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  GHOST TOWN

  By Michael Collins

  Copyright

  Published by Michael Collins

  Copyright © Michael Collins 2017

  All rights reserved

  Michael Collins asserts the moral right

  To be identified as the author of this work

  This story is from my own imagination, all my characters

  And events in this book are fictitious

  And any resemblance to real people living or dead

  Are purely coincidental.

  Books

  Other books by Michael Collins

  ACC TO 4/7TH RDG IN 22 YEARS

  TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN

  THE LOST DRAGOON

  Acknowledgements and Dedications.

  This book is dedicated to my lovely wife Mandy

  Who as just celebrated her 50th birthday

  May you have many more my love.

  **********

  Also to my canine friend Otis

  Who always gives me the inspiration for my stories on our walks.

  Forward by the author

  It is official I have the bug and after finishing my first fictional book “The Lost Dragoon” I am completely hooked and want to write more. I find it a very relaxing pass time and love thinking up the stories, characters and plots. In my fictional world, I am the master, I am the giver of life or death, I direct the characters in my head, I make the ultimate decisions on who? where? and how? which ultimately drive my stories forward.

  I have always loved westerns from Shane with Alan Ladd to the great John Wayne and of course my personal favourite Clint Eastwood. My story begins during the American Californian gold rush years, a ghost story in the making, well that’s what I thought till the different ideas started popping round inside my head. As much as I love scary movies and books I wanted to avoid vampires and zombies in this book at least. It is a ghostly story in a ghostly town and as an added touch I wanted to put some sci fi into the plot with the aid of a temporal time loop. Elber Trent and Samuel Spencer are back to solve the mystery of the town of Dethrock. Why were all the woman and children murdered? And what happened to the missing gold nuggets that the townsfolk laboured so hard for?

  I remember when I first watched “Back to the Future part 2” almost 27 years ago now and how baffled I became with the twists and turns in the timeline, it really made me think and once you got the gist of the story it all fell into place, I often wandered how do they think up these complex plots. I have written this story in a similar vein so for any potential reader please take note of the time sequences, I am almost certain someone will pick me up for something I forgot.

  I have done quite a bit of research into the gold rush years and was very surprised at the kind of tools they used for the mining work, I was especially interested in the weapons of the time which I found quite intriguing, I have taken the pleasure of allowing my characters to use some of these weird and wonderful weapons. I really hope you enjoy “Ghost town” as much as I have enjoyed writing it. MC

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Books

  Acknowledgements and Dedications.

  Forward by the author

  Prologue

  Sequence 1. Weds 7th August 1850 12:30pm

  Sequence 2. Weds 7th August 1850 2pm

  Sequence 3. Weds 9th August 1950 8:30am

  Sequence 4. Weds 9th August 1950 8pm

  Sequence 5. The Time Loop

  Sequence 6. The Bank

  Sequence 7. The Saloon

  Sequence 8. The Flanagan’s Return

  Sequence 9. The Deal

  Sequence 10. Closing the loop

  Afterword

  Prologue

  Mayor William Dalton made his way up the dark burned out street towards the graveyard he looked around to see that the fire had engulfed the whole town especially the church, he could still hear the screams of the women and children coming from the church. It had been almost a month since the massacre had happened in Dethrock he had managed to flee the burning town on a horse after being shot in the shoulder, his wife had been murdered by one of the Flanagan’s. He could still hear the gunshots from that fateful night, they were still echoing in his head as he made his way to the grave. Bodies were still laying where they had fallen most of them decomposed and the bones were cleaned white by the vultures and other wild animals, the stench was putrid and the mayor wanted to gag.

  The Flanagan gang had been true to their word and returned to Dethrock in search of the towns hidden gold, the mayors friend and co-owner of the town sheriff Jethro Crampton who he had last seen walking into the saloon on that fateful night, a few minutes later the gunshots and the unexpected explosions from the saloon wrecking everything inside. The mayor carried on walking past what was left of the saloon then he opened the gate to the graveyard at the side of the wrecked building. Most of the buildings had been burned to the ground, the only things left untouched were the bank, the mayors house and the sheriff’s office. With tears in his eyes he looked for any sign of life around him, the town was dead including all the people and friends he had known. The Flanagan’s didn’t get their prize though, only two people new the whereabouts of the towns gold and that was himself and Jethro Crampton.

  Some parts of the town were surprisingly still smouldering even after four weeks, he also noticed an aura emitting above the church swirling up into the night sky like a spiral, he had never seen anything like this before and remembered seeing it when he was riding towards the town 30 minutes before and noticed how strange it looked. He found the plot he was looking for amongst the other dozen or so graves, it was marked simply A.D. R.I.P. and was at the far left of the graveyard adjacent to the wall looking onto the Dethrock valley. He lit up the oil lamp he had been carrying then he pushed the headstone forward as though uprooting it and it fell forward on a makeshift hinge, underneath was a set of stone steps leading down into the darkness. He looked around thinking he had heard a sound but after a few moments resumed what he was doing.

  The headstone had opened easily and he could see down into the dark grave, he picked up the lamp and checked his pocket watch the time was 8pm, he then made his way down the makeshift steps pulling the headstone back down into place behind him. At the bottom of the steps he was still able to stand up and he walked in the direction of the burnt-out church. He noticed the dynamite boxes at each side of the passage, these boxes should have been full of the dynamite for the gold mines, someone had been here he thought, he swore under his breath and looked further up the passage which veered round to the right under the church, he could hear a humming buzzing sort of sound in front of him, as he rounded the corner facing him was a wall of light looking quite similar to a kaleidoscope but it was blocking the whole passageway. He walked up to the light shield it was buzzing and flickering in the darkness, he picked up a stone and threw it into the light, it seemed to devour it as though it was liquid and he didn’t hear it land on the other side. He put his finger up as though to touch it and he pulled it back sharply when he felt the warmth of the light. After a few minutes, he decided he was going to go through, whatever happens the towns gold was through there, so what the hell he thought, he was going in after it.

  He lifted the lamp up and walked towards the light shield not knowing what to expect and he walked through it, after he passed through the passage still seemed the same, there was a door to his right this had been used as the dynamite store and there were still plenty of explosives in there but it was at the back of the boxes he was interested in. The four crates hidden at the rear containing the raw gold were gone, this was where the towns gold was hidden, this gold had been kept here for safe keeping to eventually be shared out amongst the townsfolk and some
one had taken it. The mayor shut the door and made his way to the door in the church cellar wall. The door from the church side was camouflaged and made to look like part of the rock, the mayor pulled on the door bar and it opened inwards towards him. He was expecting to find a burnt-out basement full of charred corpses but to his surprise it was all as normal, there was no smell of body’s or burning in fact it smelled quite fresh.

  He made his way to the step ladder leading up to the trap door in the church, he was still cursing about the gold under his breath. He was just about to mount the ladder when he heard voices in the church above and then footsteps followed by the church door shutting. At the top of the steps he pushed the trap door up and nearly fell back down the ladder, the church was intact everything seemed to be normal, he climbed up and looked around the church, there were six windows and on each sill was a lamp, the sun was shining through the windows. He checked his watch again it was 8:10pm so ten minutes had elapsed since he opened the grave and it was night time then, now it is ten minutes later and all seems normal and it is daytime.

  ‘How can this be?’ he said to himself, ‘Something is wrong.’

  He made his way to the church door and opened it up, he looked up at the sun squinting his eyes and made a rough judgement that it was almost mid-day, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing the town was as normal, everyone was going about their normal business, all the buildings were intact, the mayors heart was pounding in his chest and he made his way back to the church basement, he went down the ladder closing the trap door and back through the secret door to the light shield. The light shield was still there and as he ran to jump through it he bounced back off it, he tried again but he couldn’t get back through to the other side. The passageway was starting to feel cold and the mayor could feel the chills running down his spine, he could hear the voices of men women and children screaming, suddenly the sound of a gun firing rapidly and the smashing of glass came from up above inside the church, the screams were getting louder and louder. The mayor had left the secret door open to the church basement and he thought he saw someone coming through it, it was a shadow then he saw another one, the shadows were women and children and they were screaming. The mayor backed up to the light shield the smell of smoke getting stronger and stronger the ghostly spectres coming towards him with their upturned hands as if asking for help. He thought he recognised one of them it looked like Emelia Reynolds the bank manager’s wife there was a gaping bloody hole where her nose and eyes should have been, her two children at her side walking slowly towards him. The mayor opened the door to the dynamite store ran in and closed and bolted it behind him, he curled up on the floor at the back of the boxes the sound of voices and screaming coming from outside the door, he put his hands over his ears and screamed.

  Sequence 1. Weds 7th August 1850 12:30pm

  Bart Flanagan was stood in front of Mayor William Dalton in his office, he was a tall immaculately dressed man with a thin face and hooked nose, he wore a grey Stetson hat, a white shirt with bootlace tie and a green frock coat which almost touched the floor, two slits up each side of the coat allowed him to draw his guns when needed. He stepped forward and leaned over the desk his silver spurs clicking as he moved.

  ‘This is your last warning Dalton either hand over the gold or I will get my boys to take it from the bank, ‘said Bart, ‘We were in this territory long before you and Crampton came and built this town and stole our legacy from right under our noses.’

  Mayor William Dalton was a man in his late thirties and like his friend Jethro Crampton was well respected figure by the townsfolk in Dethrock, he stood up.

  ‘We have the legal right to this claim Flanagan,’ said the mayor, ‘You didn’t think there was any gold here at all back in 45, so you and your boys went looking further up the valley.’

  ‘You know yourself Dalton that all the gold claims in all the territories are free for all,’ said Bart, ‘In other words free for the taking so don’t give me all that fucking clap trap about your legal rights, now you can either hand the gold over or me and my boys will be back to take it and if we do we will take the town, look at it as protection money.’

  The mayor just stared at him.

  ‘You have got four hours Dalton to make your mind up,’ said Bart, ‘I am a very reasonable and patient man, give me the accumulative gold and I will let you keep your town.’

  The mayor looked at his pocket watch it was 12:30pm.

  Bart unbuttoned his frock coat and across his breast he had another holster, he pulled out the strange looking gun, he reached into his right-hand pocket and brought out what looked like a mouth organ it had about twenty chambers in its length each one with a bullet in, he pushed it into the side of the gun and cocked it into the metal clip moved into place loading the first bullet, the mayor stepped back in shock.

  ‘This is what is known as the harmonica gun,’ said Bart, ‘It is quick firing and I can assure you I could put ten bullets into you before you hit the deck.’

  You can’t do this,’ said the mayor, ‘That gold belongs to the town.’

  ‘Well the town can dig some more,’ replied Bart.

  ‘These people have worked their fingers to the bone to make this town what it is!’ the mayor had raised his voice now, ‘And you expect me to give it all to you and your low life sons.’

  ‘If you don’t give me what I want I will take it,’ said Bart waving the gun in front of the mayor’s face.’

  William had spoken to Crampton the week before reference the Flanagan’s continued threats.

  ‘The sheriff won’t just let you walk away with it without a fight!’ said the mayor.

  ‘I am banking on that mayor, in fact I am looking forward to it, you have four hours,’ said Bart as he removed the slide from the gun and holstered it.

  Bart walked to the door fastening his coat back up, he turned around to face the mayor.

  ‘Four hours’ mayor go and warn your sheriff.’

  *****

  Sheriff,’ said Eli Mindel walking into the office with a couple of saddle bags, ‘The women and children are getting worried and frightened with the constant verbal intimidation from the Flanagan’s.’

  Eli Mindel was the towns preacher a thin bald man with glasses, he had been accepted into the town community in 1846 and was a well-respected member of the town in good as well as bad times.

  Sheriff Jethro Crampton stood about six-foot-tall, he was also the founder and the co-owner of the town with William Dalton, both of them were self-appointed into their roles as mayor and sheriff. Crampton had long black hair down to his shoulders he was dressed in black is waistcoat was silver and he had a silver band round his black Stetson which was hung on the hat stand, his white shirt and lace black tie was smartly tied in a bow and his gold pocket watch in his waistcoat pocket which was looped and fastened through the button hole. The most outstanding feature of the sheriff though were the twin guns he wore in his holsters, the holsters were oversized for these two French revolvers. They were in fact revolvers with a difference, two twenty round double barrelled Lefaucheux revolvers decorated beautifully with gold and the pistol grips were lined with ivory and embedded in each one was a diamond, in his left boot he had an eight-inch dagger in a sheaf and in his right boot was hidden a small Derringer just in case.

  ‘Where are they now Eli?’ said the sheriff.

  ‘They are hovering near the bank sheriff, ‘said Eli, ‘I think Bart as gone in to see the mayor, I am getting worried sheriff something is not right.’

  ‘The only thing that is not right in this town is them Flanagan’s Eli,’ he said, ‘And the sooner we dispose of them the better.’

  The sheriff went over to the window to look, he saw the other three Flanagan brothers outside the bank.

  ‘I think they will be attempting to rob the bank today Eli they will get a shock when they don’t get the gold,’ said the sheriff.

  ‘You mean you are going to let the Flanagan’s, do it?’ said E
li.

  ‘Of course, Eli my friend I need an excuse to start shooting people,’ he said.

  ‘They have been sniffing around town a lot lately sheriff do you think they know something,’ said Eli.

  ‘It’s possible Eli but they won’t find what they want,’ said the sheriff, ‘Not till it’s too late.’

  The sheriff buttoned his waistcoat up.

  ‘You stay here Eli I will go and have a word with them,’ said the sheriff.

  He walked over to the hat stand and got his Stetson, he then put both his hands into the outer holsters he had to do this especially when he thought he was going to use his guns, there was no trigger guard and the triggers were folded forward on a hinge for safety so he had to flick them open ready for use, it was a very hard gun to draw but Crampton had mastered it over the years.

  The sheriff opened the door and made his way across to the bank.

  Bo was the youngest at 18, followed by Joe 22 and Isiah 24, the three brothers had lost their mother Martha four years before, they lived about five miles away on a small ranch which Bart and their mother had built for the family. Life was good for them then the gold rush began and thousands and thousands of people mainly immigrants from all over America came in the hope of getting rich quick. Bart and his sons wanted to get involved too hoping to get some easy gold and make life better for them all. They decided on Dethrock valley but unfortunately Dalton and Crampton were already camped and digging there with the aid of about 60 workers so they decided to go further down the valley.