Ghost Canyon
BORGO PRESS BOOKS BY JOHN RUSSELL FEARN
1,000-Year Voyage
Account Settled
Anjani the Mighty: A Lost Race Novel (Anjani #2)
Black Maria, M.A.: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #1)
Bury the Hatchet
A Case for Brutus Lloyd
The Crimson Rambler: A Crime Novel
Death in Silhouette (Black Maria #5)
Don’t Touch Me: A Crime Novel
Dynasty of the Small: Classic Science Fiction Stories
The Empty Coffins: A Mystery of Horror
The Fourth Door: A Mystery Novel
From Afar: A Science Fiction Mystery
Fugitive of Time: A Classic Science Fiction Novel
The G-Bomb: A Science Fiction Novel
The Genial Dinosaur (Herbert the Dinosaur #2)
The Gold of Akada: A Jungle Adventure Novel (Anjani #1)
Here and Now: A Science Fiction Novel
Into the Unknown: A Science Fiction Tale
Last Conflict: Classic Science Fiction Stories
Legacy from Sirius: A Classic Science Fiction Novel
The Man from Hell: Classic Science Fiction Stories
The Man Who Was Not: A Crime Novel
Manton’s World: A Classic Science Fiction Novel
Moon Magic: A Novel of Romance (as Elizabeth Rutland)
The Murdered Schoolgirl: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #2)
One Remained Seated: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #3)
One Way Out: A Crime Novel (with Philip Harbottle)
Pattern of Murder: A Classic Crime Novel
Reflected Glory: A Dr. Castle Classic Crime Novel
Robbery Without Violence: Two Science Fiction Crime Stories
Rule of the Brains: Classic Science Fiction Stories
Shattering Glass: A Crime Novel
The Silvered Cage: A Scientific Murder Mystery
Slaves of Ijax: A Science Fiction Novel
Something from Mercury: Classic Science Fiction Stories
The Space Warp: A Science Fiction Novel
A Thing of the Past (Herbert the Dinosaur #1)
Thy Arm Alone: A Classic Crime Novel (Black Maria #4)
The Time Trap: A Science Fiction Novel
Valley of Pretenders
Vision Sinister: A Scientific Detective Thriller
Voice of the Conqueror: A Classic Science Fiction Novel
What Happened to Hammond? A Scientific Mystery
Within That Room!: A Classic Crime Novel
World Without Chance
THE GOLDEN AMAZON SAGA
1. World Beneath Ice
2. Lord of Atlantis
3. Triangle of Power
4. The Amethyst City
5. Daughter of the Amazon
6. Quorne Returns
7. The Central Intelligence
8. The Cosmic Crusaders
9. Parasite Planet
10. World Out of Step
11. The Shadow People
12. Kingpin Planet
13. World in Reverse
14. Dwellers in Darkness
15. World in Duplicate
16. Lords of Creation
17. Duel with Colossus
18. Standstill Planet
19. Ghost World
20. Earth Divided
21. Chameleon Planet (with Philip Harbottle)
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Copyright © 1950 by John Russell Fearn
Copyright © 2000 by Philip Harbottle
Published by Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidebooks.com
DEDICATION
To the memory of Nini Japp
CHAPTER ONE
It was nearly sunset when Terry Carlton loped his weary sorrel over the rise. Then he drew rein and sat motionless. For a while horse and rider were part of the flaming vermilion sky, vignetted by the towering rocks at the fringe of Pinga Mountains.
Terry Carlton was as tired as his mount. The journey he had covered had been a long one, through the midst of burning sun with few water holes. And now he had gained a rimrock overlooking a small, unmapped town. For a long time Terry Carlton sat gazing at it thoughtfully.
“Guess I never heard of this burg, Smoky,” he murmured, and his mount pricked up his ears. “Nothing queer in that, though: dozens of these sorta places scattered around.”
He cuffed up his dusty Stetson and considered the scenery. In the immediate foreground on his left were the mountains, their bases already purpling with the coming of night. To the right were the endless stretches of the desert. In the distance lay pastureland—rich, verdant, greying in the evening—and beyond it a town of sorts.
It looked ramshackle, like all these Western outposts, and indeed something more. It had an oddly deserted aspect. There should have been some sign of lights; in the buildings of the main street, Kerosene flares ought surely to have been glowing here and there.… But there was nothing.
“Mebbe a ghost town,” Terry murmured, flicking the reins. “Not that it makes any odds: just as long as we can settle for the night.… On your way, Smoky.”
The animal began moving again, down the long, dusty slope which led into the valley. The gloom intensified as the last dying rays of the sun were cut off by the mountain range. By the time Terry had reached the trail which led to the town’s main street, only a few minutes separated him from the sudden intense dark of the Arizona night. HR slowed the horse’s pace, staring ahead, still baffled. It looked as though the town was completely empty. Not a soul, not a movement.
“Keep goin’,” he murmured, and the horse obeyed. Then, as he came to the halfway line on the main street, Terry realised he had been mistaken. There were lights, but they were nearly obscured by heavy wooden shutters closed across the insides of the windows. This in itself was one of the most surprising things Terry had yet struck. In the dozens of Western towns he had seen, none had ever had shutters.
There were lights behind the windows of the big Black Coyote Saloon—which had top-to-bottom swing entrance doors instead of the normal half-size batwings.
There were lights, too, behind the shuttered windows of several of the dwellings. The general stores, however, together with the livery stables and the various offices of law and order—if any—were completely unlighted.
“Queer,” Terry said, half aloud. “Darned queer.” He was debating the idea of pulling up outside the Black Coyote and going in for a drink when a sudden distant fan of light caught his eye. It came from the doorway of one of the small shack-like dwellings at the far end of the street and only lasted for a matter