Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

Texas, bear ing the w or ds LONE STAR BEER. The top of an old petr ol pump that had
the name MUSGO GASOLINE encir cling the head of an Indian chief. A fr amed
poster dated 1952 and adver tising HANK WILLIAMS WITH THE DRIFTING
COWBOYS. These things r eassur ed him. Wullie was know n by some as Buffalo Bill
not because of The Silence of the Lambs, but because the r eal Buffalo Bill had been a
cow boy. And fr om his house?s décor , and the clothes he donned on special
occasions, Wullie fancied himself as a cow boy too.
Then Lachie?s phone stir r ed in one of his fleece-pockets. He r emoved it and found
a new ly ar r ived message. It said: ?Hiya, son, hope you?r e having a gr eat New Year
w her ever you ar e. Me and Dad about to head to bed. All the best for 2003. Love,
Mum xxx.?
Lachie smiled, amused that his dear old mum had never fully adapted to this
new -fangled texting business. She always signed her name at the end like she did
on an old-fashioned ink-and-paper letter. But then his smile faded as something
occur r ed to him.
Hold on. This can?t be r ight. My mum?s dead?
Lachie star ed at the phone in fur y. Who could be so base, he w onder ed, as to
tor ment him by sending texts pur por ting to be fr om his dead mother ?
A fleck of w hite light flitted acr oss the phone?s scr een. This became tw o flecks,
then thr ee, a dozen, a swar m. And w hile the scr een filled w ith hissing, flicker ing
light, Lachie felt something similar happen to his ow n body. It disintegr ated. It
became a show er of fr agments, par ticles, fizzing r andomly thr ough a black, icy
void ?
The Stetson was back on Wullie MacNeill?s head and he?d r isen to his feet. Lachie
r ealised he was physically w hole again, standing next to Jimmy, inside the cr oft,
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