The Chronicles of L.j. Stevans: Part 8. The Rule of A Stevans Sister/ A Plea for Help!

                                                                                      by David VanCura

To L.J. and all readers of these chronicles,

     Hello everyone, my name is John Simmons and I live in a the town of Gastings up by the Northern Lakes. I have been reading your tales Mr. Stevans. In doing so I realized that I, like so many out there knew your name and have heard of some of your past exploits. I also quickly identified with the name for a more ominous reason. I do not know if you are aware of the fact that one of your sisters, Bethany Stevans-Mason, along with her husband Desmond relocated here about 5 years ago and basically overran the region from the first day. Gastings like many towns up north is a fishing village and up until, not surprisingly 5 years ago, we were a prosperous one. Then, seemingly overnight all of our vendors to the larger cities were bought out or replaced by a new transportation company known as A.M.D.S. Almost instantly, distribution costs went up nearly 300 percent and those of us that decided to venture out and move our product on our own were mercilessly attack and our goods destroyed. The roads are no longer safe and fees and taxing are rumoured to be bumped up yet again. The fisherman here tried to move farther north to avoid this group but their reach seems limitless. Anyone wanting to or that have attempted to leave have been "persuaded" to the thinking that it would be "in our families best interest to stay put". Even the most successful Captains are no longer profitable and Casino's and Burlesque houses are now the major businesses in town. Crime has grown rampant as more of us become desperate. We are all just months from complete personal and financial ruin.

     I am writing you today in the hopes that with the information that has been revealed recently in these Chronicles. Combined with your own personal ties to the situation you would be able to afford us some assistance. I know this is a long-shot but we are desperate up here Mr. Stevans and you are quite literally our last option if we are to save our Town. There are a number of us who are prepared to fight as a last resort. Some of us have roots here that goes back multiple generations and I for one would rather die then see our town taken from us even more than it already has. We need leadership, someone of your reputation along with the connections you have. With that we can retake our lives. And with time and effort, be prosperous once again. We will wait no more than 2 weeks for help, after that period, we take our chances as well as our lives into our own hands and into battle. We have heard of stories in the past of your tendency to get involved in situations involving your Family and we only hope you are willing to do so one more time.
                                                                                  With all our hope,
                                                                                             John Simmons