In spite of everything there were a few attempts by displaced refugees in the area to sneak into town. Either they hadn’t heard about the camp to the north being wiped out, and the military finally being active in the area to put down the chaos, or they were making one last desperate attempt to do something, anything. Probably as a prelude to fleeing the area. Either way Trev’s defenders rounded them up and tossed them in the makeshift prison cabin for Grimes to deal with when he returned.
At the very least, when they reported the attempted intrusions over the radio the military responded promptly on the issue, with assurances they’d handle it and instructions to hold the prisoners unharmed until then. It looked as if someone had finally gotten the message, probably after having it screamed in his ear by an irate NCO taking his own flak from up the chain of command.
Night fell with no further word, and everyone went to sleep in tense anticipation. The next day brought the sudden arrival of cold weather, accompanied by a stiff wind and high scudding clouds overhead. The chill held on until nearly noon, when it finally relented enough for people to swap from coats to light jackets, or even long-sleeved shirts.
That was also when they got news that Grimes was headed their way, to bring Chauncey and Lucas back home and to fill the town in on what had happened since his earlier visit.
Matt was more relaxed in his response this time around. He didn’t require everyone to stay indoors, although he did ask them to not crowd if they could avoid it. And while he had Trev get the defenders in place, just as a precaution, he didn’t expect there was any threat.
This time the colonel came with a much smaller convoy, just three trucks. Again the man hopped down from his vehicle without any sort of protective escort, although he was accompanied by Lucas and Chauncey.
The three made their way to the gathered crowd to explain the situation. Grimes didn’t seem to mind letting everyone know what was going on. In fact, he was happy to raise his voice for those farther back as he gave them the news.
First off, as they’d suspected Rogers was no longer in charge of the refugee camp. He’d been relieved of duty and faced a dishonorable discharge. The major’s replacement was doing his best to fix the situation there.
Second off, Grimes had patrols scouring as much of the area as possible to find the displaced refugees and bring them back to camp, where they’d be watched for the time being. For those accused of committing crimes, if witnesses came forward and could eyeball the perpetrator the colonel’s staff would do their best to ensure justice was done.
Grimes couldn’t force the refugees to come back with him, aside from those suspected of committing crimes. But today’s sudden turn to cold weather actually helped there. Few of the men out on the mountainsides were equipped to handle even these temperatures at night, which meant they wouldn’t have much choice besides returning to a refugee camp and hoping for a better situation this time around.
Matt had been hoping for a bit sterner punishments, but he supposed he’d have to take what he could get. People like Rogers had a way of ducking consequences, and as for the bandits who’d killed their victims, and so wouldn’t have to worry about witnesses, there wasn’t much anyone could do to even pinpoint who they were, let alone accuse them.
There was one other group mentioned which Matt was relieved to hear news of, although it had taken longer than expected. Rogers had refused to say anything about the whereabouts of the soldiers who’d been with him when he came for Aspen Hill’s “surplus” food, the ones who’d refused to turn weapons on Aspen Hill residents. And in spite of Grimes growing increasingly irate in his insistence, it’d taken nearly a full day to locate them.
It turned out that after being severely disciplined, the twenty men had been reassigned to refugee camps farther south. Rogers had further discredited them by labeling them lazy troublemakers and accepting the dregs of units at those camps as their replacements. Ironically those incompetents and malcontents had become some of the major’s most loyal supporters, at least until Grimes ousted him yesterday.
That incident had been expunged from the records of the twenty men, and they were free to return to their original posts if they wished. Now that Rogers was gone many of them had, which meant Aspen Hill might have friends in the refugee camp for future dealings.
As for Aspen Hill, there would be no further harassment from the military about their supplies or taking in refugees. And unless other evidence of malfeasance was brought to bear they also wouldn’t face any punishment for the actions they’d taken against bandits in their area.
It was everything the townspeople had wanted to hear, and more than most had expected. The mood was relieved, even celebratory, as Grimes fell silent and stepped back to let them soak in the knowledge that the ordeal was over.
Matt followed him over, mostly out of earshot of the crowd. “Thanks for sorting this out, Colonel,” he said, offering the older man a sincere handshake. “It was getting ugly for us for a while.”
Grimes scowled, although not specifically at Matt. “Ugly all around. Issues of right and wrong aside, and even admitting that most of the blame lies on the military’s end of things, your man Chauncey’s also been giving us a public relations battering on the radio.”
Matt blinked. “Really? I thought he wasn’t making much headway over Rogers’s narrative.”
“You and me both, Mayor,” the colonel growled. “I just barely learned of it. My own fault, for assuming that what people are saying on military channels is all the conversation there is. The boys in uniform were backing Rogers out of solidarity, but with the civilians it’s a completely different story. Several towns and settlements in the area are on the verge of calling the former camp coordinator a tinpot dictator, one working with my approval in a military dictatorship. And the civilians are a much, much bigger group than the soldiers I have with me, a group I hadn’t heard a peep out of because none of them wanted to make an issue of it, just in case they got the same treatment your town did.”
“Sounds like a mess all around,” Matt commented.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Grimes rubbed between his eyes. “I’ll spend the rest of the time we have until the snows fall putting out fires from this, and you can bet in the spring people will be demanding an election to restore civilian government. I don’t suppose I blame them, since putting the power in the hands of the military sets a dangerous precedent.” He sighed. “Long term I want to get back to the system we had, preferably when it still worked reasonably well, but it sure makes my job more difficult in the here and now.”
“I regret Aspen Hill’s role in all this,” Matt said. Not exactly an apology, but even without the benefit of Catherine’s advice he wasn’t about to say anything that indicated his town was at fault for what had happened. At least he could commiserate.
“If that’s true then have your man on the radio keep telling the truth going forward, in this case about the situation being resolved and the military doing its best to make things right. The last thing we need is widespread civil unrest over chasing a mistake that’s been corrected.”
“Fair enough,” Matt said. “If you’re making things right then it’s only fair people know.”
“Appreciate that.” Grimes abruptly shifted in place, looking a bit reluctant. “I also want you to know that sending Aspen Hill’s delegation home and refusing to listen to your town’s side of things wasn’t malicious.”