Chapter Twenty-Four
“Belle! Simon! Oh, God! No!” Madelaine jumped out of the carriage and ran to the burning house, looking for a way inside to save her siblings, but the fire burned too hot and pushed her back. “Please, God! Nooooo!” she screamed her heart out. Tears were running down her face.
“Madelaine! Stay back! You can’t go in there!” Luke yelled as he grabbed her by the shoulders, physically trying to drag her away. She fought against him with all her might.
“The children are in there! We need to save them! Luke! Let me go!” Madelaine struggled against him like a wild woman, but it was no use. He was too strong. He pulled her tightly against his heaving chest and held her there. “I can’t lose them! I cannot lose them!”
They watched as roaring flames spewed high up into the night sky, howling and whistling as they licked around every single beam and plank. Glass burst, wood cracked, and huge embers flew out from all sides when the roof suddenly caved in right in front of them.
Madelaine screamed until her voice broke. Sinking to her knees, she cried so hard she couldn’t breathe. “They’re all I have left!” she wailed. “Please, God! Please don’t let them die! Please!”
The heat of the fire was so intense, it melted the snow around them, and parts of her new dress got singed when white-hot embers flew close enough to land on it.
Luke hit the smoldering parts with his hands to put them out.
Meanwhile, Madelaine just stared at the burning house, feeling utterly useless.
She didn’t immediately react to Evelyn’s calling. She kept staring helplessly into the roaring fire as her heart shattered into a million pieces. Then she felt hands on her shoulders again, but these were softer. She saw Evelyn’s face in front of her as she shook her.
“Madelaine! Madelaine! They’re safe!” she yelled at her. “Simon and Belle are safe!”
Madelaine was in such shock, her befuddled brain couldn’t function. “They’re safe?” She didn’t dare to hope. “Are you sure?” she asked.
Evelyn nodded, wiping the tears from Madelaine’s face. “Yes. I am sure.”
Madelaine looked around as she struggled to get back on her feet. “Where are they?”
“We brought them to Timothy’s ranch,” Evelyn explained, “It’s safer there.” Although Madelaine could hear the words she was saying, she needed a couple of seconds to climb out of the dark hole she’d slipped into. They’re safe.
Madelaine jumped into her friend’s arms and let her tears run freely, but this time they were from pure relief. “Oh, thank you! Thank You, God! Thank you!”
The sound of crashing wood made them jump backwards, and all of them watched as the walls of the house collapsed into the flames, one by one. That’s when Madelaine spun around to look for Luke.
He stood a couple of feet away from them, staring at the roaring fire with a heaving chest. His shoulders were sunken in, his face expressing utter devastation, shock, and bewilderment. Madelaine’s heart went out to him.
“Luke!” She ran to him and slung her arms around his body.
“I am so sorry!” She cried. Luke seemed to be in a stupor, because he didn’t react at first. “Belle and Simon are safe!” Madelaine said to him, trying to reassure him, and he looked down at her, nodded with a sad smile, but then he stared back at the flames again.
“Take her away!” Caleb called out to Evelyn as he rushed toward Luke, “Take her to Timothy’s!”
Evelyn pulled Madelaine away from the burning building, even though Madelaine didn’t want to leave Luke like this.
She watched as Caleb joined him and put his hand on Luke’s shoulder.
Luke lowered his head, and although she couldn’t see it, Madelaine saw his shoulders shake as he doubled over.
She knew Luke was crying. It was utterly heartbreaking, but she understood that Luke wouldn’t want to cry in front of her, so she turned her back to him.
The tears rolling down her cheeks were now entirely for Luke.
“How did this happen?” Madelaine screamed helplessly, while she followed Evelyn’s lead, as she rushed Madelaine back to the small carriage Tinsel was still hitched to. As soon as Madelaine saw her, she ran to her.
“Oh, Tinsel! Are you all right?” The mare’s eyes were wide with fear, and she reared her head in obvious distress. “I’m so sorry, I just left you there!” Madelaine sobbed. Lifting her hand to stroke the mare, she noticed how much her fingers were trembling. “All of this is just terrible!”
She turned around to Evelyn, who patiently waited next to her, although she seemed to be shaking herself. “How did this happen?” Madelaine asked again, a little quieter this time.
“I had just put the little ones to bed when Buster started to howl,” Evelyn explained.
“He wouldn’t stop. Caleb was on his way to bring Jeremy and the wagon back to the barn when he saw strange men lurking around at the back.
They were arguing with Alvarez…” Evelyn choked, and it was then that Madelaine realized how shook up she was. She hugged her tightly.
“Oh, no! Is he all right?” Madelaine asked, genuinely worried about the man as she looked into the direction of the barn, although she wasn’t able to see past all the smoke and flames.
Now that they were a safe distance away from the roar of the fire, Madelaine could hear yelling and calls in the distance, but she couldn’t distinguish who it was.
Were those the criminals who had attacked the ranch?
Would they come after Luke and Caleb now?
“I don’t know!” Evelyn exclaimed, clearly worried.
“He held those men up as long as he could so Caleb could come back to get us all!” Now Evelyn started crying too.
“He loaded us all onto the wagon, and told me to drive it to Timothy’s ranch, because ours wouldn’t be safe anymore either, if those men had come to vandalize the place…
We are right next door.” She choked a sob as she looked over to their house, then back to the burning building.
“Who’s with the children now?” Madelaine asked, full of worry. She couldn’t think straight.
“Mary is watching them, Timothy’s housekeeper.
His ranch is on the other side of Stevensville, further south…
” Evelyn said as she released a nervous sigh.
She squeezed Madelaine’s hands so hard it was almost painful.
“I came back as quickly as I could, because I didn’t know where Caleb was.
He and Alvarez were fighting with those men in the barn, but there were more of them, and they went after the house… ”
Madelaine’s eyes went wide. “So it was just those two against all of them?” she exclaimed in shock, looking back at Caleb standing with Luke. “Did they get hurt?”
“I don’t really know yet,” Evelyn said. “Caleb seems to be okay. I haven’t seen Alvarez. I think Timothy immediately sent some of his men to help them. They arrived before I did. I just got back here myself,” Evelyn continued in a rush. Her words came like a waterfall.
“I need to see the children! Please, take me to them!” Madelaine pleaded then, and both women quickly climbed into the buggy.
Evelyn took the reins, and the mare was so eager to go, the whole buggy jolted as she started pulling away.
Madelaine turned back, wanting to see Luke, but the kicked-up snow and speed of the carriage didn’t allow it, although the fiery, bright orange sky was visible almost all the way into town.
On their way there, Madelaine saw several riders rushing past them toward Luke’s ranch. She didn’t recognize any of them, but the fact that they didn’t attack the women told her that these were probably townsfolk trying to help.
Tinsel didn’t let up until Evelyn had to pull the reins hard to get her to slow down enough to turn into the road leading up to Timothy’s ranch, and then again to get her to stop.
The mare was clearly agitated, but Madelaine only had eyes for her little brother, who came barreling out the front door of the house. “Maddie!”
“Simon!” she called to him, stumbling onto her knees right in front of him as he jumped into her arms. She cried so hard she couldn’t breathe for a moment as she clung to him with all her might until the boy pushed against her ever so slightly.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt?” she asked him, looking him over from head to toe.
“I’m not hurt,” he said, as he slung his arms around her again. “They didn’t get me.”
A violent sob escaped Madelaine’s chest when she heard him say that.
“And Belle?” she asked, looking up to the lit entrance of the house.
She saw a middle-aged woman standing there, holding Belle in her arms. Belle seemed perfectly content, playing with the woman’s thick, dark blonde braid loosely hanging over her shoulder.
“She’s fine,” the woman said, reassuringly. “Please come inside. You must be so cold. My name is Mary.”
As soon as Madelaine entered the house, Mary handed Belle over to her, and Madelaine felt that she could finally catch her breath. “Sweet, sweet girl! I am so very glad you’re safe and well!” she said to Belle, who was utterly oblivious as to what had happened.
“Thank the Heavenly Father that you all got here safe!” Mary exclaimed as she took Simon’s hand, and Madelaine’s eyes filled with tears full of gratitude.
“Yes, thank the Lord!” Madelaine said, closing her eyes, as she buried her nose in Belle’s soft curls to inhale her scent. “I pray that nobody got hurt, and that all will return well.”
***
Luke could feel Caleb’s hand on his shoulder, but not much else. His feet were numb, his hands were useless, and his heart was so heavy he thought he’d fall to his knees any second now.
Watching his house burn, hearing the howl of the flames, the crashing and splintering of breaking wood, brought it all back again as if the last five years hadn’t happened.
Everything came flooding back, and the dark shadows of his past threatened to overwhelm him once more.
All his energy drained out of him, and he could barely stand.
Caleb spoke next to him, but he didn’t hear a word he said. His head seemed to be covered in cotton wool, and apart from the roaring flames, there was nothing else.
“Luke!” Caleb yelled then, as he grabbed both of his shoulders and shook them. “Luke!”
When he looked up at Caleb, something snapped. “Where are they?” he asked as he tried to turn around.
“Evelyn took the children and Madelaine to Timothy’s ranch. They’re safe there,” Caleb said imploringly, albeit somewhat out of breath. His face was black with soot, and there was a little blood on his cheek. It looked like a small cut.
“Timothy’s ranch…” Luke repeated, not really sure how he felt about that, although it made sense. “Which is where?”
“Just to the south of Stevensville,” Caleb explained. Luke was surprised to learn that the man had stayed this close after he supposedly self-exiled. None of that mattered now.
Suddenly, there were several men stepping around the house toward them. Luke recognized some of their faces. These men were townsfolk.
“The horses are all gone,” announced one.
“And they stole a handful of saddles, tack, and other stuff,” another one said.
“They tried to burn the barn, too,” a third supplied.
“By the time we got here, they’d already taken off,” a deep voice said from the back.
“They got smarter, because this time they dispersed into three groups, riding off in different directions so the few of us couldn’t follow,” the deep voice continued.
When Luke looked up, he saw a familiar face as the man stepped through the group of men toward the front.
He stopped right in front of him, and Luke held his breath.
“How are you, son?” Timothy asked gently. When Luke didn’t immediately react, the older man pulled him into a tight embrace. He just held him there, and Luke didn’t fight it. In this moment, he couldn’t. When Timothy released him from his strong hold, Luke took a step back.
The man hadn’t changed much in all those years—still tall and well-built, still wore his silver hair short, his gray beard trimmed, and his green eyes were still as clear as they’d always been. He was still very much Isabelle’s father, because she had the same eyes.
In this moment, with his ranch destroyed, his ranch hand missing, and all his horses stolen, Luke didn’t have the strength to push back and fight him.
He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to fall back into that black hole again.
Right now, he needed all the help he could get.
But more than anything, he craved peace.
Without a word, he stepped toward Timothy and embraced him again.