Ghost Town Page 12

  ‘Whatever happens Samuel says we have to get them back to the light shield, The Flanagan’s are waiting and will keep it open as long as they can.’

  They looked above the church the spiralling light looked weaker but was still there.

  ‘Okay Elber lets go, make sure you tell your friends to keep their heads down now the bullets are real and so is death, there are no second chances anymore,’ said Samuel.

  Crampton and the limping Eli walked into the bank.

  ‘We have nearly done it Eli at last,’ said Crampton.

  ‘That’s great sheriff so where is the combination?’

  ‘Right here my friend,’ said Crampton, ‘Very soon I am going to be a very rich man Eli,’

  ‘Er you! What about me?’ said Eli.

  ‘Silly me Eli, Don’t worry I am going to pay you in full for your services,’ said Crampton.

  Crampton removed one of his guns and flicked the trigger forward.

  ‘Sorry Eli but you are of no use to me anymore.’

  ‘But I thought we were partners?’ said Eli

  ‘So did Dalton!’ Said Crampton laughing.

  He shot Eli once in the stomach and he fell to the floor.

  Crampton struck a match so he could see the combination and he twiddled the black dial till it clicked, he tried to open the handle but it was locked, he tried the whole procedure again but the safe was still locked.

  ‘What the hell!’ said Crampton, ‘Where the fuck is it?’

  He heard footsteps behind him and Dalton was stood there holding a lamp.

  ‘What the hell have you done with the combination Dalton?’ said Crampton.

  The mayor put the lamp down on the floor.

  ‘Did you think I would be so stupid as to just let you have it Crampton, I knew you and the preacher here would double cross me so I took my own precautions to protect myself and changed a few numbers in the combination that Samuel had given me.’

  He stood up slowly Crampton was watching him all the time.

  ‘Why don’t you just open the safe Dalton? we can still be partners and share the gold,’ said Crampton.

  ‘I am sharing nothing with you Crampton, you killed my wife the most precious thing in the world to me and now you just took her away again, only I know the combination and its up here,’ he said, tapping his head.

  Eli was rolling round on the floor in agony with his multiple wounds

  Crampton lunged forward knocking Dalton off guard and hit him on the side of the head with his gun, Dalton fell to the floor, Crampton kicked him in the face a few more times to keep him down blood ran from the mayor’s nose.

  ‘Okay Dalton so who are these people that have been helping you?’

  The mayor just lay there silent. Crampton took the Derringer out of his right boot and held it against Daltons crotch.

  ‘Not as powerful as my Lefaucheux Dalton but it will give you a nasty pain in the balls.’

  ‘You are getting nothing from me Crampton!’

  Crampton fired the gun into Daltons crotch he screamed out in agony, clutching what was left of his testicles.

  ‘Alright! Alright!’ screamed Dalton now in tears.

  Crampton moved the gun up a bit further.

  ‘They are from the year 1950 Crampton which is where we are now, once they came through the light shield it altered the timeline for all of us, now we have two choices we either stay here or go back through the light shield and face the wrath of the Dethrock ghosts.’

  ‘Not much choice eh?’ said Crampton, ‘And this Samuel fellow is the one I have been sensing all the time.’

  ‘That’s correct,’ said Dalton.

  ‘And what about the others?’

  ‘Elber and the women Edie are married, Amos is Samuels Son and Ritchie is my great great grandson,’ said Dalton holding his hand to his crotch in agony.

  A sound came from outside the door and Crampton fired the Derringer towards the ceiling.

  ‘Okay I know you are out there,’ said Crampton, ‘Why don’t you come and join us? but keep your hands in the air.’

  Amos and Elber came in the room first followed by Ritchie and Edie

  Crampton stood up and waved his gun at the unexpected guest intrusion.

  ‘Okay you four move over there and no sudden moves,’ said Crampton.

  They moved over to the side wall as instructed with their hands in the air.

  ‘Right!’ said Crampton, ‘Where is Samuel your invisible friend.’

  Samuel was stood right in front of Crampton but he didn’t have the power to do anything to help his friends.

  ‘He is stood in front of you Crampton,’ said Elber.

  ‘Good!’ said Crampton, ‘Now which one his Amos?

  ‘I am,’ said Amos nervously.

  ‘Come here!’

  Amos walked slowly over to Crampton, Dalton was still on the floor holding his bits in pain. Crampton Grabbed Amos and pushed the Derringer into his neck.

  ‘Okay Samuel I know you know the combination so here is how it is going to work, I want you to tell your friend Elber what it is and he will open it, if he doesn’t I will kill your son, it is your choice and once again I will count to three.’

  Amos was sweating with fear he knew that Crampton wasn’t bluffing and he also knew that once the safe was open they were all dead anyway.

  ‘One!’

  ‘Two!’ he clicked the hammer back.

  ‘Okay Crampton Samuel is telling me the code now!’ screamed Elber.

  Amos was shaking his head with tears in his eyes saying don’t do it.

  Samuel gave the code to Elber while Crampton waited, they heard the click and Elber pulled the handle down the safe opened and everyone gasped.

  ‘Where is the gold!’ said Crampton, he pushed Amos back over to his friends and turned his attention back to Dalton.

  Only Samuel smiled.

  ‘What have you done with the fucking gold Dalton!’ he said’

  Dalton looked up at him then spat some blood out on the floor.

  ‘Don’t make me hurt your grandson Dalton, just tell me where it is!’

  Crampton was just about to grab Ritchie.

  ‘Okay! Okay! I will show you,’ said Dalton, ‘Just leave them alone.’

  ‘Okay Dalton I want you to stand up nice and easy and don’t make any stupid moves,

  Crampton put the Derringer back in his boot and took both of his signature revolvers out pointing them at Dalton.

  Dalton started to shuffle about and get back up on to his feet.

  ‘Okay Dalton put your hands up nice and slowly,’ said Crampton.

  William Dalton slowly raised his hands, all of a sudden out of the silence 4 shots cracked out loud one after the other hitting Crampton in the stomach and chest, he looked at Dalton in complete and utter surprise as he dropped to his knees his guns fell to the floor. Dalton watched Crampton as he sunk to the ground, he was still alive as Dalton walked over to him and opened his hand showing him the Turbiaux palm squeezer gun.

  ‘My insurance Crampton, you too should have remembered the timeline history,’ said Dalton, kicking Crampton’s revolvers out of the way he also got the Derringer and knife from his boots and threw them out of the door.

  Crampton groaned holding his chest as Dalton picked up the lamp and started to make his way out the back.

  ‘What about the gold?’ said Crampton propping himself up on one arm.

  ‘What about it?’ said Dalton, he walked out of the back door.

  Crampton and Eli were on the floor and badly wounded.

  ‘Ritchie! Patch em up and tie em up with anything you can find,’ said Elber.

  Ritchie took Crampton’s frock coat off him and tore it into strips to tie them up with.

  Elber and Amos went outside Dalton was leaning on the water well, he turned to face them, Ritchie also came outside.

  ‘Grandfather! How could you? We were trying to help you and you were involved all the time!’ said Ritchie.


  ‘I didn’t want it to be like this son,’ he said, ‘

  ‘You’re a rapist and murderer and with your so-called partners you wiped a whole town out, I looked up to you grandfather as did my father and you are just a common criminal, I will never be able to mention your name again in the Dalton household now that I know the truth,’ said Ritchie.

  ‘I just wanted to make a better life for me and Anna we were going to move to San Fran.’

  He hardly finished the sentence when a shot rang out from behind him and hit him in the right shoulder the bullet passed straight through his clavicle he dropped the palm squeezer gun and he turned around to see Anna holding the revolver he had given her earlier, blood was seeping through her dress.’

  ‘Anna! Anna! Why?’ said Dalton.

  ‘You deceived me William, you raped that poor innocent woman she was pregnant for god sake and when you both finished with her you stood by and watched while that animal in there shot her, you disgust me and you deserve everything that’s coming to you.’

  ‘We just wanted to drive the Flanagan’s out Anna so they would stop terrorising the town,’ said Dalton, ‘We were just going to set fire to the barn to scare them off, then things got out of hand.’

  ‘So, raping and murdering Flanagan’s wife makes it okay does it?’

  Dalton lowered his head in shame.

  ‘Okay!’ said Elber, ‘Let’s get them all back to the light shield.

  Dalton walked back into the bank Crampton was still propped up on one arm.

  ‘I told you we should have burned that ranch down Dalton.’ said Crampton.

  Elber picked up Crampton’s knife and Derringer he saw the revolvers and used the knife to get the diamonds out.

  Eli was struggling to walk and Crampton had to be dragged, he had lost a lot of blood but Elber knew they had to get them back to the light shield, Dalton was now wounded again in the shoulder and his testicles had been blown away, so he too understandably was struggling to walk. Elber had Crampton’s guns trained on them, and Samuel was by his side.

  Anna walked with them she was very weak now and tears filled her eyes. Ritchie put his arm round her shoulder as they walked back. When they got down the grave they made their way to the light shield and the Flanagan’s were waiting.

  ‘Oh my god please don’t do this! screamed Dalton, ‘Anna please don’t let them do this!’

  Eli Mindel was muttering some kind of prayer to himself he was sobbing at the same time.

  Crampton was dropped at the edge of the shield Bart Flanagan picked him up by the collar and held him in front of his face.

  ‘Welcome back Crampton!’ he hissed, ‘My boys have a little surprise for you.

  Dalton was dragged through by Isiah he was still holding what was left of his testicles, Eli Mindel was pulled through with his leg by Joe screaming his clothes were soaking with blood.

  ‘I have got something very special for you Crampton,’ said Bart Flanagan, ‘I am going to enjoy this,’ he cackled.

  ‘I admire your fight Flanagan,’ said Crampton weakly, ‘Pity your wife didn’t fight a bit more!’

  ‘You bastard Crampton!’ screamed Flanagan.

  Bart squeezed his hand tighter on Crampton’s neck, Crampton could feel the bone crunching and splintering with the force, Crampton let out a scream as Flanagan joined his sons.

  The Flanagan’s lifted them up with one hand by their necks and held them up high, they looked like three rag dolls as they turned around to face the Dethrock ghosts. One by one including the children they all passed taking fingers, some took toes, others went for teeth, eyeballs anything that was removeable was removed, squealing sounds came from the toothless tongue less mouths, clothes were torn from what was left of their bodies, ghostly fingers probed in the bullet holes pulling out bloody tissue and gore. After all the ghostly apparitions had finished the three bodies were dropped to the floor by the Flanagan’s Crampton was almost dead now they were just three torsos wriggling like dying fish. Unrecognisable pieces of bloody meat that was once human lay on the floor.

  ‘Take them away Boys,’ said Bart, ‘Keep them alive as best as you can I haven’t finished with em yet.’

  Bart Flanagan looked through the shield.

  Samuel came up to the light shield with Elber, Edie, Ritchie and Amos were stood behind them. Anna Dalton walked past them clutching her stomach.

  ‘Sorry it turned out like this for you Ritchie he had me fooled too.’

  Ritchie grabbed hold of her hand.

  ‘And I am also sorry for you grandmother, you deserved a lot better than him, you don’t mind me calling you grandmother, do you? ‘said Ritchie.

  ‘Not at all Ritchie in fact I could get quite get used to it,’ she said, wincing with pain.

  Ritchie kissed her on the cheek and she walked through the light shield, once inside she reached in her pocket and brought out the little box with AD on it that she took out of Daltons coat pocket, she turned around to face Ritchie and smiled, Bart Flanagan let her pass then he came forward, Elber walked up to him and handed him the two diamonds plus the earrings which Elber had taken from Crampton and Dalton. Bart took his wife’s treasures from Elber and nodded to him, Elber could have sworn he saw a tear in Flanagan’s marble like black eye, he looked at Samuel.

  ‘Thankyou future boy you kept your promise and I won’t forget it, I wish you all well,’ said Bart.

  He turned around and walked back towards the church fading into the light shield he put his arm on Anna’s shoulder as they walked away. His three sons Isiah, Joe and Bo all stood watching Samuel they all doffed their Stetsons, they turned around picked up the three twitching screaming torsos and followed their father into the vanishing light.

  The friends made their way to the steps and climbed up through the grave into the cemetery, they all looked above the church ruins the red vortex like cloud started to rise up allowing the spiralling white light to escape upwards, the Dethrock ghosts had been released and the loop was closed.

  ‘May they all rest in peace,’ said Elber.

  They all looked up towards the sky as the last remnants of light left the church forever.

  Elber, Edie and Amos went down to the camp near the station to get some food on the go after their hectic evening in Dethrock. Ritchie went into the mayor’s house and through to the back room, he sat on the rickety old chair and thought about his great great grandparents, he had learned a lot this evening, he had found out that his grandfather was a robber and a rapist this saddened him and even though it happened 100 years ago, he tried to put it at the back of his mind. His thoughts went to his grandmother Anna a very beautiful woman who he would never forget, a tear came to his eye.

  While the food was being prepared Samuel related the outcome of the mystery to Elber.

  Once they were all eating Elber told them what Samuel had said to him

  ‘The safe had been empty for 100 years,’ said Elber, ‘Cast your mind back to when Bart Flanagan was blown out of the saloon onto the street just before the other mayor got shot from behind. Samuel was in the house at the time giving the combination to the timeline mayor, Samuel then left him and went to look for Anna,’ said Elber, ‘While all the commotion was going on in the street and church the timeline mayor went to the bank opened the safe and hid the gold. He then ran back to us four who were watching from the cemetery wall.’

  ‘Yes, I remember now Elber,’ said Ritchie, ‘I spoke to him asking if he was alright as he was sweating.’

  ‘Samuel told me that he had got wise to the timeline and his plan was to let Crampton and Eli take the wrath of Bart Flanagan for half his crimes, the Dethrock ghosts were coming out of the church and this in turn weakened the light shield temporarily, he was going to get Anna and make his way to the church and through the shield, but it all backfired when Eli Brought Anna to Crampton and then he shot her.’

  ‘The love for his wife brought out his guilt and he just gave up,’ said Ritchie.

&nbs
p; ‘Possibly Ritchie, but then Crampton used the dynamite, Dalton saw another chance of escaping the clutches of the Flanagan’s.’

  ‘So where is the gold Elber?’ said Amos.

  ‘Outside the bank in the water well, a perfect place there is about four feet of water in the bottom to hide it and who would think of looking in there, had the town not been left untouched as a memorial to the dead it would have probably have been found had the bulldozers come to flatten it.’

  All the friends sat round the fire talking about the events of the last few hours, Samuel was stood watching them all, Elber looked up at him and smiled.

  ‘Till next time Elber my friend, give Amos a big hug from me please.’

  ‘I will Samuel and thanks for your help,’ said Elber.

  The other three looked at Elber they knew he was talking to Samuel.

  ‘Should you ever need me you know where I am Elber.’

  Elber nodded his head at his friend and Samuel floated upwards into the night sky.

  ‘I take it that was my dad leaving Elber?’ said Amos.

  ‘It was Amos,’ he said as he stood up, ‘He told me to give you a big hug so come here.’

  Amos stood up and Elber hugged him, Amos looked up and saw a streak of light vanishing into the moonlit sky.

  *****

  All the gold was recovered from the water well by the Californian Authority’s plus the documents from the safe. Finding the legal families would now be a mammoth task after all these years. The town of Dethrock was flattened apart from the church and graveyard the secret passage was filled in and cleared of the dynamite. A monument was erected where the church stood for all the dead men, women and children. Why had Anna Daltons grave vanished, the only explanation is she survived and the timeline changed, no record of her death was ever found.

  A month later back in Thornhall in West Yorkshire a letter came through the post from America.

  ‘Open it up then said Edie,’ to Amos, Elber was stood by his side.