Mary didn't want to get rid of her happiness through smiles and tears for the people in the dining room. She had Judge Travis and Chris to share the joy and Billy had his grandfather, mother, the man he looked up to, and his two friends with him. The night couldn't be better yet. This was all for her son and Mary was only relieved Chris accepted the invitation and Billy was the happiest child in town, probably in the whole world at the moment.

          Mary swallowed down her unrepentant bliss and grabbed the small candle sticks and placed them gently into the butter cake. She counted eight candles altogether then found a book of matches in the cabinet above her and began to light the first candle. When she was finished, the happiness clogged in her throat dissolved, and she put back on her wide smile and picked the cake up with both hands and headed toward the door.

          Mary stopped just as she reached the door separating she from the others, and took a second to study over the candles that seemed to be flicking rather than just burning normally like any other candlewick. She wondered about the candles but from a loud rumble of laughter coming from the other side of the door, she put her wonders away and hit her back against the swinging door and Mary walked back in to greet her son with his birthday cake.

          "Happy Birthday, Billy," Mary exclaimed as she walked carefully toward her son and watching his eyes widen the closer she came.

          "Oh, WOW!" Billy cried out. His eyes were as big as saucers as Mary set the cake in front of his place, the candles flickering out of control.

          "You made that Mary?" Judge Travis asked, amazed.

          "Yes, I did." Mary had no problem being honest when it came to her work. She took a second to look away from her beaming son at Chris sitting at the end of the table. He was just as much surprised as the young boy he took into his care. Chris sat up higher in his chair and watched Billy look around the room, the lights flickering off the ceiling's reflection.

          "That looks some good, Mrs. Travis!" Jordan Potter said then clapped his hands. Lily joined in with him just the same happy as everyone else in the room. Chris glanced over at the two siblings and smiled. Mary could see the shimmer in his green eyes, the relaxation in his body, the peace of mind in his appearance. And Mary was happy she could do a little something to bring him those emotions again.

          "Can we sing the birthday song?" Lily Potter asked.

          Mary nodded, "Of course. Who wants to begin?"

          "I do!" Billy shouted.

          "No, silly, you can't. We're singing it for you." Jordan said.

          "I'll start," Judge Travis said. He took a deep breath, looking around the room before landing his eyes on his grandson. "Happy birthday to you..."

          Jordan and Lily joined with him, and Mary stood behind her son, a hand on his shoulder, also singing the notes. Chris eyeballed Billy, his smile widening with every breath he took, and bits of bashful red blemishes outlined his cheekbones. Billy was shy, embarrassed, but above everything, happy. His family, his friends were singing for him on his special day and Chris was just content to be in the room with all these loved people. The one feeling he thought he'd never again consider.

          As the song slowly came to a finish, the high pitched voices vibrated the room, and the candle lights above started to flicker, and so did the candles on the birthday cake. As Mary thought before, Chris found the candles something unusual, out of the sort, not like real candles.

          To his deepest instinct of a gunslinger, Chris sat up in his chair from his slump position and lifted his hat off his brow to look better in the dark room. Strangely, the candles were more sparking than flickering. The candles....Chris couldn't stop looking at the candles that Billy would soon put his mouth down toward and blow at. Soon that admiration about the gathering turned to strict bothersome as Chris watched the candles slowly die down to the wick. And regular candles didn't do that. He had to keep repeating that to himself over and over. Candlesticks stayed lit and waited to be blown out, not travel down the length of the candle. The only candles that did that were....

          Happy Birthday dear Billy! Happy Birthday to you!

          "Get down!!" Chris shouted and flung his body across the room on top of Mary and Billy. Judge Travis grabbed the Potter children and shielded them with his stiff frame as the cake exploded.

          Billy screamed out and Mary held onto her son, tucking his head underneath her armpit as Chris covered the both of them with his back to the exploding cake, coming and going in three, four bursts. Cake batter flew everywhere, soaring across the room, smacking against the walls, coming down on Chris's backside. The cake stuck to the ground by Judge Travis's face and he could smell the fresh smoke and flames, and a little scent of the blueberry icing. Cries began to wail out, and the Judge tried to calm the Potter children, but it was no use. The children were horrified, kicking and screaming under him.

          Chris shot up after he knew the worse was over and Travis and he caught sight of fire catching on Mary's satin curtains and Chris tossed the glass of water he had for dinner on the flames, and then suddenly the door flew open and Vin and Buck rush inside to see what had happened.

          Billy cried out loud and clear in the darkness, and over the roaring flames of the cake. With deepest strength, Chris jerked his body up after he knew the firework show was over and quickly pulled the dining cloth over the cake's flames to put what was left out.

          Mary cradled her son in her arms, whispering tender words into his ear as he cried harder. Judge Travis sat up and released the Potter children curled up in the other's body. Being young for his age, Jordan Potter did everything in his complete power to protect his little sister. After Travis knew Chris had put out the fire and the place was clear enough to stand up and move around again, he helped the Potter children to their feet. Jordan still clutched onto Lily as they stood.

          "You okay, son?" Travis asked the Potter boy. The boy didn't speak and Lily did more of the doing and cried out. The child was mortified at what had just happened and she was not alone. Travis rubbed her back to soothe her cries before standing to his own feet and looked around the place, at the mess and the cake batter splattered everywhere. He looked across the table to meet Chris's heated glare.

          He saw on the gunslingers face that this was no accident but bewildered as hell as to why this happened and who had the disgusting decency to do a thing like this to a child. Especially to a child he adored.

          The town had been peaceful for the last two weeks, why this all of a sudden on this night? Chris couldn't figure it out and that ticked him off. Someone had snuck behind his back and planted explosives into a child's birthday cake. Though they weren't large bombs they were enough to scare a little person and that heated Chris even more.

          "What the hell just happened?" Buck asked.

          Mary stood up, holding her son to her and glanced at Chris for any answers or suspicions he may had. Too shaken to ask any of the questions herself, Mary held Billy close to her chest, tightening her grip on him every time his cries deepened.

          "Is everyone all right?" Chris asked, checking the place out. He walked around the table to seek the other two frightened children. He bent down before Lily Potter in tears as she held her brother's hand. Cake batter was stuck in her brown curls, her tears running down her cheeks to soak up any other blue icing that made its mark on her frightened face.

          Chris was sympathetic for the child. He switched his look from the little girl to Jordan standing closely beside her, holding her hand just as strong. Chris reached his hand to the table and took a cloth, dabbed a tip in a glass of water, and brought his hand back down to wipe away the icing from Lily's face.

          "It's all right, girl." Chris said as softly as he could through anger. He then looked over his shoulder at his comrades. "Anybody have any enemies in town I should know about?"

          Judge Travis shook his head and ran a hand through his thinning hair. "Whoever the hell it is, they have some real gut to scare children like this. Thank God the explosives were minor."

          Chris closed his eyes, taking away Lily's streaked-teary face, and aiming his hate at the person who did this to these children. To one little boy who didn't deserve it, but did deserve the best dinner on his birthday. All he got was his cake blown to bits that his mother slaved over.

          Mary....

          Chris stood from the floor and looked across the kitchen at Mary, silent and crying, as Billy wept soundly on her shoulder. Chris would rather break every bone in his body instead of seeing a child cry. Let alone Billy who reminded him so much of his Adam. He cried out for the child but kept his distance because this was no time to get close to Mary and the boy. He had to find answers and the only way to do that was make his comrades take notice and follow his orders. Chris turned toward Vin standing behind him, and looked at one then the other.

          "Vin, go out and check the perimeter. Sometimes these guys like to watch." Chris ordered and Vin was gone the next second. "Buck, see if you can't go down to the saloon and do some questionin'. Scope the place out to see if anyone looks new in town."

          Buck nodded, "If these jokers are still in the area, you can bet they won't be leavin'." And then he left.

          As Chris was turning around, he heard a wail coming from outside the Clarion front doors and turned back around just in time to step out of the way of a running in hysterics Gloria Potter. Jordan and Lily perked up and ran into their mother's open arms and Gloria wrapped them in her strong, worrisome hold and cried.

          "My babies! Oh, my babies!" Gloria cried out. "Are you both okay?" she pulled away to look at both Jordan and Lily in the eyes to find only terror and tears. She pulled them back into her body and patted down their heads. As her children cried, Gloria looked up and into Chris's anger burning eyes for some answers.

          "What happened?" she asked, then as she did she looked over at Mary, still holding Billy tight. "Oh, my Mary....is Billy okay?" Mary didn't look up, but she nodded against Billy's soft hair. Gloria looked back up at Chris. "Mr. Larabee, tell me what happened?"

          Chris took off his hat to mess with and control his raging anger he did not want to reveal then. Not when everyone was in tears. "It's hard to tell this soon, ma'am. But whatever happened, I'll get to the bottom of it."

          Gloria accepted his answer then stood with Jordan and Lily hooked on her arms. She did not want to put herself and her children in danger anymore and instead of waiting around to get some answers, Gloria figured it'd be best to leave Mary and Billy, and their home up to the professionals. She knew she could put her trust in the men who protected the town day after day. She was not worried they'd get things set and back in order. What she was more worried about now was her children and how this event would do to them. She grabbed for their hands and led them out of the Clarion doors without another word spoken.

          Chris watched JD and Ezra running up to the Clarion just as they passed Gloria on her way out. The gunslinger walked small distance to JD and said, "JD, follow Mrs. Potter home. Make sure she gets there safely."

          JD nodded with questions he had to ask about what had happened. Before he did what Chris requested, JD looked around the dining room, already having his own speculations then he was gone.

          Mary looked outside the window where she stood and disgusted all the attention they were getting from the look of a crowd gathering around outside the Clarion. Billy's cry got louder and Mary rocked him back and forth, rubbing his head but he still wouldn't stop. She looked outside the window at the small crowd and suddenly she was livid and upset and in tears. Mary didn't like the attention and she told Chris so as she squeezed her son a little tighter. She didn't look at Judge Travis or JD and even Josiah as they all gathered in the doorway, trying to push back onlookers. She gripped Billy and turned to find the spiral stairway leading up to their bedrooms.

          Chris watched Mary and Billy leave then saw Nathan walk in the room, asking if anyone was injured. Just then Vin walked back into the room.

          "Find anything?" Chris asked.

          "Nothing but weeds and dirt," Vin said then added. "But Mary's kitchen window was cracked open."
          "Maybe she left it open." Josiah said.

          Chris shook his head. That didn't seem likely being in the middle of fall and the nights in Four Corners were ghastly cold. "Vin-Josiah-stand guard around here. Nathan and Ezra will come to replace you in a few hours." Chris turned to the door when Buck and JD walked back in. He asked the two if they could start cleaning the cake mess. Judge Travis offered to help the men, too, but he had to catch his breath and reconsider what had just happened a few minutes ago. Then he thought of his grandson and wondered how he might be feeling, to see if he was still crying.

          "It's all right, Travis. I think Billy needs you more up there instead of down here. We'll clean up the place." Chris said then exchanged handshakes with the Judge and watched him walk up the stairs with one foot in front of the other. Chris could tell he was still shook up about the sudden attack, but he had to side his emotions to the back of his head and concentrate on finding the bastards who did this.

          Nathan circled around the dining table, looking at the cake mess, the singed curtains, the fresh pork and potatoes Mary had fixed for supper. He bent down in front of the cake, the corners still together and examined the burnt dynamite. He was no lawman or detective, just a doctor, but he had his clues and suspicions. He looked over his shoulder at Buck and JD starting to clean the place up, and Nathan stood abruptly telling them to stop.

          "What's the matter?" JD asked, dropping his damp washcloth on the table.

          "Don't clean up just yet. I think if we look around here a bit, we might find some evidence to what happened exactly." Nathan said.

          "What do you mean? We know what happened. Someone planted sticks of dynamite into Billy's cake and it exploded. End of theory and any evidence." Buck said.

          "This could be an accident," the healer argued.

          Chris listened in and decided to step in, "Why do you suspect that, Nathan?"

          "I don't know, Chris. It's just a feeling I'm having'."

          "What?" Chris asked.

          "This could have been accident instead of attempted murder. We gotta look at both sides here. Maybe Mary accidentally bought the wrong kind of candles. Where did she buy them from, you know?" Nathan asked, walking around the table to stand by Chris.

          "She must have bought them in Mrs. Potter's store since it being the only store in town." Buck said.

          Chris shook his head, "No, I don't believe this to be some accident, and I don't believe Mary would have bought something that could have cost lives. The people she-" he drew his hands into fists and squeezed. "Drop that theory, Nathan."

          Outside the Clarion doors the crowd began to thin out and Vin told Josiah he was going to check out by the kitchen window one more time to make sure he didn't miss anything. Since it being dark and late in the night, it would have been hard for any man to find a clue or a piece of evidence but Vin wasn't like any other man. He use to hunt in the night, kill in the dark to the point of not seeing where he was going, not even a hand in front of his face. He was use to this, and he had to find something that could lead to the one responsible.

          As Vin rounded the corner of the building, he stooped down low beneath the window, feeling along the jagged edge of the wooded siding, sticking his fingers in the wet grass. It took him a minute in the dark to feel around what he might be looking for, and truth Vin didn't know what exactly until a small sleek stick slid between his fingers. He picked up what fell into his hand and put it up to his face, under his nose to sniff it, then brought it to his eyes to take a better look.

          It was small, almost the length of his index finger with a candlewick. The dynamite wick was wet and looked as if it had been lit but a dud. Vin felt around the grass again until he hand swiped over a mound of the same size, same feel, same black dud.

          To Vin's first thought was that maybe it had been a couple of local boys up to no good knowing it was Billy's birthday and they wanted to spook the little guy. That speculation left a nasty taste in his mouth, and he grabbed a handful of the dynamites, stood back up, and stalked back around the Clarion to the front doors.

          Chris stood outside the Clarion doors, arms loose at his sides, first still tight closing around his fingers. He thought about Mary and Billy and the fact that his birthday party had been ruined. A good decent night had been a disaster because someone decided to have a little fun. Hadn't the boy suffered enough after the bad guys who killed his father tried to come after him?

          "Chris," Vin said, coming around the corner.

          Chris turned his attention on the bounty hunter, "Find something?"

          "Yeah," Vin said and stuck out his hand full of the burnt candles. "Sticks of dynamite lookin' like birthday candles."

          Chris picked one up and looked at him in detail. "All duds?"

          "The ones that wouldn't work which might mean there might have been an even bigger explosion. One that might have cost lives."

          "Like Mary and Billy."

          Vin looked away from the gunslinger. "We shouldn't leave them alone, Chris. Not even out of sight until we uncover these guys."

          Chris looked away from Vin's concerned glare and back into the house. He watched JD and Nathan wipe down the table and carry the uneaten food back into the kitchen. His focused shifted when Buck came walking out and asked if they uncovered anything yet. Vin told Buck what he knew and Chris remained silent, remembering what had happened. Then Buck pulled at his hat brim and Chris jolted his look on his old friend.

          "What?"

          Buck wiped a piece of blue frosting from Chris's hat and stuck the left over in his mouth, tasting it. "Hmm, blueberry."

          Right then Chris remembered he was covered in cake batter. He looked down at his clothes. The clean shirt he washed earlier was smeared in mix, his black pants lit to a shade of blue splotches, and his boots were meshed with crumbs. He breathed in deeply, held his breath, then released and turned his back on Buck and Vin and headed down the street.

          "Where you goin'?" Vin called out.