The Ghost of Tobacco Road

by Dale Young

  She thought about this for a second. “Yeah, but it’s not the bones I worry about. All Southern land has its share of restless souls. I don’t know about where you’re from, but out here in the country they just seem to never rest.”

  “In the city it’s the muggers, burglars and rapists that we have to worry about, not restless souls. I think I’d take a burglar over a ghost. A burglar can be shot. I wouldn’t have any idea of how to get rid of a ghost.” Logan then smiled and winked at Colby. He wanted to lighten things up. He knew that seeing the river had really bothered her.

  Colby gave Logan a halfhearted smile. “I guess. They say ghosts can’t actually touch you and all they can do is scare you. But I don’t know if I agree with that crazy theory. And I don’t want to find out. Like I said before, ghosts around here, at least one of them, can hack a person into little pieces.”

  “So tell me about this train station. I assume we’re getting close?”

  She suddenly perked up and forced the thoughts of the river out of her mind.

  “It’s really cool. I hope the Pullman is still there.”

  Logan rounded a curve and the road opened up into a small clearing. On the edge of the woods sat an old decrepit building with one end that looked like it was about to fall in on itself. In front of the station sat an abandoned railway car, the kind used to carry passengers.

  “Holy shit that’s creepy looking. You used to come out here with your friends when you were in high school? And at night?”

  “Well, we might have had a little strawberry wine to give us courage,” replied Colby as she grinned. “We’d light a bonfire and sit around it drinking wine out of Mason jars.”

  “Strawberry wine?” Logan raised an eyebrow at Colby. She was staring out across the small field reminiscing about the bonfires.

  “Yep.” Beats store-bought wine any day of the week,” she said with a grin.

  ***

  Chip McPhale brought his truck to a stop at the entrance to the road that led to the train station. He had lost sight of Colby’s car because he had let them get too far ahead of him, but he knew where Colby was taking Logan and the cloud of red dust floating over the dirt road confirmed his suspicion. They had driven down the road for sure, and now Chip knew he was finally going to be able to teach Logan Shaw a lesson about coming into town and trying to take his land and his girl. Logan, Chip knew, was about to learn firsthand how things were handled out in the country. And then when he was done with Logan, Chip knew he would have Colby all to himself in the old train station.

  Chip turned his truck onto the dirt road and drove slowly until he reached the bridge that led over the river. Once he crossed the bridge he pulled his truck off the road and into an opening between the trees. Then he got out of the truck and began to walk through the woods. He had been deer hunting in these woods since he was a boy and knew them like the back of his hand. He planned to work his way through the woods and then up to the rear of train station. Then he would surprise Colby and Logan when the moment was right.

  ***

  Logan brought the car to a stop close to the old train station. He and Colby got out and then he walked up to the tracks that ran in front of the building. When he looked to his left he noticed that the tracks ended not far from the station. The wooden ties were still down but the steel rails had long since been removed. Then he looked over at the old railway car sitting solemnly on the tracks near the front of the station just as Colby walked up beside him.

  “I thought you said this station was out here because it was used to haul away tobacco and cotton. That train car is for carrying people. What’s it doing here?”

  Her face tensed slightly. “Well, the station was used mainly for freight, but sometimes a people train would come into town.” Colby paused for a second and then looked down at her feet. Then she brought her eyes up to meet Logan’s. “Usually they were orphan trains.”

  “Do tell.” Logan frowned at Colby.

  “An orphan train,” Colby replied.

  “What the hell is an orphan train? We don’t have those in the city. At least I don’t think we do, or did, I mean.”

  Colby looked up at Logan and gave him a hint of a smile.

  “I’m sure they never had those kinds of trains in the city. I mean, there’s no tobacco to pick so why would they need an orphan train.”

  He paused for a second and looked at Colby. The frown on his face conveyed his confusion.

  “Well, the story goes that the town would get an orphan train every now and then. They were a big thing a hundred years ago. Orphans from the cities up north were loaded onto the trains and sent out west or down south to work the farms. Starlight would get one every now and then. And it would come to this station.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  She slid her hands into the front pockets of her shorts. Logan couldn’t help but be reminded again at how attractive she was.

  “My family has lived around here since the town was founded. I’ve heard all the stories that have been passed down through the generations. You know us Southerners, we like to have big meals on Sunday and then sit out on the back porch and talk. It’s a way of life. I can tell you anything about Starlight that you want to know.”

  “So tell me about the orphan trains,” Logan said as he looked at the old railway car. His curiosity was getting the best of him.

  “The orphans were cheap labor for the tobacco fields. When the orphan train came into the station local families that needed help with their farms would come out here and take custody of a few of the kids that had come in on the train. They would adopt them right into their families and take them home. Then the kids would work the fields with the rest of the family. Back then they didn’t have all the fancy machinery so everything was done by hand. And the more hands the better.”

  “Child labor?” Logan replied, trying to hide the disgust in his voice.

  “Well, yes and no. I mean, the story goes that these kids were basically homeless and had been living on the streets or in the orphanages up north. Yeah, they worked the fields but they also were given a home and food. Some people didn’t have a lot of kids and they needed the extra help. Back then everyone worked, even the children. People didn’t sit around pecking on cell phones like the do nowadays.”

  “Hey, I like my cellphone,” Logan said as he placed a protective hand over the cellphone on his belt. He didn’t know why he was carrying it; he had barely been able to get a signal since coming to Starlight.

  “I’m just saying that back then if you didn’t work you didn’t eat. That’s all. Even the kids had to work.”

  “They picked tobacco?” Logan looked at the old railway car again.

  “It’s called a Pullman, city boy.”

  “Gotcha.” Logan continued to examine the car.

  “The little kids would pull the flowers and the hornworms off the plants. When you pull the flower off the top it causes the plant to grow higher and have bigger leaves.”

  “They did what?” He looked away from the Pullman back to Colby.

  “They pulled the flowers and the hornworms off the plants.”

  “The flowers? What do those flowers look like?”

  Colby couldn’t figure out why Logan cared what the flowers looked like. This was reflected in the look on her face. “It’s just sort of a yellow flower about the size of the palm of your hand. They grow on the tobacco plants but have to be pulled off so they won’t stunt the plant’s growth.”

  Logan suddenly remembered the flower he had found lying on the bedroom floor. But when he stuck his fingers into his shirt pocket he realized the flower was gone.

  “What’s the matter?” Colby watched Logan fumble with his pocket.

  “Uh… Nothing,” Logan said as he removed his fingers from his shirt pocket while trying to hide the look of surprise he was feeling.

  They looked back at the Pullman.

  “Sandy’s great-grandmother came in on one of those orphan
trains. And she’s not the only one in town like that.

  “Sandy?”

  “Yep. But don’t go onto her about it. I don’t think she likes to talk about her family’s history.”

  The sun had dropped down lower in the sky. Logan squinted as he looked at the Pullman. The day was passing quickly and Logan knew it was because he was with Colby. He was enjoying every minute of her company. He knew he could get used to being around a girl like her.

  “Let’s check out the station. And can we get into that, what did you call it? That Pullman?”

  “The doors were always locked on the Pullman but I know how to get inside of it. Follow me,” Colby said as she took off towards the old rail car.

  Logan and Colby walked up to the Pullman and when Logan checked the doors on each end and on the sides, all of them were padlocked. Colby was standing near the middle of the car with her hands on her hips.

  “About done, city boy?”

  “Sorry. Just checking the doors. So how do we get in this thing?”

  Colby motioned for Logan to join her near the middle of the car. Then she squatted down and crawled under the Pullman. In the middle of the underside of the car was a trapdoor. Colby pushed up on the door and smiled when it opened, its rusted hinges screaming in protest. Then she pushed the trapdoor the rest of the way open and stood up in the opening. Logan watched as her upper body disappeared into the Pullman, followed by her legs. Once she was inside she stuck her head back down through the opening and grinned at Logan.

  “Well I’ll be damned,” said Logan.

  Once inside the car, Colby and Logan walked from the front to the rear looking at the old seats. The inside of the car was hot and smelled of old leather and mildew. In the end seat was a small pile of what looked to be the remnants of homemade cigarettes.

  “Looks like tobacco isn’t the only thing they smoke out here in the boonies,” Logan said Colby walked up beside him. Looks like the country kids and the city kids have found common ground.”

  “I never touched that crap. The strawberry wine was always enough for me.” Colby then looked up at Logan as she moved so close to him that their bodies touched.

  He threw caution to the wind. The heat of the railcar, combined with being so close to Colby was making him lightheaded. He looked into Colby’s eyes and then reached up and put his hands on her cheeks. Then he kissed her, softly at first and then with more passion. Just as he moved his hands from her face down to the sides of her arms, both he and Colby were jolted out of the moment by the crashing sound of something hitting the side of the Pullman.

  Logan stopped kissing Colby and gasped. “What the fuck was that?” Colby then turned her head to see the large star in the middle of one of the Pullman’s side windows.

  “Did something just hit this car?” Logan scanned the length of the Pullman. Then he saw the window. “Was that window broken before?”

  “I don’t remember,” Colby said, panting as she reached for Logan’s hand.

  “Let’s get out of here.” He led Colby back to the trapdoor. He dropped through first and then helped her climb down.

  Once outside of the Pullman, Colby and Logan both stared at the broken window. Logan saw a large rock about the size of a baseball lying on the ground directly below the window.

  “Who the hell do you think threw that?” Logan said as he looked at the rock.

  “Colby had her suspicions. She knew more about the land around Starlight than she was letting on. But she decided Logan probably wasn’t ready to hear about it. She had already told him so much that she was afraid that he might just leave town and say to hell with all of it, the town, his house and her. She didn’t want that to happen. Colby liked Logan. In fact, she could not ever remember being around a man that made her feel like he did. Finally she said the only thing she thought would sound logical to Logan.

  “Probably just some kids. Teenagers, most likely. There’s a path behind the station that leads down to the Skeleton River, to one of the better swimming holes. Kids walk through here all the time on their way to it. They probably saw us and just wanted to scare the bejesus out of us.”

  “Well, it worked,” Logan said. Then he was immediately sorry for his comment. The last thing he wanted to sound like in front of Colby was a scared city boy. Colby looked at him and frowned.

  “I mean, they didn’t scare me. But you seemed like you were scared.” Logan squinted in the sun and smiled at Colby. “I was just about to jump out of the Pullman and start whipping ass.” He suddenly struck a bodybuilder pose.

  “Uh huh. Is that so?” Colby said as she smiled at Logan. “Well if you’re up for it, we can check out the station now.”

  “Let’s go. Old abandoned train stations are my thing. Didn’t I tell you?”

  Logan took Colby by the hand as they began to walk towards the station. Thoughts of what might have happened in the Pullman had they not been interrupted danced through Logan’s head as he and Colby walked through the tall grass. The air was hot and Logan could feel the sweat trickling down his back.

  None of the doors were locked that led from the platform into the station. Once inside, Logan and Colby walked up to the old ticket counter in the center of what was once the main lobby of the station. Logan walked around behind the counter and tried his best imitation of a railway ticket clerk.

  “Destination, please.”

  Colby smiled. “How about Wilmington?”

  He knew he had not exactly been on his game lately as far as women were concerned. But he knew the message Colby was sending to him. After the kiss in the Pullman, he knew that she liked him. He had felt her pulling close to him just as the rock hit the window.

  “Well you’re in luck, fair lady. I have one ticket left. And it’s only for you.”

  Logan walked around from behind the counter and pulled Colby to him. When their lips touched he could feel her responding to his desire. He moved his hands down to her hips and then wrapped his arms around her waist as their kiss grew more passionate.

  Suddenly out of nowhere Logan was hit in the back of the head by a wooden two by four. When Logan fell to the ground, Chip McPhale tossed the two by four on the floor next to Logan. His eyes were burning with a mixture of hatred and lust. Colby screamed and took a step backwards just as Chip stepped over Logan’s motionless body.

  “I thought I told you that your sweet little ass belongs to me. What the fuck are you doing out here whoring around with this city fuck?”

  Colby could smell the liquor on Chip’s breath mixed with the aroma of chewing tobacco.

  “You stay away from me, Chip. I swear I’ll have the sheriff throw your sorry ass in jail if you lay a finger on me.”

  “The sheriff? You mean that sorry sack of shit Patterson? I’ll kill him where he sleeps.”

  Chip moved towards Colby as she continued to back away from him. She wasn’t watching where she was going as she was backing up and when her foot hit a loose board she suddenly tripped and fell to the floor. Before she could even try to get back to her feet, Chip was standing over her.

  “I’ve waited long enough and now I’m gonna fuck you like you need to be fucked. I know you want it, you little tease.” Chip then ejected a stream of tobacco juice from his mouth and wiped his chin with the back of his hand.

  Colby scrambled to try to push herself away from Chip but when he grabbed her by the leg she knew there would be no getting away from him. The smell of the whiskey and chewing tobacco made her nauseous and she felt bile rising up her throat. She continued to struggle as Chip dropped to his knees while trying to hold her legs with one hand and unbuckle his pants with his other hand. Then she began to scream and yell just as her fingernails dug into the soft flesh of Chip’s face.

  “You little bitch!” Chip yelled as he felt Colby’s fingernails dig into his cheek.

  “Get off me Chip!” Colby was crying now, tears streaming down her face as the horrible realization hit her of what was about to happen.

&n
bsp; Suddenly the two by four came down on the back of Chip McPhale’s head. Chip’s body went limp instantly. Then Logan hit Chip once again on the side of his head, crushing Chip’s right ear.

  She pushed Chip’s limp body off of her and then tried to get to her feet. Logan dropped the two by four and immediately helped her get up. Then he pulled Colby into a tight hug as she buried her face in his chest and began to sob uncontrollably. Logan kept his eyes on Chip’s motionless body. He knew he wasn’t going to allow Chip to get up and blindside him again.

  “I’ve got you. It’s okay. It’s okay.” Logan hugged Colby tightly until he felt her begin to calm down. Once her breathing was back to normal he pulled back and looked into her eyes.

  “He’s never going to hurt you again. I’ll make sure of it. Let’s get out of here and back to the car. I’ve had enough of this train station for one day.”

  “Colby could only nod her approval. The tears were still streaming down her face as she took hold of Logan’s hand as he led her out of the station and onto the platform above the tracks. She looked back at Chip’s body one more time to assure herself that he wasn’t trying to get up and follow them.

  Once they were back at the car Logan helped Colby into her seat and then walked around and got behind the wheel.

  “Do you think you killed him?” she asked as Logan turned the key in the ignition.

  “I doubt it. The hardheaded motherfucker is probably just knocked out cold. It will serve him right to lie in there half the night before he comes to. But he’ll have one hell of a headache when he wakes up.”

  Colby smiled at Logan. Then she put her hand on his arm just as he put the car in gear.

  “Thank you.” She leaned across the seat and kissed Logan on his cheek.

  “You’re quite welcome. Now let’s get out of here and back to my house. Did I tell you that I live in a big mansion?” Logan said as he winked at Colby.

  “There’s a rumor going around town that you have chicken and dumplings in the refrigerator too,” Colby said as Logan began to drive through the field back towards the dirt road that led to the main road. When he was almost to the bridge over the Skeleton River, Logan noticed Chip’s pickup truck pulled off into the edge of the woods. He stopped in the road when he was next to where the truck was parked.