Romance in a Ghost Town

by Robert P McAuley

  “Why did they do that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe the thought was: if it’s bigger, it must be better,” he answered as he reached for one of the two wide doors. Anne just rolled her eyes and let it go.

  The sign says that it was Hap’s Horse and Grain Supply and Bob gripped the door handle and had to try three times before the lock gave and he could shove it open. Retrieving his light from Anne, he stepped inside and threw its beam around. He quickly found the windows and opened them as Anne entered. Soon the interior was bright as day.

  Lined up front to rear down the center of the large room were four open wagons, their steel rimmed wooden wheels resting on wood blocks. One wall was lined with bins with hinged lids and Bob opened one to see the remains of grain at the bottom. The next showed the same and he said as he looked at the dozen others, “Grain for horses.” Across from the bins were ten stalls, “Guess a person could feed and rest his horse here for a fee.”

  “Look here,” called Anne from across the room. She pointed at a wall that was completely covered with saddles, reins, grips and anything that a rider would need for their horse. “These are still supple,” she said in a low voice as she fingered one of the saddles. “It’s as if the only elements that this town received was the sun’s warmth. No rain or moisture to rot things away. It’s amazing.” She turned and said with a big grin, “All we need are a few horses and we’re set to go. This story just begs to be told.”

  “And,” said Bob walking over to her, “you are the person to tell it.”

  “How soon?” she asked in a pleading voice with her hands clasped and her fingers intertwined.

  His answer was with a shrug, “As soon as you like. I have no problem with it. What do you do: bring in a crew of film people or something?”

  “Yeah, right,” she answered with arched eyebrows. “The newspaper’s budget would be blown away. No, what I’ll probably do is come back with a portable camera. It has audio as well as video and I’ll just walk around shooting and talking.” She looked out of the corner of her eyes and said, “Of course, it would help if I had an assistant. Someone who knew where not to step and such. Know anyone?”

  He grinned and quipped, “Well, I’m not Stephen Spielberg but I can carry some extra batteries.”

  “Hired!” she said and took out her camera and took a picture of the building’s interior. She turned and entered one of the stalls. “I wonder if any of history’s great horses started out right here?” She went to the rear of the stall and started to climb over the wood fence between the stalls when the wood snapped throwing her to the ground. Rolling, she suddenly came face-to-face with a rattlesnake that coiled up and shook hits rattle. She froze as Bob looked over the broken slat and said in a low, even voice, “Don’t move a finger.”

  The rattling was coming at a faster rate and Bob knew instinctively that the snake felt trapped in the corner and was getting set to strike. He pulled out his six-gun, and without thinking aimed and fired. The gun’s roar was deafening in the enclosed area and the snake exploded into a mist of red as its body was sent flying into the corner.

  Bob rushed to meet Anne as she ran towards him. They hugged as her body shook.

  “Shhh!,” he said patting her head, “It’s over.”

  She looked up at him and her eyes were wider than he had ever seen on anybody before. “T-The snake, it looked right in my eyes. He was going to strike.” She buried her head in his chest as he struggled to hold her, keep his balance and look around while holding his gun at the ready.

  “Come on,” he said, still with his arm around her shoulders, “Let’s go outside.”

  Once outside they stood in the middle of the street as they both reclaimed their composure and the brightness of the sun gave a feeling of safety.

  Still in his arms, Anne shivered as she rethought her ordeal. “W-Where did you learn to shoot like that?”

  He laughed as he turned his hand into a gun with the thumb sticking straight up and the index finger in the pointing position. “Like this! Every kid in Brooklyn plays guns and we didn’t have the money to buy a toy gun so we used our hands.”

  Her eyes went almost as wide as they had in the stall as she asked, “You mean you shot just inches away from my head and you say you learned by playing guns when you were a kid?”

  Bob shrugged and said, “Heck, it worked. Didn’t it?”

  He ducked and laughed as she rained hits and punches on his shoulders as she said, punctuating each word, “Don’t-you-ever-ever-do-that-again!-Do-you-hear-me-Mister-City-Slicker?”

  “Okay, okay, I won’t ever save your life again. Promise!”

  They hugged and laughed together until both their nerves had settled.

  “Well,” she said as she pushed her hair up beneath her hat, “if you really need to save my life again, I give you my permission.”

  Bob smiled and looked at the shadows they were throwing and said, “I’d like us to get back while there’s still at least one hour of sunlight left, so maybe we should head back home.”

  “Home? Is that where you turn into Chef Robert?”

  “Oui, mademoiselle.”

  They walked back, stopping once at the SUV to get their nightclothes.

  Back at the house, as Anne used the outhouse, Bob attempted to open the flue of the fireplace in the kitchen. After a few tries, it moved and a clump of dust and dirt fell into the bed of the fireplace. He bent down and looked up the chimney. “Great!” he said wiping dust from his eyes, “Sunlight!” He went over to the stack of wood in the living room and using his cane; rolled out two of the logs as he thought, Hate to be surprised by a snake sleeping in the woodpile. He took them into the kitchen, put them in the fireplace and because they were so dried out, lit them easily. He took another, smaller log and placed it in the stove as Anne entered the kitchen.

  “Wow,” she said looking at the growing fire in the fireplace. “Now this is getting real comfortable. More of this, Mister McKillop, and you’ll have a roomie.”

  “How many more logs do I need to make that happen?” he blushed deeply as soon as those words left his lips and she grinned as he quickly returned to setting a fire in the stove. The log lit immediately and Bob placed his hand on the tin chimney. He was happy to feel it getting hot which told him that the stove’s flue was not blocked and the smoke was going up the chimney, as it should. Next, he entered the living room and once again turned the fireplace’s flue to the open position and lit two logs. In a moment the room was brighter with the fireplace lit as the sun had set.

  “Anne,” he said as he gently removed the cover off the two easy chairs and placed them on the porch, “come sit in here and relax while I cook us some dinner.”

  “If you insist, I will,” she answered as she pulled off her boots and wiggled her toes. “Hope the aroma doesn’t overcome you,” she said with a grin.

  “No chance,” he answered as he pointed to his own boots. “Soon it’ll be mutual destruction when I take mine off.” Her laughter followed him into the small kitchen.

  Bob took the two steaks from the cooler and a stick of butter. Using the butter, he greased down the large frying pan and placed the steaks in it then put the frying pan over the heat. After a few minutes of cooking on one side, he added some cut mushrooms and carrots he had brought along from Pearl’s and turned the steaks. He opened a bottle of A-1 Steak Sauce and added a few drops to each of the sizzling pieces of meat and after a few minutes of turning them, Anne called out from the living room, “If whatever you are cooking tastes as good as it smells, you are a man of many hats, sir.”

  “Here’s hoping,” he answered back as he uncorked a bottle of red wine he had secreted in the car. He poured it into two of the glasses he had cleaned earlier, lit a candle and placed it in the middle of the table and then placed one glass of wine at each of the two settings. In the next ten minutes, he placed the meal on two of the china dishes and after putting out a knife and fork on a paper napkin, called out, “Dinn
er is served.”

  When Anne didn’t respond he said it louder and when she didn’t respond to that, he suddenly thought as he rushed into the room, Snakes! She’s dead! My God, no!

  The fireplace was the only light in the dark room and in his haste he didn’t use his cane and fell across her seemingly lifeless body as he called out, “Anne! Anne, speak to me!”

  His sudden shout and weight on her caused Anne to scream not knowing what had happened. Her eyes opened wide and seeing the terror in his as he said in a whisper, “Oh thank God, Anne, you’re alive!” it dawned on her what had happened.

  “Shhh,” she said as she pushed the hair from his eyes with a soft touch. “Yes, I’m alive and at this moment I’ve never been so alive.” Knowing that he was off balance and leaning across her and the arm of her chair, she impulsively kissed him on his lips. She suddenly sensed that he was inexperienced she hugged him closer and said, “I’m sorry if I was so forward, Bob. I’m not like that at all.”

  He was speechless and still off balance as he tried to regain his footing. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that, well, for a minute there I thought you were, well that a snake had bitten you.”

  She smiled as she continued to run her hand through his hair with one hand as she held him close to her with the other, “You thought I was dead, didn’t you?”

  He just nodded not knowing how to respond to her attention.

  Knowing that the moment couldn’t last forever she reluctantly relaxed her arm and standing, offered him her hand. With a shy grin he accepted it and stood next to her in the romantic setting of the dancing flames of the fireplace. She asked, “Dinner is…“

  Bob couldn’t believe what he did next as it was a first for him. He followed his instincts and held her tight as they kissed. He didn’t know how long the kiss lasted nor for how long it should last but a sudden crack from the burning log seemed to bring them back to the moment.

  Anne retrieved his cane from its resting place against the table and handed it to him.

  “Anne…” he said with an apologetic sound in his voice.

  She quickly stepped forward and kissed him on the lips again and said, “Shhhh! Nothing needs to be said.”

  He nodded his head and said, “Well, the food’s going to get cold. Shall we eat?”

  Turning now to the table she said in delight, “Oh my gosh! You cooked this? While I slept, I might add.” She went to the table as he pulled out her seat and helped her sit.

  Sitting across from her he lifted his glass of wine and said, “Cheers to the lady of Rattlesnake Haven!”

  “To the mayor of Rattlesnake Haven,” she replied as they touched glasses.

  She took a sip and quipped, “Imagine! Wine in the middle of the desert! Like I said, Mister McKillop, you are a man of many hats indeed.”

  After a dessert of apple pie and coffee they cleaned up and Bob had another surprise for her. He had found a deck of cards in the kitchen drawer and he put a small round table between the two easy chairs for them to play on. He poured the last of the wine and said as he dealt a hand, “Nickel a card and the house gets a five percent cut.” He was rewarded with a pinch on his cheek.

  It was around eleven o’clock when he yawned and said, “Sorry. It’s not the company, it’s the hour.”

  Anne grinned as she folded her cards, “I have an advantage over you: I napped while you cooked dinner. But you are right, it is getting late.” She stood and said, “Ladies room time for me.”

  He walked her to the outhouse and after seeing her back in he used the outhouse by the light of the Coleman lamp. “Memo to me: Bring another Coleman lamp next trip.”

  Back in the house he saw that Anne had thrown another log on the fire and his mouth opened wide as she came in from the kitchen dressed in a night gown that allowed her silhouetted figure to be seen by the light of the flickering flames.

  She smiled and said, “It gets cold in here at night so I took the liberty of zipping our sleeping bags together. This way we can share our body heat. That is, if it’s okay with you?”

  He stood stunned and shrugged his best to show that he was not in shock and she went on as she tossed him his pajamas, “Last one in has to zipper us up” She slipped into the double sleeping bag and smiled as he went into the kitchen and changed.

  That night Bob and Anne giggled like little teenagers as they became more than just friends.

  9

  The City Slicker Cowboy

  The morning sunlight came into the room and bathed it in colors of yellow, gold and red. Bob looked at her arm lying across his chest and her well-tanned skin showed warmly against his pale white coloring. Starting to get up, he suddenly tried to remember when he lost his pajamas.

  Using his feet he found them at the bottom of the bag and squirming around, got them on. He unzipped the double bags and used the outhouse. He felt like either a fool or a real cowboy as he was dressed in his pajamas and boots. Well, he thought as he walked back to the house, there’s nobody here but us chickens.

  He opened the door to see the empty sleeping bags rolled up in the corner and a smiling Anne standing there dressed the same as him: nightwear and boots.

  “The outhouse is yours, madam,” he said with a slight bow at the waist.

  By the time she returned dressed in jeans and a light pullover, Bob had a small breakfast of bacon and eggs cooking. “The coffee isn’t as hot as I thought it would be,” he offered as he poured two cups from the thermos. “I have to get a better thermos.”

  “Or, next time we can brew us up a pot. After all, we have water and the stove.”

  “You’re on.”

  They packed and as they put some of the supplies back into the Community Hall Anne said as she pointed to the front row seat, “Sit there a moment.”

  Bob, perplexed, sat down and watched as she went to the front and stood behind the lectern. She called out, “All in favor of Mister Robert Patrick McKillop being Mayor of Rattlesnake Haven, say ‘aye’.” Slightly in shock, he watched as she suddenly ran from behind the podium and sitting next to him, shouted out, “Aye,” then ran back to stand behind the lectern and shout again, “The majority have spoken. I hereby appoint Mister Robert Patrick McKillop as Mayor Robert Patrick McKillop of Rattlesnake Haven.”

  She folded her arms on top of the wooden podium and said with a smile, “If there’s no other business on the agenda, I hereby call this meeting, adjourned.”

  The drive back was a mirror image of the drive in, except that whenever she felt the need to tap his arm, she pinched his cheek instead.

  It was early afternoon as Bob pulled up next to her car. She wouldn’t let him help her move her stuff from his car to hers and before he drove off, she leaned with folded arms on his open window said, “Will you let me cook you dinner tonight?”

  A big smile crossed his face as he answered, “Yes. That would be great. When and where?”

  “Eight at 23 Oswego Avenue,” she brushed the hair away from his eyes, leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “See you later, cowboy.”

  Her home was a fairly modern, white with black trim Ranch style with potted cactus plants dotting the white-stone gravel that surrounded it. A low picket fence ran around the perimeter and her mailbox was in the shape of a western style boot. The sun was setting which allowed the soft yellow lights of the interior to show through the white linen curtains as Bob pressed the bell.

  The door swung open and he greeted her with a bunch of flowers. “Hope you like them,” he said passing them to her.

  She did the usual: sniffed them and with a smile answered, “Oh! They’re beautiful I love them. Come on in and sit while I put them in water.”

  Entering, Bob was impressed with the way Anne had furnished her home and cringed when he wondered what she’d think if she ever saw his apartment in Brooklyn.

  Anne entered the living room carrying the vase of flowers, stopped and looked at him approvingly. He was dressed in a tan
jacket and white shirt opened at the neck with dark blue slacks that ended just above shiny, tan boots. All of his apparel was western style.

  “You dress up real good, cowboy,” she said with a smile followed by a kiss.

  “You too,” was all he could say as he held her for the moment.

  “Hope you like Pot Roast.“

  “Actually, I do.”

  “Slice it for me?”

  “Sure,” he said thankful for the reason to take off his jacket. “Thick or thin?”

  “I like it thin sliced, but cut yours anyway you like, she answered as she placed the flowers on a small round table near the front window.”

  The dinner was outstanding and later they both cleaned up and sat in her living room. As usual, the temperature had dropped and she pressed a button and the gas fireplace came to life with a thump. “I have to apologize. It’s not as romantic as the fireplace in our…your home, is it?”

  Bob grinned at her slip of calling it ‘our home,’ but he readily agreed.

  Anne went into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of red wine and two glasses. Bob opened it and poured as she pulled a card table out and placed it between them and dealt out a hand of poker. “Nickel a card and the house gets ten percent of the winnings,” she said with an arched eyebrow and a grin…he reached over and pinched her cheek.

  They finished the first bottle and were half done with the second when her mantle clock chimed one and Bob looked at his watch.

  “Are you going back to Rattlesnake tomorrow?” she asked with a slight frown on her face.

  “Yes, I really need to fix the sidewalks before someone gets hurt.”

  “But,” she said as she left her seat and kneeled, resting her chin on folded hands on the arm of his chair, “promise me that you won’t get all crazy and fix everything before I get back there with my camera?”