Levi worked his way back to the dinning-car. As he did, he noticed many broken windows, and in one train-car there had been a small fire started when one of the oil lamps had been shattered by a bullet.

The rich maroon colored drapes had caught fire, and there was some fire damage to two seats, and a large wooden desk. Some of the train-cars were riddled with bullet holes but the damage to the train had been minimal. As he passed each of the prison guards he inquired about their well-being, before moving on.

The Convicts were slowly finding their way back into their seats. Matt Corey and Ty Morgan sat quietly watching. Their eyes followed Sawyer as he passed their seat. Each of them tugged on the sleaves of their striped prison shirts to cover as much of the restraints as possible.

When Levi entered the dinning-car, he saw the prison guard who had been shot. The bullet had been dug out of his flesh, and it appeared the angle of trajectory along with the strength of the window pane and the movement of the train, had desepated the energy of the bullet considerably, preventing it from entering deep into the guards chest. By all indications he would recover.

Scanning the area, Levi saw Casper Hayes and Badger checking on Superintendent Paine and Warden Justice.

"Is everything ok, Badger?" Levi asked as he approached.

"Appears to be, Levi." Badger said.

"Things seem to have quieted down some-what," Badger continued as he looked around the dinning-car, "...But my hacales are still up. I just ain't feelin' too good about this. Trouble ain't passed us by yet, son. I know that much."

"How about you, Casper?" Levi asked.

"I'm with Badger, Levi. Somethin' just don't feel right. All the effort it took to set up two ambushes like that, and then for all of it to just stop. Nah, just too much effort for it to end like this."

Casper looked over at Badger, then back at Levi. "We better be ready for whatever's comin'." He looked out the windows facing the river. "You look out there Levi. You get more than ten or twenty yards from this train, and it's gonna get darker'n a bear's cave at midnight."

Levi let a moment of silence pass, before he gave a quiet nod, indicating he wanted them to walk away so they could talk.

"You feelin' the same way, son." Badger asked.

"One of the riders back there..." Levi started to say, when the door at the end of the train-car came open, it was Kyle Sawyer. Levi waited.

"Kyle, you seen J. B.?"

"No, I was on my way to check on him. The last I saw of John Barnabus, he was going to check on the Conductor, and the prison guard who was assigned to the tender-box.

"Before you do that, I was about to tell Badger, and Casper something." His tone became a whisper, "Something you need to hear too.

"What is it, Levi?"

"When the shooting stopped, I noticed the riders at the back of the train began to fall back. I spotted two of them easily enough, but I lost the third rider somewhere in the shadows and the chaos of the shooting.

Then I saw his horse standing alone, along the train tracks. I don't know if he was shot, or fell from his horse." Levi paused and looked around the train-car. The trip had made it possible to know every prison guard traveling on the train, and for the moment he recognized everyone who was standing near-by.

"My concern is that neither of those situations may have taken place. The man on that third horse may have gotten onto the train."

They all took a moment to look around. "If that's what happened, than we have a huge problem." Casper said.

"Kyle, do you know how far we are from the Blalock Train Station?" Levi asked.

"No, but I can find out from the Conductor when I check on John."

"You don't have to do that, Kyle." Joseph Paterson said as he approached. Paterson had just walked away from the windows, as he did he glanced out the opposite side of the train-car, where the Columbia River was flowing by. In the distance there was nothing but the dark of night, the stars, and the softness of the moon, reflecting off the ripples.

"I've made this trip before." Paterson said. "Judging from the bluffs we just passed, the station shouldn't be more than fifteen or twenty minutes from here."

Levi was wondering how much of their conversation Paterson heard, but judging from his casual approach, Levi didn't think it was much.

"In that case." Levi said, "We better walk through the train one more time to check on the convicts. and to let the guards know we're approaching the station."

Concerned about John Barnabus, Kyle was the first to leave the group. Kyle knew, as did the others, that John had no idea there might be an outlaw on the train, and the lack of that knowledge might just get him killed.

"Joseph, why don't you come with me to check on the convict cars." Levi said.

"Alright, Levi. Can you fill me in on what's got the three of you all huddled up like this."

Levi leaned in closer to Paterson. "We're looking for a stow-away." Paterson looked puzzled. "Come-on, I'll tell you on the way to the next car."

Kyle Sawyer quickly passed through the convict cars on his way to the front of the train. Moving as quickly as he did from one train-car to the next drew the attention of the outlaw, who was just ahead of him and slowly making his way in the same direction.

The large man stopped for a moment to listen, then he hid in the dark shadows of an empty car as the train swayed back and forth on the tracks. When he figured the young man had passed him unnoticed, he quietly drew his knife from the scabbard and began to follow.