Chapter 42
Everybody Hurts – R.E.M.
Gunner
The noise was horrific. A high-pitched screech wailing like a wounded animal caught in a trap.
“Gunner, what is that?” Cassidy sat up as I jumped out of bed and grabbed my jeans from the floor.
“I have to go, sweetheart. It’s the fire alarm!” Panicked blood rushed through my veins, urging me forward.
Cassidy threw back the covers and dropped her feet to the floor. “My clothes, where are they?”
“No way, I want you to stay here safe.” I pulled a t-shirt over my head at the same time as shoving my feet into my boots. “It’s at the stables.”
“I’m coming.” Her tone was no nonsense, and I didn’t have time to argue with her.
As I pulled the bedroom door open and rushed onto the landing, Nash and Wilder were already there. Nash was fully dressed while Wilder was hopping on one leg pulling on a boot.
“The fire department should already be on their way,” I yelled as I ran down the stairs in front of my brothers. “The ranch and stable hands know the drill.”
The three of us ran down the stairs and out of the house as fast as we could toward the stables. My heartbeat was thudding, fear screaming through me as huge orange flames licked against the night sky from the direction of the stables.
“Wilder, you head to the paddock and get the gate open so I can herd the horses in that direction,” I yelled over my shoulder. “Nash, you come with me and help get the horses.”
“What about me?”
Cassidy was running alongside me pulling her hair up into a ponytail. I stopped and grabbed hold of her arm.
“Sweetheart, please go back to the house.”
“No.” She jutted out her chin. “Now get moving and tell me what you need me to do.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her along with me.
“You swap with Wilder.” If I couldn’t keep her safe at the house I could at least keep her away from the fire.
“When the horses come your way, keep well back. They’ll be spooked as it is, and I do not want you getting trampled by them.
” The idea made me feel like I might puke. “Promise me, Cassidy.”
“Okay, okay, I swear.” As soon as I let her go she ran away in the direction of the paddock.
“I’ll come with you two.” Wilder ran up beside me. “I’ll steer them toward the paddock and make sure Cassidy is safe.”
“Thanks, Wild. I appreciate it.”
When we got to the stables the sight was petrifying.
Our fire process had already started with the ranch hands working on the fire with extinguishers and the fire hose we had permanently fixed up to a hydrant.
The far end of the stables was engulfed in flames and the guys were already bringing horses out of the stables, the ranch horses that were pretty much bomb proof, but the fire was creeping steadily toward the horses still in there.
“I need to get to the other horses,” I told Nash as the sound of squealing animals pierced the air. It was shrill and horrific.
“No point me telling you to wait for the fire truck is it?” Nash asked.
“We don’t have time. Wild, can you help the guys move the ranch horses to the paddock? Nash come with me.” As we rushed toward the stables Mikey came out leading Mother’s Pride by a rope. “How many left in there?” I cried over the noise.
“Another four and Ariel.” His eyes were wide with fear because he knew how much that horse meant to me. “She’s in the end stable, boss.”
Right next to the partition wall on the other side of the fire.
For a split second, I saw Mom again, her gentle smile as she brushed Ariel’s mane, telling me how this horse would outlive us all.
How she was special. The memory vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by desperate urgency.
“Fuck!” Without thinking about it I ran into the stable desperate to get to my mom’s horse.
“Mikey get that horse to Wilder and then come back and help Nash with the rest.”
“Just point him toward the paddock, Mikey,” Nash called over his shoulder. “We can round them up later if we have to. We just need to get them away from here.”
“Okay.” Mikey slapped the horse's ass and yelled at it to run.
“I’m going in for Ariel,” I announced.
“Boss, be careful.”
The heat inside the stables was like being in the pit of a furnace.
Blistering and red with choking smoke creeping like a poisonous cloud into the air.
The stench of burning wood and hay filled my nostrils, mixing with the sharp scent of fear-soaked horse sweat.
My lungs burned with each breath, my eyes watering and narrow.
I pulled my shirt collar up over my mouth, knowing it would do little against the thickening cloud, but needing to keep moving forward.
The bitter taste of smoke coated my tongue despite the makeshift barrier and, as I ran toward Ariel’s stall, all I wanted to do was cover my ears from the horrific noise that was screaming from the scared animals.
I had to get to Mom’s horse, though, I had to save her.
Behind me I heard Nash unbolt each stall and yell at the horses to get them moving. He was right, the best thing to do was to let them loose and then just herd them to safety. The worst that could happen was that they’d end up loose on our land.
The heat pressed against my back like a living thing, searing through my t-shirt as I pushed forward, almost at Ariel’s stall when I heard a loud crack.
It startled her and caused her to rear up, kicking her front legs against the door.
As she bashed hard against them a splintering sound had me looking up.
The partition wall started to gape open like a newly inflicted wound, getting wider as shards of wood started to splinter and drop onto Ariel. The screech she made was horrifying.
“Gunner!” Nash’s yell came just as a beam cracked above me and fell into the stall.
“Ariel!” The scream didn’t sound like it was coming from me.
It was someone else. Someone watching the horror unfold.
It was too loud, too terrified to be me.
I couldn’t move, my legs felt leaden even though I desperately needed to move.
If I didn’t, I would be gone with her, but I couldn’t leave her.
I had to still try even though I knew it was impossible.
Rushing to the stall I reached for the bolt but pulled my hand back as the heat burned my palm.
Pulling my t-shirt over my hand I reached for it again.
There was another crack above me. For a surreal moment, everything seemed to slow.
The roar of the fire dimmed in my ears, and I could see every detail with crystal clarity; the sweat on Ariel’s coat catching the orange light, the smoke particles dancing in the air, the pattern of the flames consuming the wooden beams. Then reality crashed back in.
When I glanced up I knew my time was done, and the image in my head wasn’t of my own life flashing before my eyes—it was of Cassidy.
Her whiskey-colored eyes crinkled at the corners as she laughed, her hand reaching for mine like she had just hours ago.