Romance in a Ghost Town

by Robert P McAuley

  “Thanks Jim, but I’ll gladly pay for the room.”

  “No need, partner. I can write it off. Now, let’s dig in,” he said as the waiter placed their dishes in front of them.

  The lunch ended at 3:30 in the afternoon and Jim dropped him off at the Clayton Hotel. The Clayton was a plush, Art Deco style hotel and at three stories high, was one of the tallest buildings in town. Jim checked in, went up to his room, stripped off his clothes and took a long cool shower before changing into the terrycloth robe and slippers the hotel provided for the guests. He took out his laptop and went online sending e-mails to his friends and was happily surprised when Tommy Wallace Skyped him.

  His face came up on the screen as Jim accepted the video communication.

  “Hey, Bob, how’s it going, buddy?”

  “Great, partner!”

  “Partner?” Tommy quipped laughing; “Boy you are a cowboy already. What did they do, brainwash you?”

  “Naw, I was just with a real western guy who used ‘partner’ all the time.”

  “So, tell me, Bobby Boy, is it hot there?”

  “Man, it is steaming hot!”

  “And was Rattle City all it was videoed up to be or was it photo-shopped somehow?”

  Tommy watched the screen as Bob’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling and he said, “Rattlesnake Haven and I don’t know yet. I get the grand tour tomorrow morning.”

  Not able to resist another jab, his friend asked, “By horseback?”

  “No, by SUV,” answered a grinning Bob. “I got to tell you, Tommy, these guys go nowhere without driving their air-conditioned vehicles.”

  “Hey, when it’s over eighty degrees, I vote their way: there’s no windows to close on a horse to keep the air in. Know what I’m saying…partner?”

  Once again Bob grinned at the poke and went on, “Yeah, I do and I agree too. Especially since I haven’t even seen a horse here yet.”

  “Really?” asked his friend, his eyebrows arched in question. “I thought horses were all over the place out west.”

  “I guess I kinda did too, but none yet.”

  His friend looked at his watch, “Gotta run, guy. I’m meeting the crew at the bar for some drinks. Wish me luck, Edna is gonna be there.”

  “What happened to Lena?”

  “Aw, she moved back with her family in New Jersey and became geographically undesirable.”

  Bob shook his head, “Well, Casanova, go shave your head for good luck and hey, thanks for Skyping me. I should be back in New York by Sunday, so I’ll see you in the office Monday.”

  “Okay, buddy and don’t forget if you need to start a fire, just rub two sticks together, just make sure that the sticks are matches. Ha, take care, man.”

  He signed off and the screen went blank.

  Not being hungry, Bob watched TV and turned in early after putting in a wakeup call for five in the morning.

  It was nine p.m. that night when Jim knocked on Edward Pushkin’s door. It opened and Katey Pushkin answered. The slim, thirtyish something woman smiled knowing that her husband’s boss only visited when he was after something he needed help with. She smiled and said after they kissed each other on the cheeks, “Come on in, Jim. Ed’s downstairs at the bar waiting for you.”

  “Thanks, Katey. How’ve you been?”

  “Fine,” she said taking off her glasses and pushing back a strand of her reddish blonde hair, “Work all day at the bakery, then come home and cook for Ed and the kids.” She patted her stomach and went on, “All that food makes a woman spend any free time she has at the gym.” She grinned a make-believe grin as he went past towards the stairs that led to the finished basement.

  “Hey Ed, you down there?”

  “Sure am, Jim. Come on down. I’m mixing up some orange, kick-butt stuff right now.”

  Edward met his old friend and boss at the foot of the stairs with an ice filled, orange colored drink in each of his hands. “An orange juice and double rum for you and one for me. Cheers.”

  “Cheers,” repeated Jim as they raised their glasses and took a sip before sitting in the two, tall bar stools in front of the small, half circle of a bar located in the corner of the replicated old west log cabin.

  Jim shrugged and raised an eyebrow as he said, “The guys got a limp.”

  Edward looked puzzled, “You mean the guy from New York?”

  “Yeah. He has a limp.”

  “So, is that good or bad for the sale?”

  Jim shrugged his shoulders again and placed his drink on the bar. “Not sure. I mean, don’t you think he’s gonna have a hard time out there?”

  “Could be,” said Edward picking up some of Jim’s gloom. “So, am I still taking him out there tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. I put him up in the Clayton Hotel. You’ll be picking him up at 6 so he can get there and have a look around.”

  “Got any advice for me?”

  “Naw! He seems like a good enough guy, but I think he’s in over his head. I mean he doesn’t even have sunglasses!”

  Edward winced as he saw his commission going away. “Does he use crutches?”

  “No,” answered Jim shaking his head, “a cane. And I think he doesn’t like being pampered. I took him to the restaurant in my car and I think he wanted to walk to show me he’s okay.”

  “Walk? In this heat?”

  “Like I said, he seems like a good enough guy, he just doesn’t know how to handle this weather…he is from New York after all.”

  “So, do I let him walk around knowing that the sidewalk might break and dump him on his butt or do I go with him?”

  Another shrug came from Jim as he sipped his drink. “Play it by heart, partner. Not sure what he expects.”

  Trying to cheer both his boss and himself up, Edward winked and said, “Jim, if he’s half-way into owning this town, I’ll talk him into the other half.”

  Jim smiled and slapped Edward on his back as he stood. “That’s what I want to hear, Ed.” He finished his drink and put the empty glass down.

  “So,” asked Edward finishing his drink, “you can’t make it tomorrow?”

  “No,” he answered shaking his head; “I need to finish cleaning the attic like I promised the wife. Of course I didn’t tell him that. I said I had a Town Hall meeting.”

  They went up the stairs and as Edward opened the door for his boss, Jim turned and said as he shook his hand, “Ed, I’m counting on you, big time, tomorrow.”

  “Gotcha,” said Edward as he watched Jim walk down his driveway. I knew you wouldn’t go, he thought as he watched him get into his car, you’re too afraid of snakes. He grinned as he went back downstairs to the bar.

  Katey stood at the bottom with two orange, kick-butts in her hands. With a smile she passed one to her husband and held hers up in a toast: “To the salesman of the year; Edward Pushkin. Cheers!” They touched glasses and took a sip.

  Bob had risen early, put on a pair of jeans, a white short-sleeved shirt and black loafers. He had breakfast in the hotel and sat in the lobby reading the local newspaper when Edward walked in.

  The real estate man looked around as he headed to the front desk and, although he spotted Bob’s cane, decided to skip the obvious and ask the clerk. The man behind the desk nodded in Bob’s direction and as Edward headed toward him, the New Yorker stood and smiled.

  “Mister McKillop?” asked Edward.

  Bob nodded and offered his hand as he answered, “Bob. And you’re Edward, correct?”

  Edward answered with a smile of his own, “Correct, and please call me Ed.” He looked around the area Bob had been sitting in and asked with raised eyebrows, “Do you have everything here or more back in your room?”

  Bob shrugged and said, “No, I have everything.”

  Edward’s head dropped noticeably, “No, Bob. We need to get you some traveling goodies.”

  “Traveling goodies? I don’t understand.”

  “Come on,” he answered as he led him to the shops that were getting read
y to open in the hotel lobby. He stopped in front of one store and rapped on the glass door.

  A smiling, older man opened the door and said, “Hi Ed. Ya know that we don’t open for another fifteen minutes yet?”

  “Hi, Ben. I know you don’t open for a bit yet, but Jim asked me to help out an old friend and he said you’d be the right man to help an’ we need to be on the road soonest.”

  “Well, if he’s a friend of Jims and Jim is counting on me, come on in,” he said as he opened the door.

  Edward took Bob to a mirrored, six-sided display holding many pairs of sunglasses. “Pick out a good pair, it’s on the company.”

  Bob picked a pair and tried them on. Satisfied, he saw Edward standing by another rack display of western style hats. He walked over and Edward handed him one.

  “Try this one on, it’s good to shade out the sun.” He grinned as the pale New Yorker put the hat on and faced him to get his opinion. “Naw!” Edward said as he took the hat and gently rolled up the sides and offered it back to Bob who placed it on his head and watched as his teacher smiled.

  “Yeah! Now ya got it. Follow me.” He went to another section and asked Bob, “What size boots do you take?”

  “I-ah, I can’t wear boots,” he answered as he looked at Edward. Seeing that the man had a questioningly look on his face, he stammered, “Ed, its not that I can’t wear boots, its just that, well, since my accident I need two different sizes, that’s all.”

  Edward answered with compassion in his voice, “Hey, Bob. No problem. We need to outfit you to go into some rough country and give you a chance against whatever Mother Nature tends to throw against us. That’s all. Just gimme both sizes and you’ll have two sets of boots. Now, that’s a good deal. Right, partner?”

  Bob smiled and said, “Sizes 7 and 10.”

  Edward picked out two pairs of plain, not too expensive, dark brown, western boots and passed them to Bob who sat on the bench to try them on. Edward felt a twinge of pity as he saw him put the size seven on his right foot and the larger on his left. He made sure that Bob didn’t see him looking and quickly walked away.

  Finished, Bob stood and looked in the mirror. He was happily surprised to see a cowboy in the reflection of the store’s full-length mirror looking back at him.

  “Come on and we’ll get rolling,” quipped Edward as he tore off all the tags, put them on the counter and said as they went out the door, “Ben, here are the tags, just charge them to the company. See ya, and thanks again, partner.”

  He led Bob out to the front of the hotel and opened the passenger’s door to his SUV. The real estate man watched through his dark glasses to see how he handled getting into the high-riding car and satisfied, got in the driver’s side and started it up. He immediately put the air-conditioning on all the way and said, “Bob, open the glove compartment, reach in and grab that tube of sun block. This is a good time to lather it on before we hit the bumpy parts of the road.”

  Bob did and felt as though he was back in Coney Island with his friends when he was a kid and grinned.

  “Hey, partner,” asked Edward as he headed out of town, “why the grin?”

  “Just an old memory, Ed. A good old memory.”

  The trip was only forty-two miles but as it was mostly off-road it took them four hours and twenty minutes to get to Rattlesnake Haven. Edward took the same route he had taken with Jim and as they crested the small rise and the signpost came into view, he glanced over at Bob. His face was deadpan and not being able to see his eyes, Edward thought, maybe I shouldn’t have gotten him those dark glasses.

  “Getting’ close, partner. Next stop, Rattlesnake Haven. Be there in another twenty minutes or so.”

  Bob was beside himself but as usual he didn’t allow his anticipation to get the better of him. Wonder if Edward thinks I see these sights all the time? he thought knowing that he had contained himself.

  As usual Edward stopped the SUV next to the wooden sign. “Pretty wild, huh?”

  This time Bob smiled as he said, “Wow! This is old! Can’t wait to see the town.”

  Edward grinned as he thought, Finally! Maybe Katey will get her new wardrobe after all. Hot dawg! He drove slowly to build up anticipation as well as to clear the crevices and nature-made potholes and cracks, and it worked. In order to see better, Bob put the side window down allowing sand and dust to enter the SUV. He quickly put it back up and said, “Hey, Ed, sorry about that. Sure gets dusty out here.”

  “Yeah, partner, it’s a continuous fight of us against the elements.” He looked to his left as he negotiated the gully on the roadside. “We’ll be in town in a few minutes.”

  Finally they rolled slowly down the town’s main street, passed the boarded up store fronts and Edward stopped in the spot that had become his usual: outside of the jailhouse, at the end of town.

  Before Edward could say anything, Bob asked, “I’d like to go around alone, if that’s okay with you, Ed?”

  “Your call. Usually if I’m selling a house I let the prospective buyer go in alone then catch up with them after they got the feel of the place.”

  Bob grinned and nervously opened the car’s door. He felt the heat immediately and it stunned him. Wow! he thought as he leaned heavily on his cane, got to take this nice and slow. He walked towards the jail, as that was the closest place to the parked SUV.

  Edward watched with concern on his face, as Bob got closer to the sidewalk. Damn! I just can’t let a man walk into a place that might kill him. Screw the commission, he thought as he grabbed his hat and opened the door.

  As Bob got close to the sidewalk, he heard the SUV’s door slam shut behind him. He turned and saw Edward coming towards him in a fast walk.

  “Can’t let ya do this alone, partner,” he said carrying Bob’s Stetson in his hand as he put his own hat on. He passed Bob his hat and said, “Here, partner. Put this on and wait here a sec, I’ll be right back.”

  Bob stood watching as Edward went to the car and removed a gun belt and holstered pistol from the rear seat. He strapped it on as he walked back.

  “Never can tell when a snake might appear,” he said as he held up his index finger and went on, “Don’t get me wrong, any town out this way is gonna have snakes, but seeing as you don’t have a gun, best I escort you. Okay?”

  Bob smiled as he said, “Okay. After all Jim did say that you’d be the best guy to have around when you’re out in the desert.”

  Ed smiled, “He said that?”

  “Yep! And I believe it.”

  The real estate man grinned and said, “Well then, listen up, partner. The wood around here has been exposed to the sun and elements for over one hundred years so ya got to treat everything like its gonna break when you touch it. Now, listen to the sidewalk as you walk on it. A soft sounding squeak means all’s well, at least for now, but a loud squeak sorta means it’s gonna break so you better step quick to the next one.”

  “Got it. And snakes? What do I do about them?”

  “You don’t do anything about snakes but stay away from them. If ya do decide to buy the place, sooner or later you’re gonna need to get yourself a gun just in case you bump into one. They’re most active from March through October. They begin the year by being active during the daytime hours, but as the days get hotter, usually around early May, they get more active at night and tend to spend the day in a shady place or a cool den. But if ya keep the place clean, bright and tight, they’ll move out for darker places. Now, are you ready for the tour?”

  Bob set the front of his hat brim slightly down as he had seen Ed do and answered, “Sure am. Lead on.”

  The New Yorker followed in Edward’s footsteps and quickly saw the difference between a soft and loud squeak as twice Edward’s foot went through the old sidewalk before he had the chance to step off and Bob knew why he had insisted on him wearing boots.

  They entered the jail and Bob just stood in the middle of the room with his mouth hanging open. “Lord,” he said, “this is fantast
ic! Everything seems so-so, well, so real! Like the sheriff just closed up and left.”

  “I know,” said Edward excitedly as he handed him the keys, “it’s the best I’ve ever seen and I’ve been in at least three other ghost towns. It blows me away every time I come here.”

  “So, it’s unique then?”

  The look on Edward’s face as he said emphatically, “Oh, absolutely!” told Bob that he wasn’t just saying that for the sale; the cowboy in him really meant it.

  They left the jail and Edward said, “I figure that you can go into four places before we’ll have to get back on the road. We don’t want to be driving around out here in the dark and tomorrow is another day.”

  They walked past the General Store, Giddon’s Home Supply store and stopped in front of the Dust Off Tavern when Edwards said, “I tried the door once before but it’s locked and I didn’t want to break it. But, if you’re thinking of buying the town, you have the right to see the inside and I’ll help you open it and wait right outside if you need me. Okay?”

  “Yep! Want me to try first?”

  At Edward’s nod Bob gripped the iron handle, pressed down on the wide, thumb lever and the pressure on the old mechanism snapped the workings and he cringed as he gently opened the door an inch. He felt a certain kinship with anything built in the Old West and it was in his blood to preserve as much of the old days as he could. He slowly opened one of the double doors and saw that behind them was a set of smaller, swinging doors and as he pushed on one he was happily surprised to hear a slight squeak as it swung easily on century old hinges.

  “Boy, those guys were great,” he said of the ironworkers of years back. Once inside of the cavernous room his jaw dropped as he saw a forty-foot long bar with stools stacked, legs up, on top of it. All were covered with dust as though the bartender had closed up for the night and locked the doors behind him for one hundred years. Behind the long bar were three large mirrors, one of which was cracked. He knew they were there to reflect the light from the covered up windows and the six candle-bearing candelabras that hung from the ceiling. On wooden shelves in front of the mirrors stood many bottles of corked alcohol. A dust-covered brass rail ran down the distance of the wooden bar and there were a dozen brass spittoons evenly spaced in front of it. Bob shook his head as he scanned the room. He counted at least twenty-five round tables with their chairs tilted forward, their straight backs resting on the curve of the tables, all covered with dust. Against the back wall stood an upright piano covered in canvas, a small, three-legged stool resting on top and again all were covered in dust. He saw paintings hanging around the room and all had beards of dust and cobwebs swinging in the light breeze the open door provided. A staircase headed upstairs to the walk-around balcony and as much as he wanted to inspect the upstairs, he knew that if the stairs collapsed he could really get hurt so Bob smartly declined to answer the little boy in him. He walked gingerly to the boardered up windows and was happily surprised to hear nothing but very soft squeaks every now and then from the floorboards. He looked in amazement at the etched glass that had stood the sands of time and smiled as he thought, Must be because the town was built in a small valley. Maybe most of any bad weather just goes right on over it?