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Chapter 21 (Final)

The carriage moved slowly through the train yard, slipping between heavily loaded delivery wagons and men on horseback. The cushioned benches swayed back and forth with an occasional sharp jolt as a wheel dropped into a hole or bumped over an obstacle. The swaying motion lulled the two men into silence and they both sat, on the opposing seats, with heads dropped and eyes shut. A large bump over train tracks partially woke them as the carriage slowed to a stop. Artie stretched awkwardly with one arm, yawning, as Jim peeked out of the window trying to see the train. The setting sun momentarily blinded him as it sent rays sideways into his face.

"Well the train must be out there somewhere," he sighed, blinking inside the darkened coach. "Maybe we should have come tomorrow morning instead of tonight," he said, yawning now too.

Artie grumbled, "oh, no, we could not have stood one more night in thick, soft beds and enjoying room service." He tried to glare at his partner, who was obviously eager to go home, but he had to admit that he was curious to see the train. They had not spoken again of the secretaries' interior work; too nervous about what they might find.

Jim slowly popped the door open and carefully stepped down to the ground. He held the door open, leaning on it, as Artie joined him. "The outside looks much better than the last time I saw it." They both stood for a moment admiring the new paint, the setting sun shining through new windows, and the smell for burnt wood replaced by the smell of fresh paint. "I hope the interior looks as good," Jim added, finally expressing his worry out loud. A horse whinnied nearby and footsteps approached.

"Welcome," a tall man said, stepping out of the late afternoon shadows. "You two are looking well." Cobb stepped toward them and reached out, shaking hands with the agents. "I am not sure what amazes me more, seeing the train repaired or you both repaired."

"The train looks good," Jim said, "on the outside. Have you been in?" Cobb shook his head. Jim stepped to the side as his horse approached, "Hey, big fella," he said, rubbing the animal's neck. "How you been?" The horse nuzzled his coat, pushing on his chest "Sorry, no carrots today."

"There's a light on inside," Artie said to Cobb. "Do we have visitors?"

Cobb turned away, "well some of the ladies left food inside for you. They noticed the ice box had melted and some meat had spoiled so they brought in fresh food. I had the ice man stop with a new block." He cleared his throat awkwardly, "They must have left a lamp burning inside for you."

"That's very thoughtful," Artemus said, "it's almost as good as room service." He gave his partner a good nurtured punch in the back as he walked past him to the ornate steps of the varnish car. Climbing to the platform, he noticed Cobb following Jim, the engineer now carrying the wooden case that held the pigeons. He must be curious to see what the inside, he thought, as they climbed onto the platform behind him. "Ready, partner?" Artie grinned, hand on the door knob. Jim took a deep breath and nodded. Artie turned the knob and popped the door open. He stepped inside with Jim at his heels. They paused just inside the door. "This is amazing," Artie said quietly as he looked around the main room. The furniture was a deep golden color while the curtains were an evergreen, trimmed with matching golden fringe.

Jim stepped sideways to get a clear view, nodding, "Bright but its fine. The paint is still the same, luckily, but we still have fringe on the curtains. I should have mentioned no fringe," he chuckled. He turned back to his partner just as the three secretaries burst out of the swinging door with a yell of "Surprise!" Doris Pike and a small boy burst from the kitchen doorway to the left of the room, the little boy bursting out with a "Surprise!" of his own.

The two agents jumped back, startled, hands going to hidden guns. Artie's hand froze on the grip of his pocket pistol inside his vest, stopping his instinct to draw. Jim's right hand started to come up and froze halfway. He stepped back and turned slightly, shaking his head at Artie. He quickly shoved the derringer back into his sleeve gun as the three girls rushed forward, bursting with excitement. But before they could reach them, the little boy darted between their skirts and ran up to hug Jim and Artie at the legs.

"Were you surprised?" He yelled. Jim knelt down to hug the boy as Artie tussled the boy's head.

"Yes, Seth," Jim said, "you scared us, more than you know." He leaned back to look at the group as even more people poured out of the hallway and back galley. Jeremy followed Doris out, with Steve close behind him. Even Colonel Richmond walked quietly out, smiling at the excitement. Soon the room was crowded with friends all talking at once.

"James, come sit on the couch," Laura said, taking a hand. "Tell us what you think." Melinda and Marlita followed close behind. Laura sat on one end and pulled Jim down next to her. The group turned to watch the two men inspect the new furniture.

"Artemus," Marlita said, "you sit in the new chair." She took his good hand and lead him to the high-backed, stuffed arm chair that had been placed near the couch. "I hope you find it comfortable. We tried to have them remade as they were before. The frames are the same but, of course, the cushions did not survive the fire." Marlita suddenly dropped onto the end of the couch next to Jim, seeing Melinda approach.

"Well what do you think of the color scheme?" Melinda asked as she settled onto the floor at Jim's feet, pulling her skits around her legs. The little boy sat close, leaning against her side. "We tried to capture both of your favorite colors."

Jim and Artie exchanged a glance and Jim cleared his throat, "Its fine, and thank you for all this work."

"Fine?" Laura said, loudly, as the men burst into laughter. "Fine?" She repeated, her mouth turned from a smile into a hard line as her eyes glared.

"Nice?" Jim said, grinning. "Acceptable?" He looked at the three secretaries, seeing angry stares, and then to his partner, who was also laughing, "help me out here!"

Artie gasped in a breath and wiped a tear from an eye. "What James means, ladies," he said, waiting for them to look at him, "is that the green and gold are a wonderful balance of the warmth of colors blended to form a comfortable and relaxing space." The girls all giggled as Jim nodded.

"Yes," Jim said, "that's what I meant," regaining the women's attention.

"Oh, sure you did," Laura laughed. She leaned back to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

"Remember this little lady," Jeremy said, walking closer, holding out a baby. The group turned to see a round, pink face looking out of a bundle of pink ribbons and lace. "This is little Jamie," he said, beaming with pride.

"She looks wonderful," Artie said, gently holding a tiny outstretched hand. "She seems much healthier now. Her face has really filled out," he said, making a funny face at her. "Are you causing lots of trouble for your new daddy?" The baby blew bubbles and giggled back.

"Oh, she's too young for that," Jeremy said, standing up straight again, hugging the infant to his shoulder. "She has older sisters that are putting grey hair on my head." The group laughed as the little boy jumped up, pulling at his father's pantleg. Jeremy leaned down, speaking softly, "Seth, not yet. We need to eat first." The boy grumbled and sat back down as Jeremy turned back to his friends. "Your first meal back has been prepared by my lovely wife. She wanted to invite you both to our house for dinner but I suggested this idea instead; easier for you two derelicts and this young man," smiling down at the wiggly boy, "who has always wanted to see inside the train car. I thought it was the only time that it would be safe for a visit since all the gadgets have not yet returned to their usual hidden places."

"Ugh," Jim moaned, looking at his partner, "those will take days to put back. You will have to sleep on the floor for a while." Artie rolled his eyes. "I'll just sleep with all the guns tonight and put them back tomorrow." He poked the girls next to him, teasing, "Sorry, girls, no room for you." They squealed and squirmed but stayed close.

With a swish of taffeta skirts, Jeremy's wife appeared with a large tray of sliced beef, with an announcement of "It's time to eat!" The three secretaries jumped to their feet and rushed into the kitchen. Soon the busy women carried many platters and bowls to the new table as the men talked and poured glasses of wine.

The little boy had jumped to the couch to sit next to Jim when the girls had gone into the kitchen. He was on his knees studying Jim's face closely, finally blurting out, "does that hurt much? It looks awful. Did you kill the bad guys?"

Jim laughed and wrapped an arm around the boy's side. "It doesn't hurt too badly. I'm pretty tough, you know," he said, tickling the boy to make him squirm; "Besides your Dad shot all the bad guys. He and Steve were a big help."

"I heard Steve hid under a bridge in the freezing cold river for the whole day!" The boy blurted out excitedly. "And then Artemus threw you in the river and you couldn't swim because you were all tied up. And…" the boy paused to take a breath.

"Wow," Jim laughed, hugging him. "Someone has filled you with stories. I'll tell you what," Jim said, "If you eat supper with me, I will tell you how I got my horse. That's a good story too." The boy quickly changed subjects to talking about horses and trains, to his father's obvious relief. "But you have to eat your vegetables," Jim said, reaching out to test the boy's arm muscles. "You know vegetables makes muscles grow."

"I thought meat did," the boy said, as Marlita brought Jim a plate of food.

"Thank you," Jim said, smiling up at her. She blushed, carefully placing a fancy cloth napkin on his knee. "I was wondering how I was going to manage this."

"If you would be more comfortable, we can move you to the table," Laura said, coming over with a full glass of wine. She placed it on a small side table within his reach, as her other hand gently caressed the back of his neck.

"No, this is more comfortable," Jim said, smiling up at her. "Are you both coming back to join me You don't want me to get lonely, do you?" Artie burst out laughing and stood up from his chair. He rolled his eyes at his partner as he walked past, joining the group at the table.

"Dorothy," Artie said, he voice almost singing with delight, "I thought I would be shooting my way into cans of tinned meat for my supper tonight, but instead I have all this!" He waved his good hand over the table, covered with food-laden dishes. He leaned closer to the older women, "You really need to leave that old man of yours and come live with us on the train." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and made a big show of looking at Jeremy behind him.

"Oh, you are a smooth one," she said, giggling like one of the young secretaries. "You and James will have food for a few days. And there is a new block of ice in the box." She leaned closer, whispering, "it looked like there was meat left out to thaw and thaw it did." She giggled again.

"Could be," Artie agreed, nodding, "I confess I do not remember." Melinda handed him a plate of food and guided him back to his chair. As Artie sat, he was relieved to see everything had already been cut into bite size pieces before serving. Jeremy's wife had thought of everything, even for one-handed eating. Artie relaxed and watched the three secretaries outmaneuver each other again to sit on either side of his partner on the couch. Melinda dropped to the floor at their feet; she had been too slow again to claim a seat.

Guests sat or stood everywhere in the varnish car, eating, drinking, and talking until everyone was stuffed. The girls took turns refilling the plates and glasses for Jim and Artie and took turns stealing seats on the couch from each other. The baby slept in a basket on the floor, covered in a miniature quilt. Nearby, her older brother sat impatiently squirming between the two agents' feet.

Jim leaned back on the couch, rubbing his stomach, moaning. "Now my stomach hurts too. It was the only part of me that didn't hurt," he said slowly. Laura leaned over and whispered in his ear. His face blushed and he giggled, his eyes still closed, "you're terrible. I will answer that question another evening."

"Are you done eating?" Seth jumped to his feet and grabbed Jim's plate, and then turned and snatched Artie's plate off his knee and ran to the table, yelling as he went. "Now can we?" he said, looking at his father, as he dropped the plates onto the table. He stood, waiting for a heart-beat and then, at his father's nod, raced through the swinging door.

"What in the world is he so excited about?" Artie said, turning to look at Jeremy. At that, the boy popped back into the room, carrying a large, flat box. He hurried over to Artie and carefully stood it on an edge by his boots. "Well, thank you," Artie said, smiling. He steadied the box as the boy scampered away.

"What is that?" Jim said, twisting to watch the boy hurrying back into the room with a second flat box. This one was also a large, but more square-ish than the first. Jim glanced at all the guests, but could see the secretaries blushing and smiling now, expectantly, "we didn't need gifts, ladies." Laura and Marlita both hugged him at the same time as Malinda smiled up from her spot on the floor.

The little boy carefully placed the box by Jim's feet. "Ok, you have to open these boxes first," he announced, "you can both go at the same time." Jim and Artie exchanged an amused look as they began to pry open the boxes. Luckily the ends were not secured and were easily opened. Artie pulled his open first and pulled up a large object, narrow at the top and wider on the bottom. Jim paused with his box to stare at it.

"What the heck is that?" Jim asked, his eyes looking up and down. There was a large dial in the lower, wide end.

"It's a barometer," Artie said, turning it to show the little boy, who was leaning close to the dial. The entire group took a half step closer to inspect it, everyone clearly interested.

"What is a barometer," Jim asked slowly, knowing he would regret the explanation.

"It tells you what the weather is," Artie said, half explaining it to the boy and his partner at the same time. The others had also halted their conversations to listen.

"Why don't you just look out the window," Jim teased, grinning.

Artie gave him a sour face, "well with this you don't have to, you can just look at the dial." Jim grumbled at him. "It also predicts the weather through the fluctuations of the barometric pressure." He paused as Jim's eyebrows rose, obviously confused. "I have a book somewhere regarding meteorology. I'll dig it out for you later."

"That sounds like a threat," Jim chuckled. He finished prying open his box and pulled out a very large mirror in an ornate, gold colored frame. Many oooohs from the ladies sounded around him. "And", he said, grinning, "It's a mirror."

Artie laughed, as he lowered the barometer back into the box, "Oh good, now you can count all your black and blue marks."

"Funny," Jim said, looking at the girls, "where should I hang it?" Laura whispered in his ear again and he stifled a laugh. "Ah, good idea, maybe," he said, blushing again. He noticed his partner and the rest of the group staring at him. He cleared his throat and lowered the mirror carefully back into the box. Looking up he said, "thank you all for the gifts and for all of the food," he paused to look at the secretaries, "and all the work on the train. I can't say how much we appreciate this."

"Oh, wait, is it time now?" The little boy looked at his father. Jeremy nodded with a wink and the boy darted between legs to run into the kitchen. Artie and Jim looked at Jeremy, confused and worried. The boy walked back out, very carefully and slowly, while carrying a small box. He stopped between the two men and announced in a hushed voice, "This is from me. I wanted to give you each one but Ma said one was enough so you will have to share." Jim and Artie looked at each other again, clearly mystified. "Who wants to open it?"

"Jim," Artie said, "you have two hands." Jim waved the Seth over and the boy put the box on his knees. The boy let go of the box but stood close by, his small face flushed with excitement.

Jim examined the box, seeing holes in the top and on the sides. Wondering if it might hold a captured and prized creature from the woods around Jeremy's home, he poked it and listened. "Nooooo," the boy said, reaching out to steady it. "Just take the top off."

"It's not a frog, is it?" Jim asked sternly, though his eyes sparkled with amusement. The two ladies suddenly leaned away from him, nervous but still curious. The little boy shook his head and covered his mouth with his hands, hopping up and down with excitement. "All right," Jim said, slowly lifting the cover. He looked inside and his mouth dropped open. "Oh," he whispered. The two ladies next to him leaned closer again to peek inside and ooooohed with delight.

"Hey, partner," Artie said, curious as usual and unable to see the contents from his new chair, "Do you want to let the rest of us know what's inside?"

Jim slowly reached both hands into the box to scoop out the object. He lifted his hands to show his partner a tiny, fuzzy grey kitten with brilliant blue eyes. The little furball sat quietly in his palms as many in the group gasped with surprise. Jim patted it gently with a forefinger and the kitten grabbed at him with its tiny paws. The little ears twisted around and the tail snapped back and forth.

The little boy reached out to pat its head. "My Ma saw a mouse in your kitchen yesterday and said you should have a cat. And our barn cat just had babies. I named this one but you can give it a new name if you want."

Artie laughed quietly. "We used to have a cat. It disappeared one day, just like it had appeared. It wasn't a bad idea. What did you name this one?"

"Her name is Sophie," he announced. "But you can give it a new name. It probably doesn't really know its name yet anyway."

"How about if I call it 'cat'," Jim said, watching the kitten. The little mouth opened and tiny teeth clamped onto his thumb as the animal tried to chew on his tough skin.

"That's original, Jim," Malinda said. She climbed onto her knees to reach up to pat it. "It's so soft you can barely feel it." The kitten swiped at her hand then arched its back and hissed, the fur standing on end and the tail snapping. "Oh, my, feisty," she laughed.

Jim put his palm on the kitten, "calm down there, Sophie, don't make trouble already."

"Maybe she's guarding you," Artie chuckled.

The kitten turned and started to walk up Jim's coat sleeve, digging tiny claws into the material. He winced once as she climbed up onto his shoulder but then she settled quietly next to his chin, tucking its face into the side of his neck. He reached up to stroke its back as the tiny tail curled around the little body.

"Same spot Arrabella sits," Artie observed. "We will have to keep them separated." Jim nodded in agreement, trying not to disturb the kitten. He turned to the group. "Well this has been a surprise. We really do appreciate everyone's help this week. I am not sure how we would have made it through everything. Hopefully life will slow down for the next few days."

Colonel Richmond raised his glass of wine to the group and waited as everyone else grabbed glasses, "To James and Artemus, may their life always be filled with excitement." The group cheered and booed good-naturedly at the same time and then drank to their friends.

**** Hours Later *****

The guests departed as a whole, with Colonel Richmond leaving last. He had paused at the door to reassure the agents that the repairs would be paid for by the financial office with no additional paperwork required on their part. He handed them a card, with President Grant's handwriting on the outside, with a final thank you and a promise that no new assignments would be coming until they both had fully recovered. He left, shutting the door behind him.

Jim leaned his butt against the golden couch and ripped open the card. Reading out loud to his partner, he said, "With much appreciation for your dedication to your work and for your continued faithful maintenance of government equipment, President Grant." Jim chuckled, "I guess he means thanks for not quitting your job and for not completely destroying the train." Artie made a loud hrmph nearby and Jim turned to see him holding a nail and hammer to a wall near the swinging door. "Hey, I don't remember giving you permission to hang that thing there."

Artie's dark brown eyes narrowed as he turned to glare at his partner, another small nail clenched in his teeth. The hammer waved at Jim, threateningly.

Jim laughed, "ok, I give you permission." Artie rolled his eyes and began carefully tapping the nail into the wall. He walked back to the box and pulled out the barometer and slowly hung it on the nail. Both men stood back to look at it, one admiringly. "So how does this work, again?"

Artie turned a small gold hand, much like a clock hand, to line up with the single black hand that pointed at numbers on the dial. "The numbers are the air pressure," Artie explained, "The higher the number, the better the weather; the lower the number, the stormier the weather." He moved the gold dial again, "you set this to line up with the black hand, then you can see if it has moved up or down."

Jim stared at it, shaking his head. "People worry too much about the weather. What difference does it make? It's not like I can't go out on my horse and do my job if that dial tells me it might storm."

Artie made a sour face at him, "well you can just know to keep your rain slicker handy." He pointed at the mirror. "Where are you hanging your new, fancy mirror? Did Laura suggest a creative place like over the bed?"

Jim chuckled, looking at the box, "was it that obvious?" He put the card down on the desk and noticed a small pink jacket folded and lying over the back of the chair. "Oh, someone forgot a coat. Who was wearing pink?"

Artie shrugged, leaning closer to the barometer, "all of them. Probably left it behind on purpose so she can visit again tomorrow and see where the mirror was hung."

"Funny, Artie," Jim laughed, "very funny." Suddenly a foot step creaked on the platform beyond the door. "Maybe they just realized they forgot it," he said, as he scooped up the jacket and moved to the door. "Probably getting cold outside and…" he said, turning the knob and opening the door. Tiny's massive bulk filled the frame of the doorway. Jim paused for a split second in shock, completely surprised at not seeing a young secretary standing there. He slammed the door shut, and turned the lock as the giant's fist smashed through the glass panel in the door. Jim jumped back, reaching for the pistols on the round table behind him. His hands grabbed at the empty fames as the door smashed again, the door frame starting to separate from the walls. He turned to Artie, who was moving toward the back wall, "No! Get a gun from my room!"

The door exploded in a shower of wooden splinters and shards of glass as Tiny charged inside like a mad bull. The giant's hands grabbed at Jim as the agent tried to quickly step back out of the way. Tiny lunged at him but he jumped sideways towards the fireplace. Tiny turned and threw a punch as Jim ducked, the fist smashing a hole in the wall just over his shoulder. Jim tried to twist away, as he found himself trapped against the wall, but Tiny grabbed his shoulders and picked him up off the floor. He slammed Jim back against the wall, pulled him away only to smash him back against the mantel, knocking it from its frame. Jim felt his skin tearing on his back and he raised his feet to try to push the giant away.

"Artie! Shoot him!" Jim screamed, trying to raise his hands to protect his face. He felt the hands release him only to feel huge fingers grabbing at his throat. He wrenched himself away, feeling his shirt and tie ripping from his skin. "Artie!" Suddenly, Tiny froze for an instant, the eyes widen in surprise, and then the giant slumped to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Artie stood beyond the giant, face white and eyes wide with shock. His right arm was still raised over his head, his hand gripping a half broken heavy glass decanter. Dark red wine was spilling down his wrist soaking his shirt. He reached out to steady Jim, "Hey!"

Jim was nodding his head as he looked down at Tiny. The giant was crumpled into a ball on the floor. The head was a bloody mess and a dark puddle of blood was staining the carpet. "We need to tie him up," he said, his voice rasping in his sore throat. His hand went to the cut on his throat, wincing as he felt blood.

"I think he's dead," Artie said, stepping back. He walked to the desk and set the broken glass down. He opened a drawer and removed a set of handcuffs. Tossing them to Jim, he sat heavily on the edge of the desk and watched his partner snap the cuffs onto the giant's wrists.

"Dead or not, this guy is getting secured," Jim snarled. The cuffs snapped, barely fitting around the wide wrists, and Jim sat heavily onto the floor. His eyes looked up at the open doorway and the smashed door on the floor. He craned his head to see the fireplace mantel hanging down over his head at an odd angle, partially attached to the broken wall. Looking down, he saw the stained, bloody carpet. "Well," he sighed, looking up at Artie with a grin, "at least this place looks like our train now."

Both men laughed, relief making them weak, knowing the week was ending with all three killers eliminated.