A town too far pt2

(timeline directly after heart of winter)

Johnston Green sat huddled in a thick coat and scarf, staring intently on the bare wintry fields in front of him; he was sheltered from the cold winds by a close group of trees and bushes. Trying to stay warm and hunt was proving a difficult task.

His steely blue eyes scanned the ground for any more rabbits or game birds to shoot.

“err..Mayor Green, maybe…” began Dale

“Dale, for pities sake how many times do I have to tell you, I’m not the mayor” replied Johnston, a little annoyed his attention had been broken

“ Sorry sir, it’ll be getting dark soon, maybe we should head back”said Dale rubbing his gloved hands together for warmth.

“ I’ll stay a little while longer, you and Bill get back to town” replied Johnston

“Sure sir, do you think you’ll get any more rabbits?” asked Dale

probably not, since that damn fool, Bill, came crashing through here thought Johnston “maybe,.. here take one of these” offering Dale one of the two large rabbits he’d shot earlier.

“Will you be OK out here alone” asked Bill already walking away

Johnston just turned and fixed Bill with THAT LOOK,

“ok, well ..err.bye Mayo..Bye sir” called Dale as he and Bill gingerly made his way back

“Ok guys take it easy” spoke Johnston shaking his head.

twenty minutes had passed, only his stubbornness made him stay, but with Jake and Stanley still recovering he felt he should be out here trying to do something.

His Knees ached with the cold, and he’d lost almost all the remaining daylight, he knew Gail would give him hell about this, but if he could present her with another large rabbit or Turkey, well maybe she wouldn’t bend his ear too much.

Thinking of Gail caused the corners of his mouth to curl into a smile, how he would have loved to have treated her to a trip to Paris.

“there’s no fool, like an old fool” he said to himself, slowly standing, his knees clicking and hands on his lower back he gave a little sigh.

Then his eyes caught sight of something, moving cautiously through a small cluster of bushes, his hands went to his rifle, his eyes followed every movement,

The silhouette broke his cover and started towards the trees across the open field

“Hold it right there..not another step, get your hands up” shouted Johnston

The figure, stopped looked around for a possible escape route, then slowly raised his arms.

“Ok nice and slow, towards my voice, keep you’re hands up” ordered Johnston

When the stranger was within a few yards Johnston stood up with his gun trained on him, “I’m unarmed, I’m heading for a town called Jericho, please don’t hurt me” spoke the figure

“Ok I’m not gunna hurt you, what’s your business in Jericho” Asked Johnston

“just passing through, I was travelling from Nebraska, I have a cousin in Jericho”

“and who’s this cousin of yours” asked Johnston

“Eric Green, do you know him?” the stranger we now recognise as Goetz asked hoping the answer would be no.

“Sure, I’ve seen him around, the town dentist right?” asked Johnston lowering the rifle

This was the moment Goetz had been dreading, if he got this wrong they could be his last words, but having remembering his encounter with Eric at Rogue River medical centre, he took his best guess, “sure that’s him, m’names Jeff Green I’m his cousin” said Goetz walking up to Johnston

“well come on, I’ll take you to see him” said Johnston, slinging his rifle on his shoulder, “just through here, we’ll catch up with the others”

As Goetz walked ahead of Johnston, he turned, “I didn’t catch your name....”

Johnston raised the but of his rifle and slammed it into Goetz’s head, knocking him out cold

“the names, Johnston Green, you S.O.B”

Hi Chris,

That's a wonderful story. I'm glad you are breakign it up into small bits, since I have trouble reading long text on the computer.

I so jealous of your writing ability. I've done some live role playing in my historical group, when I ran a tavern and had to stay in character.  Unfortuantely, I loose somehting when I try to put the character into a written story.

Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Gwen