A town too far pt4

Mayor Anderson, banged the gavel on the desktop, and looked out onto the assembled towns folk “please, lets have some quiet, here people”

It had been 2 days since Johnston brought Mike Goetz the Raven wood team leader into town, at first Gray had thought to turn this situation into some kind of political coup, making the former mercenary stand trial, or holding him in the town jail until the restoration of some kind of federal justice was returned, then take full credit for himself.

However since then, as more and more people began to hear rumours of the stranger in the town jail, some wanted swift frontier style justice, others to give the man a second chance, either way the town was looking to Gray Anderson their new Mayor to sort out the mess.

Gray had contacted Robert Hawkins and asked if he could ‘talk’ to Goetz and get some answers from him.

He recalled, Hawkins coming out of the interrogation room after an hour, wiping the sweat from his brow, taking a casual sip of water, leaning against the wall.

“well” asked Gray

Hawkins looked up “he’s telling the truth, as far as I can tell”

“does he still pose a threat to the town” asked Gray

Hawkins stood up straight and took a step closer with a stern look “a grave threat” he then smiled and seemed to relax again “now mister Mayor if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get back to my family, and you may want to get someone to take a look at him, it seems that he slipped on the floor and broke his nose” with a wry smile he turned and walked away

Gray decided to call a town hall meeting, let the people have their say, then afterwards convene the town council committee and take a vote on the action to take, he couldn’t afford to take any shortcuts. If things went wrong, the blame would fall on the committee, not him.

Eric and Mary were amongst the last to take their seats as, Gray called the meeting to order,

Eric looked to his father sitting across the aisle and gave a nod and Mary smiled, his father returned the nod, Gail however looked down, her emotions regarding the situation were still in turmoil, Johnston gave her knee a supportive squeeze, the kind of gesture that passes between husband and wife, to let her know he understood her feelings.

“now folks you all know why we’re here, and the situation we’re facing, now you can have your say, remember to keep it civil and polite, thank you…now lets start..er doctor Kenchy”

said Gray gesturing with his hand to the doctor who sat at the front of the hall.

He slowly rose from his chair and in monotone gave his account of the actions of the Raven wood team at Rogue River medical centre, hen he had finished a hush had descended on the hall, Gail noticed April leave the hall.

“Thank you doctor Kenchy, did you actually see mister Goetz shoot at the patients” asked Gray

“No, he was with the team, but no I didn’t see him shoot, not directly” he answered

Eric began to rise from his seat, “The chair recognises, Eric Green” said Gray

Eric told of his encounter with Raven wood, at the medical centre and reminded the town of the encounter on the bridge.

Meanwhile April, had made her way to the Jail, “can I see him Jimmy?” she asked

“Ok but make it quick” he answered, unlocking the door between the office and cell

Goetz was laid on the bunk, he stood and approached the bars when he saw April approach

“making house calls doctor” he asked

April stood looking at her feet, she slowly raised her head, her arms folded.

“is it true, about what happened at the medical centre” she asked

Goetz gave a sigh and sat back down on his bunk, lowered his head, when he spoke his voice was husky “things got a little crazy back there” he shook his head

“did you shoot those people?” she demanded

“We should never have been there, ten months in Baghdad, before that nine months in Afghanistan, my men were burnt out, at breaking point, ready for some R&R, and a week after getting back, this sh*t happens” Goetz replied looking at April, he stood up and approached her

 “Truth is I don’t know what happened, ambulances and truck had been loaded and had left, I was casing the supply room, when I heard the shots, I came running out, a cop or security guard pointed a gun at me, one of my men was dead on the floor next to him, so yeah I shot him, after that….well I went to see what the shooting was all about…it was carnage..i’ve seen stuff ya know, terrible stuff, after all we’re the guys the government calls when they need stuff doin’, but the guys had lost it big time,….Rossi, Jones and Mendez were just shooting the place up,……they were my men, my responsibility” Goetz’s voice trailed off.

“What about New Bern, and the people your team killed there” she challenged

Goetz let out a sigh “Ok doc, I appreciate you fixing up my shoulder, but is there a point to all this, I mean what is it with you and all damn these questions, if you’re so convinced that I’m so evil and beyond redemption then join the rest of the town’s lynch mob…look I’m getting tired, I don’t know what answers you want from me” Goetz sat down on the bunk

April paused, when she spoke her voice was quiet “my husband, Eric left here for Rogue river, but the when he came back, he was different, whatever happened there, changed him

I could see it in his eyes..i’m used to healing people, but there was something there I couldn’t heal, I don’t know I expected to hear, I’m sorry…” she turned and left, Goetz thought he saw her wipe her eyes as she walked passed Jimmy.

As April re-entered the hall the discussion was still in progress.

Robert Hawkins rose from his seat at the back of the hall

“Please. Mister Hawkins go ahead” gestured Mayor Anderson

Hawkins nodded and gave a small smile to the assembled citizens

“Darcy sends her apologies, she wanted to be here tonight, but little Sam caught a cold” he smiled again, some of the towns folk nodded in understanding, although in fact he had ordered his family not to leave the house “when we moved here, I saw Jericho, as a safe haven for my wife and kids, and I thought by now we would be preparing to join you folks for a nice Christmas, but the bombs came instead, and with them a cloud of evil, I don’t trust this man, the town stood together against these dark forces before and we should do so again”

Some of the assembled crowd muttered and nodded their heads their agreement.

The next to stand was Roger

“A few weeks ago you accepted me and my fellow refugees with open arms, out of the kindness of your hearts, you gave us shelter, food and clothes, you didn’t question these weary travellers about their past, just accepted them and gave them help, Jericho is a town of kindness and compassion, please remember that when making your decision, thank you”

Then Bill Stood up from the front and turned to face the Towns folk

“the mans a killer, a gun for hire, he tried to lie his way into town, and now were supposed to believe him, he’s a killer and a leopard can’t change his spots”

And then Jake stood up, still unsteady on his injured leg

“When I left this town five years ago I had caused a lot of trouble, I was another young punk heading off the rails,…but I hope that I’ve proved to you that a man can change…now I’ve faced that man twice, both times down the barrel of a gun, I don’t like him and I don’t trust him, but I don’t want to become him either”

The crowd gave a murmur, some agreeing and some not.

 Gray Anderson checked his watch, “ok time for one more”

Johnston Green stood up, the room became quiet, he still had that effect on these people

“I’ve lived in Jericho all my life, I know all you good folks, your kids, heck I even know some of your grandkids, I would do nothing to put this town or you in any harm. This town is a town of compassion and kindness, if we act like them we become them. Mister Hawkins described the cloud of evil that has covered this great Nation, but I believe the cloud will pass, we will once again be able to enjoy the freedom, our Country was built upon, and when that light shines again, there will be no shadows for us to hide the things we do, in this, our time of darkness. You the people of Jericho hold your heads high, we’ve proved that our little town is a beacon of hope, we stand proud in our time of adversity, the steps we have to take now are difficult ones, but let us not falter form the path of our hearts, thank you”

The people around Johnston, patted him on his shoulder, someone at the back began to applaud the speech.

Mayor Anderson banged his gavel on the desk again “ok thank you, we will now convene the committee”

Several people rose and walked into the office, a man’s fate rested on their decision.  

I think you’ve really nailed the characters. I think your take on Bill is right on. I’d likely hate the guy, but the actor is actually really cool and has been very supportive to the fans, but I’d like to strangle the character.

To me, your take on Hawkins seems a tad off, it might just be me, or it may be that you haven’t seen more episodes. Hawkins speaking up in front of the town seems off to me. I think he’d see speaking as a risk with little real gain.

But we all see things from different points of view. I could be alone in mine.

I like that you used April a bit more as she’s almost a background character in most episodes.