Clive Cussler (9 page)

The train was entering Eternity Curve down from ninety miles an hour to fifty, still a dangerous speed for such a sharp turn. Meanwhile, the Moonlight Limited was backing at forty miles an hour, and the Sunrise Express was gaining on it.

Whipping into the sharp curve, the speeding train and all its cars leaned sideways, the outer wheels lifting off the rail. Yet, dragged by the brakes and the drive wheels that were forcing it backward, the train clung to the track like an owl on a tree limb.

For a few seconds it was touch and go, but finally, to the great relief of Lacey, Casey, the engineer and fireman in the cab of the Moonlight Limited's engine and all the passengers on the Sunrise Express, the train ground to a stop, a great puff of black smoke rising through its smokestack with a billowing hiss of steam.

Oh, the excitement, the adventure, the danger and the thrill! Thankfully, it was all over.

But not quite.

Before they could be thanked by the engineer, fireman and all the passengers of the Sunrise Express for saving their lives, Lacey and Casey turned their sights on catching the bandits who had caused such a great calamity. Once more they rose into the sky, with Vin Fiz lifting them straight up from the coal tender and turning back to where they had last seen the despicable bandits. Now the trick was to pick up the trail the bandits had left during their getaway. Was Vin Fiz up to the chase? the twins wondered. Could she track a cold trail to the bandits' hideout?

The twins didn't have long to wait.

As they flew over the spot where the Sunrise Express was robbed, they could see four cars marked Oglebee County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Mugwump and his deputies were talking to the engineer and fireman from the Sunrise Express, who had been untied from the tree. They flew on until they came to a crossroad. Then Casey told Vin Fiz to land, and she did.

The enchanted airplane wasn't the only one who could track a human trail. As soon as the wheels rolled to a halt, Casey lifted Floopy to the ground and said, "Floopy, go get 'em!"

Floopy instantly barked up a storm and began running down the road that led west. Knowing they could never keep up with Floopy on foot, the twins jumped back in the airplane, which lifted off and followed the basset hound from a hundred feet in the air. They studied the surrounding countryside, looking for a green bus. At every crossroad, Floopy stopped and sniffed the air with his supersensitive black nose. Catching the scent of the bandits, he rushed down a road leading to the north. A mile later, he stopped at a junction where a small dirt road angled into a forest. He circled with his nose to the ground, then, satisfied, picked the correct scent and chased off over a road that was overgrown with weeds.

Lacey, Casey and Vin Fiz followed from the air but saw only a thick blanket of leaves after Floopy disappeared under the trees. Vin Fiz quieted her engine so it ran silently with no popping from the exhaust pipes. Only she knew how, and she did it. Now for the second time, Lacey and Casey felt like they were in a glider soaring soundlessly with the breeze.

They flew over a field of weeds that had once been filled with crops. It looked to have been long abandoned and had returned to nature. In the middle of the field was a deserted mansion. Not an ordinary house, mind you, but a country manor built of stone and almost as large as a castle. It must have belonged to a local landowner whose family moved away long ago.

There was a gatehouse with a high archway that led to a central courtyard. The main three-story building was arranged around the courtyard with smaller outer buildings for the stables and quarters for the servants. But they all looked deserted and run-down, not having been maintained in many years. Spires rose everywhere, joined by at least eight tall chimneys. Four round towers with cone-shaped roofs stood on the four corners of the manor.

Lacey thought it looked spooky and haunted. She could almost imagine the clip-clop of ghostly horses in the courtyard. The manor stood partially ruined, a sad shadow of its former glory.

Floopy sat in front of the big rusty gate to the courtyard, happily wagging his tail at knowing he had traced the bandits to their hideout.

"After we land, you and Vin Fiz fly back and tell the sheriff we've found where the bandits are hiding," Casey told Lacey. "I'll scout around and see what I can find."

"I don't see the green bus," Lacey protested.

"They must have hidden it."

"How can you be sure?"

"Floopy wouldn't have led us here if he hadn't followed the scent of the bandits."

"You be careful," said Lacey, worried for the safety of her brother.

"Never fear," Casey said bravely.

Understanding Casey's plan, Vin Fiz touched down and quickly took off again as Casey leaped to the ground and ran toward the wall before making his way to the big iron gate. It looked to Casey as if the gate had not been opened for a long time because all the bars were very rusty. But then he stared down at the ground and saw the tire tracks of a big truck or bus. He was trying to figure out how to get past the gate, which had a huge lock and chain, when Floopy dropped down on his stomach and wiggled under it. Casey did the same and followed him.

Once in the courtyard, he crept softly without making a sound to the partly open door of what was once the stable for the owner's horses. Casey peeked inside and saw a long red bus. Oh no, he thought. He had hoped to find a green bus. He stepped up to it and pressed one hand against the front fender. The paint was sticky. He scraped off some with a coin from his pocket and saw that the bus was green under the red. The bandits had repainted it so it wouldn't be identified as the getaway vehicle. There was no doubt that this was the bandits' hideout. Now, if only they would stay put until Lacey could return with Sheriff Mugwump and his deputies.

Finding a door that led from the stables to the house, Casey sneaked inside. A long hall trailed down to the great main room of the manor. Pressing his back against the wall, he slinked to the archway above the far door and listened to the voices coming from the great room. He was shocked to hear a voice that sounded amazingly similar to that of the Boss, the very same Boss who had tried to steal all the gold. But it couldn't be. He was in jail in Nevada. Casey peeked around the door and saw five men. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that one of them looked just like the evil Boss in the gold mine.

He was saying, "So here's what we'll do. We take the money from the train robbery and use it to break my brother, the Boss, and his henchmen out of jail in Nevada. Then we join forces on a nationwide crime spree, robbing trains, armored cars and banks. We'll clean up millions of dollars before skipping the country."

"I like that," said a man with a face like a bloodhound.

"Me too," said a man with a face like a ferret.

"Count me in," said a man with a face like a raccoon.

"I'm with you, Chief," said a man with a face like a coyote.

Casey was flabbergasted. He couldn't believe his ears. The Chief was the Boss's brother, and he was the leader of another gang of hoodlums. And the scheming brothers, along with their henchmen and gang, were planning a national crime wave! The mere thought raised the yellow hair on Casey's neck. He turned to flee the manor and tell Sheriff Mugwump, but before he could sneak back down the hall to the stable, Floopy trotted past him into the great room.

Floopy was hungry, and he didn't care who knew it. Humans were humans in his dog mind. Some, like Lacey and Casey and the Nicefolks, were kind to him, and he loved them. But when it came to food, he'd lick any human hand that offered to feed him. He came up to the long table the gang was seated around and sat down on the cold stone floor, his tongue licking his jaws and his tail thumping the ground.

"Where did this dog come from?" demanded the Chief.

"I have no idea," said Bloodhound Face.

"Me either," said Ferret Face.

"Don't look at me," said Raccoon Face.

"I'm in the dark," said Coyote Face.

The Chief picked up Floopy and set him on the table. "I never saw a dog wearing a leather helmet and goggles before. He looks as if he's hungry. Well, that's too bad. Tough luck, dog, we're leaving. Come on, gang, let's take the loot from the train and head for Nevada."

The Chief and his gang turned their backs on Floopy, who stared after them sadly at seeing he wasn't going to be fed.

Casey was filled with dread. There was no sign of the sheriff and his deputies. He began to wonder if Lacey had persuaded them to race to the manor. He couldn't stand there and do nothing. He had to stall the Chief and his gang until Sheriff Mugwump arrived on the scene.

Building his courage, he stepped into the middle of the archway and shouted out in a trembling voice. "Hi there. Have any of you seen my lost dog?"

"First a dog wearing a leather helmet with goggles, and now some kid," the Chief said angrily. Then he studied Casey, and a shrewd look crossed his face. "Hey, I recognize you. Now it comes back to me. You and that dog were on the airplane that flew over us when we were robbing the train. I shot at you."

"Yes," Casey said, acting braver than he felt. "I saw you rob the train, and I want some of the loot or I'll tell Sheriff Mugwump."

"You know the sheriff?" the Chief demanded.

"Well enough."

"So you think you're entitled to a share of our loot." Then he laughed, a long, rolling laugh that echoed throughout the great room. "Ho, ho, that's a good joke, hey, gang?"

"Sure is," said Bloodhound Face.

"You bet," said Ferret Face.

"A riot," said Raccoon Face.

"Real funny," said Coyote Face.

Casey started to say something, but the Chief held up a big red hand. "Silence. Because you had to stick your nose into business that doesn't concern you, that stupid dog and you are coming with us." His expression turned shrewd again. "And along the way you just might have a little unfortunate accident. Right, gang?"

"You bet, Chief," said Bloodhound Face.

"Good idea, Chief," said Ferret Face.

"I'd like that, Chief," said Raccoon Face.

"Sounds good to me, Chief," said Coyote Face.

"That settles it," said the Chief. "Bring them along to the bus." He twisted his face to look menacingly at Casey. "And don't you and that dog try any tricks or you'll both have an accident sooner rather than later."

Casey, now getting desperate because Lacey and Sheriff Mugwump had not arrived, fell down on the floor and clutched his knee. Anything, he thought, to stall another minute. "Oh, my knee, I hurt my knee."

"That's what you get for being clumsy," said the Chief, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him to the stable, where they all climbed into the bus. But not before loading several bags of money that were stolen from the Sunrise Express and its passengers.

The Chief sat in the driver's seat and backed the bus into the courtyard, where he turned and steered toward the gatehouse. Then he stopped. Raccoon Face jumped off the bus and slid the key into the lock and unhooked the chain holding the big iron gate closed. As he swung it open, the red bus rolled through and stopped briefly to pick up Raccoon Face. That was as far as the bus moved.

At that moment Vin Fiz, with Lacey at the controls, appeared and began circling the big bus.

The Chief looked up through the windshield and blinked. "There's that plane again." He jumped off the bus and raised his pistol to shoot at Lacey and Vin Fiz. But before he could blink again and pull the trigger, the Chief found the bus surrounded by Sheriff Mugwump and his deputies, who covered the bandits with an arsenal of shotguns. "Stop right there," ordered the sheriff, "or suffer the consequences."

"What's a consequence?" asked Bloodhound Face.

"Beats me," said Ferret Face.

"I can't rightly say," said Raccoon Face.

"Me either," said Coyote Face.

"It means something we'd be sorry for, you idiots," the Chief grunted. He turned to Casey. "This is all your fault. I should have taken care of you and your stupid dog when I had the chance." At those words, Floopy sank his teeth into the Chief's pant leg and tore his trousers.

"Good thing you'll never get the chance," said Sheriff Mugwump. His deputies shoved the Chief and his gang, protesting and yelling every step of the way, into the sheriff's patrol cars. He turned to Lacey and Casey. "I shouldn't be surprised if there isn't a nice reward from the railroad for your brave conduct today." He leaned down and petted Floopy. "And I'll bet you'll receive a bag of dog bones."

Floopy wagged his tail furiously, wondering when he would be able to sink his teeth into the bones.

"What about Vin Fiz?" asked Lacey. "She deserves most of the credit."

Sheriff Mugwump seemed bewildered. "And who, may I ask, is Vin Fiz?"

"Our airplane," answered Casey. "We couldn't have done it without her."

The sheriff scratched his chin. "I don't know how you reward an airplane for courage, but I'm sure we'll think of a way." A light seemed to go off in his mind and he smiled. Then he reached up to his shirt and removed his badge. "How about you and your dog and your plane becoming honorary members of the Oglebee County Sheriff's Department?" That said, he pinned the badge on Floopy's leather helmet. Vin Fiz trembled her wings with happiness while Floopy's tail thumped the ground.