‘What the fuck’ said Peter as he walked into the lobby entrance and saw their suitcases in the hallway, he wanted to lash out now, to Peter it was taking the piss, somehow he knew he had to control himself ‘it’s like they won’t let us leave’ he thought to himself.

‘Could you tell us what is happening please ‘asked Eileen to Steve, she was as confused as Peter, and also very scared, Steve Duce just looked into her eyes, and she gazed at his, sunken and dark, he looked tired, as if he had not slept for a week, ‘please just smile’ she thought to herself, but Steve Duce didn’t smile, for Steve Duce very rarely smiled, ‘I’m just the bus driver, a very tired bus driver’, The emptiness in his eyes showed it.

‘The sheriffs coming he’ll explain’ and again he pointed with his arms for them to go into the bar, he showed no passion it was if he had done this before, Nathan and Lily clung onto their dad, one either side, both unsure what was happening and wishing they were someplace else, Peter was thinking ‘Since when did they have sheriffs in Britain’, they walked into the bar, it was quite full with nearly everyone eating breakfast, as soon as they walked in everyone stopped what they was doing and an eerie silence fell over the room, Peter, Eileen, Lily and Nathan just stood looking at the people who were looking at them,

‘Can you all stop staring at us’ screamed Lily and she burst into tears, Eileen offered her comfort with an arm on her shoulder,

‘Sit down,’ said the voice behind them ‘I’ll explain’

The immediate reaction was for them all to turn around, stood before them, was one of the largest men they had ever saw, it wasn’t just his height which was 6’6, it was his overall appearance, he was broad and looked strong, his arms was as thick as Peters legs, the kind of figure that demanded respect, he stood in his Police uniform, clearly visible was the holstered gun and his baton, he was cleaned shaven, round faced and eyes that were as dark as night, but the strangest thing about him was that in his uniform he didn’t seem to ask for respect, it didn’t seem to represent the law, it gave an aura of fear, and the whole bar seemed to sense it as the atmosphere in the bar appeared to change, Peter wondered since when the British Police were allowed to carry guns, his eyes were directed to it, the sheriff tapped his gun with his fingers, Lily and Eileen shivered at his presence, Nathan thought it was like something out of a movie, the sheriff gestured for them to sit at a table, all four of them did what he demanded, Craig bought a pot of coffee over and soft drinks for Lily and Nathan, Eileen thanked them, Peter wished she hadn’t, he didn’t want their coffee, Lily asked for crisps, she promptly got them, Craig asked Nathan if he wanted a game of pool, and Nathan duly obliged, anything to stop this boredom, the people in the bar carried on eating and chatting, getting on with their everyday lives, but everyone noticed the change in the atmosphere, even the barman looked as if he could not look the sheriff in the eye, whoever he was he was all powerful in Underwood.

Allan Herapath sat down with them his big frame looking out of proportion as he sat on the small chair, he smiled, and that kind of made things worse, it felt like he was taunting them, and for some reason not quite known to him, Peter thought things were going to get worse, when the sheriff spoke his voice was deep and strong, and without passion, he spoke in an accent that no one recognised, it certainly wasn’t Welsh, but in perfect English he said,

‘Welcome to Underwood,’ his round face was expressionless, his eyes deep as he looked at them, eyeing them up and down,

To the four people listening to him, sat a table they didn’t want to be sat at, in a place they didn’t want to be in, the sheriff may just as well said “welcome to hell”

‘What part of we don’t want to be here you do not understand’ thought Peter, Lily swung her legs underneath the table in an act of nervousness, Eileen had one eye on the sheriff and one on Nathan playing pool, she caught the eye of Craig the barman and he gave her a forced smile, that made Eileen feel worse and she grimaced in response, she knew something was about to happen, she just didn’t know what, Craig turned his eyes from hers, trying to pretend to concentrate on the pool, but all the time having one eye on the table where the new people sat, he had hoped somehow they had got away, but deep down he knew that was impossible.

‘Why are our cases here’ Peter asked,

Allan rubbed his chin, he could feel the bristles growing through, he hadn’t welcomed new residents in a while, and whilst these looked fine fodder, he could do without the questions, it was a Sunday and Sundays were busy days, he had much to do,

‘We have a nice place for you, it’s number 12 Hawthorne, and Steve our busman will take you there once you been registered, his tone was tedious, his look was steadfast.

‘We don’t want to stay, we just want to get out of this dump’ Said Lily, she twisted her face up to demonstrate what she thought of Underwood,

The sheriff stared expressionless at her, Lily quivered, wishing she hadn’t said anything at all, Eileen held her hand tightly,

‘it will be okay,’ she whispered, she screwed up her eyes as she saw the fear in her daughters eyes, Lily didn’t believe it was going to be okay, the truth was Eileen didn’t either.

‘That won’t be necessary’ said Peter, trying to make some sense of this, trying to take control of the situation, his voice was confident and assured, he stood up, feeling it would give him some sort of advantage,

‘we shall be leaving now, if you could just tell us the way out’ he sounded defiant, he sounded more confident, ‘you tell them dad’ thought Lily, the room went silent as they all looked on at the man daring to tackle the sheriff,

‘That will not be possible’ said the Sherriff, dismissing Peter and anything he had to say like a squatted fly.

Peter made a move to leave but before he could reach Eileen’s hand to help her out of her seat, in one swift movement, he was spun through the air and slammed on his back onto the table they were sat at, the drinks crashed to the floor, the hot coffee just missing them, Eileen screamed and jumped out of her seat taking a step back, Lily tried to do the same but the table slammed into her forcing her and her chair to the floor, Craig came running over and helped her up, she wasn’t hurt but the tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at her father, Nathan just stood there with a pool cue in his hand, dumfounded and terrified, a lady got up from one of the tables and put her arm around him to comfort him, as they all looked at Peter, on the table with the sheriffs one hand around his throat, no one tried to help Peter, no one dared, Eileen screamed,

‘Please leave him alone’ she pleaded,

‘Get off him,’ screamed Lily, ‘get off my dad,’

Peter thought the life was going to be choked out of him such was the strength of the man, and he wriggled and threw punches, but they bounced off the sheriff like flies, then he felt the pressure release, as Allan released his grip, he gasped for air, and he coughed and spluttered as he got off the table and held his own throat, he had never met a man with such strength and it was that moment Peter really knew they were in trouble,

‘I am arresting you for insubordination’ said the sheriff and promptly lifted him off the floor, swung him around and handcuffed him, a man and a woman came in through the bar doors dressed in security uniform and Promptly took Peter away, it felt like they were on stand bye, it all appeared so rehearsed, he still protested, he still shouted, he still, screamed, he didn’t want to leave his wife and kids there,

‘What the fuck’s happening here’ he shouted, but no one answered as he was dragged out of the building screaming and kicking.