There was no answer.
"He's out again," Nellie said. "I think he'll be all right. What he needs is rest."
Percy nodded. He hated to see Silas die stupidly, killed as the result of a lucky shot. Then again, Percy had seen his share of men die for no good reason in this war. There was never much sense to it.
He knew this wasn't the time for such thoughts. There were other matters at hand. "Harpers Ferry is coming up," he said. "There may be trouble."
"How does it look for getting across the bridge?" Flynn asked. He knew well enough that crossing the Potomac would be a problem, especially if the Yankees guarding the bridge had any advance warning or became the least bit suspicious.
"We're going across at full speed to see if we can surprise them," the colonel said. He stood up and looked around. "Where's Hazlett?"
The sergeant was gone. Flynn noticed Captain Fletcher had disappeared as well. Somehow, the two had slipped out when he wasn't looking, although he had a pretty good idea of where they were.
"They went into the baggage car," Benjamin answered the colonel.
Flynn's eyes met Nellie's. Trouble. Their hopes of quietly spiriting the payroll money off the train would be gone if Hazlett and Fletcher found it.
Just then, they heard a shout of triumph, and Flynn's heart sank. Fletcher came running out of the other car, his face filled with excitement.
"Colonel! We found a whole pile of money in there. It's amazing." Fletcher was babbling. "It's a fortune!"
"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.
"The baggage car, sir. It's full of money."
Hazlett walked in with greenbacks gripped in each fist. He looked, Flynn thought, as pleased with himself as a dog that had caught a rat. He was grinning so hard that the long scar beneath his eye was bunched up into a knot. "There must be thousands of dollars in there," Hazlett said. "Good Yankee greenbacks, not the worthless Confederate scrip we're used to."
Percy disappeared into the baggage car. Flynn chanced a look with Nellie. He expected to see a hopeless expression. Instead, her eyes were bright and cunning. He guessed that she was already trying to think of a way to keep the money to herself.
The colonel reappeared. Unlike Fletcher or Hazlett, who had been so excited about the discovery, Percy looked unhappy. Flynn thought he knew why: so much money complicated their mission, which was to kidnap President Lincoln.
"Must be payroll money," Percy said. "This train's destination was originally Cumberland. It's most likely meant to pay the Yankee garrison there. That would explain the guards back in Sykesville, too. I thought they were for Lincoln, but it's more likely they had no idea the president was aboard. The Yankees probably planned it that way, so that Lincoln would have some extra protection with the guards and they would be more alert, too, to any trouble."
"Not that it did them a damn bit of good," Flynn pointed out.
"Right you are, Sergeant," Percy said. "We still managed to get their president. Not that it will do us a damn bit of good if we don't get across that bridge."
"Forget Lincoln," Hazlett said. "Let's shoot him and be done with it. I say we stop the train, take the money, and slip off into the woods. We might have some kind of chance. The Yankees are about to blow us right off that bridge."
"Damn you, Hazlett!" Percy's face twisted in anger and his eyes sparked. Flynn was amazed by the outburst, which hinted at some deeper anger toward his cousin-in-law. Just as suddenly, the colonel took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Our orders, Sergeant, are to bring Lincoln to Richmond if at all possible. We're only to shoot him as a last resort. Our orders include nothing about taking payroll money. Is that clear?"
Hazlett's eyes were hateful, his answer grudging. "Yes, sir."
"Then get back to your post, Sergeant. I believe you're supposed to be in the next car with Private Cook."
Hazlett left without replying. Percy wasn't finished with his orders.
"Flynn?"
"Colonel?"
"That money is to be left alone. Don't let anyone go in there to fill their pockets. Including you. Understood?"
"No one touches the money." If Percy only knew he had just put the fox in charge of the hen house, Flynn mused.
"If there's any trouble, I'll burn that money if I have to, or throw it off the train. We're soldiers, not train robbers."
Percy turned to Captain Fletcher. "Understood, Fletcher? You're to leave that money alone. That's an order."
"Why, yes… sir."
"Benjamin? Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
Percy looked at Nellie and touched the brim of his hat. "Ma'am, thank you so much for taking care of Lieutenant Cater. He's a good man, ma'am. He deserves to live."
"Anything to help the Cause, Colonel." She sounded entirely sincere.
That made Percy smile. He left the car.
Flynn exchanged another look with Nellie. They couldn't talk, of course, because Fletcher and Benjamin were there. Damn it all! He knew he could trust the lad, maybe even work something out with him about the money, but not Fletcher. The captain would be a greedy bastard, and making a partner of him would only bring trouble.
Flynn’s thoughts were cut short because Benjamin shouted, "We're crossing the bridge!"
Chapter 25
"Full throttle, Wilson, full throttle," Percy said calmly as the train swept out over the Potomac River.
"Yes, sir," the engineer said. "Looks clear so far."
Chocolate-brown water swirled fifty feet beneath the Harpers Ferry bridge, the current making a creamy froth around the pilings. Autumn wind whistled across the open rivers. Where the tracks had been surrounded by foothills and dense woods, all that fell away as the train reached the open expanse of the Potomac. Two rivers converged near this point, and to their left was the wide Shenandoah River. Directly ahead was the town of Harpers Ferry, built on the bluff overlooking both the Potomac and Shenandoah.
Had the raiders been in the mood for sight-seeing, they might have noticed the incredible scenery. In fact, none other than Thomas Jefferson had once said it was worth crossing the Atlantic just for the majestic view from the bluff. However, the raiders kept one eye on the tracks ahead, and another on the bluff above the river for the first blast of smoke and flame that would mean Union artillery had targeted the train.
"Don't stop no matter what they put on the tracks," Percy said, leaning in close to the engineer to be heard over the wind. "Our only chance is to bull right through no matter what they throw at us. If we can get across the river and through town, nothing can stop us."
The Chesapeake roared across with a speed that startled the Yankee sentries, which was just what Percy intended. He knew it wasn't much of a strategy, Percy knew, but sometimes a cavalryman knew all he could do was ride like hell. This was one of those times — only now, his horse was made of iron.
Beneath them, the brown water was deep enough to swallow the engine and cars without a trace if a cannonball derailed them. Percy glanced down again at the churning water far below and felt a hollow pit of his stomach. He could swim, but he had a feeling it wouldn't matter. No one would survive that treacherous current if the train plunged off the tracks.
Then, as suddenly as they had swept onto it, they were across the bridge and on land again. Percy thought it was a small miracle. The second miracle was that the Yankees hadn't opposed them.
They roared through town. Curious faces turned toward them as they rushed between the brick buildings and white clapboard houses. It was a prosperous town, in spite of changing hands so many times during the war.
Percy could see they had taken the Yankees completely by surprise. No one was expecting a train stolen by Confederate raiders. The tracks were wide open. As they reached the limits of the small town, he knew nothing could stop them. They would go on through West Virginia, the pro-Union state which had only recently split away from Virginia. The train would parallel the winding Potomac again just east of Hancock, then race on toward the Shenandoah Valley.