<hr/><div class="floatleft">(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KL7Uf3vdz0A/UDr2PAfW3xI/AAAAAAAAmBc/EIYJpjy2SI8/s1600/post5.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Matthew Ford<br/><strong>Faction:</strong>Unknown<br/><strong>Date:</strong>May 11, 1876<br/><strong>Time of Day:</strong>Afternoon<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Main Street<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Anyone, Mayor Cochran<br/><hr/><br/>It was a long journey on across the dusty deserts of California but they had finally made it. When they had crested the hill nearby and Gomorra in it's isolated glory it was salvation. Both of the Fords were caked in dust and it looked like their entire living was in that small wagon behind them. It was comical how overloaded the wagon was with stuff. Looking at each other as they neared the town the couple held hands. No one but them would understand the importance of the leap of faith they took leaving behind everything that they knew for an unknown future. This was simply a small step towards bettering themselves. It was all unknown much like the town that lay before them. Out of the places they selected it was Gomorra because the local law were looking for a deputy and the fact that the land was independent. Independence is what they sought, free from everything that shackled them before. They wanted to soar and be free from those chains. However would they be successful? Nobody would know but the father of time.<br/><br/>Wooden boards under them creaked as the overloaded wagon rolled across the bridge. Snorting the horses were skittish of being over water but the snap of reigns kept them going forward. As they neared the Ford's finally got a very good look at their new home. It wasn't exactly New York or any of the fancy cities on the East Coast but it certainly had a frontier feel to it. Clapboard buildings fronting on the dirt main street echoed many of the towns that they had to pass through to get here. Without the funding of a government there was no paved roads or streetlights which was a change for Matthew but for Winona it was certainly a step up from tepees. However it was suitably rustic for the purposes of starting a new life. Somewhere in between well known and obscure was a perfect match for them. There was no pattern to the way the buildings were arranged it was like a child had just strewn blocks across a map and called it a day. Mismatched buildings seemed to suit the mismatched people that milled around and past the dusty refugees.<br/><br/>Ford noticed that the people of Gomorra were as rustic and unique as the town they inhabited. Miners,ranch hands, store owners, laborers there was no theme to the people. At least a theme one could tell from outward appearances as all these men favored independence then loyalty to any one person. Ford caught the eye of some of them and he could see the fire in their eyes, that fire of a free man. It was a place free from the machinations of the Union and CSA the hideout of ne'er well to dos and pioneers.  Early in his life when he was close minded Matthew would of lumped these men and woman into the same mold as the CSA rebels. Those days of ignorance were long gone his eyes long since opened to the fact that it doesn't matter who is in charge. Leadership changes hand and in the end it never changes anything. One evil is swapped for another, it's all in the way the gears turn in the world. Only thing worth changing was a person's life like he changed Winona's life that one night and it was Gomorra that would be his canvas for change. Only thing he would of ever accomplished if he hadn't met Winona was dying alone in the sun.<br/><br/>Reaching up Matthew took off his old Union cavalry Stetson, the only hint of his former life he took with him, to beat off the dust from his clothes. Crossing into the town proper he noticed a gathering around a building towards the center of town. Some kind of ceremony judging by the revelry emanating from the establishment. Pulling the wagon off to the side of the road he looked at Winona who was nervous about being in a town like this. Holding up his hand the ex Union officer pointed at the wagon wordlessly to which the woman nodded with a meek smile. Reaching out Matthew caressed her cheek in a rough calloused dusty hand lovingly. The gesture helped her relax a little before her husband hopped off. Taking the Stetson he beat off a little more dust form his  clothes (http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/man-fine-old-western-clothes-horse-rifle-10866645.jpg) which didn't look from around here. They looked well tailored as was his gun belt and holster which definitely was from a big city rather then a frontier town. Speaking of a finer life before the man found himself here.<br/><br/>Asking around he got pointed towards the man who was the Mayor Cochran, approaching the man after placing the Stetson back on his head. Clearing his throat politely to the get the man's attention Matthew reached into his coat retrieving a few pieces of parchment. These were the only thing that he had preplanned before they arrived, jobs and a place to live. Before arriving the Fords had arranged to purchase a house in town while Matthew was promised a position as a Deputy. This was of course several months ago maybe even a year he had lost track of time on the trip to Gomorra. Although he looked haggard Matthew carried himself with that stiff posture of a man who spent most of his life in the military. It was clear that the man had been on a very long trip and wanted just to collapse but some kind of discipline kept him standing. Well beyond the point when a average man would call it a day. Mayor Cochran was the only person who knew who the stranger was, at least by name.<br/><br/>"Mayor?" A gruff tired voice, full of confidence, emanated from dry cracked lips as Matthew's brown eyes studied the Mayor from under the shade of his brim "Matthew Ford sir, I arrived a few hours ahead of schedule it seems. I trust the arrangements, given to me by one J.P. Coleman, have all been kept?" Pieces of paper were held up to emphasize what he was talking about. "Unless of course you're busy sir then I can talk to you afterwards." Glancing at the fairly neat building he surmised it was just open and that was the call for all the celebration inside. It was quite the place for such a town almost unsettling to see such a pristine building in a town such as Gomorra. Then again Matthew's prejudice came from a man who's intact town experiences were ones out back East. Only time he ever saw any of these up to this point was after a fierce battle so they tended to be little more then ruins. Brown eyes darkened as the memories flooded back to him from the thought.<br/><br/><br/>