Longarm and "Kid" Bodie (9781101622001) by Tabor Evans Page B

coaches.”
    â€œWhere is he supposed to be?” Bodie asked.
    â€œIn a cattle car.”
    Bodie shook his head. “Mister, the dog stays with me.”
    The conductor shook his head. “Tell you what, Marshal Long. The next coach up is almost empty. Why don’t you three move up there and you’ll have a whole bunch of seats to yourself, and that beast can rest wherever it chooses.”
    â€œSuits me,” Longarm said.
    â€œMe too,” Bodie agreed.
    And that’s how they worked it all the way up to Cheyenne. Later, when they transferred to the Union Pacific, they were happy to again find a nearly empty car, where they settled in for the night. They passed over the Laramie Mountains, and morning found them on the sagebrush-covered high plains of western Wyoming.
    â€œWhen do they start serving breakfast?” Longarm asked as he gazed out at the familiar passing landscape.
    â€œThey’ve been serving for over an hour,” the conductor answered. “But you can’t take that dog into the dining car.”
    â€œWhy not?” Bodie asked.
    â€œBecause it’s against the rules and the dining staff would murder me if I let you bring a dog into their car.”
    â€œCouldn’t we just tie Homer up beside the seat and bring him back some food and water?” Longarm asked.
    â€œThat would be fine.”
    * * * 
    Later that day Longarm turned to his young friend and asked, “You said you’d never been on a train before.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œThen how did you and John Stock get from Bodie to Denver?”
    â€œWe begged rides. Once, we paid and rode a stagecoach. Sometimes we just walked. It took over a month and wore us down. Getting over the Rocky Mountains was the hardest.”
    â€œWell, then, riding this train must seem like quite a luxury.”
    â€œIt sure is,” Bodie agreed. “This is the best time I’ve ever had just sitting here with you and Homer, watching the world pass by and not havin’ to do a thing.”
    Longarm pointed out the window. “The next stop is going to be at Rock Springs to take on coal and water. Bodie, do you know anything about the history of this transcontinental railroad?”
    â€œJust a little bit. I heard it was a race of some kind between the Central Pacific out of Sacramento and the Union Pacific coming from the east out of Omaha.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œAnd I heard that it was the Chinamen who pushed the Central Pacific over the Sierras. I knew a couple of Chinamen in Bodie, and they were good fellas. Kinda quiet and standoffish, but nice enough.”
    â€œThey are good people. A lot of them that helped build the railroad over Donner Pass and then across Nevada went back to China with their money. I heard that they saved most of what they earned so they could help their families and buy farmland. But quite a few Chinese stayed in the mining camps, and there’s a huge Chinatown in San Francisco.”
    â€œWhat about the men who built the railroad for the Union Pacific? What happened to all of them?”
    â€œSome stayed out in the West, some went back east or to the South, where they were born and raised. A lot of the construction workers were ex–Civil War soldiers. Many were riffraff and were escaping the law or their creditors, but once on the job they all pulled together to lay track across the Great Plains. Mostly, they had to worry about blizzards and Indians. But it was quite a race, and we’re going to see where the railroads met at a place called Promontory Point in the Utah Territory.”
    Bodie grinned. “We gonna get to see that golden spike I heard was pounded into the joinin’?”
    â€œNo,” Longarm said, “I’m sure that they pulled it up long ago or someone would have stolen it. But there’s a statue and a little museum there that tells travelers the tale of the