Ghost of a Hanged Man

The story opens in 1877 when an outlaw named Jake Barnette, who had killed 16 people, is put on trial, found guilty, and then hung. During the trial he threatened almost everyone, saying he would return.

The two main children in the story are Annabelle, who is 8, and Ben, who is 11. Their father is the town sheriff. There's an incident in a general story involving “tinkers,” another word for gypsies, which shows people's attitude towards gypsies at the time.

During spring of the following year there are major rainstorms and the situation gets so bad that the coffins people were buried in are uncovered in the cemetery.

Zandra is the name of a young gypsy girl who reads tarot cards. Ben's fortune is very bleak. Annabelle's fortune is also bleak.

One of the townspeople dies during the night, and people start thinking Jake has come back from the grave for his revenge. The next night another person dies. The townspeople want to rebury Jake and his coffin (his was one of the coffins that were flooded out), but the coffin turns out to be empty.

The situation gets worse when it turns out Jake has, indeed, returned from the dead. What can stop a dead person from killing? Perhaps another dead person.

A very dark story but still well done, as Vivian Velde's stories are.

Main Index

Yadult Index