Several people spoke at the same time. I whistled and waved them down. "John, when you say we, who are you speaking for? I'd like a show of hands of those adults who stand with John."
Cautiously, glancing around as if fearing reprisal, people stood. I counted twenty. "Now will those against John's proposal please stand. I counted seventeen with me and Kira. I was disappointed but not surprised.
Into the ensuing silence, Mitch stood and spoke. "I understand your longing for peace, I really do. But I saw my father turn to the bible and start preaching to others who wanted to believe something would rise to protect them. It didn't. He and the people who followed him died horrible deaths. We've got to use common sense and look out for ourselves, because no one else has or will come to our aid."
The discussion was going nowhere, so I deemed it time to shut down the meeting. "I think we should table the proposal until the next meeting. Think about it in private and discuss it with people on both sides of the issue. We'll take it up at our next group session."
For three days, the situation was tense but calm. I had limited conversations with people on both sides of the guns issue, but my reasoning didn't appear to change the opinion of any of the anti-gunners. The part that saddened me the most was that the adults didn't outright dispute my logic. They simply rejected it and wouldn't brook any alternative.
After lunch that third afternoon, I saw people slinking into John and Marcie's cabin. All of them were members of the anti-gun lobby. A few of them surprised me with their support for the peaceniks. I'd never have thought Morgan, or Martin Radcliff Sr. our police specialist, Albert Gonzales or the Whycoffs would have supported the gun ban.
I was lost in deep thought until Richard's voice sounded behind me. He faced the goings on at John’s. “I can't believe my brother and Shandrea have bought into this craziness. I've talked to them until I had to simply give it up. It's going to rip a lot of families apart, ours included."
"I'm afraid it's going to be even worse than that. I won't let them destroy any of our weapons, even if someone has to be shot. In order to avoid that confrontation, I imagine my family will be forced to leave."
"If you leave, we're going with you. Carmen and the kids have already accepted that possibility."
"Thank you."
He snickered, "I don't know if thanks are in order. We're going, because we'd be afraid to remain here unarmed. Our view of the world doesn't match theirs. I still don't agree that we no longer post guards around the clock."
"Me too. But the majority ruled on that issue, too."
As we watched, people straggled from John's cabin. John was the last one and stood with his back to the wall as he spoke to Jesse Pitchford, Andrea, and Tony. He looked up and saw me and Richard. John nodded several times as he spoke to the others, and then he walked toward us.
When he stopped, he got right to the point; there was no 'Hi, how are you' or 'kiss my butt'. "A group meeting is being called for an hour from now. We'd like everyone to attend. I'll ring the bell, so no one misses it."
I asked, "What's the purpose of the emergency meeting? I assume it's an emergency since it wasn't planned ahead of time."
"I... prefer to discuss it at the meeting in front of the whole group."
After John was gone, Richard cocked his head, "I wonder what the hell this is about?"
A frown dogged my features. "I imagine they're prepared to issue an ultimatum about the guns. At the last meeting, they showed us they had the majority behind them. That in itself must have made them bolder"
Since the last meeting, Kira and I had talked at length about the possibly of being forced to split off from the main group. She was anxious, pissed and sad all at once. If it came to that, it would again be a tremendous amount of work.
We stood outside in moderate temperature under a partly cloudy sky. The pacifists began entering the horse barn. Minutes passed until John clanged the bell loudly several times. Kira looked at me with a mean smirk, and then she told our kids we were moving to the barn.
Inside, chairs had been arranged eight chairs wide by six rows deep between the stalls. Five chairs for the Leadership Committee sat in front of the main group and faced them. Andrea, Morgan, John and Richard were already seated there. Most of the smaller kids had run to the other end to play. I studied the crowd, and it appeared everyone was present.
"This special session has been called without my prior knowledge, so I'll ask John to preside and let us all in on why we're here."
I sat, and John stood to speak. "At the last group meeting, I laid out the feelings of the majority of our people. Most of us stopped wearing sidearms several years ago because we don't feel it fits the lifestyle we want to live. Others continue to carry weapons openly; we want that practice stopped. Additionally, there remains a large amount of heavy weaponry; we want those disposed of, also. To achieve those goals, an earlier meeting was held by a majority of the adults in this group." He turned to face me and glanced at Richard. "The first order of business was to vote to eject two members of the Leadership Committee and elect two new members to take their places. Tom, you and Richard are
