Chapter 15

Glen parked his truck in front of city hall to attend the proceedings in the court room inside. The two guys that had attacked him at the grocery store were here for their arraignment hearing. A month had passed since the attack and only now had the two guys recovered from their injuries sufficiently for the hearing to be held. He had cracked the skull of one of the men and caved in the sinus cavity of the other. They had been in very bad medical shape for a long time.

Throughout the two men’s stay in the hospital, members of the Last True Church of Jesus Christ had held vigils outside the hospital. At times, it was hard to tell what they were praying to have happen. Sometimes it was the speedy recovery of the patients. At other times, it was the death and destruction of the sinners. Most of the time though, it was for the death of the demon that had injured those good Christian fellows in the hospital. The activity outside the hospital had everyone nervous, but there wasn’t too much that anyone could do about it.

Glen exited his truck and removed the weapons that he carried. He had given up on anything too fancy and now carried two double shot derringers in his pockets. He would be arrested as soon as he entered the city hall if he carried them with him in there. However, that left him disarmed and faced with a large number of very hostile protesters. He stepped towards the city hall in which the court room was located.

All of a sudden there was a loud cry. A very gaunt man stood up and pointed at Glen. Glen recognized him as the Reverend. He shouted, “Behold, there is the demon! He who interferes with the work of the Lord serves Satan and that man is such a servant. He must be cast out and sent to hell where he can live with his Master!”

Glen stopped and looked at the crowd of people. He looked from face to face memorizing their features. A common trait was the lack of smile lines around the eyes. The women looked old before their time. All of them looked as if the life had been beaten out of them. Too many children, too many beatings, and not enough love took its toll on the face and body. None of the women wore makeup and their hair was pulled back in simple braids. The clothes were drab colorless sacks that hung lifeless off their bodies, hiding all traces of femininity. The men were dressed in black pants, white shirts, and black suit coats. Their eyes were hateful, the mouths twisted into frowns, and their manner rigid.

Just looking at them gave Glen shivers down his spine. He had never seen such a collection of miserable people. If they were truly God’s servants, then he didn’t want anything to do with that kind of God. As he studied them, their anger increased. One woman wailed, “He killed my husband! He’s a murderer!”

Glen looked at her and thought about what she said. Her husband had gone with four other men to beat a young woman. They would have killed her; of that he was sure. He guessed that the commandment not to kill applied only to him and not them. He turned towards the city hall and started walking.

The Reverend Jonathan Corwin, the most disgusting figure of them all, shouted, “Hear my words, demon spawn. You shall pay for your sins. I, the Reverend Jonathan Corwin, have spoken.”

Glen stopped and looked at the man. His eyes narrowed as he answered, “The Lord God Almighty and his son, Jesus Christ, know there is only one demon here and that his name is Reverend Jonathan Corwin!”

A number of the crowd started throwing stones at Glen. He walked quickly into the building, getting hit by only a few of them. The Sheriff looked at Glen and noticed the welts raised on the arm. He asked, “What happened to you?”

“Oh, the crowd outside started throwing stones at the vile demon spawn, namely yours truly.” Glen answered. He looked through the glass at the crowd outside. They started coming into the city hall. Glen said, “You’re probably going to have to give me an escort out of here. I’m unarmed.”

The Sheriff smiled as the Deputy waved a metal detector over Glen’s body. It rang on the coins in his pocket, his belt buckle, and his wallet. He opened his wallet and showed the credit card sized tool kit within it. The Deputy shrugged and passed Glen on into the court room.

Glen sat down on the bench that ran behind the prosecutors desk. The prosecutor turned to Glen and said, “It seems pretty open and shut. I’m thinking about requesting that no bail be set. I believe they are a flight risk.”

Glen nodded and answered, “If they get out, they’ll come after me with guns next time.”

“Good argument, but it wouldn’t fly in a court of law.”

Glen smiled and said, “Oh, they just might admit it in front of the judge. They aren’t the smartest turnips on the truck.”

The Prosecutor smiled at the characterization. His dealings with the defendants had always degenerated into them calling him names. He shook his head as he looked across the room to his good friend sitting at the other table. They had accepted a court appointed attorney to defend them and his friend had gotten the job. Without discussing the details, his friend had let him know that he would have declined the assignment if there had been any way of doing it.

There was a disturbance at the door as several members of the church entered the room. They took positions behind the desk where the defendants would be seated. They all turned towards Glen and started chanting, “Return to hell Demon Spawn.”

Disgust was the only feeling that Glen had towards them. If they had even the least bit of human kindness, he would have pitied them. As it was, they were disgusting. He looked at the women and wondered if the relations between husband and wife were more like between rapist and victim than between members of a loving couple. He even wondered if they understood the concept of love.

As more of the church members entered the courtroom, the chanting got louder. When Reverend Jonathan Corwin entered, the whole group stood up and waited for him to seat himself on the bench directly behind the defendants table. He glared at Glen and then said, “return to hell Demon Spawn.”

The rest of his group returned to the chant, only now it was getting louder. The Deputy lead in the dependants. They were able to walk, but their faces were still heavily bandaged. Glen noted with satisfaction that they had handcuffs and ankle restraints. The crowd became even angrier as a result of looking at the pair. The chants starting changing tone. Now it was, “Death to the murderer.”

Glen tapped the Prosecutor on the shoulder. When he turned, Glen asked, “Would the judge consider that a death threat?”

“Hard to say. They aren’t saying they’ll kill you.”

Glen nodded and looked to the back of the room. His timing was perfect, Cliff and the twins entered the room and moved over to him. All three of them sat so that Glen was between them and the religious zealots. The twins were terrified to be in the room with them and felt safer sandwiched between Glen and Cliff.

The Bailiff announced, “All rise for the judge.”

The Judge entered the room and looked over the crowd. He didn’t like the looks of it. The Sheriff was standing by the front door and the deputy off to the side while the bailiff stood over by his door. All three of them had their guns in the holsters with the flaps unhooked as if expecting trouble. The judge went to his seat and paused a moment before he slowly sat down.

Everyone else sat down and faced the judge. Everything progressed normally until it was time for the defendants to plead guilty or not guilty. As the lawyer was about to say something, the Reverend Jonathan Corwin stood up and shouted, “There is no guilt when a person does the work of the Lord.”

The rest of his followers all solemnly answered, “Amen.”

Rapping his gavel in an authoritative manner, the Judge said, “One more word from you and I’ll find you in contempt of court.”

The Reverend Jonathan Corwin answered, “You have to stop these proceedings. These men are the servants of the Lord. You have no right to judge their actions. You should be prosecuting that Demon Spawn over there. He has murdered a good Christian man in cold blood.”

The Judge leaned forward and said, “You are in contempt.”

The Reverend shouted, “I am a descendant of Judge Jonathan Corwin who sat in judgement on the witches in Salem. You disgrace the bench by having sold your soul to Satan.”

The Judge told the Sheriff, “Get this man out of my court right now. Set his bail at $1000.”

The Sheriff went over the Reverend and motioned for him to get out. The Reverend shouted, “Devils! They all serve Satan, here!”

Rallying around the Reverend, his followers jumped up and started pushing the Sheriff away from him. The Judge banged his gavel in a futile attempt to restore order. Looking at the faces on the followers of the Reverend, the Bailiff was terrified that a riot was about to break out. Glen looked over at Cliff and nodded. Standing, the four of them moved over to the wall. In a well planned display of protecting the twins, Glen and Cliff placed themselves in front of them.

Calmly, as though taking a stroll through the park, the Deputy walked over to the defendants chair and pulled his gun. Staring intently in the eyes of the Reverend, he pushed the barrel of the gun to the center of the Reverend’s forehead. In a low threatening voice, he said, “Tell your people to shut up and sit down.”

The followers of the Reverend quickly sat down. Looking over at the Deputy in thanks, the Sheriff put the Reverend in handcuffs and led him out of the courtroom. Once order had been restored, he Judge looked around the room and noticed the position of Glen and Cliff. He rapped his gavel and said, “You four. What are you doing?”

Glen stated, “Your honor, we were just trying to stay out of the way. We respect the court.”

“Will you please sit down now.”

Giving the judge a short nod of his head, Glen answered, “Yes, your honor.”

Glen moved to his former seat and sat down. Sandra and Wanda both joined him with Cliff following behind. The Judge, not a stupid man, realized that the two men were moving as one to protect the twins. Having two girls himself, he was pleased to see the men take such good care of the women. He turned his attention back to the defense and asked the question again, “How do your clients plead?”

The lawyer looked nervously around and stated, “Not Guilty.”

The Judge stated, “So noted.”

The Prosecutor looked over at his friend in pity. The Judge turned to the Prosecutor and asked, “Does the state have any recommendations for bail?”

The Prosecutor stood and answered, “Yes, your honor. We wish that bail be denied. We believe that there is a significant risk of flight.”

The Judge turned to the defender and asked, “Does the defense have any comments?”

The defense attorney, with a look on his face like he was swallowing a lemon, answered, “The two men are good Christians.”

Giggling, Wanda whispered to Cliff, “God, it must have hurt him to say that.”

The Judge waited for the public defender to say something else, but the poor man just stood there. The Judge stated, “Bail denied.”

All of the followers of the Reverend reacted negatively to the announcement. They moved forward as though to help the two men get away. The Judge rapped his gavel and stated, “I find you in contempt of court. I’ll set bail at $1000 each.”

The entire group rushed the Deputy and Sheriff. Glen and Cliff quickly got the girls against the wall and stood between them and the members of the church. This time, they also included the Prosecutor who ended up standing behind the two men and in front of the twins. One of the members ran towards them screaming. The Judge observed the action. He noticed that Glen looked to him and waited until the Judge nodded. Cliff dropped down and went for the knees. Glen went for the head. Between the two of them, the Church member landed flat on the floor unconscious.

Immediately, Glen and Cliff moved back to their original positions. While they had been busy protecting the twins, the Sheriff and the Deputy had been quickly overrun and half of the congregation managed to escape. The other half were spread out on the floor with the Sheriff and the Deputy holding guns on them. The Bailiff was cuffing each of them, one at a time. One of the people on the floor tried to get up and run out. The Sheriff shot him in the leg, deciding that he wasn’t going to waste time any more with these folks.

When order had been restored, the Judge said, “Sheriff, I want all of these people arrested and charged with assault on the person of a law enforcement officer.”

The Sheriff smiled and replied, “With pleasure your honor.”

The judge further said, “The one that tried to escape shall be charged with attempted escape in addition to the assault charges.”

The Deputy went over to the man on the floor and started rendering first aid. The Judge looked around and spotted the man on the floor. He pointed to the man and said, “Charge that man with five counts of assault.”

The Sheriff hadn’t even noted the man there on the ground. He went over to him and examined the man on the ground. Shaking his head when he looked up at the Judge, he said, “We’ll have to take this one to the hospital.”

The Judge rapped his gavel and said, “I would like to commend the two men over there for their quick thinking and calm actions in a most distressing circumstance. They moved to protect officers of the court as well as others in the room. When attacked, they first sought my permission to defend themselves, despite the fact that they were fully justified in taking any action that was reasonable.”

The Bailiff returned to the room and said something to the Judge. Nodding at the news, the Judge announced, “The State Police have been called to take possession of the prisoners.”

As the Judge stood, the Bailiff looked like he was about to tell everyone to stand, but the Judge just waved his hand. Glen and the Metchettes stood as the Judge left the room. He noticed the gesture and smiled.

The foursome left the court room and went directly to their trucks. They watched their surroundings, making sure that no one was trying to attack them or follow them. Both Glen and Cliff picked up their derringers. The girls got into separate trucks and took the shotguns down from the gun racks. Opening the glove compartments, both girls took out a box of 00 buckshot. The two men drove off with Cliff leading the way and Glen following.