Romance in a Ghost Town

by Robert P McAuley

  He patted Jean’s hand as he continued, “When I was born, mom and dad brought me along and soon it was in my blood as well. And one of my earliest friendships started there with this little dark haired girl, Jean Smithers.” He grinned and tilted his head towards Jean who rolled her eyes as he went on.

  “The group became close and would meet during the year and make plans for the next trip back. Well, one day we went back to a place called, Silver City and found that most of the stores were closing up as the silver mine had panned out, and the townsfolk were moving on to better places. While our group was staying in the Silver Inn Hotel and a few of the homes that rented out to families, we met a fellow who lived there who didn’t want to leave. Jameson Bensen was a miner who had made a small fortune out of the silver mine, and he loved the town so much he was trying to convince people to stay there and use the bartering system to make the town thrive. My dad and a few others from our group came up with a novel idea to buy the town and come back every year, so we offered to help Bensen with his idea and kick in half of the money to make it happen. It was so simple! As townsfolk left, Bensen gave them hard cash ta keep their place intact and boarded up. After a while there were more of us than them, and soon we started runnin’ the stores they left behind. Of course the new owners changed the names of the stores and that’s how stores like Thad’s Ice House is owned by Thad Dovel and Doc Bain’s dentistry office reflects his name. Soon we were coming back here for longer times and then the children of the original folks started ta get married and the wedding place of choice was right here in town.”

  “But,” asked Anne, “what does Rattlesnake Haven have to do with Silver City?”

  Cal grinned and answered, “Let me ask ya, how many snakes have ya seen in town?”

  Anne looked at Bob and with a shrug answered, “One. The one that Bob killed.”

  “And that’s the only one I ever saw,” added Bob.

  Cal couldn’t restrain himself and slapped his thigh as he explained with a huge grin, “That’s because there’s no more snakes in Rattlesnake Haven than there are in any other ghost town. Ya see, we changed the name from Silver City to Rattlesnake Haven ta keep folks from wanting ta visit a town full of rattlesnakes.” He kept his grin as he added, “And it worked, partners.”

  “This is too much,” said Anne as she rubbed her temple, “You’re asking us to believe that you come from the future? That time travel is possible?”

  Cal stood next to the chair that Jean sat in and placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder…she placed hers on his as he went on in a low tone of voice, “No honey, I’m tellin’ ya a story. What ya believe is strictly up to you two.”

  “Sweetheart,” said Jean to Anne as she patted Cal’s hand, “can you explain those coincidences any other way?”

  Anne shook her head and said, “No, not really.” She suddenly giggled as she went on, “I was starting to think that maybe you were ghosts. I mean, what about those tombstones with your names on them?”

  Cal smiled and continued to pat his wife’s hand as he answered, still in a low voice, “After awhile a few of the original folks got on in life and when their time came they wished ta be buried right here in Rattlesnake Haven. As you saw, we gather at the cemetery ta pay our respects a few times a year.”

  Bob nodded and said reverently, “So that’s how you all just left the church and went to the cemetery without mentioning it. It’s something you do all the time.”

  “Yes, partner.”

  “This is just so hard to believe,” said Anne.”

  “Why, honey?” asked Jean. Would you believe it better if I showed you a picture of what happened in your future?”

  “A picture? Of what?”

  “Hush!” she said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” She looked at Cal and said, “Cal, will you get the strongbox for me?”

  Cal stood and they watched as he went to the corner of the living room, bent down and easily pulled up a section of the polished wood flooring, reached in and took out a steel box. He brought it back and placed it on the coffee table in front of the fireplace. It was a highly polished, stainless steel box measuring two-feet by two-feet with a depth of ten inches. Jean opened it reverently revealing papers and photographs along with other memorabilia. She looked at Anne and Bob and said, “This was not the way Cal and I planned on telling you two. But things are moving fast and we need ta take a few shortcuts.”

  “Tell us what?” asked Bob.

  “First off, son, this very house is the same house that Cal lived in as a little boy whenever his folks came back for vacation. Later on, we got married an’ it became our house. So you see, “ she said as she wiggled her finger at them, “not all of the coincidences are from our side: you two just happened ta move into our old house. Coincidence? Who knows the difference between coincidence and ‘meant ta be’?”

  She reached into the box and brought out a felt-covered object which, when she unwrapped it, became a framed photograph. Before allowing them to see the picture she asked, “Honey, do ya remember when you asked me about how could some woman just go and leave town without taking her wedding gown with her?”

  Anne nodded and she continued, still covering the framed picture. “Well, one of the reasons was that we came back every year and wanted ta leave our memories right here for us.” She passed the picture to them and their faces dropped as they saw a young, dark haired Cal and Jean standing in front of the town’s church surrounded by the many townspeople they both had gotten to know. But the biggest surprise was that they were all in their twenties and, while Cal wore a black tux and a sheriff’s badge, Jean wore the wedding dress that was still in the upstairs dresser. It was their wedding day and the date written on the bottom right hand side was July 6, 1913.

  “This-this is impossible!” said Anne, “That would make you, what? Maybe ninety-nine about?”

  Jean and Cal laughed before Jean said, “Land’s sake, child! We’re only in our sixties! Ya got ta get a handle on this time travel thing.”

  Cal picked up the explanation, “Both me and Jean were born in 2030. We were brought back ta what’s now Rattlesnake Haven by our folks in the year 1890, met, grew up and got married in 1913 when we were only twenty-three years old.” He looked up at the ceiling and said in a lower tone of voice, “My mom and dad died in the year 2051 and wanted ta be buried back here in 1921 and Jean’s folks passed the following year and were buried here in 1922.”

  “So,” said Bob matching his low tone of voice, “that would explain the dates on the tombstones in the cemetery. Whenever one of the original folks died, they wanted to be buried back in the time they loved.”

  “And,” Anne interjected, “the reason that many of their ‘born’ dates just had a question mark, was so that if anyone, like us, came across them, they wouldn’t see that they were born in the future.”

  Cal and Jean both nodded as he said, “You got it, honey.”

  Anne shook her head and said, “I’m not saying that I believe this, but if it were true, then it would make sense.”

  “Well,” added Jean as she removed the felt wrapping from another framed picture, “like I said, a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe this’ll help.” She passed the second picture to them and Cal sat on the arm of her chair as they both sat back and watched.

  Anne looked at the, seeming old, black and white picture and then at Bob. She felt her head spinning as she tried to understand all that was happening to the world she thought she had a grip on.

  “Who-Who are they?” she heard Bob ask.

  “Ask Anne,” said Jean with a warm smile.

  Anne’s face was suddenly red as she smiled and said, “Bob, the couple in the picture are you and me!”

  He turned the photo to see it better by the light from the fire. It showed a couple standing in front of the church surrounded by the townsfolk of Rattlesnake Haven. The young man wore a black suit with a white carnation in his lapel and silver spurs. Holding his arm w
as Anne dressed in a white wedding gown…the same gown Jean had worn when she got married, the very same wedding gown that was upstairs in the three-drawer dresser in their bedroom.

  They stared at each other and Bob asked, “When was this picture taken?”

  “Christmas Eve,” said Jean as she held Cal’s hand.

  Sheepishly Anne asked, “Wh-What year?”

  “This year, sweetheart. In two days time.”

  Both Bob and Anne sat silent. Finally Anne said, more to herself than anybody, “This is embarrassing.”

  “I agree,” added Bob.

  “What? Why? Anne asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

  “Ah, well, um,” he stuttered as he tried to understand her question, “I mean, I’m embarrassed…for you.”

  “For me?” she shot back sitting on the edge of her seat. “Why are you embarrassed for me?”

  He looked at Cal then at Jean who answered with a smile, “Don’t look at us, son. Ya got ta say your own piece. Do you like what ya see in the picture?”

  He started to shrug but caught himself halfway and said, “Um, yes, I guess I do. It’s just that, well, you know. It’s so sudden.”

  “Too sudden, I suppose, for a city boy to handle?” Anne asked as she scrutinized him with crossed arms.

  “No, no, I don’t mean that. I mean, well, I never thought that you would ever…well, you know, see me as a-a, well, as a husband, that’s all.”

  “Well,” she said shrugging her shoulders and pointing to the picture, “you don’t look so upset with the situation in this picture.”

  “I’m not upset! I mean I don’t even understand how it happened. Do you?”

  “Well,” she answered, “it’s pretty obvious that you must have asked me to marry you.”

  He crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders, “And that you said yes.”

  She crossed hers again, “Well, if you asked me, then I must have said yes or else this picture would be wrong.”

  “Then I guess I did.”

  “Maybe you should ask her again, dear,” said Jean nudging it along.

  Bob looked at Cal who looked the other way as he said, “Jean, I think maybe you and me should get us a cup of coffee.” She nodded, blew out two of the three oil lamps and they went into the kitchen leaving the couple alone in the romantic setting of a room lit mostly by the fireplace.

  Anne smiled as she offered a perplexed Bob her hand, “Now, what were you saying?”

  He smiled back and answered, “I guess I was going to say what I’ve been thinking ever since I first met you: Will you marry me?”

  She kept her smile and added some tears as she whispered, “Yes, I will.” They kissed as Samson suddenly woke from his nap and leaped up onto the couch with them, making light of the moment.

  “Guess you need to take another look at this, honey,” said Jean as they reentered the room. Draped over her outstretched arms was her wedding dress.

  “Ohhh…“ remarked Anne as she bit on her lip, “Jean, it’s as beautiful as it was in the picture.”

  “It outta be, honey. Each time we came back I took it out and aired it before repacking it away.” Her eyes settled on Cal who smiled as she went on, “Guess ya can see from the baby’s room we set-up upstairs that we always hoped that we’d have a little girl ta wear this dress for her wedding…but the heavens never sent us any children so it’s only fitting that you wear it.”

  Anne stood and hugged her. “I’ll be so proud to wear this dress and pray that it gives our wedding the same love that it brought yours.”

  “Well then,” said Jean with tears in her eyes, “run on up and try it on.”

  Anne placed an arm across the petite woman’s shoulders and asked, “If my mom were alive I’d need her to help me…do you think that you could do that for me?”

  The smile on Jean’s face seemed to light the room as she said, “Come on, love, it can be tricky with all of these cords and such.”

  Bob and Cal watched the two ladies go up the stairs already making wedding plans. “Son,” said Cal putting his arm around Bob’s shoulders, “we got us a big day tomorrow. You up for it?”

  Bob grinned as he nodded, “Yes, thanks to you two, I am.” He looked at the picture once again and quipped, “But I have to get a black suit and a pair of spurs. I didn’t bring any along.”

  “Paul Majors over at Majors Men’s Clothing has been cutting cloth since we first got here and I bet he has a black suit close to your size with maybe a few cuts here and there. I think that we should visit his shop first thing tomorrow. As for spurs, I think I might have an extra pair for ya.” He dug into his inside shirt pocket and took out two cigars, offered one to Bob and lit both. As a ring of smoke circled their heads he said, “Ol’ Doc Peters wants us ta stop by his office tomorrow.”

  “Sure, but why?”

  “Well, like the rest of the folks, he knows about the upcoming wedding and wants ta speak with ya.” He looked at Bob and went on, “That okay with you, son?”

  Bob shrugged and answered, “Sure, that’s fine with me.”

  Upstairs Jean stood holding an oil lamp, illuminating the bedroom as Anne changed into the elderly woman’s wedding dress. The bride-to-be slipped into the pair of white silk, low heeled shoes and turned to face her.

  “How do I look?” she said in a whisper.

  Jean was speechless for a moment, finally answering in the same whispering tone of voice, “Oh my sweet girl, you look so beautiful.” She placed the lamp on the dresser then placed the silk veil on Anne’s head, stood back and clasped her hands to her breast as she said with a sob, “You look as precious as I always dreamed my daughter would.”

  Anne stepped forward and hugged her as she whispered, “I’d be proud to have you as my mom.”

  Jean nodded and wiped a tear as she said, “Now, don’t you go downstairs wearing this dress. First time Bob gets ta see you in it, is on your wedding day.”

  Anne and Bob talked long into the night and at one point she said, “Bob, we can’t let them leave.”

  “I know. But what can we do to stop them? I mean, it’s a crazy story and can you imagine trying to tell that to the authorities?”

  She nodded as they pondered their next move while they sat holding hands in front of the fireplace.

  The Eklund home was on one of the highest hills in Carson City and Mike felt that they should be well decorated but not overdone so he personally decorated the outside while his wife and two girls did the interior. However, all of this new business had him behind in his side of the decorating. Usually he worked during the thirty-minute helicopter ride from the base in Bransville to his home, but last night, as soon as the copter lifted off, he fell asleep.

  He drove the short distance from the Guard base to his home and his wife Mildred was just going to bed as he entered the bedroom.

  “Did I wake you, hon?” he asked wearily.

  “No,” said the tall, slim brunette pecking his cheek, “I was just turning in.”

  “The girls alright?”

  “Yes, they miss you and hope you finish the outdoor decorations.”

  “Me too.”

  “Is everything alright?”

  He shrugged as he went into the bathroom, “As alright as alright is.”

  Five minutes he came out of the bathroom in his pajamas and robe to see Mildred sitting at the small round table in their bedroom, the instant combination coffee/tea/hot chocolate maker still hissing. She had two cups of hot chocolate with marshmallows set out. He grinned and kissed her.

  “Leave it to you to know when I need a hot chocolate.”

  “With marshmallows,” she added.

  “Wait one,” he said and went and got his leather attaché bag and spread the town pictures out across the desk.

  Mildred took a pair of glasses out of her robe’s pocket and put them on. “What are they of?”

  “An old ghost town out in the desert.”

  “It doesn’t look like an old
ghost town,” she said as she went through the sharp pictures. “Why, just look at those cute houses.”

  He nodded and took a sip before saying, “From what I gather, it’s sort of been in a secluded area and no one has ever been there until this guy from New York bought it and redid it.”

  “And what? Turned it into a tourist place or something?”

  “Something like that. But evidently some group settled in and some say it’s become a model old west town while others say it’s a den of terrorists that are laundering money by mining silver and selling it as jewelry in Bransville.”

  Mildred sat up straight, took off her glasses and said, “Wait!” she said as she ran to another room and returned with a silver object. “Look at this! I bet this is from that place.”

  “What is it, Mildred?”

  “It’s a silver key chain with a cactus on it. The cactus has four arms each of which depicts one member of our family. Here’s you, me and the girls.”

  He nodded, “It is pretty. Do you think it came from Rattlesnake Haven?”

  “Yes! That’s the name of the store Mary, Regina and I stopped at when we were with you down in Bransville. It’s run by this nice woman and has lots of handmade silver artwork, jewelry, linen dresses and things.” She shook her head and added, “I can’t believe they’re up to no good.”

  Mike rubbed his temple and said, “Well, I’m supposed to go there the day after tomorrow and check it out.”

  “On Christmas Eve?” she said with a frown.

  “It could get me reelected, hon. I really have to go on this one.”

  “Can I go along?”

  “No! I’m going as the head of state. This is official business.”

  She stood with her hands on her hips and said, “Well, you know how we’re always talking about getting a small place to get away from it all? Maybe when you’re there you can see if any of those cute little houses are for sale. That’d be a nice place to get away from it all. And,” she added with a smile, “maybe they need an ex-seamstress.”

  He rolled his eyes as she left the room and he returned to the sharp photographs. Boy, he thought looking through a jeweler’s loupe, leave it to the military to have the best cameras. He zeroed in on a few of the houses. It is a cute place. Everything is so neat and organized. He laughed as he spotted the out houses, Wonder if Mildred really wants to buy a place there? He put the loupe down, shuffled the pictures together and thought as he put out the desk lamp, maybe I’ll surprise her with one.