The Mystery of Ghost Town, USA ✓

The Mystery of Ghost Town, USA (1)

CHAPTER ONE

My boss had just informed me that I had to pack my bags because I was going to this place called Ghost Town, USA. That's exactly what it was because it was out in the middle of nowhere. At least that's what it felt like to a city gal like myself. My job required me to travel a lot, and I didn't mind. I got to travel to the Big Apple, and London on several occasions and I used it as an excuse to shop. But now my boss had gone too far; I didn't want to go to this small hick town in the middle of scenic nowhere. I had to though, if I wanted paid.

Let me explain myself a bit; I am business woman, that is correct, but there might have been some confusion as to what it is exactly that I do. Let me clear that up for you; I travel to wherever my boss tells me to, and I negotiate with the people there to sell their land to us so we can build over it. We offer a fair price for the land and most people agree to our deals. In Ghost Town, USA, for example, we wanted to build a mall. Not a regular mall though, we were planning on outdoing the Mall Of America.

I was sure that I'd be in and out of the town fairly quickly, because I was what they call a professional at my job. I loved my work too. It wasn't very hard for me to interact with people in this way, and I charmed them into giving us the land. It was a simple process for me, and every job was the same in that way. I assumed this would be no different.

I drove home to my apartment and grabbed my luggage. I was always packed because my boss had a habit of giving me a job only 45 minutes before my flight left. It was a good thing the airport was only 10 minutes away.

The flight was smooth and before I knew it, I was getting off the plane in a small town and I was dreading it already. I really didn't want to be there and I tried to control myself so I didn't sound like a whiny teenager. I was told by another person exiting the plane that I had to take the train to arrive at my destination. I sighed and dragged my bags onto the platform to wait for the train. I waited 20 minutes and then decided to check the train schedule.

The schedule said the train wouldn't be there for another hour and a half. I sighed once more and took a book from my suitcase. I had never been on a train before and now I had to wait for one! This day was just getting better and better.

Finally, the train came and I lugged my stuff on board. I took a seat and ordered a coffee. The conductor looked at me weird. I thought it was weird that I couldn't even get a coffee on this train. In all the movies I'd seen that had trains in them, you could order food. I let it slide and stared out the window as the train pulled out from the station.

I had to admit, the scenery was beautiful. There were rocky hills, tall trees, swift valleys, and lots and lots of grass with wildflowers. In the city, you could hardly find any grass, and when you did, it was always in a park, and the parks were well maintained so no wildflowers were allowed to grow. If the town I was staying in looked like this, I think it would be okay.

The train slowed to a stop and I exited. I was surprised to be greeted by the entire town. “Welcome, Miss Wagner, to Ghost Town, USA! We are honored that you chose to come here. I'm sorry to say, however, that our town has no hotel so you must stay with one of our residents. Violet Hunt will take you, for she is the only one living in her home. The rest have families, and they may be dismissed now.” the mayor said. The station cleared out, leaving only a gothic girl, the mayor, and myself.

The girl, who I assumed was Violet, didn't look pleased. In fact, she looked furious. “This isn't fair!” she said, “I didn't even want this-this foreigner here! No one does! And no she has to stay with me? No fair!”

“Violet, be nice.”

“Why should I? Miss Wagner is just trying to destroy the town!” she sneered my name.

“Give her time, she'll see what our town has to offer, and she'll change her mind. Right?”

“Um, sure.” I said.

“See, Violet? Now be nice to her and let her live with you.” the mayor said.

“Fine.” she sulked.