Ghost Town

by Michael Collins

‘Your right Edie,’ said Amos, ‘I think it’s time we explored a bit.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Ritchie, ‘I will get some flashlights.’

  They all walked up the main street and shone their flashlights around looking for anything of interest. They decided rather than split up they would stay together for the time being at least. They entered the bank first, there wasn’t a lot to look at in the customer area so they went behind the counter into the back office, the big black safe still stood there unmoved for almost a century, the steel opening handle still in place and the combination dial although covered with dust was still intact. Amos tried to turn the handle but the safe was still locked as he expected.

  ‘I am surprised no one as robbed this safe in all the time it has been here,’ said Amos.

  ‘Well apart from it being anchored into the ground and weighing a few tons,’ said Ritchie,’ And it would probably take a nuclear bomb to move it he said laughing.’

  Ritchie cleaned the combination dial with his handkerchief, surprisingly the dial still turned and the numbers were still visible.

  ‘It is more than likely to be empty anyway,’ said Ritchie, ‘If only we had the combination we could find out for sure.’

  They looked outside the bank, there was nothing of interest apart from an old water pumping well, the pump was sat on a stone wall and the remains of an old rotting pipe which led down the well for pumping the water was now useless, Elber threw a stone down and could hear the splash as it hit the water. Directly outside the bank was an old metal container near the back door, it was quite big and covered with a rotting old canvas, as they pulled the canvas off it just fell to pieces, the metal container had a few logs of wood inside it was probably used for storage of firewood and kept it dry.

  They left the bank and went across the road to the sheriff’s office the desk was thick with dust and cob webs an old lamp was overturned and smashed on the floor, the gun rack on the wall was understandably empty, old whiskey bottles were scattered about on the floor, an old window flap was banging in the frame with the wind outside which was now picking up a bit. The cell door creaked as they opened it an old bed was by the wall under the barred window.

  Next was the mayors house the front door was hanging off its hinges they walked through into the office it was mostly untouched paintings were still hung on the wall and the big oak table was still in position the elements had not been kind to what once was a beautiful desk. The chairs were turned over and the threadbare carpet was crumbling as they walked over it.

  In the back room Edie and Elber were looking around, there was an old armchair and a metal wood stove the kettle still sat there everything was covered in dust and grime, the dresser in the corner caught Edie’s attention one or two plates were still displayed but most of them were smashed on the floor, two little drawers were on the dresser and she inspected them, old rotting papers which fell to bits when she picked them up were in the first drawer and in the other was an old hair comb, this particular drawer seemed to be wedged open slightly and would not shut, Edie pulled the drawer out and noticed a little box wedged at the back of the dresser, she pulled it out she noticed the initials A.D. on the top she opened it up and inside were little buttons, ribbon and pins, she notice the little petal shaped piece of metal with a little indent in it, it also had a very small link chain fastened to it.

  ‘This looks unusual,’ she said to Elber, she let him have a look.

  ‘It looks like a piece of jewellery,’ said Elber, ‘Like a charm from a bracelet or something.’

  ‘There is a little indent perhaps something was stuck in there,’ said Edie.

  ‘Could be right there Edie, looks like gold to me,’ said Elber, ‘In fact it could have been an earring.’

  Sequence 4. Weds 9th August 1950 8pm

  They made their way into the graveyard through the gate the first grave they noticed was the crooked headstone with Anna engraved on it.

  ‘This is the one I was looking at earlier,’ said Amos.

  ‘Yes, this was my great great grandad’s wife’s grave,’ said Ritchie.

  There were about 30 graves in the cemetery, the aura from above the ruined church giving off a bit of light and the crimson like cloud at the top of the aura seemed like it was trying to push it downwards.

  ‘So, what are we looking for then?’ said Elber.

  ‘Check the graves out,’ said Ritchie, ‘There might be a clue as to where to look.’

  ‘Did you find anything in the mayor’s house Edie?’ said Amos.

  ‘Just this little box with buttons and trinkets in,’ she said’

  She passed the box over to Amos and Ritchie.

  ‘A.D. on the top,’ said Amos.

  ‘That could be Anna Dalton her initials,’ said Ritchie’

  ‘What’s that gold looking thing them?’ said Ritchie.

  ‘Looks like an earring to me,’ said Elber.

  ‘Yes, you could be right there Elber,’ said Ritchie, ‘Why is there only one though?’

  ‘Well if they were Anna’s maybe she lost one,’ said Edie, ‘It’s very easy to lose one earring I have lost them myself in the past.’

  Edie put the box away and they started checking the graves most of them were the same with two initials and RIP on them all, on the far left before they got to the stone wall one grave had the A.D. RIP written on it.

  ‘Look at this one here,’ said Amos, ‘Another grave with the initials A.D. on it.’

  ‘Anna Dalton?’ said Elber.

  ‘Possible,’ said Ritchie, ‘There could have been two people with the same initials, it is just the same as Elber Trent and Edie Trent if you see what I mean.’

  ‘Let’s have a close look at it,’ said Amos.

  Amos started to brush round the edges of the grave using his fingers, he was looking for any type of clue.

  ‘Pass me your penknife Ritchie,’ said Amos.

  Ritchie handed him the knife and Amos scraped round the grave edge, he felt concrete or stone and there was a gap it seemed to go around the full length and breadth of the grave.

  ‘I think that this grave opens on some kind of hinge,’ said Amos, is heart beating faster with excitement.

  He gave the knife back to Ritchie and started to look for some kind of lever, after about 5 minutes he moved from the actual grave to the headstone, perhaps there was a clue there he thought. After feeling all-round the sides of the head stone, he pulled it hard towards him, nothing he thought, he went around to the back of the stone and with one all mighty effort he pulled again and the stone dislodged.

  ‘It moved!’ said Edie, ‘It moved!’

  Ritchie and Elber went around to help him and they all pulled at once, the headstone fell backwards and the grave stone lifted up revealing the dark stairway into the ground.

  *****

  ‘Okay who’s first?’ said Elber, ‘Don’t all volunteer at once.’

  ‘I will go first,’ said Amos.

  ‘Everyone stick together,’ said Ritchie, ‘Funny things start to happen if you don’t, I have seen it in those scary movies.’

  Amos lead the way down the steps, all four of them were armed with their flash lights, when they were all down in the passageway they could see the empty dynamite boxes they were in pretty good condition considering their age they carried on walking up the passage in the direction of the church. As they walked forward and round to the right they could hear the humming and buzzing from down the passage, the flickering light emitting from the light shield.

  ‘What the hell is that?’ said Elber,

  ‘Looks like some kind of light door,’ said Ritchie.

  Once again, the whole passageway was blocked by this kaleidoscope coloured wall of light, Amos shone his torch into the beam, he then pushed the torch into the light, it sounded like a liquid as he pulled it out again.

  ‘This is very weird,’ said Ritchie, ‘What do you make of it Elber? Give us the benefit of your experience.’

  ‘Doesn’t
look familiar to me,’ he said, ‘And I don’t really want to step through there until I know what we are dealing with if you know what I mean.’

  Amos picked a stone up and threw it through the light it sounded like a sticky plop and there was no sound of it landing on the other side.

  ‘Be careful Amos,’ said Elber, ‘Till we know what that light beam does exactly.’

  ‘Elber moved over to the edge out of the way of his friends, the others watched as he turned his back to them, Elber closed his eyes and raised his head slightly as if smelling the air.

  ‘Samuel, can you hear me my old friend I need your help,’ thought Elber.

  ‘Samuel, if you are nearby please contact me,’ Elber was really concentrating now.

  Ritchie, Edie and Amos watched on as Elber seemed to be in a trance like state, Amos knew what he was doing he had seen him do this before when he was speaking to his father in the past.

  ‘Samuel, I am waiting for you,’ thought Elber.

  After about 5 minutes Elber seemed to relax, his eyes were still closed, Amos knew his father was almost with them he could sense it with Elber’s body language now.

  ‘Elber my old flower,’ said Samuel, ‘You are a long way from home my friend.’

  ‘Samuel it’s good to see you again,’ said Elber, he now spoke out loud and opened his eyes.

  Samuel was stood in front of Elber but only Elber could see him.

  ‘I can see my son is there Elber please give him my regards,’ said Samuel, ‘I also see your Edie there too, she is looking beautiful,’ he said.’

  ‘I will Samuel you’re always the gentleman,’ said Elber.

  ‘So Elber what are you doing so far away from home?’

  ‘Your Amos as got this thing about ghosts and spirits Sam, so he has dragged us all the way to California and here we are in a ghost town called Dethrock.’ Said Elber.

  ‘Dethrock eh! It will be just like the old days then Elber?’ said Samuel.

  ‘It’s possible Samuel, but you ain’t possessing my body this time,’ said Elber.

  They both laughed. Ritchie, Edie and Amos just stared, because as far as they were concerned Elber was talking to himself.

  ‘Oh, come on Elber it was quite an experience if I remember rightly and I didn’t damage you at all did I?’

  ‘Well not exactly, but you did scare me a bit when you told me what had happened,’ said Elber laughing.

  ‘So, what can I do for you my old friend?’ said Samuel.

  ‘I need you to go through this light shield Samuel, have a look around and come back and tell me what you make of it before we go through?’ said Elber.

  Samuel turned around and faced the colourful light beam.

  ‘I haven’t seen anything like this before,’ said Samuel, ‘But I will give it a go.’

  ‘We will be waiting here for you Samuel while you check it out,’ said Elber.

  ‘See you in a while Elber, I will be back as soon as I can.’

  Samuel floated through the light shield and Elber lowered his head and turned to face his friends.

  ‘Samuel sends his regards Amos, oh! and he says you look beautiful Edie,’ said Elber.

  A big smile came to Amos’s face.

  ‘He always was a smooth talker Elber,’ said Edie.

  ‘He has gone through the light shield to find out what is on the other side, he will be back soon,’ said Elber.

  Ritchie was looking on in amazement.

  ‘Are you some kind of clairvoyant Elber?’ said Ritchie.

  ‘You could say that Ritchie,’ said Elber.’

  ‘So, what happens now then?’ said Ritchie.

  ‘We wait,’ said Elber, ‘We wait.’

  *****

  Samuel floated through the light shield on the other side the first thing he noticed was the door on his right, he floated straight through it and the next thing he saw was the lamp, holding the lamp was a man and he looked visibly shaken.

  ‘Who are you?’ said the mayor, ‘Are you with the others that keep coming? Have you seen the Flanagan’s? Did you escape the fire? You’re a spirit too aren’t you? I can see ghosts too.’

  ‘Yes, I am a ghost or a spirit or whatever you want to call me and I am also here to help you,’ said Samuel, ‘What is your name?’

  ‘William Dalton I am the mayor of Dethrock, who are you?’

  ‘My name is Samuel Spencer and I have just come through that light shield outside, my friend Elber Trent is on the other side waiting for me to return,’ said Samuel’

  ‘I came through the light a few minutes before you Samuel or at least it seems like it, but I can’t go back through it, I have tried but it won’t let me,’ said the mayor, ‘The town gold was in here Samuel and it as gone now and I keep having these strange recurring dreams.’

  ‘I can go back through the shield whenever I want mayor,’ said Samuel, ‘What I want you to do now is tell me everything that has happened to you before and how you got here and I want to know every detail.’

  The mayor looked at his watch it was 8pm.

  The mayor told Samuel everything that had occurred in Dethrock since they claimed the gold in 1845 till the massacre in 1850, the threats from the Flanagan’s and the murder and rape of Bart’s wife Martha in 1846. Also, the lead up to the bank robbery, the explosions and gunfire, the massacre of the women and children in the church fire, the murder of his own wife Anna and the four gun slinging Flanagan demons that came out of the fire afterwards.

  ‘What happened! did they try to harm you?’ said Samuel.

  ‘No actually they didn’t, but they scared the shit out of me,’ said the mayor.

  ‘Did they say anything?’

  Yes! “We are here till we get what we want, and we won’t leave without it” They were all staring at me their eyes were shiny black,’ said the mayor, ‘It was Bart Flanagan who spoke his sons were stood at his side, I remember before I found myself back here he spoke again. “I will be fucking watching you mayor” then I woke up here and my pocket watch was back to 8pm,’ said the mayor.

  ‘Were these Flanagan’s responsible for all the killing and explosions do you think?’ said Samuel.

  ‘Well as far as I know yes, I was talking to Bo he was the youngest son when it all kicked off,’ said the mayor, ‘I ran across to check that my wife was okay at home before I ran down to the railway station to send a telegraph for help, it was a bit stupid I know but I didn’t know what else to do at the time things had got out of hand, I was away for about 15 minutes then when I got back the explosions started again I saw Bart Flanagan running from the back of my house over to the saloon, a few minutes later Crampton followed him in, this was the last time I saw Crampton.’

  ‘What happened with the telegraph then?’ said Samuel.

  ‘Well I just felt I had to do something, I knew if help was to come it would be days, when I buried my wife I decided to go to San Francisco, someone had shot me in the shoulder and I passed out for a while I was near the church, the whole town was burning and everyone was dead,’ said the mayor, ‘When I got to San Francisco they told me that they had got the telegraph but by then it was too late, I gave my statements and they told me a troop of riders would be sent out to investigate, a few weeks later I decided to come back for the raw gold.’

  ‘Did you see who shot you?’ said Samuel.

  ‘No! all I remember is I saw Bart Flanagan outside the church and when I came around all I heard was shooting inside the church, glass lamps smashing and burning, screaming from the women and children,’ said the mayor.

  ‘It came from behind you then?’ said Samuel.

  ‘Yes, I do believe it did,’ said the mayor.

  ‘Was there anything else you saw that was unusual?’ said Samuel.

  ‘Yes, there was, I noticed the ghostly forms of the women and children coming out of the church towards me, their arms were stretched out and the palms of their hands were facing up like they wanted my help, the four demon Flanagan’s tu
rned to face them and a horrible screeching sound emitted from the gunslinger’s mouths, all the ghostly townsfolk returned to the burning church, like they were frightened of them.’

  ‘Very interesting,’ said Samuel.

  ‘Are you a ghost then?’ said the mayor.

  ‘Yes, mayor I am, but it’s a long story though and I will tell you all about it sometime,’ said Samuel.

  ‘Am I dead Samuel?’ he said.

  ‘No mayor I don’t think so, but there is a possibility that if you do go back through that light shield you will be in the year 1950 and not 1850, it could possibly interfere with your family’s timeline for the future, in effect changing it. I think that the light shield appeared from the spirits of all the murdered women, children and general towns folk in Dethrock on the night of the massacre. The light shield is some kind of temporal time loop and I need to go to the town and find out exactly what we are up against here.’

  ‘Are you saying I have been here for 100 years Samuel?’ said the mayor.

  ‘Yes, you have mayor but you don’t realize it yourself because you think you have just got here,’ said Samuel.

  ‘Oh, my god!’ said the mayor, ‘So everyone I have known is gone? All my family everything.’

  Samuel knew how he felt and wanted to put his hand on the mayor’s shoulder to reassure him, but also knew that it was not possible, his hand would have gone straight through the mayor, being a spirit Samuel couldn’t touch things in the real world.

  ‘I am going to have a look at the town myself,’ said Samuel, ‘In the meantime you stay here till I return, don’t be tempted to wander off again, I will be back soon.’

  ‘Do you think you will be able to help us Samuel?’ said the mayor.

  ‘I cannot change the events that will happen mayor, nor can I see into the future, but I can get an insight into what is happening in Dethrock, then maybe you and my friend Elber can do something. It’s not going to be a quick fix so don’t build your hopes up, as soon as I have checked the town I will bring my friend through.’

  Samuel floated back through the door and made his way to the church.