Exposition
Night of Gavels
Outside, only trees.
Within, the honest souls of Spring Valley. Half Catholics, half atheists, none poor.
To the East, St. John’s: an all-boys’ Catholic high school, a boarding school, located in a looming castle. It was inhabited by boys in black blazers, mostly Irish, bearing red-and-blue logos on their chests, with fancy bags and terribly intelligent smirks. Their performance in all things was excellent.
To the West was Voldman Hill, where there dwelled, in effect, all the families with sons at St. John’s.
In between, there was just the town: local villagers sending their atheist kids and their daughters down the street to Minyard High School. The children ran rampant; they scared cats with bikes; they cursed and blasphemed but they didn’t lie; and when they got older, they usually started in on marijuana. They had difficulty forming complete, grammatically correct sentences.
The older kids were ruled by either sports and grades or drugs.
The younger kids were ruled by the Blackwell Boys; but we haven’t gotten there yet.
To the North, among forest, there was an abandoned trailer with blankets, a projector, and a staticky radio in it... but that would have to wait to serve its part.
To the South, more trees.
Part One
