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by Dingbat
This story is a work of fiction, all characters and plot lines are fictional. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
A Night in A Ghost Town remains the property of the author. The story or characters may not be reproduced or republished elsewhere without the expressed written consent of the author.
"Let me get this straight!" said Mike Hayworth. "Our troops spend two nights at the old ghost town, and we fight for control."
"Right!" said Charlie. "It'll be me, Scott, Allen, Doug, Ronnie, and Mark from our troop. Who are your six?"
Mike Hayworth said that it would be him, Mike Houghton, Jimmy Houghton, Bill, Little Chris, and Pete.
"Done!" said Charlie. "We'll camp at the hotel, you guys can set up at the boarding house, and we'll spend Friday night, and start Saturday."
"What other rules are there?" asked Mike. "You've played 'Team Chase' with us before," said Charlie, so we use those rules. Pull a neckerchief or bandana from the opponent's belt, and he's captured, and has to go with you and do what you say. But you have to give his flag back within five minutes."
"Fair enough!" said Mike, "But what if the opponent doesn't have a flag?"
"Then he's an automatic captive of the opponent!" said Charlie. "OK, I think we've got it. My guys will agree to whatever I tell them. What about yours?" Charlie said that he'd already talked over the idea with Allen, Scott, and Doug, and they liked it.
"Ronnie and Mark will go for it, too. No problem!"
The arrangements set, Mike Hayworth left to pack his gear. Charlie was already packed, and for that matter, so were Scott and Allen. When Doug learned, it took him about five minutes to pack his stuff, and when the idea was presented to Ronnie and Mark, it took them even less time.
Friday afternoon after school, Charlie and his friends rushed home to grab their gear and be off. They were quite surprised to find that Mike Hayworth and Mike and Jimmy Houghton had gotten there ahead of them.
"Bill, Chris, and Pete will be along soon!" Mike said. "Meanwhile, let's explore the town." Charlie and his friends agreed, and the nine boys began to look around. There was a general store, a blacksmith shop and stable, two saloons, and several businesses whose signs had long since faded to the point of being unreadable. Most were single story structures, but the boarding house and hotel had two floors, as did one of the saloons.
It took them about 20 minutes to make the rounds, and by the time they were done, Bill, Chris, and Pete had arrived. The latecomers were welcomed, then each group split off to do some additional exploring. After an hour, they met back at the sheriff's office, and went over the rules once again. Nothing major was changed, but Mike Houghton wanted to have only two boys in a room at the hotel and boarding house. Seeing nothing wrong with it, and deciding that there wouldn't be any significant advantage, Charlie and the rest agreed. It was also decreed that each team would show the other where they would stay the night, and what room would be the others' main base.
The first stop was the boarding house. The two sets of brothers said that they would stay with each other; Bill and Chris in one room, and Mike and Jimmy Houghton in another. Mike Hayworth and Pete would take the third. Then, it was over to the hotel. Ronnie and Doug would take one room, Scott and Allen another, and Charlie, the oldest, got Mark, the youngest, as a roommate. The boys all moved their stuff into their rooms, and after getting it laid out, they again gathered at the sheriff's office, roasted some hot dogs, and then tried to frighten each other with ghost stories and wild tales. They also tried to get an edge, each team telling the other that they would all be hogtied and gagged, and be "prisoners for life." Well, maybe not for life, but for at least a week afterwards.
The boys broke up their campfire and ghost story session, and headed for their sleeping bags and comforters. Still embarrassed to be seen in underwear, the boys had brought along pajamas for sleeping, and quickly changed from their jeans. Then, it was into the sleeping bags or underneath the comforters. Tomorrow would be a big day, and although they were all excited about tomorrow's game, they knew they needed a good night's sleep if they were to be at their best, and beat their rivals.
Allen awoke with a start. Standing over him, was Mike Hayworth.
"Get up! You're captured!" he said.
"Captured, hell!" Allen said. "The game isn't supposed to begin until tomorrow!"
"What's going on?" asked Scott, who had been awakened by the noise.
"Shut up, you're captured!" Pete told him.
"You're a bit early. The game doesn't start until tomorrow," Scott protested.
"Well, it is tomorrow!" Mike Hayworth said. Look at your watch!" Allen picked up his watch. It read 3:45. "The day starts and ends at midnight," Mike said. Reluctantly, Scott and Allen had to admit that Mike was right.
"But the game still isn't supposed to start until the morning!" Allen protested.
But Mike had an answer. "First, it is morning, and second, Charlie agreed that the game would start Saturday. Well, Saturday is nearly four hours old, so the game is on!"
Allen and Scott never thought that Mike and his bunch would pull anything like this, but they had all agreed to the rules, and Mike had used them to his advantage. "You guys have to do what we say, right?" Mike asked. Allen nodded.
"Good! Scott, get some rope and tie up your brother!"
"In my pajamas?" Allen protested again.
"Yeah!" laughed Mike. “You'll look silly, and besides, it's fun making you look silly."
Scott got a length of rope, pulled Allen's hands behind him, and tied them together. "Do his arms, too!" Pete said. "And gag him! Gag him tight!" Scott wrapped another length of rope around Allen's arms. Allen shot his brother a sharp glance, indicating that the rope was too tight, but Scott was secretly enjoying this, and enjoyed it even more when he tied a bandana tightly over Allen's mouth.
"All right, Scott, it's your turn!" Mike said. "Hands behind your back!" Scott did as he was told, and Mike tied his hands, then his arms. While Mike was taking care of Scott, Pete was helping Allen get his shoes on. When Mike was done tying and gagging Scott, he got Scott's shoes on, too.
"Pete, take this pair over to our base. I'll check on the others." Pete nodded, and prodded Scott and Allen out the door and down the steps.
Two rooms away, Doug and Mark were the captives of Mike and Jimmy Houghton. Like Scott and Allen, their hands were tied behind them, and their arms bound. Mark was gagged with a neckerchief; Doug, with a bandana. Another room down, and the same thing played out with Ronnie and Charlie. Bill and Chris had them wrapped up like Christmas presents, and Chris was just getting shoes on Ronnie.
A few minutes later, six pajama clad boys sat at their opponent's base. Each had his shoes removed, and his ankles tied. Scott and Allen, the first to be brought in, were laying on an old creaky bed, covered with an orange comforter. The others were sitting on the edge of a second bed across the room.
"Let's see, the rules we agreed on say we have to keep you guys captive for 10 minutes before we win, so you got 10 minutes to get loose." said Mike Houghton.
The captives were left to free themselves. Scott, Allen, and Doug were good at escaping, but wondered if they were that good. To avoid losing, they's have to get loose, then free Charlie, Ronnie, and Mark, and do it in 10 minutes or less.
Allen and Scott maneuvered back to back, and began picking at each other's ropes. Doug struggled to pull his hands under his butt, step through, untie his hands, then get his feet and arms loose.
Doug got himself free, then freed Mark. “Get your brother loose!" he said. "We don't have much time!" Mark pulled the knot free on Charlie, then did the same for his brother. By this time, Allen and Scott had gotten themselves free, and were hastily helping Ronnie and Charlie get the rope off their ankles.
In just under eight minutes, they were all free, and went down to gloat over their escape, and get back in the game. Down in the parlor, Mike, Mike, Jimmy, Bill, Chris, and Pete all sat around laughing about how silly Scott, Allen, Mark, Ronnie, Doug, and Charlie had looked, all tied and gagged in their pajamas.
Doug said, "Hey, we're loose, so you guys don't win yet!"
Then Ronnie made a discovery.
"They're not wearing their flags! That means that they're our captives!" Shocked, Mike Hayworth looked down at his jeans. Ronnie was right, they didn't have their flags, and under the rules, had to concede the point.
"Easiest capture we ever made!" Scott said. "Let's get 'em over to our base."
The six captives allowed their hands to be tied together behind their backs, and marched over to the other end of the town to Charlie's base. Once inside, Mark started to tie Jimmy Houghton's feet, but was cut short.
"Wait!" said Charlie. "Remember how they were all laughing about us being tied up in our pajamas?” The others nodded. "Well, if they thought it was so funny, let's give them a chance to experience it for themselves!"
"Great idea, Charlie. You and Ronnie watch these turkeys, and we'll get changed!" Doug said. It did not take long for Doug, Mark, Scott, and Allen to change into jeans and T-shirts, and return. When they did, Charlie and Ronnie changed, then untied the hands of their prisoners. "Put 'em on!" Charlie commanded, tossing his pajamas to Mike Houghton.
Doug threw his pair to Pete, while Chris took Mark's. Allen gave his pair to Bill; Jimmy got Scott's; and Mike Hayworth got Ronnie's. "Now let's see who looks silly!" Charlie said.
Six boys had their hands re-tied, then their feet and arms. But for Bill, Allen had something special. Allen tied another rope around Bill's legs, then hogtied him. Taking a cue from Allen, Scott added a rope to Mike Houghton's legs, and Doug did the same to Pete, but held off on the hogties. Mike Hayworth, his brother, Jimmy, and Chris were left with just their hands, feet, and arms tied.
"Now it's you guys that have 10 minutes!" laughed Doug. We'll be downstairs!"
Bill was the escape artist of the bunch, but hogtied as he was, making the 10 minute deadline might prove difficult. Still, he gave it a try, and soon had his hogtie loose, and his hands under his butt. He freed his ankles, while the others just watched, and hoped he could free himself and the rest of them before the 10 minutes expired, and they lost.
Mike, Mike, Chris, and Pete fought their knots, but were not having near the success that Bill was. Jimmy was having a little better luck. He'd been tied by Mark, and Mark was not all that great at tying knots. Still, he was good enough to cause Jimmy to take some time, and time was a luxury they could not afford.
Bill got the ropes off his hands, and quickly freed Jimmy, and the both of them got the others free. Now, a quick trip downstairs to proclaim that they were not losers.
In the lobby, they confronted Charlie, Doug, and the rest.
"We're free!" Mike Houghton said.
"Yes, you are!" Ronnie said. "But it took you 12 minutes. You lose!"
Pete looked at Ronnie's watch, and it showed that they had indeed, taken 12 minutes, two minutes longer than the allotted time.
"OK, we lost!" said Chris. "Now what?"
"Let's get some sleep, and we'll talk about it later." said Charlie. Mike and his team nodded, and headed for the other end of the ghost town, and their sleeping bags.
Charlie and his team recovered their pajamas, and climbed back into their bags. The topic of discussion was what penalty to make Mike's team pay. Mark wanted to tie them all up again, and Scott thought that wasn't a bad idea. But Allen suggested another game. After all, they had all of the day and the next night, and a second win might mean a greater penalty. Scott and Mark were outvoted.
After a few hours of sleep and some breakfast, the dozen boys again gathered at the sheriff's office.
"We've decided to give you guys another chance. Sort of a 'double or nothing' proposition," Charlie said.
"Same terms. You win, everything is cancelled. You lose, you owe us double. No bases. You capture someone, you take him to the nearest building and tie him up. If he gets loose, he's back in the game. If not, tough!"
"Agreed!" said Mike Hayworth. "We'll start in five minutes.”
Twelve boys were about to get started with a large scale game of "team chase," a favorite game of Doug, Allen, Scott, Charlie, and their friends. With Ronnie and Mark, they formed one team in the game. The other consisted of their biggest rivals, Mike Hayworth, Mike and Jimmy Houghton, Pete, and brothers Bill and Little Chris.
The boys were on a two night campout at the ghost town, and had already spent the first night, where they had already played one game of "team chase." Doug and his friends had won, despite some trickery pulled by Mike's team, and instead of taking the win and the penalty that came with it, Charlie suggested a "double or nothing" second round. Mike's team readily agreed. Now, they stood at opposite ends of the ghost town, counting down the remaining minutes before the game would begin.
As the boys waited, the skies overhead darkened and a silvery mist blew through the town over both teams. In seconds, it had come and gone, leaving the 12 boys to wonder.
"What the hell was that?" asked Mark.
"I don't know, but it seems to be gone," said Charlie. "C'mon, it's a minute to game time. To hell with the cloud and mist. Let's get those turkeys!"
A similar conversation took place at the other end of the town, with much the same result. The mist had come and gone, and appeared to present no danger. Let's play the game.
Mike Houghton held a whistle to his lips and watched as the second hand on his watch approached 12. When it did, he blew the whistle, and the game was on. Twelve boys scattered throughout the town, hoping to sneak up on an opponent, pull his flag, and take him prisoner.
Doug had slipped into a blacksmith shop and stable, and hid, hoping Mike or one of his teammates would come by. But this was not the case. Jimmy had seen him make the stable, and had alerted his brother and Mike Hayworth as to Doug's location. When Mike, Mike, and Jimmy did come in, Doug had no chance, and soon found himself a prisoner.
Mike Hayworth demanded that Doug produce the two pieces of rope he was supposed to carry, and Doug did so. Mike led Doug to an old wagon, and told him to put his hands behind him. Doug did as he was told, and Mike tied Doug's hands together. Then he tied Doug's ankles, and used Doug's flag - a bandana - as a gag.
Doug was left in the stable, tied up with his own rope, and gagged with his own bandana. He tested the knots that held his hands, and they were well tied. To get free, he'd have to slip his hands under his butt. He rolled on his side, and began to slide his hands down.
A noise startled Doug, and he turned in its direction. He hoped that one of his teammates had found him and would release him, but there was nothing there. "Damn cat probably knocked something over!" he thought, and turned his attention back to trying to get himself free. He turned back, and something caught his eye. Looking around, he saw Charlie.
"Hang on, Doug. I'll get you out!" Charlie freed Doug's hands, and Doug pulled the rope from his feet. The two boys were able to slip out of the barn without being seen.
"What's it look like?" Doug asked. Charlie replied that they had Mike and Jimmy Houghton, and Little Chris.
"I think they have Ronnie, Mark, and Scott, but Scott'll get himself free unless they tie him to something!" Charlie said. "And Allen's caught, too!"
"Shit!" Doug exclaimed. "That means there's just the two of us, and we've got to take on Mike Hayworth, Bill, and Pete!"
"Pete'll be easy to catch!" Charlie said.
"Yeah!" Doug agreed, “but we'd better get to Allen, Scott, Ronnie, and Mark, so we have some help, and we better move, 'cause Bill and Mike are probably at our base freeing the guys we caught!"
Keeping to the edges of the buildings, Doug and Charlie snuck across town to their opponents' base. Pete was on guard, and Scott, Allen, Ronnie, and Mark were all hogtied and gagged. Charlie picked up a pebble, and tossed it at the window. The noise attracted Pete's attention, and when he came out to investigate, he was jumped by Doug and Charlie.
Charlie held Pete firmly, while Doug freed the four captives. "Which one of you wants to tie this turkey?" Charlie asked. Four hands immediately went up, but Charlie gave the honor to his best friend, Ronnie, and Ronnie soon had Pete tied around his hands and arms, and gagged with a blue bandana.
"Pete may be the key to getting the rest!" Allen said. "They're sure to try and rescue him, and even if they all come at once, it's six on five! We ought to be able to take 'em!"
"Yeah!" Charlie said, "But we have to stay together! If we split up, they can pick us off one by one!" The others nodded in agreement.
"Now, let's get Pete back to our base, and see what happens!" Scott said. More nods of agreement, and the boys continued to slip through town and back to their base in the boarding house. Once there, they went into one of the rooms, and tied Pete's ankles and legs.
"That ought to hold him for a while!" Mark said. The others laughed.
"What did you do, besides get caught?" asked Ronnie.
"Stuff it, Ronnie!" Charlie cut in. "After this is over, you and Mark can argue all you want! Right now, we have work to do!" Ronnie nodded, and asked Charlie what he had in mind.
"We hide!" Charlie said. "You and me in the closet, but first, we come out, and let Mike and his bunch see us. Then, we sneak back in, and hide in the closet, and when Pete's friends get here, we nail their butts!"
"What about us?" Allen asked.
"You and your brother go into the next room." Charlie told them. "The door between the two rooms is unlocked, so when they come in, we get 'em from the closet, and you get 'em from the next room!"
"Cool plan, Charlie. But what about the other two?" referring to Mark and Doug.
"We can hide under the bed!" Mark shouted.
"Good idea!" Charlie said, "but remember, we all have to go outside, and let Mike's bunch see us!"
The plan was set, and the six boys went out on the porch. Charlie pointed in one direction, and Scott and Allen headed off. He pointed in another, and Mark and Doug went in that direction. Then, Charlie and Ronnie took a third.
The six boys slipped into alleys, and made their ways back to the boarding house. Mark, Doug, Charlie, and Ronnie eased themselves into the room where Pete was still tied on the bed. Scott and Allen snuck into the adjoining room, and right into the hands of Mike Hayworth and Mike Houghton.
"You're not the only ones who can be sneaky!" Mike Houghton told them. "Now, lay down on the floor, and put your hands behind you.
Scott and Allen had no choice. They had been legally captured, and surrendered to their foes. Allen's hands, feet, arms, and legs were tied, and he was tightly gagged with a double rolled neckerchief. Scott's wrists and arms were tied, and he was walked over to the door between the rooms.
"Now!" said Mike Houghton, "Call Ronnie and Charlie!" Scott did as he was ordered.
When Charlie and Ronnie walked in, the two Mikes pulled their flags, and they were done. Mike Houghton finished tying and gagging Scott, then tied and gagged Ronnie, while Mike Hayworth did the same to Charlie.
Next door, Bill, Jimmy, and Little Chris, forewarned that Doug and Mark were under the bed, pulled them out.
"You turkeys are toast!" Bill said, and all Doug and Mark could do, was stand there and look dumb.
"Get him untied!" Jimmy ordered, and Doug and Mark both started for Pete.
"Not you!" Jimmy said, pulling on Doug's arm.
Doug went with Jimmy while Mark untied Pete, and was, in turn, tied up by Pete. Jimmy started to tie Doug, but Bill stopped him.
"Sorry, Jimmy, but this one's mine!" Bill said, and Jimmy, in deference to Bill's age and position, said,
"Go ahead, but I want to gag him!"
Bill said that was fine, and when Doug had been well tied, Bill gave a nod, and Jimmy tied a long bandage over Doug's mouth.
Doug and Mark were forced to hop into the next room, where Scott, Allen, Charlie, and Ronnie were helpless captives.
"We win!" Little Chris shouted. "We got 'em all!"
With the game over, Doug, Allen, and Scott went about getting themselves loose, and once they did, they got Charlie, Ronnie, and Mark loose.
"OK, it's one to one!" Charlie said. "You guys want to have another, and make it the best two out of three?"
"Nah, let's leave it as a tie for now!" Mike Hayworth said. "We can come out here next month, and play the third game, and maybe play the best three out of five!"
"Hey, I like that idea!" Doug said. "Maybe you can bring a few more kids from your troop, like Russell, Shawn, and some others."
"We could have a handicap game!" Scott suggested.
"Handicap game? What's that?" Little Chris asked.
"Simple!" Scott replied. "If you guys show up with six, and we show up with our six, plus Denny, David, Kevin, Red Jeff, and Wayne, we'd have 11 to your six. You'd get to start with five captives."
"If that's the case, bring your whole troop!" Mike Houghton said.
"Fine!" replied Charlie, "But the captives you'd start with, would be Allen, Scott, Doug, and Wayne! We'd probably give you Mark, too, and after they got out, you guys would be grass, and we'd all be lawnmowers!"
"C'mon, we can argue about this later!" Jimmy said. "Let's get dinner cooked, then we can build a campfire, and tell ghost stories!"
"Cool with us!" Ronnie said.
The boys cooked up their dinners, guzzled down soft drinks, and then gathered wood for their campfire, which they built outside of town, in order to reduce the danger of catching anything on fire. They sat around for a couple of hours trading ghost stories and other tall tales, and wondering about the mist that had hit them earlier.
"Everything's shrunk, and we're all two feet tall!" Doug joked.
"Yeah, right!" Mike Hayworth said. "It was radioactive, and we're all gonna glow in the dark!"
"Probably not much of anything!" Charlie said. "If it was going to do anything to us, it would have done it by now!"
Allen nudged Charlie, and whispered "If that had happened in the portal, we'd probably all be wearing buckskins and war paint!" Charlie laughed, and Mike Houghton and Mike Hayworth asked what was so funny.
"Nothing!" said Charlie. "We were just thinking about something that happened last week."
"Well, it's late!" said Mike Houghton. "Let's pack up the gear, and get ready for tomorrow's trip home!"
"Good idea!" said Scott, and the boys headed back to their campsites to get everything ready. That done, Charlie, Allen, and the rest packed all their stuff to where Mike and his troop were camped, and said that they might as well all stay together for the night. Mike Hayworth agreed, saying it would be easier; that they wouldn't have to sneak across town to kidnap Charlie's troop.
"That's funny!" Charlie said. "That's the reason we came down here!" Everybody had a good laugh at that.
Morning came, and the boys packed their bikes and headed for home.
"We gotta do this again!" Little Chris said, and Bill quickly agreed. So did Ronnie, Scott, and Doug.
"That was fun!" Doug said.
Mark and Ronnie split off, followed by Scott, Allen, and Charlie. Bill and Little Chris broke off to go their way home, and they were followed by Mike and Jimmy Houghton, and then Pete, leaving Doug and Mike Hayworth as the last two.
"Hey, Doug!" Mike asked. "How would you like to be captured, hogtied, and gagged by some really desperate outlaws?"
Doug looked at his friend, and said "Sure, why not!" then laughed.
"Well, c'mon over and spend the night with me and Mike and Jimmy and Bill and Chris on Thursday night!"
"Sure, I'll come!" Doug replied. "But just one thing!"
"What's that?" Mike asked.
"You guys have to do your best when you tie me!" Doug said. "I ain't never gonna be as good as Allen unless I really have a challenge!"
"You got it, Doug!" Mike Hayworth said. "But you better be ready, 'cause I'm gonna practice my knots real good for the next few days!"
Doug smiled. "You're gonna need it if you want to hold me!" he said.
The two boys split up as Doug pedaled up the driveway to his house.
Mike thought, "This'll be fun! One of their guys in our den, and he'll be ours all night!"
Doug ran up the stairs to his bedroom, and stowed his camping gear. "I'm gonna get tested good, so I'd better get in some practice!" he thought. "As soon as I get showered and changed, I'll go over and see Charlie, Scott, and Allen!"
END
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