"Aquila the Eagle"

Echoes From The Past (Part V)
(A Ghost Story)

As I turned from the house to go on my way, a slight movement in the doorway across the street caught my eye. The neat, well kept building was a quaint old church. one of the prettiest I'd ever seen.
"That's a good sign", I thought to myself. "A church means people. and people means the possibility of getting something to eat and drink and the flat tire changed"

I crossed the street and stopped to look at the heavy wooden sign hanging outside the church. It was hand carved oak or cedar, heavily varnished and polished, and read "The Church In Pioneertown".
Examining the sign, I heard a soft voice say "If trouble starts, son, come in here. You'll be safe in here".
I stood up and turned to the voice just as the door closed silently. Trying the doorknob, it opened just as silently.

Stepping inside, I heard the heavy iron bell in the belfry start to peal. Three steps backward and I looked up. I could just make out the bell and the clapper, and neither was moving, but I distinctly heard the bell ring.

Back inside the church, I looked around. There was no sign of the owner of the voice, and no place that I could see where he could have gone.

I'd gotten used to the strange happenings by now and nothing fazed me. I just took everything in stride and looked around. There were neatly placed prayer books and hymnals in the pews, a well worn, dog-eared bible on the lectern, and vases of fresh cut roses on the altar. next to lighted candles. I wondered why the candles would be left burning if no one was in the church.

But my main concern at that moment was finding something to drink, although I didn't really notice my hunger or thirst during the entire time I was in the church. As I walked out the door, I glanced at my watch. It was 1:45. Turning the corner, I heard the distinct whinny of a horse. And there, sure enough, in a fenced corral, it stood, a beautiful brown and white animal.

The sight of another living creature raised my spirits and I headed toward the corral. Maybe there was someone there who could help me. As I approached the brown and white beauty, he whinnied again, turned and trotted behind a barn. It was then that I saw what looked like a windmill
"Looks like some kind of a wind driven water pump", I thought. "Maybe I'll beat this thirst, after all".

Just my luck. If it was a water pump, there was no water to pump. Everything was bone dry. As I went toward the back of the barn, I heard the brown and white whinny again. Turning the corner of the building, I expected to see my friend once more, but it was gone, It had vanished, like the horse and wagon I had seen earlier, into thin air. As I looked around to see if I could find anyone, I realized that the only sound I could hear was the wind. It seemed that the whole town was completely deserted. And yet, I had the eerie feeling that I was being watched.