The Ghost of Tobacco Road

by Dale Young

  “Colby, jeez. Now is not the time for ghost stories. Right now it’s the living that we need to be afraid of, as in Chip McPhale.”

  She scanned the field and then brought her eyes to Logan again.

  “Just run fast, Logan. We need to run fast and we can’t stop until we get to your house. Promise me we won’t stop no matter what.”

  He looked at Colby and saw fear burning in her eyes.

  “Yeah yeah. But can we go please? Let’s just go. Follow me.” Then Logan grabbed Colby by the hand and they both stepped out of the woods and into the tobacco field.

  Behind them, Chip McPhale stumbled out of the old sharecropper’s house and began to make his way along the trail towards the fields. He knew where Logan and Colby were going and he planned to catch them both. His first order of business would be to beat Logan Shaw unconscious again and then kill him. Then he would resume his business with Colby, and after he had his fill of her he would kill her too. The thought of this brought a crooked smile to his face as he made his way through the woods. Just as he reached the end of the trail he looked out into the tobacco field and saw two dark shadows moving up one of the rows heading for the distant Shaw house.

  Colby and Logan… Chip thought as he watched them move in unison along the row. Then he stepped into the field.

  Logan and Colby had made it almost halfway across the field when Colby stepped in a depression in the dirt and fell face first to the ground. She felt a sharp pain knife through her ankle as it twisted underneath her. When she fell, Logan immediately stopped running. Then he came back and knelt down beside her. She was lying on her side holding her ankle.

  “Oh my god, Logan I think I just broke my ankle!”

  “Probably just sprained it,” Logan said as he tried to catch his breath. “Come on, let’s get you up and I’ll carry you.”

  Colby yelped in pain as Logan lifted her to her feet. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he picked her up and cradled her in his arms. Then he resumed his pace down the tobacco row. They were moving much slower now and Logan knew that Chip could very well catch up with them if they didn’t try to move faster. But in the moonlight he could barely see the shadowy ground between the tobacco plants and this made it hard to keep his footing.

  Logan slowed just a bit so that he could look behind him as he ran with Colby in his arms. His worst fear was confirmed when he saw the dark outline of Chip McPhale closing in on them. Logan knew if he didn’t hurry that Chip would catch them before they managed to get across the field.

  He turned his head and looked down into the dark gulf between the two rows of tobacco plants. Then he quickened his pace in order to open the distance between them and Chip. But he hadn’t traveled more than ten paces when his foot caught a baseball-sized rock sticking out of the soil. When his foot hit the rock he stumbled and he and Colby both tumbled to the ground.

  “Fuck!” Logan hissed as he and Colby hit the dirt.

  Just as Logan pushed himself up and got to his feet, he turned to see the dark hulk of Chip McPhale standing over him. Before Logan could react, Chip swung the baseball bat, the tip of it catching Logan squarely on the jaw. Chip watched in satisfaction as Logan fell sideways across a tobacco plant, out cold from the impact of the bat.

  She was on the ground and trying to push herself away from Chip. The pain shot through her ankle and all the way up her leg to her hip as she tried to move. Tears were streaming down her face as she tried to scramble away from Chip. She knew there was no way she could get to her feet and run. She looked back over her shoulder and could see the Shaw house. It was closer but she and Logan had still only made it a little more than halfway across the field.

  Colby continued to push herself down the row in an effort to get away from Chip. Her hands sank into the sandy soil and this made it hard to get any traction. Panic engulfed her as Chip began to take slow steps toward her while holding the bat in his hand. His skin seemed to glow in the yellow moonlight as he moved and Colby knew she was not going to be able to escape him this time.

  Chip looked behind him and could see the faint outline of Logan’s motionless body lying in the shadows between the rows. He knew that he now had all the time he needed to finally take care of Colby. She belonged to him once again, but then that had never really changed. She had always belonged to him.

  “There’s no need to try and get away, kitten,” Chip said as he moved closer to Colby. The pain in her ankle cut all the way up her leg as she tried to push herself away from him. But the effort was futile. As Chip moved closer to her, he lowered the baseball bat. He knew he wouldn’t need it to handle Colby now. He had other things in mind besides hitting her with the bat.

  “I think it’s time that you and I get busy,” Chip said as he let go of the handle of the bat. Then he took a step towards Colby while his hands moved to his belt. He removed the small revolver and dropped it beside the bat. He was now standing directly over her.

  Colby made a fist in the sandy soil and then threw a handful of it in Chip’s face. The sand filled his eyes and caused a stream of profanities to come out of his mouth.

  “You fucking little bitch!” Chip yelled as he brought his hands to his eyes. The sand grated his eyeballs like emery cloth. He drew back his leg in anger and then kicked Colby violently in the side of her shin. She screamed out in pain as he tried to clear his eyes of the sand.

  When Chip could finally see again he realized that Colby had scrambled farther down the row away from him. This filled him with rage. He quickly closed the distance between them and once he caught up to her he reached down and grabbed her by the ankle. The resulting bolt of pain felt like it was going to split her body in half.

  “I don’t know where the fuck you think you’re going!” Chip hissed as he pulled Colby to him. Then he dropped to his knees and grabbed Colby by both legs, pulling her across the dirt until she was close to him.

  “I said we’re going to get to know each other. And you better take it like a good little whore if you know what’s good for you.”

  Chip began to unbuckle his belt buckle with one hand. He used his other hand to reach down and grab the top of Colby’s shorts. She was kicking and screaming and using both fists to hit Chip across his arms and chest but none of it had any effect. He was too strong and she knew that there was no way she was going to get away from him this time.

  Colby continued to push against Chip but her strength was leaving her. The pain in her leg burned from her ankle all the way to her waist. She was crying and begging Chip to stop.

  “Please, Chip! No! Please!” Chip ignored her as he leaned forward and pulled at the waistband of her shorts. Her open shirt was bunched up around her shoulders as she used what strength she had left to try and fight him off.

  The tears flowed down Colby’s cheeks and onto the sandy dirt underneath her. She knew what was going to happen and that Chip would not stop until he got what he wanted. She knew that she would never be able to win the fight with him. He was just too strong.

  “Now you’re gonna take it like a…”

  Chip suddenly choked on the words in his throat as the tobacco axe cut deep into the side of his neck, almost severing his head from his body. Colby gasped as Chip’s limp body fell forward onto her. She screamed and began to convulse as she tried to get out from under Chip’s lifeless corpse. His head, attached only by a bloody rope of flesh and tendon, rolled backwards at a grotesque angle when she pushed on his body. Fighting the urge to vomit, Colby finally managed rid herself of Chip’s corpse and then scramble backwards until she was a few feet away from it. Then something caught her eye. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand and tried to focus on what she was seeing.

  Standing at the foot of Chip’s lifeless body was a young girl not much taller than the surrounding tobacco plants. Colby began to shake all over as fear, hot and acidic, churned in her abdomen. The young girl was holding a tobacco axe in her hand, its blade covered with Chip McPhale’s blo
od.

  Before Colby could move, the girl lifted the tobacco axe high in the air and brought it down violently into what remained of the connective tissue between Chip’s head and his body. Colby gasped as Chip’s head broke free and rolled across the soil to the base of a nearby tobacco plant. Then the killer lifted the axe again and again, over and over, each time burying the head of the axe deep into Chip’s lifeless corpse.

  Colby let out a bloodcurdling scream that pierced the night sky over the tobacco field. Her body was stiff with fear and she was unable to move, unable to push herself farther down the row away from the grisly scene unfolding before her. She watched as the girl continued to hack and chop at Chip’s body until it was nothing more than a mound of bloody flesh and bone mingled with the shreds of fabric from his clothes.

  But as quickly as it had begun, the slaughter ended. The girl then stepped back away from Chip’s body while still holding the tobacco axe firmly in her hands. Then Colby felt the blood drain from her face when the young girl turned and looked directly into her eyes.

  The killer walked slowly past the mound of flesh that had once been Chip McPhale and then to within a few feet of Colby. Bathed in the light of the harvest moon, Colby could see the dress, the shoes, and the long, unwashed hair. The appearance of the little girl reminded Colby of old photos she had seen of people who had lived a hundred years in the past.

  The killer did not drop the tobacco axe as she looked down at Colby. After a few seconds, she moved it from one had to the other as she continued to study Colby lying in the dirt a few feet away.

  “Who… Who are you?” Colby croaked as she pushed herself up against the stalk of the closet tobacco plant. The little girl did not respond. Her eyes were lifeless and black, set against skin tinted yellow from the light of the moon.

  “You stay away from me!” Colby yelled as she raised a hand. She grabbed another handful of sandy dirt with her other hand and threw it at the little girl, but it had no effect.

  Then the killer took a step forward. Colby watched as the young girl turned her head to look at Chip’s body. After a few moments she turned her head back to Colby.

  Colby felt her entire body begin to tremble. She knew no one had ever seen the ghost of the Shaw fields and lived to tell about it. She knew that she was no more than a few seconds away from the fate that had befallen Chip McPhale. And after the killer was done with her, Colby knew she would then turn her rage on Logan who was still lying unconscious down the row towards the middle of the field.

  Suddenly a moan echoed through the still air. Colby jerked her head in the direction of the noise and waited. After a few seconds, she heard it again. This time she recognized the sound as Logan’s voice. He was calling out to her.

  The little girl seemed to be able to hear Logan calling out in the night. She turned her head in the direction of Logan and then back to Colby. Then she took a few more steps forward and stopped. She was only inches away from Colby’s feet. Colby then watched as the little girl lifted her arm and opened her hand. In her other hand she held the bloody tobacco axe.

  Colby thought for a second that the little girl wanted her to take her by the hand. But then she realized that the little girl wanted something instead, but Colby had no idea what it was. After a few seconds the little girl dropped her hand back to her side.

  Paralyzed with fear, Colby knew that her time had come. The little girl slowly raised the tobacco axe into the air but then seemed to hesitate just as Logan’s voice rang out again from down the row. Once again the little girl looked in Logan’s direction and then back down at Colby. Then she lowered the axe and took a step backwards. Colby remained still, afraid to move or make any sort of noise as the little girl continued to look at her with her black, coal-like eyes. Then suddenly the little girl turned around and walked through the row of tobacco plants and disappeared from sight.

  After a few seconds, Colby sat up and tried to see where the little girl had gone. But there was no sign of her. Then she heard Logan’s voice again. She knew she had to get to him and that they had to get out of the field. She managed to lift herself up and get to her feet. Then she limped past Chip’s dead body until she finally found Logan lying in the dirt farther down the row. She bent down and wrapped her arms around him and began to cry.

  “Colby… Are you alright? What the hell happened?” Logan was groggy but managed to sit up so that he could see Colby’s terrified face. The fear burning in her eyes was like nothing he had ever seen before.

  “Hey, talk to me,” he said as he held Colby tightly against him. But she didn’t speak at first. Then suddenly she seemed to snap out of it.

  “Get up, Logan. We’ve got to move. Chip is dead. The killer got him. I saw the whole thing. I saw the killer hack Chip to pieces. Get up! We’ve got to get out of here!”

  Logan got to his feet and picked Colby up along with him. He put her arm around his neck so that he could help her walk on her ankle. Then they began to make their way up the row towards Chip’s body.

  “Holy fucking shit…” Logan said as he and Colby went past Chip’s mutilated body.

  “I saw it happen, Logan. I saw the killer.”

  “We need to get out of this field,” Logan said as he began to shuffle faster up the row. Colby grimaced in pain but continued along with him trying to lift some of her weight off her ankle by holding onto Logan. In a matter of minutes they were out of the field. Once clear of the tobacco plants, they collapsed on the grass near the back porch of Logan’s house.

  27

  Logan and Colby stood on the back porch of his house and stared out into the moonlit tobacco field. Colby was still trembling but she had finally collected herself enough to be able tell Logan what had happened after he had been knocked out with the baseball bat by Chip McPhale. The pain in her ankle was beginning to subside.

  “It’s a little girl, Logan. All these years and the killer is a little girl. The ghost of tobacco road is just a little girl. I saw her with my own eyes.”

  “Colby, come on. Are you serious?” Logan looked at Colby in disbelief and then out into the tobacco field. The harvest moon had moved higher in the sky and was now bathing the tobacco plants in a bright, silvery light.

  “I’m telling you I saw her, Logan. I watched her chop Chip McPhale to pieces. He was about to rape me before she took his head off with one swing of her tobacco axe. You saw his body. We need to call the sheriff. We need to call him right now.”

  “Just hold on, Colby. We’ll call him. But let’s get our story straight before we do that.” Logan was embarrassed that he had been knocked out cold by Chip. He wished he had been conscious so that he could have maybe seen the killer along with Colby, or even better, took care of Chip McPhale himself.

  “She’s just a little girl, Logan. She looks like she lived a hundred years ago. She’s wearing an old handmade dress, old shoes and her hair is long and dirty. Her eyes are lifeless black holes in her face. And…”

  “And what?” Logan said.

  Colby paused for a second, unsure of how to tell Logan what had happened.

  “And she… She seemed to want something. She extended her hand like she wanted me to give her something but I didn’t know what to do. When she realized I didn’t have anything to give her she raised her axe and I thought that my time had come. But then you called out and she seemed to change. When she heard your voice she lowered her tobacco axe, turned and then disappeared into the tobacco plants. If you hadn’t called out…”

  “Hey, hey, it’s alright. It’s alright, Colby. I’m here.” Logan pulled Colby close and held her tightly as he looked out into the field.

  “What do you think she wanted?” Logan said as he turned and looked down at Colby’s face. She was lost in a trance, staring out into the moonlit tobacco field.

  “I don’t know. But she thought that I had it, whatever it was. I just can’t believe it. I can’t believe she didn’t kill me, Logan. No one has ever seen her and lived to tell about it.
All these years… You should have heard some the stories that have gone around this town. Everyone had their own theory about who the killer was. But I can tell you no one ever thought it was a young girl.”

  She looked up at Logan and then back out into the field.

  “She couldn’t have been more than ten years old.”

  “Do you think she’s still out there?” Logan didn’t know what else to ask. He was sure that Colby was telling him the truth, at least as she remembered it, but her story was more than just a little outlandish. How could a little girl like that kill grown men out in the fields? And if she really was a ghost, if such a thing existed, then why? Why was she here in the Shaw Fields? Logan had no answers to his questions.

  Logan looked out into the tobacco field and then asked Colby a question.

  “Colby, has anyone ever been killed outside of the boundaries of the field?”

  Colby frowned as if in deep thought.

  “Not that I’ve ever heard of,” she finally answered. “Carson was killed in one of the tobacco barns but at one time tobacco grew where that barn is located.”

  Logan exhaled. “That’s good. I guess we’re safe then standing up here on the porch.”

  Colby pulled herself closer to Logan. She liked the feel of his arm around her. Despite knowing that Chip McPhale’s lifeless, mutilated body was lying out in the fields directly in front of them, she felt safe standing next to Logan.

  “So she wanted something?” Logan rubbed Colby’s shoulder. “What could it be?”

  She didn’t know what to make of the tone of Logan’s voice. He was seriously trying to figure out what the ghost wanted when it had reached out to her. As for Colby, she didn’t care. They were safely out of the fields and that was all that mattered to her.

  “Why does it matter, Logan? What difference does it make?”

  “Because there will be more killings, Colby. You said yourself that they’ve been going on for over eighty years. If she wants something, maybe she will leave if she gets it.”