MacAvity's Burning. Dan H. McLachlan

      © Copyright 2012, Dan H. McLachlan. All Rights Reserved

      First Edition

      No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage, and retrieval system without written permission from both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

      This story is based on a true incident, but beyond that, it is a fabrication. Names, characters and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com

      Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com

      ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1122-4

      The front and back cover photos were taken by Terry Geltz, who was there.

      Cover design by Ryan Ratliff

      ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

      Praise for MacAvity’s Pub

      McLachlan has skillfully created a set of characters to root for--a group of vets that are more capable in their 60s and 70s than people give them credit for. He’s also picked a good viewpoint from which to tell the story--that of Paul, the only non-vet in the bunch, whose inexperience allows him to look at the action with wonder and relate all the surprising details as his friends pull together with amazing efficiency. The author also has a wonderful eye for description. When his characters traverse the wilderness around their hometown, readers can see every tree and even smell the air. Every weapon the characters pick up has a unique quality and history

      - -Kirkus Discoveries

      I love this book! It shows what a group of people old enough to be getting Social Security checks can do when faced with a series of mysterious assaults on their lives and property. Set in northern Idaho, up above the confluence of the Clearwater and the Snake Rivers, it accurately reflects the landscape and the life-ways of the inhabitants

      - -Howard McCord, Nominee for the

      2002 National Book Award

      MacAvity’s Pub is an adult romp, realistic fun with patriotic, down-home characters that make you smile and cheer through a plot full of waves; just when you think it’s over, it’s time for another ride. McLachlan, through his main character’s voice, makes every character come alive in their uniqueness and in their roles. His descriptions are sprinkled and not overdone, building pictures, still and moving, never dulling.

      - -Jennifer Garcia, Moscow, Idaho

      What really sticks out about MacAvity’s Pub,is not so much the driving plot, but the opportunity to share the mind of a great northwest oral historian. You get a deep sense of histories of places and people in north Idaho, Washington and parts of Montana, of the tribes and people living there and the geographies of the lands.

      - -John Brunsfeld, Chubbs-Toga Band

      I could not put this book down! Non-stop action, colorful characters, engaging descriptions of settings, even a little sexual tension: what more could you want in a book?

      - -Eric Nordquist, Pullman, Washington

      This novel will wake you up to a rousing tale of intrigue, adventure, and a kick-ass good time as a bunch of “over the hill gang” men and women take on the forces of modern day corruption and crime. I highly recommend this novel not only as a great read, but also as a thought provoking consideration of our modern day crisis in values.

      - -Alan Swanson, Olympia, Washington

      I really had a lot of things I needed to be doing...and I could not stop reading this darn book. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and now that I’m finished, I’m already missing the characters that were brought to life so well. I felt I knew them personally by the last chapter. I’m anxiously awaiting another book from this most descriptive, enjoyable author.

      - -Dave Scott, Cashmere, Washington

      Acknowledgements

      I am deeply indebted to my wife, Edie, for her painstaking and detailed editing and proofing. Her advice was sound and invaluable, and her patience unlimited. I am also thankful for the help given me by Colonel Bud Hall (ret.) whose knowledge of planes and weapons is boundless, and who gave me technical advice and proofing that kept me on the straight and narrow. Both Edie and Bud have saved my life in the past two years as well. What’s not to like about that? Dee and Randy Hall I thank for giving me permission to build a story on the incident of their Corner Bar and Restaurant being firebombed several years ago (pictures on the covers). The perpetrators have yet to be apprehended. And I would like to thank the people of our town and surrounding farms and ranches for being the sorts of kind and generous of heart people described in my books. I would also like to thank my dog, Ollie--but of course, she doesn’t know how to read...yet.

      “Colonel Puff Puff came to town.

      Burned down The Corner to the ground.

      When he saw what he had done,

      he laughed and said,

      ‘I wish they were dead!’”

      - anonymous

      (recited by a stranger who came into

      the new pub after the fire)

      Chapter One

      It sounded like someone just threw a pillow against my bedroom window...a fluff of sound heavy against the glass that woke me from a shallow sleep.

      I rolled over and looked at the time, 2:18am, and laid back again and wondered idly if I had dreamed the sound or if I should get up and check outside to see if anything was going on.

      That was when the town siren atop the fire house started its long wail. And then the water tower siren began winding up, followed by the two grain elevator sirens. Within moments the night was screaming in agony, its howling floating out over the rolling farmland like a tsunami, rattling windows and jerking people to their feet, and out onto their porches, groggy and wondering what the hell was happening. Never before had all four sirens gone off at once, and on the farms families scanned their fields heavy with grain fearing they had caught fire. But what they saw was the loom of fire lighting the sky in a bowl of smoking flame from the distant center of town. From their vantage points it appeared Ryback was burning to the ground.

      From the flood of yellow light that throbbed through my windows, it appeared to me that indeed the entire town was ablaze.

      I pulled on my jeans and shirt, stepped into my slippers, and was still buttoning as I hurried out onto the porch. I ran down the lawn just as Smoke came tearing to a stop in his jet black GMC pickup, it’s engine rumbling and the growing pillar of flames from town reflected in his windshield.

      I ran around front and climbed into the cab beside him. We were doing thirty before I had my door shut. To our right, a stream of headlights bounced and weaved and dipped from sight to reappear as every pickup and every water truck from the farms raced in to help fight the blaze.

      I glanced at Smoke who hadn’t said a word. His face was grim and set hard. He had been an Air Force colonel in Nam, an ace fighter pilot, and what he was seeing ahead of us went further than I could know.

      We slid to a halt in a jam of trucks between the elevators and what we could now see was the towering column of fire that was MacAvity’s Pub. The brick walls still stood, and the window frames of blown-out glass were