SUMMARY: A continuing story with Beth Tucker and Lora Lawter. When Beth screws up there are consequences

WARNINGS: PROFANITY

AUTHORS NOTE: What happens if good people do nothing?

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DISCLAIMER: The name "Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following stories are works of fan fiction intended solely as an intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be implied.
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TITLE: Tuckers-Going To Town-Chapter 2 of 3
AKA:

STORY TYPE: Complements Episodes with Alternate Characters
TIMELINE: 200X1204 (Bombs+65)
EPISODE GUIDE: after (1-14)Heart of Winter, before (1-15)Semper Fidelis
TUCKERS GUIDE: after Meet The Tuckers
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Beth Tucker and Lora Lawter drove their horse drawn carts into the drive for their shared farms. With them were the Tucker children and a guest; Andrew, Emma, Sammy and Ann.

Beth Tucker was not having a good day. By most accounts she had just committed several felonies. She had assaulted a police officer and the town's elected mayor after openly carrying a weapon that was supposed to be concealed. She was embarrassed and angry with herself.

Beth steered the horse near the hitching post in front of the Lawter house. She noticed for the first time, that the horses had worked up a sweat. In this weather it was an accomplishment not to be overlooked. It was also a demonstration of how distracted Beth had been on the trip back from town. She had pushed the horses too hard. She was surprised Lora hadn't said something, but Beth had also been rather curt when they left town. Lora didn't even know the full story yet.

Not cooling the horses down properly would cause illness. That would just make a bad day worse. They needed to be cooled down and brushed before being turned into their stalls.

The men of the family appeared, not from the Lawter house, but from the Turner's house. They were halfway across the drive, when Andrew Tucker jumped from the cart and ran for his father. "DAD… you won't believe it! Mom was so cool! She just took Bill down and went after Mayor Anderson!!"

All hope Beth had for thinking this over and breaking it to John slowly evaporated. This day was just getting worse. She loved her son dearly, but right now she did not like him.

"Bethany, what's going on?"

Beth thought, 'Oh God, he's calling me Bethany. That's just not good.'

"John, we need to talk. Saun. Lora. All of us, but first the horses need to be cooled off and turned in." It wouldn't buy her much time, but it might be enough.

"Andrew, Emma."

"Yes, Sir."

"Why don't you show Ann how to turn in the horses. Cool them down for no less than 10 minutes. They've been run into a sweat. Take them into the stable before you hose them down and make sure to give them blankets tonight."

"But dad… Mom was so cool."

"I'm sure your mother can tell me all about it without you two."

This time it was Emma's turn to object, "But dad you know we can't unhitch the horses by ourselves. You've told us we couldn't do it by ourselves."

"And you won't. We'll all help unhitch the horses and unload the carts. Then you two will be responsible for the horses. That's the end of it."

The kids knew better than to argue.

Beth was silently cheering for the kids to prevail. The look her husband gave her told her it was futile. The problem was she wasn't a good storyteller. Her husband was. Since they had begun dating fifteen years ago, she couldn't keep anything from her husband. He saw the story in his head and always realized where the gaps were.

It didn't take but a minute to unhitch the horses. They left the carts where they were and the kids left for the stable with the horses. The adults stood next to the carts.

"So what's the story?" This time the question came from Saun Lawter.

His wife Lora, responded; "I have no idea."

So it was John's turn. "Beth?"

"Could we please go inside? Its gotten cold out here."

They turned and went into the Turner's house. It was a different style than the Lawter's. It had a porch that went around three quarters of the house. The ground floor was all stone and the second floor was made of hardy board. At its corner was the ranger's tower.

They rarely kept both houses heated. Tonight it was the Tuckers. As they entered the house, a large fire place in the living room was filled with a warm orange fire. Everyone sat down on the couches… and looked at Beth for an answer.

"I made a mistake. Potentially it was a very big mistake. I don't know what to do about it."

"What exactly happened?"

Beth told the story but glanced over several parts. The oversights weren't intentional. Most of the incident was still a blur. She tried to go back and fill in the blanks.

"I don't know why I snapped on Bill. It just seemed like such bullshit. Yesterday I had to kill a man. We found a child who was raped, tortured and tied out as bait. And Bill just became the symbol of all the people who's bullshit let it happen and continue to let it happen. Not because of what they do, but because of what they refuse to do."

"And Gray?"

"Mr. BS himself. I knew he was right there and I was on a roll. On the bright side, at least I didn't shoot him." Beth's smile was weak and forced.

"I don't know that it wouldn't have simplified things. So now we have real charges they could jail you for. At the least Gray will want you exiled. At worst left in jail."

It was Saun's turn to step in. "You know what we're going to have to do."

John answered, "I don't want to do that yet."

Lora spoke up, "We could handle exile to the farms just fine. We don't need the town."

The discussion continued. "But they need us. Like it or not we're keeping a lot of the town alive."

"I just never thought it would get to this point."

"I did but just not so soon."

"Well that's my fault. I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Don't even worry about that. If it wasn't you, it would have been one of us. We've been on a collision course for a while. Gray Anderson's election did more to cause this than you did."

"You know what we're talking about here. If these were normal times it would be called a coup."

"No it wouldn't. It would be called business. One dealer can give the people what they want and need. The other can't. It's a natural migration. Its supply and demand."

"It's secession. That's what it really is and Gray won't stand for it."

"Maybe but right now we don't have a choice. We've found a way to help a lot of people. All we have to do is ignore Gray for a while."

"He may not let us."

"We'll just have to see."

"Beth you need to stay out of town. Its just bound to stir trouble. The rest of us need to stay low key."

"We need to go see Johnston tonight."

"And tomorrow we start hiring?"

"Yes."

"Yeah"

"I don't see an alternative."