Kansas Charley is left alone and hungry in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming while his friends venture out to fill their bellies. They bring nothing back but a bottle of whiskey.
Deep in the night Kansas Charley, Waldo Emerson, and Ross Fishbaugh slept secure in their boxcar as the train sped westward. This Union Pacific train, pulling thirty-eight cars of mostly coal, cattle, and railroad ties, had left Sidney, Nebraska late in the evening. Although it was headed for Wyoming, it came to a stop probably at Potter or Kimball, Nebraska. Continuing on once more, it later crossed the border into Wyoming.
The Measure of Untrue Friends
Some three-quarters of a mile across the state line the train stopped again at Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. There Charley and his friends were seen creeping out of their boxcar and stretching their legs. However, it seems that only Emerson and Fishbaugh ventured outward to find something to eat. This fact was later revealed by Amanda Kauffman, the proprietor of a local Pine Bluffs' eatery. Kauffman noted that it had been about 6 A.M. when Waldo and Ross entered her establishment and quickly wolfed down a hearty breakfast each prior to the trainmen coming in for their early-morning meal.
Kansas Charley, while his companions satisfied their own hunger, waited, hungry and alone, in their shared boxcar until his friends returned and the train was once more on its way at 8 A.M.
A Deadly Slumber
The next stop for the train would be Hillsdale, Wyoming. Between Pine Bluffs and the next stop Emerson and Fishbaugh slept soundly now that their hunger was taken care of. Neither young man had thought to bring something back for Charley to eat, their shabby companion who had gladly given them the two pieces of pie he well could have eaten himself the day before.
Before settling down to sleep away the hours, Emerson and Fishbaugh had removed their shoes, their cardboard collars, and their cuff links. They had made a neat pile of their belongings. Beside it rested a whiskey bottle that still held enough for several stiff, and possibly deadly, drinks. That is, deadly when consumed by a starving boy who had now had nothing to eat for nearly twenty-four hours. Not deadly to himself, perhaps, but possibly deadly to two other young men.
Kansas Charley Alone and Starving: Whiskey and Hunger: A Deadly Mix , continues on September 11, 2006, with Kansas Charley Commits Murder: A Deadly Double Deed is Done
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