This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “3:10 to Yuma”.  No insult or invasion of privacy or infringement of copyright is intended. The story is for readers over the age of 18 only, and contains adult language. The writer is not responsible for any "discomfort" caused to the reader by this language and these situations.

The Train To Destiny

©03/2009  by:  Layne Richards

PART THREE

Lunch that day was very difficult for Katie.  Rather than being afraid, she was fascinated.  There were a million questions she would have liked to have asked Ben Wade, but what would he do if he were to find out that she knew his real name?  And besides, if they talked openly, someone else was sure to hear.  When they had finished eating, they still had a little time, so they walked around the hotel before it was time to go back to that interminable sitting on the train.

Ben had found that Katie Richards knew quite a bit about horses and cattle, as well as running a ranch.  An intelligent young lady, he thought to himself.  As well as energetic and enthusiastic.  He hoped those women that ran the finishing school she was headed for were ready for her.  She was going to be a handful, despite her lady-like looks in her traveling suit.

As they found their seats again, Ben's thoughts returned to Emmy.  He'd seen her taking  her own seat down at the other end of the car.  She was still a damned pretty woman, he thought to himself.  Seemed to have finally had enough of saloon life.  Was going back east to make a life for herself.  Was that what he was doing, he wondered.

Across from him, Katie Richards was going through her bag.  Ben studied her young, earnest face.  She was going to a new life as well.  Was that what everyone who got on a train did? 

The last train Ben had gotten on was the three-ten to Yuma.  He'd gotten off well before his stop.  Did not like to think about the life that would have been waiting for him there.  Was it time he made a change?

Too much to think about.  He took off his hat, picked up the book Katie had lent him earlier and tried to lose himself in its pages again.  It didn't work.  His mind kept going back to Emmy, to the time they'd spent together in Bisbee.

A question kept surfacing in Ben's mind and the harder he tried to push it away, the harder it seemed to push back.  Finally, he gave up, let it come.  Should he try again with Emmy? 

She wanted a different life.  Should he offer her one?  It was true he was still a wanted man but, back east, it was highly unlikely that he'd ever be recognized.  He had money put away.  He could buy a little house somewhere, maybe set himself up in a business.    Might be, Emmy would want to raise a family.

Lost in his thoughts, Ben was suddenly  aware of eyes on him.  Katie was watching from the seat across from him.  Had a curious, interested look about her.  He gave her a brief smile.

"Somethin' wrong?  You look puzzled." 

Katie met his eyes.  "No.  Nothing wrong.  You just looked lost in thought.  Like you were a million miles away."  Her lips parted in a smile.  "But you looked happy."

"Just thinkin' how nice it'll be to get where I'm goin'."  Ben pulled out his pocket watch, took a look at it.  Gettin' close to suppertime. 

As though she'd read his mind, Katie asked, "Would you care to sit with me at supper?"

"Sorry," Ben apologized.  "I'm havin' supper with that old family friend I met this mornin'."  Actually, he hadn't asked Emmy to supper.  Hadn't even thought about it until just this very minute, but he wanted to talk to her.

Katie's smile froze in place.  He was going to have supper with that woman?  That woman who was all set to turn him in and collect some reward!  She didn't know why that should make her feel concerned.  The man was Ben Wade.  He was an outlaw and a murderer.

From what little she'd heard, though, Katie got the impression that Emmy had been on some sort of intimate terms with Ben.  It just didn't seem right, Katie thought to herself, to have that sort of relationship with a man and then turn him in for money.

Should she tell Ben what Emmy was up to?  It would mean revealing that she knew who he was and how would he take that news?  It might mean he would harm Katie herself.  After all, if he took care of the problem with Emmy, then he'd know that Katie, too, was able to identify him.

It seemed to her that she ought to be scared of this man, but somehow she wasn't.  Since she'd met him yesterday, he hadn't seemed for one moment to act like the dangerous type.  She went over in her mind what little she had heard about Ben Wade.

According to talk she'd heard between her father and other men, he'd robbed quite a few stage coaches and trains, almost all of them carrying payroll money for the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The irony was not lost on Katie that here he was on a Southern Pacific train!  During those robberies, anyone and everyone who could identify him or his men had been killed, some by Ben Wade's own hand.  She'd heard her father say that he wouldn't hazard a guess as to how many Wade himself had murdered.

Katie had also read a couple of dime novels about Ben Wade.  They had credited him with hundreds of robberies, as well as hundreds of killings, but those little books were notorious for making mountains out of molehills.  Katie was loathe to believe anything they said.  She'd seen her father read them and laugh out loud at the outright lies he said they told.  So, if this man were Ben Wade-

But the man across from her looked like anything but a murderer, she thought.  Could it be that this Emmy woman was lying?  Or mistaken?   If they'd had some kind of intimate relationship, she could have her own reasons for wanting to make trouble for him.

Katie had seen her sister, Mary, flirt with a man, lead him on, and then slap him, proclaiming that he'd gotten fresh with her, or said inappropriate things or tried to touch her.  The whole thing disgusted Katie.  So, if this Emmy were anything like her sister-

She couldn't make up her mind what to do, so Katie decided to do nothing.  For now.  Maybe after supper she could get some idea of what Ben and the woman had talked about.  Ben was obviously a smart man.  If this woman truly meant trouble for him, no doubt he would figure it out himself.  If not, well-  If he were Wade, then perhaps he truly deserved to be caught.

Katie was uneasy all through supper.  She pushed her food around her plate, glancing often at Ben and the woman at the other end of the dining car and wishing she knew what they were saying to each other.  After supper, she looked for Ben before getting into her berth for the night, but she didn't see him anywhere.  Or Emmy, for that matter.

~*~

To say that Emmy was surprised that Ben would ask her such a question was an understatement.  Her food untouched, she positively gaped at him.  Then, thinking furiously about what she planned to do tomorrow, she put on a pleased and thoughtful expression.  "I-  I'm not sure, Ben.  You would truly ask me to settle down with you?"

Ben grinned and spoke in his usual flattering drawl.  "I figure you've had some time to think about what you passed up back in Bisbee," he told her.  "And this wouldn't be Mexico.  We'd pick out someplace back East.  I'd go into business.  Could be a good life for us, Emmy."

Wade was having just as hard a time believing he was asking this as Emmy was--probably more so.  This woman had turned him down once.  He'd never given a woman a second chance before, but then he'd done several things lately that he'd never done before.  Dan Evans and Charlie Prince both crossed his mind.

Emmy was thinking to herself that Wade could not have possibly played into her hands any better.  If she did things just right, getting him off by himself tomorrow shouldn't be too difficult.  But could she fool him?

Dropping her eyes from his gaze and playing with her napkin to hide her shaking hands, Emmy stammered, "Why-  Why, Ben!  This is-  Such a surprise.  I-  I never thought I would get a second chance."

Emmy put a note of shame in her voice.  "And after I laughed the way I did when you asked me back in Bisbee to go to Mexico with you.  Are you sure you want to do this?"  She schooled her features carefully before lifting her head again.

There was a look in her eyes that Ben couldn't quite fathom.  What was she thinking?  He never had any trouble reading women.  Must be that she really was surprised by this. 

He turned one of his most seductive grins on her.  "What about you, Emmy?  You wanna do this?"

Her eyes dropped again.  "This is so sudden.  I got on this train bound for New York, and now-"  Emmy put on her most appealing look.  "Could I have tonight to think about this?  Sleep on it?  It would be a big change, but I-I- think I might just be ready for it."

Typical female response, Ben thought to himself.  A man proposed and, no matter what he was proposing, a woman wanted to think about things.  Part of what made them women, he supposed.  But he thought he should at least set her straight on one thing.

"I ain't askin' you to marry me, Emmy.  I've never asked a woman that, an' I never will."  His voice was firm, but not unkind.

"Oh, I know that!"  Inside, Emmy was quietly seething that he would say such a thing.  "I wouldn't ever expect you to be the marrying kind, Ben."

Privately, Emmy thought that Ben Wade was a little too arrogant about himself and his worth.  She was sure that he just didn't think she was good enough for him to marry, given her past.  The man was a murderer and a robber, yet he considered himself principled and reputable!  Probably thought that little chit of a girl he'd been sitting next to was closer to his station in life than Emmy.

It was Ben's tone of voice and the look in his eyes that gave her that impression.  He seemed as though he were being slightly condescending.  That he was offering Emmy some great privilege by asking her to settle down with him.  As though anyone respectable would ever look at Ben in any better light than they would her!

Emmy thought she did a good job of holding in her feelings.  She wanted to tell Ben Wade to get off his high horse and see himself for what he was, but she said nothing.  Instead, she smiled at him. 

"I guess you could say I wouldn't be the marryin' kind either."  She saw him grin in return.

"All right, Emmy.  You can have tonight to think things over."  The drawl was slightly sarcastic, but she could tell Ben was very sure of himself.  Sure that this time her answer would be yes.  Well, let him think that--until tomorrow.

Ben walked her back to her berth, then went out on the platform to have a smoke before turning in himself.  As he looked up at the sky, watching the stars roll by swiftly far above the moving train, he thought to himself that tomorrow just might be the day his life would finally change for the better.

TBC