Explosion

“What a God awful way to start the day,” Nathan thought as he finally got to sit down out side his clinic.

It had started just before sun rise, the town itself shaking with an explosion. Sending everyone running out into the streets, trying to discover what had caused it.

Chris had instantly given out orders, “Buck you and JD check the town. See if there's any damage. Josiah you and Ezra head east and south of town see if anything out that way caused it. Vin and I'll take the west and north side and see if we find anything. Nathan you might want to get your clinic ready. What ever cause that explosion, there’s a good chance somebody was around it.”

The seven men quickly moved off to do their job, three walking and four speeding out of the livery on their mounts.

The sun had fully risen when Vin and Chris found the area that it had come from.

“What the Hell,” Chris expressed, frowning at what they saw.

What was once the seven’s favorite fishing and swimming spot on the creek, was now a wide churning mess. Trees that were on the side of the embankment scorched and laying on the ground, as if knocked backwards away from the water. Water right up from their spot was gushing and gurgling up, from what must have been a natural spring that was under the ground of the creek, now released and pushing upward joining in the already flowing water.

“You think that spring could of built up enough pressure to blow upward causing this?” Chris asked though his voice held the doubtful truth to the question.

“They can cause some damage, nothin’ like this and not the sound we heard all the way to town,” Vin said.

The two men dismounted and began walking the new edge of the creek, searching for any clue that could have caused this.

They hadn't gone very far when a sound caught their attention. They followed the sound that turned into a voice, a voice that was babbling something over and over.

It was Vin that saw him first. His eyes thought it was a black mud streak, until he saw part of it move, realizing it was a leg.

The man was laying on his back, covered from head to toe with mud from the creek and silt from what ever the explosion was. By the way he was laying, Vin figured it was where he landed from the force of what ever had happened.

Chris and Vin slowly checked the man out as he kept babbling, it wasn't until they were sure he had nothing broken or bleeding that they realized what he was saying over and over.

Buck and JD saw Ezra and Josiah ride back in, and stood waiting for them to join them.

“Any luck finding anything out there?” Buck asked as soon as they stepped up on the boardwalk.

“Nothing, although there were some who heard a sound, it was faint in comparison to what we experienced here. So it is safe to believe that what ever awakied our friendly township in the manner we were so vehemently brought from our slumber came from the north west of town.” Ezra reported as he straightened his cuffs.

Buck started to say something else then caught the sight of riders coming in from the other end of town. “Here comes Chris and Vin now. Looks like they got some one with them,” Buck stated instead.

Pulling the horse to a stop, keeping the third horse and rider between them, the two peace keepers dismounted, one at a time. Vin held onto the man on the horse who seemed wobbly as Chris walked around and got his hands on him, pulling him down off the horse.

“Did you find out what caused the explosion? Was this fella caught in it? Wow, Buck, look at his jaw it's all swelled out? Did the explosion do this to him, Vin?” JD ran the questions out as fast as they crossed his mind.

“Yeah, kid, we found where it happened,” Vin quipped as he dismounted..

“Well what caused it!?” Buck wanted to know just as well.

“Which - what the town heard or what happened to his jaw?” Vin smirked.

“Well dang it, Vin, are they the same thing, the explosion…” Buck growled as he watched Chris hand the man over to Nathan.

“Dynamite fishing and Larbee's explosion.” Vin grinned.

“What!!??” JD frowned confused.

“He” Vin said, pointing his thumb toward the man Nathan was leading up to the clinic, “Wanted fish for breakfast. Couple of bottles of whiskey later he figured five sticks of dynamite tired together was the way to fish.”

“Shittt!” Buck exclaimed.

“Yep, blew the hell out of our fishing spot.”

“His jaw?” Buck smiled knowing the answer.

“Larbee explosion when he said it. Belted him instead of shooting him..” Vin laughed.

The End