War in Kanawha County

Melvin Dickinson sat in the back seat making no comment. They passed Midway Elementary School and the tension in the car was electric. They drove on. There were no cars or evidence of life. About a mile above the school, they came to a fork in the road, stopped and turned around. This time, when they got near the school, Stevens turned off the lights and the engine. The car coasted to a stop just a few yards from the school. All three got out of the car. Stevens went to the rear of the car and opened the trunk. He reached in, got an object and closed the trunk lid. He handed the object to Rose. Rose stood there for a moment while Stevens walked down the road and Dickinson walked up the road; all this according to a prearranged plan. Stevens and Dickinson were to make certain no innocent passers-by would be caught in what was about to take place. When Rose was satisfied they had each gone far enough, he walked toward the school building a short distance away. Both the other men were watching in his direction anxiously. They saw a match flare briefly, then the spewing of sparks. That signaled the fuse had been lit. The slight tinkle of glass breaking was heard, and then the sparkling disappeared. That meant the bomb was inside the school and they had exactly five minutes to get to the car and get out of here. They didn’t waste a single second. All three hit the car at a dead run at about the same time. The doors had been left open on purpose so it was just a matter of firing the finely tuned engine; it started on the first turn. The wheels were turning before the doors were closed, starting with the lights off so as not to arouse anyone too soon. Two minutes had passed and their speed had picked up to forty-five. “You think it will do any good?” asked Rose to break the tension. “Can’t hurt,” answered Stevens as he pressed the accelerator harder, the speedometer was climbing to sixty. “Not unless we get caug-“….the rest of Rose’s remark was drowned out by the thunder of the dynamite bomb going off. With caution being of no further use, Stevens floor-boarded the gas pedal. The car roared out of the mouth of Campbell’s Creek, careened left and headed upriver away from Charleston. That’s where the police would be coming from.