When Hank and Doug went back to the stable to feed late in the afternoon, they went on into town and picked up enough pizza and sodas for everyone staying at the site. When they got back, the idle guards set up a sort of buffet with a couple of folding tables. Charlie called Dusty to bring Mari over and come join them. Under the circumstances, liquor was out of the question, but they’d have a good party, anyway.
Men came and went as some ate and left to relieve others who were on watch. Mari ate two big slices of pizza and drank a root beer before she pulled up an overturned bucket to sit near Charlie and Dusty. They had settled off to one side and talked quietly.
AS darkness fell, the fireworks began. They could see most of them over the low ridge and the grove of trees along the river
