Chapter 51

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Mary Elizabeth Merchant pled guilty and was sentaned to three to six months in prison. She followed Leita Rose's advice and tried to stay busy. She did her assigned work, read books from the prison library, joined the church choir, and overall stayed on her best behavior. Prison didn't provide many vegetarian options, so Mary Elizabeth cheated on her diet and ate meat, promising herself she would refrain after she was released. She was released after three months, just in time to celebrate Christmas with her mother. They went to church services and the reverand said "This is Mary Elizabeth. She just got out of prison. She has paid her debt to society, let us welcome our sister in Christ back." The crowd made Mary Elizabeth feel welcome. Jimmy Flint was also waiting for her, they resumed their relationship and she continued lecturing him about eating meat. Leita Rose hired Mary Elizabeth as a maid for her bed and breakfast. As much as Leita didn't want to admit it, she was getting old, needed help cleaning up these days. Gary Fredo also stayed in Sanctuary, he had no excuse anymore, he just wanted to date Leita Rose. They dated, he helped out sheriff Duncan with natural disasters, and officially became a member of the Druid Order. Eventually Gary and Leita Rose got married, her daughter and grandchildren came here for the wedding, as did his family. This town seemed like a good fit for these two senior citizens. Mayor Bowen's daughter and daughter-in-law adopted another child during this time, Jamal and his husband James also adopted a child. Due to his participation in the Druid Order Gary knew that these particular children had been fathered by some very bad people, and were abandoned in the refugee camps. Because of their work the Order was able to give these innocent childen a fresh start, never needing to know about the actions that were not their fault. But there was tragedy in Sanctuary during this time. Bridget died in her sleep, just after her 100th birthday. Upon her request, a rabbi performed the funeral service, perhaps that was her way of trying to atone for her actions during the war. Mayor Bowen's ALS got worse, and she ended up committing suicide with her gun. Sheriff Duncan ended up running for mayor, and winning. Deputy Hayward, wife of doctor Hayward, ended up becoming the new sheriff. Things were fairly peaceful in Sanctuary. But then, in the summer of 2024, three years after Gary Fredo first came to Sanctuary, Carmen Flint made parole. She had to register as a sex-offender, and live in the area known as "the backyard." It was ironic, that she had to live in the area owned by the man she had molested as a boy. Carmen also let her daughter Abby know, through intermediaries, that she wanted to reconcile with her. By this point Prudence Conner had officialy adopted Abby, and said that Abby wasn't ready to reconcile with Carmen just yet. Gary heard about this, he wondered if it was possible for these two to reconcile. Sometimes it helped the victim to find closure, sometimes not. Then again he lived in a town that was based in many ways on second chances. Perhaps it was possible.