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Old 10-14-2015, 04:31 PM
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RandyT0001 RandyT0001 is offline
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Day 006
I woke up a bit before sunrise. The wind shifted and comes from the southwest now, portending a warmer day, I hope. About 30 minutes past sunrise Joe and seven men arrived at the bolthole. For the next four hours, the men worked on clearing the path of trees. The women alternated guard duty of the bolthole since the teams worked several hundred meters away. By noon, the path had been finished to the wagon trail. Joe and his men returned to the village for lunch while George, Eric, Charles and I returned to the bolthole.

About an hour later, Joe and four men returned to the bolthole. He told me that the village is rearranging some of the animals and farming equipment to make some room in the equipment shed for us to park the vehicles out of sight. After an hour and a half of work, we have removed enough material so that the vehicle bay doors will open. During the previous evenings, team members have been preparing and packing for the departure. Eric and I stayed outside while the rest of the team drove the vehicles out, the Hummer leading. I told Joe to start heading back to the village. The team closed the doors then secured the bolthole from intrusion. It took us about ten minutes to navigate through the cleared path to the wagon trail but five minutes later, we were in the village’s equipment shed.

As we drove through the village, everybody came out of their homes to see the vehicles, standing in awe. I told Angela, Laura and George to wait just outside of the shed while I led Eric and Charles to the center of the village. I told everybody that the people by the shed would show the vehicles to anybody that wanted to see them inside and out. I asked Joe if Eric and Charles could look at their farming equipment and have somebody escort them and explain it to them. As the villagers looked at the vehicles, Joe and I raked the tire tracks out of the road from the trail to the shed. The weather had warmed considerably as the day passed prompting Joe to remove his shirt. I asked about the scars and Joe explained that Faulkner’s Badge, J. D. Baker, caught him jaywalking the street and trampling the Court’s lawn several years ago, judged him and dispensed justice with 15 lashes. I told Joe that I would like to have a meeting with the adult males in the shed while the village’s women could meet with Angela and Laura to discuss the future of the village. He agreed to a meeting after dinner.

After the meetings, the team assembled in the shed for a discussion. Faulkner was started a few years after the death of the mayor and police. The Chancellor (Mr. Raines) took control of the remains of the town and the College using the Rotsee Greys to maintain order. The position of the Chancellor, John Campbell, is hereditary and autocratic. The Vice Chancellor, Earl Campbell, leads the Greys, a cavalry group. The town and the College elect a Badge every year. The Badge is the chief civil officer, arresting lawbreakers, judging them and dispensing justice. The Chancellor and his family, the Badge and his family and the Greys and their families live well while most of the townspeople live in squalor. There is a M.D., a nurse, a midwife, and a “vettic”. Laura thinks that the M.D. is a quack because the nurse provides better treatment according to the villagers’ reports. The team agreed to a plan to enter the town in the morning.

After the team’s discussion, I met with Joe and requested his assistance with our plan. He agreed. I returned to the shed. I read some from the tablet then I took my watch.
John Aaron Bell
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