watched as the pair of riders led
all their mounts a few miles down the trail.
    Buck Harris moved to
Adams ’s
side. He was sweating heavily and stroking his gun grips with his
gloved hands.
    ‘ There
must be twenty or more passengers trying to get served in the
stores, Snake!’ he said nervously. ‘We got all the townsfolk tied
up behind the saloon. What’ll we do?’
    ‘ Go
tell them that everything’s on the house, Buck!’ Adams grinned.
‘Say that they can have anything they want. Liquor, grub and
anything else they take a hankering for! They won’t ask no
questions.’
    ‘ Why
won’t they ask questions?’ Harris frowned.
    ‘’ Cause folks are greedy!’
Adams answered. ‘If they think they can strip this place clean,
they’ll do it!’
    Harris shrugged and headed towards the
passengers.
    Adams stepped down from the boardwalk and
rested his knuckles on his hips. He stared at the train and bit his
lip as the rest of his men gathered around him.
    ‘ What
we gonna do, Snake?’ Kyle Parker asked as he looked along the
length of the train. ‘I never thought it would be this
big!’
    ‘ What
we want is in the last car!’ Adams said knowingly.
    ‘ That’s a damn shame!’ Coop Starr grumbled. ‘That means we
have to take the whole damn thing!’
    Adams nodded.
    ‘ Yep,
the whole damn thing!’
    Ben Lynch leaned close to Adams.
    ‘ The
train crew are looking a tad curious,