Sentence:  Along Wappinger Creek in Dutchess County , past the white church at Fishkill , past Verplanck 's Point on the east bank of the Hudson , to the white salt crusted roads of the Long Island Rockaways there was a watching and an activity of preparing for something explosive to <WSD>happen</WSD> . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance