Hide Me Sundown

Friday, July 20, 1945

The black sedan wound its way through the warehouse district on the southeast side of the Railroad Yard. Henry was at the wheel. Josh was in the front seat and Sammy and August were in the back. As Henry rounded the corner in front of the creamery, he reached under the dash and flicked a toggle switch. This was a special feature Lucas had installed for him. It cut the brake lights, so he could not be seen stopping at night. He watched the side mirror as he applied the brakes and no red glare was detected. He came to a stop in front of the creamery ramp and nodded to Sammy. Sammy sprung from the car as Henry moved on to circle the block and give Sammy time to unlock the door at the top of the ramp.

As they finished the last leg of circling the block they were driving west, toward the creamery. In the sky, a few miles beyond the building, they could see a huge thunderstorm approaching. It sporadically signaled its intrusion with stabbing flashes of lightning.

Sammy was sliding one side of the accordion doors open while Henry drove up the ramp. Henry slipped the car in the narrow opening and then Sammy closed and secured the door.

Henry opened the trunk and pulled out four bundles. Each man proceeded to pull clothes from his bundle and put them on over his existing clothing. The shirts were black flannel and the coveralls were also black. Each man had a black leather aviator’s cap, which included the goggles. They blackened their faces with charcoal and lastly, pulled on black gloves. Each man secured a .45 semiautomatic pistol and hand cuffs in his coveralls.

Henry carried the only flashlight and turned it on to check his watch. It was nine twenty-four, p.m. "Are you ready?" He asked his three partners. Each responded in a positive whisper. "Any questions? Do each of you know what you’re gun-a do?" Again they answered in the affirmative and Henry knew the moment was here.

For Henry, butterflies flew from his belly to his brain. His hands were shaking and he only hoped the three couldn’t see this. He spoke in short bursts to keep his voice from cracking with nervousness. As he lead them to the outlet door, his legs grew weak and he didn’t know if they were going to support him. He took a deep breath and led the way.

One by one, the men made the five-foot jump to the ground. Sammy was the last and stood on the thin ledge as he closed the door and secured it before jumping down. All four were crouched on the ground, black on black in the shadows. Henry glanced up at the coming storm and wondered what roll it would play tonight. He didn’t like its unplanned presence.

Again he took a deep breath and started through the shadows following the path he had taken the night he met ‘Red Sky’ Murphy. The thought made him shudder, but they were in motion now and he felt better. They wound their way around and under train cars, taking special precaution to examine any open ground for Railroad personnel. Within twenty minutes, they had made their way to the spot Henry felt was directly west of where the target would stop. All four crawled under the cars on the tracks next to the open set of tracks, then settled down to wait.

Henry looked at his watch without the flashlight, but could not make out the time. "Oh well," he thought, "the time doesn’t matter. When the train gets here, it’ll be time."

As they lay under the cars, a big gust of wind rolled through the Yard. Dirt and debris were picked up in its crest and fought for release as the leading edge of the storm displayed its arrival. Shortly, big individual drops of rain would splat on the ground. Like the quickening pace of popcorn popping, the drops multiplied until an undeniable down pour was in progress.

The four held their positions for a long while. Thoughts of things gone wrong were entering their minds. No one protested as yet, but they would shift occasionally to avoid the rain as it moved through the Yard. They waited and, as time passed, their attention focused on the event of the storm. They were shaken by the loud blast of a train whistle. The train engine was only fifty yards away. It had arrived with an unbelievable lack of notice. Their tension grew as they watched it pass and then the following cars slowly came to a jerking stop. Only one car on the train was lit with interior lights. That had to be their target. They were two cars too far north, so they crawled south, still under the cars of their train until they were directly opposite the target.

Henry brought the three close to him and tried to talk above the pounding of the rain. "Don’t use your goggles, you won’t be able to see in the rain. If you can, poke the glass out of them so they can keep you disguised. We’ll wait until the truck starts backing up to the train.

Josh, you and August on the left . . . Sammy and I on the right. Understand?" They nodded as they busied themselves with poking the lenses from their goggles. They separated into their two teams. Henry couldn’t get his lenses out. The goggles kept slipping in his wet gloves. Sammy started to help him, but then the shine of headlights under the train took their attention away from the goggles. The truck swung quickly away, then backed up to the opposite side of the train. Henry had sat there watching the truck and realized things were moving fast. They should have been across the space by now. He discarded his goggles and glanced at the other three. He could tell they were waiting for him.