Summary: Joe rides into a deserted town and has a look around
\nWord Count: 2119
\nRating: General Audience<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mary Louise<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSo you\u2019re leaving.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joe nodded and finished tying his bedroll behind his saddle.<\/p>\n \u201cRunning away isn\u2019t going to make it hurt any less, son.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe so, but I have to get away for a while.\u201d Joe turned and faced his father, pain and hurt written clearly on his face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDid you say good-bye to your brothers?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded and led Cochise out of the barn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJoe,\u201d Ben called, following him out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joe stopped and turned to face his father, a plea for understanding written on his face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTake care,\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Ben said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joe had been riding for nearly a week, trying to sort things out in his mind, trying to lessen the hurt, but to no avail.\u00a0 <\/span>His father had been right.\u00a0 <\/span>Amy\u2019s loss hurt just as much now as it did the day he left. Running away, being on his own hadn\u2019t changed anything. \u2018Perhaps it was time to go home,\u2019 he thought, \u2018or, maybe\u2019 he reconsidered, \u2018he just needed more time on his own.\u2019 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He was deep in thought, trying to reach some kind of decision, when Cochise became skittish and started sidestepping. Joe pulled up and looked around.<\/p>\n \u201cA ghost town,\u201d he breathed as he sat gazing at the abandoned structures, letting his eyes drift from one decrepit building to another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d he mouthed, suddenly becoming attentive and focused. He stared down the street, straining his eyes and scrutinizing every inch of the place, trying to catch another glimpse of whatever it was that had caught his attention. But there was nothing there; the street was empty.<\/p>\n \u201cGee Cochise, I must be losing my mind. I was sure I saw someone walking down the street.\u201d<\/p>\n The paint nodded his head.<\/p>\n \u201cYou think I\u2019m losing my mind?\u201d<\/p>\n His four-legged friend shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, you thought you saw something too? Shall we go have a look-see?\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Cochise shook his head, more emphatically this time.<\/p>\n . Joe chuckled and patted the horse\u2019s neck. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, boy. It was just our imagination working overtime.<\/p>\n He walked the paint down the street, soothing the fractious animal as he went along. Within moments,\u00a0 <\/span>he came to what must have, at one time, been a livery stable. The building itself was ready to collapse, but the small enclosure behind it was in good shape.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you think, Cochise?\u201d he asked, turning him out into the corral.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The paint walked calmly to the nearest patch of grass and started grazing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Satisfied that the horse would be fine, Joe started down the street, intent on spending a few hours exploring and hopefully distracting himself.<\/p>\n He nosed around several buildings inside and out, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about them. They were simply old buildings, in various stages of disrepair. They had all been abandoned years ago.\u00a0 <\/span>The whole town, in fact, looked as if it had been deserted for decades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ghost town or not, the place was proving to be dull and unexciting, and he was about to go back to the livery when a loud noise caught his attention. Once again, his eyes raked up and down the street, searching. But this time, they found the culprit. It was an old sign banging against a door. \u201cSheriff\u2019s Office,\u201d it announced to anyone who might be around.<\/p>\n Joe smiled. \u2018Sheriff\u2019s office, perhaps that will prove more interesting,<\/i>\u2019 he thought, and headed towards the lopsided sign. He had just about reached it when a strange feeling that someone was watching him crept down his spine. He stopped and looked around, scoping out the area\u2014no one. He was alone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJust my imagination,\u201d he assured himself, and shaking off the disquieting sensation, he crossed the road to the jailhouse.<\/p>\n \u201cNow this is more like it,\u201d he murmured. The place was a treasure trove. There was a stack of old wanted posters piled to the side of the desk, and behind it, hanging on a hook, were the keys to the cell doors. In the top drawer, he found an old sheriff\u2019s badge and an antiquated pair of handcuffs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sitting at\u00a0 <\/span>the sheriff\u2019s desk, badge pinned to his shirt, he was engrossed in the wanted posters when someone walked in, startling him. His head shot up, and he smiled. It was a little girl, not more than eight or nine years old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhere did you come from?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cBlackman Farm,\u201d she told him. \u201cMy name\u2019s Mary Louise Blackman. Are you a sheriff?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shook his head. \u201cI found the badge in the desk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m gonna call you Sheriff, anyway,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n \u201cThen Sheriff Cartwright, it is,\u201d he replied, going along with her game. And using his best sheriff\u2019s voice, he demanded, \u201cAnd what are you doing here, young lady?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying in the old buildings,\u201d she told him, and then stared down at her shoes. \u201cI saw you looking around in some of them and thought maybe we could explore them together.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Making small circles with her right foot, she shyly added. \u201cSome of them are real dark inside.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, as sheriff, I suppose it\u2019s my job to show you around. Where would you like to start?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe old hotel,\u201d Mary Louise answered immediately.<\/p>\n Hand-in-hand, the sheriff and the little girl strolled down the street.<\/p>\n \u201cHere we are,\u201d Joe announced and graciously opened the door for her. Giggling, she stepped through, into the hotel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The sheriff followed her in and glanced around the room. \u201cGood choice,\u201d he said, applauding her decision. \u201cShall we have a look at the front desk?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAh, a register, do you think we\u2019ll recognize any of the names, Mary Louise?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Stepping up to the desk, he leafed through the book. He was in the midst of trying to decipher the signatures when an icy draft surged through him, chilling him to the bone.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you feel that?\u201d he asked, rubbing his arms briskly.<\/p>\n Mary Louise hugged herself and nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cThere must be an open door or window someplace,\u201d he told himself, \u201cbut where?\u201d He wandered into the kitchen and looked around\u2014the windows were shut, and the back door was closed.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell, it didn\u2019t come from here,\u201d he mumbled to himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSheriff Cartwright,\u201d the little girl broke into his thoughts. \u201cCan we look upstairs? I bet there\u2019s a lot of interesting things up there.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe certainly can,\u201d Joe assured her, putting thoughts of mysterious cold drafts out of his mind. The two had nearly reached the top when a loud crash resonated through the building.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the heck was that?\u201d Joe mumbled.<\/p>\n \u201cYou wait here,\u201d he told Mary Louise, and headed towards a small room off the lobby. Opening the door, he looked around. Books, a myriad of books were scattered around a little sitting room. He stepped inside and prowled about, searching for some probable cause of the chaos, but once again found nothing.<\/p>\n \u2018That\u2019s odd,<\/i>\u2019 he reflected, his gaze returning to the numerous books strewn about the floor. \u2018Something must have caused them to fall.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/i> As he stood there lost in his thoughts, a sense of foreboding passed through him, leaving him disconcerted and feeling a bit spooked.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, it was just a bunch of old books falling off the shelves.\u201d Mary Louise announced, breaking into his musings as she strolled into the room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He regarded the calm, unruffled child and scoffed at his own reaction. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018If you\u2019re not careful, Joe,<\/i>\u2019 he thought, \u2018you\u2019ll start believing in ghosts.<\/i>\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cYes, just some old books.\u201d he seconded Mary Louise\u2019s observation. \u201cShall we continue our investigations upstairs?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhich room would?\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Joe, having caught sight of a man ducking into a room at the far end of the hall, stopped in the middle of his sentence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHey there!\u201d he shouted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rushing down to the room, he threw open the door and looked around. No one. He searched the entire room, under the bed, in the closet, anywhere someone might hide\u2014nothing. Slowly, he exited the room and started back down the hall. He hadn\u2019t taken five steps when he heard a creaking sound coming from inside the room. He turned, glanced back into the room, and stared. He stared at the chair, rocking back and forth. He stared, mesmerized. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the curtains, the ones behind the bed.\u00a0 <\/span>They were fluttering. He strode over, yanked them aside, and released the breath he had been holding. The window was partially opened. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe wind,\u201d he muttered. \u201cIt was only the wind.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Closing the window, he walked back to the chair, stopped the movement, and waited. The rocker remained motionless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJoe, you\u2019re a simpleton,\u201d he admonished himself, abashed at having let his imagination run amok again. Then shaking his head, he chuckled at himself. He could well imagine his brothers\u2019 reactions if they ever got so much as a whiff of how he had been letting his thoughts run riot. He\u2019d never live it down. They\u2019d hear the two of them laughing all the way to Virginia City.<\/i>\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As he thought of his brothers, a\u00a0 <\/span>sensation of melancholy came upon him. He missed his family. He missed his pa, he missed Hoss, he even missed old Adam.<\/p>\n \u00a0 <\/span>\u2018It was time to go home,<\/i>\u2019 he decided.<\/p>\n \u201cMary Louise,\u201d he called, then turned and almost tripped over the child.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere did you come from?\u201d he demanded, taken aback by her sudden appearance out of nowhere. He was positive she hadn\u2019t been there just moments before.<\/p>\n \u201cI followed you down the hall.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joe looked into the innocent blue eyes and relaxed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m really letting this place get to me,<\/i>\u2019 he thought. Smiling at the little girl, he took her hand, and the two finished their exploration of the hotel. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIs there any other place you want to see?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mary Louise nodded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something I want to show you,\u201d she said, and led him to the remains of an old, collapsed building.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was playing in the building when it fell down,\u201d she told him, pointing to a pile of bones under the rubbish. \u201cMy folks don\u2019t know I\u2019m here. Please tell them, so I can go home.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe stared in disbelief. \u201cStop joking, Mary Louise. It isn\u2019t funny,\u201d he scolded.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not joking, Joe,\u201d she cried.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy locket and diary are buried under there. Get them, and you\u2019ll know I\u2019m telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you know my name is Joe? I never told you that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAmy told me. She said you were a good man, and you\u2019d help me get home.\u201d<\/p>\n She looked up at him, pleading. \u201cPlease, promise me you\u2019ll make sure I get home.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPromise me,\u201d she repeated, and her body started to shimmer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Stunned, Joe could only nod.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mary Louise smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a message for you from Amy,\u201d she told him. \u201cShe says to stop grieving and get on with your life. It\u2019s making her sad to see you so downhearted.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 <\/span>Smiling, her voice edged with shyness, she added, \u201cGood-bye, Sheriff, and thank you. Amy was right. You are a good man,\u201d and disappeared before his eyes.<\/p>\n Joe stood gazing into the empty space where Mary Louise had been standing, doubting his senses. It was just too preposterous. Yet there were bones under that building, and they looked to be those of a child. Hesitantly, he reached under the rubble, searching. When he pulled his hand out moments later, he had a locket and a diary in it. He opened the book. Inscribed on the inside cover was\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Mary Louise,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Blackman Farm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That evening, Joe rode to the little farmhouse. He gave the Blackmans the diary and locket and, as gently as possible, told them about the bones he had found in the old ghost town. He spent three days at the little farm, helping them put Mary Louise to rest and listening to their reminisces about their daughter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>*******************************<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe led Cochise into the barn and bedded him down. \u201cHappy to be home, Cochise?\u201d he asked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The horse looked at Joe and then happily chomped on the hay in his stall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMe too.\u201d Joe murmured.<\/p>\n He gave the horse a last pat and walked up to the house.<\/p>\n As he stepped through the doorway, three sets of eyes looked his way, and for several seconds, everyone just stared. Joe stood there, looking down at the floor, trying to think of something to say. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled into a hug. The smell of pipe tobacco and aftershave inundated his senses. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be home, Pa,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Joe did tell his family about his adventures in the ghost town, and his brothers did roar with laughter. But he never told anyone about his encounter with Mary Louise or about the message from Amy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n (Written in response to a Just Joe Hallowe\u2019en Challenge October 2023)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: Joe rides into a deserted town and has a look around
\nWord Count: 2119
\nRating: General Audience<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13332,"featured_media":70405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1007,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-joe-cartwright","category-halloween","wpcat-1007-id","wpcat-29-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/deserted-western-town-stockcake.jpg?fit=728%2C408&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13332"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70488,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70402\/revisions\/70488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}