THE GREAT CIRCUS TRAIN ROBBERY - CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10

            "Let's go!" Jack yelled as he sprinted for the car.

            Jack quickly jumped through the window, as Calvin followed.  They found Willie kneeling next to a woman's head and shoulders.  A large wooden crate sat on the rest of her, pinning her down.  They saw her beard and recognized her as Ingrid.  Her head and shoulders were covered with blood. 

            "She's not moving," Willie blurted out.  His chest was heaving up and down.  His eyes were open wide.  "But, I think she is breathing.  Go get help!"

            Jack scrambled through the window and jumped off the wrecked train car.  He ran towards a group of people, frantically waving his arms over his head, and yelling, "Help!  I need a doctor, ambulance!  Someone is hurt!  Hurry!  I need a doctor!"

            People, scattered throughout the wreckage, heard Jack's cries and started running.  The first person to arrive was a man wearing the uniform of someone from an ambulance.  He stopped in front of Jack, "I’m a paramedic.  What's wrong?"

            "The bearded woman is in her car!  She's hurt and trapped under a crate!  She’s all bloody and not moving!  We think she’s breathing!"

            "Show me where."

            "This way!" Jack waived his hand and ran to the woman's car.  He pointed to the window.  The paramedic jumped on the car, knelt down and looked in the window.  "Stand back," he instructed Calvin and Willie, as he jumped through the window, stepped over debris and knelt next to the woman's head.

            "We'll help you move the crate," Willie volunteered.

            "No, we can't move anything yet.  I have to examine her first."  He placed his fingers on her neck and announced, "Her heart is beating.  She's alive."

            Calvin and Willie looked at each other with relief. 

            Jack, looking through the window, yelled, "Great!"

            The paramedic turned his head and looked around.  He noticed the car was small with debris scattered everywhere.  "Not much room to work in here," he mumbled to himself.  He looked at Calvin and Willie, "You boys need to get out so other medical personnel can get in and help me.  It is too cramped in here."

            Calvin and Willie obeyed.  Calvin climbed out first and saw a crowd of people gathering around.  Another paramedic was at the window.  "Get out of the way," he instructed.  Calvin jumped clear of the area. 

Behind him, Willie stuck his head through the window.  The paramedic grabbed Willie by the shoulders and pulled him out.  "Give me a break," Willie squealed.

            "Sorry.  I'm trying to get down there fast."  The paramedic disappeared, jumping through the window.  Two more paramedics followed.

            The crowd wondered what was happening.  Jack decided to get some glory, "Hey everyone.  Ingrid is in her car and she’s hurt.  We called the paramedics.  She’s bleeding and is trapped under a crate.  She’s alive and we hope the paramedics will get her out safely."

            From the back of the crowd, Jack heard someone pushing his way through and rudely barking, "Get out of my way.  I need to get through.  Move!"  Jack turned his attention to people getting pushed aside.  The crowd opened and the Sheriff stepped through.

            "What are you doing here?" the Sheriff bellowed, as he glared at Jack.  He turned and scowled at Calvin and Willie.  Willie stepped backwards and looked down at his feet.

            "Nothing," Willie mumbled. 

Jack defended himself, "We’re just looking around.  We weren't doing anything."

            "If you weren't doing anything, then why were you in a wrecked train car?  You shouldn’t be in there."

            "We just poked our heads in.  We’re just looking around.  Honest!"

            "Just looking around, eh?  Then, how do you know the woman's name?  If you were just looking around, you wouldn’t know her name."

            "Well, uh . . ."  Jack was caught and knew it.  He thought, "How do I get out of this?"  He looked at Calvin, his eyes begging for help.

            Calvin stepped in between Jack and the Sheriff.  "The important thing is," Calvin interjected as he started pushing Jack off the train car, "we saved this woman's life.  We’re going to step down and watch you guys rescue her.  We'll be out of the way."  Calvin continued to push Jack, as he retreated as well.  "Why don't you go and oversee the rescue?  Don't let three young boys distract you from saving a woman's life.  You're a hero."

            The Sheriff gave the boys a surly stare as they stepped off the train car.  "Go home and don't come back!"

            Calvin pulled Jack and Willie behind some people and simply waved an acknowledgment to the Sheriff.  Through the bodies of the crowd, they saw the Sheriff disappear through the window. 

            "Thanks for getting me away from the Sheriff," Jack whispered.

            "Yeah, well, you just had to show off didn't you.  What did you think was going to happen?"

            "I thought everyone would want to know about Ingrid.  I was trying to help.  How was I supposed to know the Sheriff was around?  I thought he was with the tiger."

            "You wanted everyone to treat you like hero.  Now, we have to figure out how to continue our investigation without the Sheriff catching us."

            The people around the window started stirring and moving back.  A voice said, "Move back, please.  Make some room."  Two paramedics emerged from the window.  They bent over and reached into the window.  They pulled a long board through the window.  Ingrid was strapped to the board.  She had a large white collar wrapped around her neck.  Once the board was completely out, the paramedics carried her to a nearby ambulance.  Blue and red lights flashed as it drove away.

            Calvin turned his gaze to the window and saw more people emerging.  "Quick," he whispered to his friends.  "The Sheriff will be getting out.  We need to hide.  Run to the woods."

            Jack and Willie complied silently.  They ran into the woods and dove under some brush.  They rolled over and poked their heads up just enough to see what was going on.

            "Let's wait here," Calvin suggested.  "When people leave, we can sneak back to Buster's car.  I think it’s next to Ingrid's car."

            "Sounds good to me," Jack responded.

            Willie nodded.

            They waited silently, lying on the ground.  After a few minutes, Willie put his head down, resting it on his right arm, and fell asleep.

            Jack nudged Calvin with an elbow and pointed at Willie.  "Look at him."

            "Leave him alone. We'll wake him up when we are ready to move."

            Calvin and Jack continued to watch.  Two people climb into the car and the rest of the crowd slowly disbursed.  Eventually, everyone was gone except the two people in the car and three people standing on the far side of the car, who were engaged in a conversation with their backs to the boys. 

            "I’m tired of waiting," Jack whispered.  "I think we should go."

            "Yeah, it's time to move.  We can make it without being seen.  Wake up Willie.  Be gentle."

            Jack nudged Willie with his elbow.  "Hey, wake up.  We’re gonna go to Buster's car."

            Willie moaned for a few seconds.  He had forgotten where he was.  It took a minute to remember he was in the woods at a train wreck.  "What are we doing?"

            "We're going to Buster's car," Jack responded.  "Let’s go."  Jack crouched as low as he could and shuffled his feet as fast as he could to Buster's car.  He quietly crawled onto the car, moved towards the window, and slid into the car.  Calvin and Willie followed, copying his movements.

            Once Willie dropped into the car, Calvin spoke, "We made it."

            "Yeah.  Now, what are we looking for?" Jack asked.

            “Like before, I don't really know.  Just anything that might connect Buster to the theft."

            In the corner, Calvin noticed drawers tipped over with papers scattered around.  He walked over and flipped through them.  "He could be hiding things.  Why don't you guys look through his drawers and anything else?"

            Jack saw a dresser and searched it.  Willie opened a luggage trunk and found some papers.  He sat down on a mattress and paged through them.

            "Hey, guys," Calvin interrupted the silence.  "I just found a receipt for a train ticket.  It’s a ticket heading to New York.  He’s leaving from Brownsville at 6 o’clock.”

            "Brownsville?  That’s only a few minutes from here," Jack observed.

            "It proves he’s leaving today.  He planned to crash the train here so he would be near Brownsville.  He must be the thief," Calvin concluded.

            "I think we should get to the train station and stop him.  He must have the money and is getting away," Jack suggested.

            Willie rotated his head between Calvin and Jack as they spoke.  "Don't you think we should just tell the Sheriff?  I mean, this guy is really strong.  This could be dangerous."

            "Call the Sheriff?" Jack exclaimed.  "Are you kidding me?  After the way he treated us?  I say we go capture this guy and get some respect."

            "We already know," Calvin inserted, "the Sheriff doesn’t listen to us.  This guy is at the Brownsville train station and we’re not positive he’s the thief.  I think we should find him and confirm he’s the thief.  Then we can call the Brownsville Sheriff."  Calvin turned to direct his comments to Willie, "Nothing dangerous, okay?  Are you with us?"

            "Yeah, I guess so," Willie, still sitting on the mattress, sheepishly muttered.

            Calvin saw something protruding from under the mattress.  "Stop!  Don't move!"

            "What?"

            "You're sitting on something.  I think it’s a bomb.  If Buster’s the thief, he used some bombs.  I think he left one here and you’re sitting on it.  Don't move.  We don't want to blow up."