Chapter 6

Several more dry runs gave everybody the confidence they needed to believe in themselves. All three guards were sure that they could handle any foreseeable attack and Josh agreed with them. They were ready for their first run to Rio del Oro. The relay stations had been supplied with the needed mule teams for the gold coach and Beanpole had been able to familiarize himself with the danger points between Rio del Oro and Santa Rosa.

It had been decided that, temporarily, Randall and Murdoch Transportation Co. would not try to run two coaches on the days the gold coach was scheduled. There was just too much to learn to deal with the distraction. Once they were comfortable with the gold coach run, they would go to two coaches on those days. Meanwhile, the regular run now encompassed Rio del Oro and had enough business to be worth the effort. The gold strikes were definitely bringing people to NMT, and some of those people were worth having.

Josh was sure that all the talk up and down the line and even as much as 50 miles away about the gold coach run from Rio del Oro to Smithville would bring out the bandits, particularly on the first run. They would figure that the stagecoach line would not be fully prepared to defend the gold coach; therefore, it would be a relatively easy mark. Josh was determined to prove them wrong.

Josh wanted to be at every danger point as the coach came through, so he was going to be jumping, come Wednesday. Alice was going to fix him an extra large sandwich and jug of coffee for lunch, figuring that Josh would need all the help from her he could get.

They left for Santa Rosa on Tuesday, planning to spend the night there and run up to Rio del Oro Wednesday morning. They would load the gold and start back as quickly as they could, but Josh was a bit concerned about just when that would be. He wanted to get to Smithville before dark, if possible.

They were ready to leave Rio del Oro quicker than Josh expected. They got the gold loaded and pulled out amid shouts and shots of celebration. As soon as the coach left town, he and Beanpole dashed for DP8. They got there in time to see two gangs of, presumably, bandits shooting it out for the honor of being the first thieves to hit the gold coach. With Beanpole shooting at one gang and Josh shooting at the other, the two groups left in a rush before the gold coach got there.

Josh and Beanpole raced for DP7 as soon as the gold coach passed by. Damned if the two gangs they had shot at just a few minutes before hadn't combined forces and were waiting for the coach. The coach was a little bit late getting here, probably because of the execrable nature of the road, so Josh and Beanpole had the time to get in good position before shooting at the combined bandit gang. This time they hit one before the bandits took off, though it wasn't a fatal hit. The gold stage rolled by and Josh and Beanpole left for the next DP.

There were no bandits at DP6, so the the two riders had a little rest while they waited for the gold stage. When it came by this time, they waved it on and rode for DP5.

At DP5, it was almost as if things were back to normal. There was a tree limb across the road and four bandits were waiting for the coach. The coach actually got to DP5 before Josh and Beanpole, so a gun battle was already in progress by the time they arrived. Josh held Beanpole back at first so that he could see how well the guards on the coach were doing at fighting off the bandits. The two men in the drivers box were down behind the meager protection of its walls and dishing out as good as they got. The two men inside the coach were also doing well and in less danger than the other two. The only ones in immediate danger were the mules; nobody was shooting at them, but they could be hit by a stray shot.

It was apparent that the three guards and the driver had enough firepower to keep bandits away from the gold coach as long as they had ammunition, but they did not have the mobility required to drive off the bandits. Josh and Beanpole were needed for that. Josh had seen enough, so the two men moved around behind the robbers and shot at their unprotected rear.

The bandits took off as soon as they realized that new players had arrived. Beanpole dropped a loop over the branch and used his horse to drag the limb out of the way. Andy got the mules going again and the two riders moved on to DP4.

The men in the gold coach were scheduled to eat lunch at the last relay station before DP4, so Josh and Beanpole also ate while they were waiting. Nothing happened at DP4, so Beanpole had a leisurely ride back to Santa Rosa while Josh rode to DP3 to meet Jim Badger. Jim was waiting for Josh in a "tree house" fort he had constructed. He had found a good location where he could see the entire span of DP3 and cover most of it without moving.

Josh joined him in his lookout post and was impressed at how much he could see. Jim had done a much better job than Josh had in assessing the defense possibilities and rising to meet the challenge. They were called into use on this occasion at the stage pulled by with two bandits chasing and firing. Simultaneously, Josh and Jim muttered, "Amateurs!" and began firing at the bandits' horses. Both were quickly dropped and the bandits were killed in the fall. They quickly climbed down from their perch and pulled the corpses from the road; Jim would have to return for them, later, to claim his bounty, since they had to get to DP2.

Jim had started rigging an observation post here similar to what he had done at DP3, but had not had time to finish. His observation post still gave them a good look at DP2, but did need work. Fortunately, there was no trouble at DP2, so they were able to move on to DP1 without delay.

DP1 was just as Josh had left it. Jim had not felt the need to make any changes, so Josh was right at home. Again, there was no trouble here, so Josh was able to get to Smithville before the office closed, and Jim was able to retrieve his two corpses before dark.

There was a grand celebration when the gold coach pulled in. John Randall had organized a monster party with the whole town invited. There was a hearty feast with dancing afterward. This was the best party ever attended by most of the townsfolk of Smithville.

Josh wasn't all that surprised when the robbery attempts on the regular stagecoach runs dwindled down to nothing. All the bandits were concentrating on the gold coach and didn't have time to bother with the piddling take from the regular stagecoach. Josh still kept Jim and Beanpole on the job watching the regular run, since he was paying them, anyway, but they never had much to do except on gold coach days.

The routine for the gold coach was reasonably exciting; they expected at least one robbery attempt on every run, and sometimes there were two. The boys had a betting pool going on which DPs would be hit on a particular run, but DP5 was so popular that it was finally excluded from the pool.

There seemed to be a script developing for the bandits to follow. It was as if the survivors had gotten together and worked out what might work the best for a robbery attempt. So far, nobody had gotten any of the gold, but hope springs eternal in the bandit breast. Josh began to wonder if the whole exercise was evolving into a game played between the bandits and the stagecoach line.