In The Beginning by Gail Daley (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📕

an old story to an outlaw like Franks, who had fought his way to the top of many outlaw groups. Ray Ponce, a big, blond man could have been top dog because of his size, but Franks judged him to be too soft to give him much trouble. Of the other two men, Franks decided that only John Waters would be trouble. A medium sized, gray-haired man, he was manifestly the leader and the most dominant of the three. Jeff Bridger, the third man hung around Waters and visibly curried favor with him. The first day after Franks awoke, Waters attempted to assert dominance by making Franks move from the place he had sat down to eat.

Aware that the little scene was being watched by Ponce, Bridger, and Miller, Franks stood up and faced Waters.

"I like it here," he said.

"I said to move. That's my place," Waters snarled.

Franks wasn't interested in challenging Waters, but he knew if he ignored the man it would get worse. He set his plate down and sneered, "Make me."

Waters took a swing at him, which Franks easily sidestepped, and followed it with a smashing blow to the man's gut. Waters was out of shape. He let out a whoosh! of air and doubled over. Franks hit him a second time, this time beside the ear, and Waters went down hard.

"That's enough of that!" Miller yelled. "You," he pointed at Franks, "sit back down. Waters you go back where you were. Any more trouble like this and both of you will get ten lashes. Got that?"

Franks sat back down and picked up his plate. "He started it," he told Miller.

Miller glared at him. "I don't care who started it. It ends now."

Franks shrugged and went back to eating.

It was several days before he was assigned to clean the cabins. Franks had already realized Miller was lax in keeping an eye on them. When he left Franks alone in Hank Bardeoux's cabin, he saw the keys for the shackles were hanging on the wall, along with keys to the desk and several other items. Chuckling at the foolishness of leaving the keys out in plain sight, Franks used the desk key to open it and search for a weapon. He found an old percussion type pistol and ammunition for it in one drawer. He stuffed it down in his pants and carefully re-locked the desk. Removing the shackles key from the ring, he pocketed that too. Tomorrow they were stopping at Grayson's Landing to take on cargo. That was where he would make his move.

They docked the next morning. Grayson's landing was small, two or three houses set against the sheer cliffs behind them. A larger building bisected the end of the short wooden wharf built out over a sandy beach. A small cultivated field ran down to the edge of the river. Tied to the wharf were three steam-powered fishing boats that could safely be handled by one or two men.

While everyone was distracted as they docked, Franks overloaded the bluestones used to make the Tumbling Gem's steam engine run. When mixed with water, a chemical reaction caused the stones to produce heat. Enough stones and you had steam power to run an engine. It was tricky knowing the right amount of stones to mix with the right amount of water to get the correct controlled chemical reaction. Too little and you didn't get enough heat; too much, and you got a nasty explosion. Franks was counting on an explosion to distract everyone when he slipped over the side to escape. To make sure it would be a big one, Franks also added more water to the engine, and bent to unlock his shackles. When he spotted Waters watching him, he tossed the keys to him. Hopefully, Waters would create a commotion when he freed himself and the others. Franks slipped over the side of the boat. He swam to the nearest boat tied to the wharf and boarded. He was in luck; it was fully stocked with bluestones. He added water to the amount in the engine and waited for the water to produce enough steam to start the engine.

In the meantime, Waters had used the keys to unshackle the other prisoners and he and Bridger had jumped Hank Bardeoux. Jeff and Leo Miller came to help while Ponce stood there watching. In the melee that followed, no one noticed Frank's absence or that the gauge on the engine showed it was dangerously overheating.

The brothers had just realized they were short a prisoner when Franks finally had enough steam rising to start the engine on the boat he was stealing. Looking over his shoulder as he left, he heard a massive blast and saw a great gout of flames streaking toward the sky. The blast tore away half the dock and most of the Tumbling Gem. As everyone ran to fight the fire created by the explosion, Franks fired up the engine on the stolen boat. He laughed as he headed back down the river.

The Farmer's Wife

JEANNE FOUND AN EMPTY seat toward the back of one of the train's passenger cars. The seats were set up so two benches sat facing each other. The cushioned bench opposite Jeanne was empty. Samuel stored the basket of food they had brought for the journey in the open luggage carrier overhead. The trip to Azure City would take several days, and although the train had a dining car, it would be unlikely that a prosperous farmer and his wife would eat there. As Samuel stepped back from the rack, he leaned over Jeanne and stared intently out the window.

"What is it?" she asked. The train moved, and he staggered a little before catching his balance.

"You'd better sit down before you end up in my lap," Jeanne remarked.

"I thought I saw Max Franks out there on the platform," Samuel said, joining her on the seat.

Jeanne's brow wrinkled. "Who is that? The name is familiar, but I can't