Ghost Town II
by Rob Warr
Chapter 4
"We saw it happen," Dickie said looking a bit sick, "it was awful."
Malachi sobered then, "I'm sorry you had to see that, but when it comes to my brother there's nothing I won't do to protect him."
"I feel the same," Evan sighed, "so...we're murderers if we remain here and die by hanging? What a choice to make, leave town or die as criminals."
"Sounds like an easy choice to me," Jamie reasoned, "you said yourself, it's a rotten town, so why not get out?"
"But...how do we know you're telling us the truth? Your story is almost too fantastic to believe. And yet you dress strangely and talk strangely, obviously not from around here..."
"Malachi," Evan said laying a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I never told you about my dream..."
Malachi looked at his brother curiously, but Evan began again before he could speak.
"It wasn't just once, I had the same dream several times, and I always awoke gasping for air. In the dream, we were being led to the gallows and had ropes placed around our necks, then someone shouted horrible things and others joined in, some threw rocks at us, cutting our bodies and making us bleed. Then someone behind us said, 'Do it', and the bottom fell out from beneath our feet, and...then I woke up gasping for air..."
"Why did you never tell me of this dream?" Malachi said looking and sounding troubled.
Evan sighed, "It seemed silly in the daylight, just a nightmare like many others I've had, but it kept repeating itself, over and over, and it had begun to haunt me even when I was awake."
"Is that...how it happened?" Malachi asked, turning to Jamie and Dickie.
Jamie nodded, "As far as we know, we weren't there, of course, but we read the newspaper account of it, and that sounds accurate."
"Then I suppose we have no other choice than to believe you. Evan has always had a gift for seeing things I could not."
"So, you'll do it, get out of town?" Jamie asked hopefully.
"What do you think, Evan?"
"I think California sounds like a wonderful place to be right now, "
"Then we'll do it, first we'll have to check the train schedule. We should have enough money for train fare and food along the way. Of course, once we get there, we'll need to find work quickly or we'll starve..."
"If I learned my history correctly," Jamie offered, "there were plenty of opportunities in California during this era for healthy, able bodies. Even if it's just picking fruit or working on a ranch."
"We can do whatever we need to," Malachi said, but even as he spoke his body began to shimmer, as did his brother's, until they'd faded away completely.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Dickie said once the brothers were no more.
"I...I don't know. Maybe, maybe they're in California by now, or maybe they didn't go and nothing has changed."
"Damn, this sucks. I'm getting tired of chasing ghosts. I wish we could just get this over with and go home."
"Come on, let's check on the Jeep. If it's there, then we know we're back in the present."
The Jeep was indeed where they'd left it, it's usual gleaming red surface covered in a fine layer of dust in most places. They split a bottle of water as they leaned against the jeep and suddenly Jamie had an idea.
"The train, we've never checked out the depot or the train. In fact, I hadn't even thought about it till the brothers mentioned leaving on it. Do you remember seeing a depot or anything?"
"Nope, and no tracks, but I guess if there were tracks they'd have been removed long ago."
"Come on, let's do some exploring..." Jamie suggested.
It didn't take long to find what they were looking for. At the far end of town, just behind the last building was a weathered brick and wooden structure that could only have been a train depot. It had a raised loading platform and there was still one of those luggage carts with huge metal and wooden wheels, it's paint chipped and peeling, but still in relatively good shape.
The front doors of the station faced away from Main Street, and as the boys walked that way, suddenly things began to change once more. Where moments before there had been only prairie grass, dirt, and rock, two rails began to form, expanding out in either direction until they disappeared into the distance in either direction.
The once weathered building had changed as well, the peeling, faded paint now a bright green with yellow trim. Above a door with a mullioned window set into it, was a sign at least six feet long and two feet high which read: CENTERVILLE.
"Wow, I wonder if we'll get to see a train...?" Dickie said, and as if on cue, the whistle of a steam locomotive could be heard approaching from behind them.
Quickly climbing onto the platform of the depot, the two watched as the train approached, slowing down as it neared, until it was moving very slow. Billows of smoke and steam erupted from the iron beast and they could see three passenger cars and a caboose behind them.
"Wow, it's awesome," Jamie said, his eyes wide, his mouth forming an 'O'.
"This is probably the coolest thing that's happened in my life," Dickie agreed.
The train was noisy but soon the locomotive had pulled enough ahead to give them some relief. The three passenger cars were now adjacent to the lower part of the loading platform, which had been built to accommodate at least four such cars.
As the two boys watched, the train pull to a complete stop, and a man in a navy blue uniform with a red trimmed cap hopped off the nearest car and began ushering passengers off the train. A man and woman with a little girl clutching a doll were the first off. They were dressed in period clothing, the little girl's dress frilly and trimmed with lace, her long hair done up in pig tails.
As the family passed Jamie and Dickie the little girl looked up at them, then stuck out her tongue and giggled, however, the parents showed no sign of awareness to their presence at all. Jamie looked at Dickie, who just laughed, "Rotten little shit."
"Next, was a burly lumberjack-looking man who was dressed in overalls and a plaid flannel shirt. He said something to the Conductor, who nodded and pointed toward the town, and the man nodded and strode off in that direction.
"Uh oh, business for the Saloon I'd bet," Jamie deduced.
"And the whore house," Dickie joked.
"I hope not Evan," Jamie frowned.
Dickie frowned too, "That guy would break him in half."
Only a half dozen or so more people unloaded from the train, and then the boarding began. From the Depot a number of people emerged, some in groups of twos or threes, some alone. Jamie and Dickie hoped to see Evan and Malachi among them, but when the last of them had emerged and boarded the train, their hopes began to sag. Then suddenly from around the corner, from the direction of town, two young men climbed the stairs to the platform and came running toward them.
It was Evan and Malachi, but they seemed unaware of Jamie and Dickie as they barrelled toward the conductor.
"Just in time," the man said to the two, "find a seat, any seat, and keep your tickets handy for punching."
"They're going..." Jamie said sounding relieved, "they're going to change their fate..."
Suddenly, a noise from behind them alerted them to the presence of another familiar figure, as Sheriff Eugene Jenkins pounded up the steps and onto the platform.
"Where'd they go?" he said panting as if he'd run a mile, "them two brothers, Evan and Malachi? Did they get on this here train?"
The conductor looked shocked, and for a moment seemed unable to speak, "I don't know their names, but if you mean the two young men that just boarded, then yes."
"I need to get them, hold the train," the Sheriff said pushing his way on board.
"What the hell?" Jamie said grabbing Dickie and practically dragging him toward the train car and up the steps.
The Conductor just stood there, obviously unable to see them, then pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. He frowned, apparently not pleased at this disruption of his schedule.
It didn't take long to find the brothers and the Sheriff. Gun drawn as both boys stood with their hands up, the Sheriff prodded the boys back toward the steps and out onto the platform. Jamie and Dickie stepped aside, though it was obvious that at the moment none of the residents of this timeline could see them.
Following quickly, Jamie and Dickie stepped out to find the Sheriff talking to the conductor while the two brothers stood a few feet away looking stunned, hands still raised .
"What's all this about, Sheriff," Evan said, "we ain't done nothing unlawful."
"You shut up, or I'll lay the handle of this gun across your face. You're both under arrest for skippin' out on your bill at the Saloon. The proprietor done filed charges agin' you two, and you ain't goin' nowhere till you pay up."
"But we don't owe that crook anything," Evan insisted, "we took our share of the...um, proceeds from our work and he kept the rest. What does he say we owe him for?"
"Six months o' back rent for the use of the room where you two lived together in sin," the Sheriff said spitting a wad of tobacco juice on the wooden platform.
"That skunk," Malachi said, "this is just his way of keepin' us here so he can make more money offn' Evan. You should know all about that, Sheriff," he added accusingly.
"You shut up. You don't know nothin'. Now, get to moving or I'll move you," the Sheriff growled.
"Where are we going?" Evan asked just to stall things, perhaps hoping the two strangers could do something to help.
"We gotta do something," Dickie said as he stared at the scene unfolding before him, all hope for saving the brothers fading fast.
"But what? That fat tub of lard can't see us, but I wonder..." Jamie said looking thoughtful.
"What?"
"Maybe he can't see us, but maybe we can still let him know we're here."
"But how?"
"Sometimes we're able to touch things, it's just the cold that kept us from doing it too much, so what if one of us grabbed the Sheriff's gun and tossed it to the side? That would give the boys time to get back on the train."
"But he'd just chase them again," Dickie frowned.
"Not if his pants were around his ankles and he couldn't pull them back up in time."
The Conductor, who'd been watching the drama unfold, stepped back onto the train then, but Jamie figured they still had a few minutes before the train began to move. The Conductor would have to communicate to the engineer that everyone was boarded, and that might necessitate his going forward to the locomotive.
"Now!" Jamie said lunging for the Sheriff's gun while Dickie went for his baggy pants.
Two things happened then, One: before the Sheriff could react, suddenly his gun was flying through the air, and seconds later it clattered to the wooden platform with a dull thud. Two: before the Sheriff could wonder what had happened or to go for his gun, suddenly his pants were around his ankles, and to both Jamie's and Dickie's horror, he wore nothing beneath them.
"Go, go, get on the train," Jamie yelled, hoping the two brothers could hear him. He was relieved when the two bolted for the train just as it gave a loud whistle and began to slowly pull away.
The two young teens had no trouble catching the train, and as they climbed aboard they waved to the two boys from the future and smiled. Both mouthed the words, 'Thank You!' and then the train picked up speed and was flying down the tracks as if by magic.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Eugene Jenkins had managed to get his pants up, but it was too late. Not only had the boys escaped, but a number of townsfolk were now laughing at the Sheriff's tiny dick and practically nonexistent balls.
One was overheard saying, "I always knew that man didn't have balls enough for this job, and this just proves it."
The crowd burst into laughter, even a number of women, who of course hid their reddening faces, since such subjects weren't proper for a lady.
The Sheriff knew the charges against the two brothers were bogus, but he'd been promised fifty dollars if he made sure the boys had to stay in town. He'd lost that fifty dollars, not to mention his dignity, and like a whipped pup he skulked back to the Saloon and immediately got drunk.
"It worked," Dickie cheered, "but I'll never be able to unsee what I saw today," he said making a gagging sound.
Jamie laughed, "Yeah, I bet he never lives that down. Come on, let's see what's shaking in town now. How are your hands, still cold?"
"Nah, it's weird, it wasn't all that cold, just kind of chilly, like...maybe if something came out of the fridge, but not the freezer."
"Same," Jamie said in amazement, "maybe someone was looking out for us...and for the brothers. You know, I'm gonna miss those two," he added sadly, "I feel like they've kind of become our friends. I just hope, well, that they had a good life and the grim reaper didn't catch up with them like in that movie about cheating death."
"That's all bullshit, apparently we can change the past. We did it. Even if they hadn't gotten away, we still changed things. They didn't kill the cowboys, and they didn't get hanged, so there...grim reaper, Suck It!" Dickie laughed as he thrust out his crotch.
Jamie laughed, "Yeah, hey...look, it's the past again. Damn, I hope we're not gonna be stuck here."
"I hope not, too. Maybe there's just something else we need to see," Dickie said frowning.
"Vote for Theodore Mooney for Sheriff," a young boy said as he walked up the wooden sidewalk passing out hand bills.
Then to Jamie's and Dickie's surprise he thrust one into each of their hands, gave them a smile, then continued on his way.
"A vote for Ted is a vote for honesty, integrity, and the law!" the boy hawked as he continued to pass out the handbills.
"Wow, we must be further into the future than when the boys left. Looks like old small balls has got some competition for his job." Jamie looked at the hand bill, then and read it aloud, "Tired of the law taking advantage of you instead of protecting you? Tired of a Sheriff who takes bribes and engages in immoral and Ungodly behavior? Tired of a man who doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to the criminal element and pads his own pockets instead? Then vote for Theodore Mooney for Sheriff this Tuesday. Mooney is a man you can trust, and he will always be on the side of the law, and not the lawless."
"Wow, this guy must have some bucks and some balls to go against Jenkins. I wonder if he won..."
Then, as if in answer to Jamie's question, the scene around them began to swirl and change as if someone were tuning in the picture on a TV set. Looking around, the boys could see no real change, but they assumed they had changed timelines again and were curious why they were being brought here.
Suddenly, a tall man came up the sidewalk, a gun and holster at his side, a shiny silver star pinned to his chest that said: Sheriff. It wasn't Jenkins, that was for sure, so apparently Ted Mooney had won the election and was now Sheriff.
"Howdy boys, stayin' long?" he asked as he approached, surprising the two boys who jumped a little at his question.
"No sir, just visitin' a friend," Jamie stammered, "you must be Sheriff Mooney, that right?"
"Why yes, son. You heard of me?"
"Just that you were running for Sheriff. I'm glad you won, sir, that other Sheriff was no good."
The Sheriff laughed, "Yep, he sure was a bad one. Got himself kilt trying to rob a stage, him and two others. Good riddance I say. Well, you boys be good now, don't go breakin' no laws and we'll get along just fine," he said tipping his hat and continuing down the sidewalk.
"Wow, Jenkins got what was comin' to him, I reckon. Dang, we've changed a lot of stuff," Jamie said looking worried all of a sudden.
"What? Why do you suddenly look like you ate a turd?"
"What if...what if we changed some things that affected us directly. Like, what if one of Jenkins descendants was our great-great grandpa or something?"
"Wasn't no Jenkins on my family tree that I know of," Dickie assured him.
"Yeah, I'm just being silly, I guess...but it's still something to think about..."
"I wonder if there's more to see, or if this is it?" Dickie said looking around, "I mean, did the town die like we saw before, or was it for other reasons?"
"I dunno," Jamie said, "let's check out the General Store and see what's shakin' there."
At Gideon's General Store, business was booming, and Ike himself was behind the counter. He greeted each customer, most by name as they entered, and with the help of his wife and clerk managed to take care of the crowd of people as they came and went.
"Business looks good here," Jamie commented.
Suddenly someone rushed into the store and began shouting, "I just heard from Bart over at the Saloon that them Smith boys, Malachi and Evan, done struck gold out in Californy and they's rich now."
"Well, ifn' that don't beat all," Ike said, "and to think that most of the town thought they was no good dirty scoundrels. Just goes to show you, ain't wise to judge folks without gettin' to know em."
There was a buzz in the room as folks chattered about the brothers, perhaps trying to convince themselves and their neighbors that they weren't one of those who thought badly of the boys. Liars, all of them.
"Well, I guess that settles that," Jamie said, "surely we can go now."
And just like that, the people in Ike Gideon's General Store began to fade and disappear just as the store returned to the wreck and ruin of modern day.
"Weeee're back," Dickie giggled, stretching out the word.
"Thank God, I was beginning to get worried."
"Let's go find the jeep and get the bleep out of here," Dickie said grinning.
At the Jeep, which was thankfully where they'd parked it, Dickie suddenly unzipped his jeans and began urinating into the dusty street.
"Is that a statement, or did you just need to piss?" Jamie teased as he joined his friend, their streams crossing like they'd done a million times over the years.
"I been holding this for years," Dickie giggled.
Jamie got the joke, "Yeah, me too," he said, then turning serious he added, "Do you really think this is over, that the town won't appear again after tonight?"
"I don't see why it would," Dickie said zipping up, "we did what the brothers wanted us to do. We did more actually. We made them rich."
Jamie smiled, "Yeah, shame they didn't repay us in gold."
"We'd be gozillionaires by now," Dickie said as they climbed into the jeep.
Jamie did a u-turn, then slowly drove up Centerville's dusty main street, his eyes darting to the rear view mirror just in time to see the town slowly begin to fade. Now it was just a ghostly cloud of dust that quickly settled to the ground, leaving a barren landscape behind.
Dickie had been watching too, and he finally spoke, "Goodbye, old town, I guess that's the last we'll ever see of you. He sounded sad, and Jamie sort of understood his mood.
"We had fun, didn't we?" Jamie ventured, "it was a real adventure, but only problem is: besides our brothers, no one will ever believe us."
"Yeah, but it would make a cool book or movie," Dickie said enthusiastically, "maybe we should write all this down so we never forget it."
"Yeah, good idea," Jamie said pulling out his cell phone and powering it on, "Just what I thought, cell phone is fine now."
"Oh, mine too," Dickie said checking his as well.
"Well, it's been a long night, and we need to get some rest," Jamie said, "it's 12:03, so that means the town must've disappeared at midnight, just like we expected. I wonder what would have happened if we weren't out of it by then."
"Everything was timed, planned maybe. Maybe what we did wasn't us changing time, but doing what fate already intended," Dickie said.
"That's pretty deep," Jamie said, surprised by his younger friends insight, "maybe so. Maybe I'm worrying too much about this time paradox thing."
"Well, I don't see any dinosaurs roaming around, so I think we're safe," Dickie laughed.
Jamie joined in, and they laughed and joked all the way to Jamie's house. The house was dark when they pulled into the driveway, but Jamie had his own key, and they could enter through the mudroom and no one would be the wiser. They'd probably catch hell tomorrow for breaking 11 o'clock curfew, but they could probably talk their folks out of any real punishment.
"Shhh," Jamie warned as he led Dickie up the stairs to his room.
Once inside, Jamie latched the door and they began to undress. They really needed a shower, but they were afraid the sound of the water would wake Jamie's folks, so instead they settled for brushing their teeth and washing their stinky parts with a wet washcloth.
Once in bed, the boys snuggled up, but both were too tired for anything more physical and soon both were asleep.
Morning came, and a soft knock on their door brought both boys awake. They'd thankfully slept in their underwear, but Jamie knew his dad wouldn't enter his bedroom unless given permission.
"Breakfast in ten," Jamie's dad yelled from the other side of the door.
"Thanks, dad," Jamie yelled back, "on our way."
"Ugh, I had the weirdest dream last night," Dickie suddenly said.
"Oh, yeah, what about?"
"Well, there was this town, a ghost town, and two brothers..."
The end???
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