43. Grace
Chapter 43
Grace
I sit up straighter, suddenly on full alert. I strain my ears to see if I can pick up the sound again, but there’s nothing.
Get ahold of yourself, I think sternly. It’s probably an animal in the barn or something—or maybe some coyotes going after the chickens.
Damn it all. Why do coyotes have to be nocturnal hunters?
Although the men have fortified the coop against predators, I still can’t risk any animals getting in and attacking the flock, so I get out of bed, grab my robe, and quietly go downstairs. If it is an animal, I don’t want to startle it.
My heart races at the thought of what it could be if it’s not actually coyotes. We don’t really get a ton of bears around here, since they tend to stick to the woods, but you never know.
A quick check of the first floor reveals that everything seems fine inside the house. Of course it wouldn’t make sense for the sound to have been a burglar or something, but it’s hard to tamp down on that instinctive fear, no matter how hard I try to be sensible.
There aren’t any bears or anything else trying to get into the locked trash cans out the back, thank goodness. Everything is in place—or at least, that’s what I think until I look out the front window to check the porch.
A sharp gasp falls from my lips as my heart lurches.
The barn is on fire.
Oh god, no!
I rush outside, barefoot, still just in my pajamas and robe. The animals are inside, which means there’s not a second to waste. I sprint over to the barn and wrench the doors open, using every bit of my strength. It takes a lot to open them myself, but I manage it, and I’m instantly hit by a wall of heat.
I duck down low, remembering our fire drills from when we were children— duck and cover. I hunch over, basically crawling, as I fumble for the latches and doors that will set the animals free.
I’m nearly bowled over as I succeed and the horses dash out in a mad rush, whinnying and panicking. By the time they all get out of the barn, I’m flat on my back, coughing and disoriented.
The source. I have to find the source of the fire and put it out .
I can’t let the animals get hurt or all of the equipment in the barn be destroyed. With that dim thought echoing in my mind, I stagger up onto my knees and crawl again, heading toward a side wall of the barn. We have blankets for the horses on one of the shelves, if they aren’t all burned up. Maybe I can use those to fight the flames.
My thoughts feel disjointed and wild, adrenaline surging so high that I feel my limbs shaking with it. I crawl to the shelves and pull myself up, pawing for the blankets. I grab them and tug, all of them falling on top of me. I’m so dizzy and nauseous from the smoke, even trying to stay down low—it’s hard to focus.
Once I’ve got ahold of a few blankets, I drag them outside the barn. There’s a water trough in the paddock outside the barn where we keep water out for the animals, and I haul the blankets over to the trough while I hear the horses running around in the distance. I try to picture every bit of the barn in my head to make sure I haven’t forgotten any animals.
There’s still plenty of water in the trough, thankfully, and I dunk all the blankets and myself in it.
I need to find the source of the blaze.
I haul the heavy blankets out, barely able to carry them when they’re soaked with water like this, and beat them against various pockets of flame. I have to save as much of the barn as I can.
The heat is oppressive, and I can’t see anything in front of me. I can feel myself getting weaker, even as I try to put out the fire with all the water and wet fabric I can find. The smoke makes my lungs burn, and my eyes are watering—even if the smoke wasn’t making me blind, with how watery my eyes are, I wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway.
I can feel my strength waning, but I can’t stop. I have to save the barn!
Help, I think, almost to myself. It’s ridiculous for me to cry for help when we’re out in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I’m praying. Help, help, please… come on…
I just need the strength to save the barn. I just… I need…
I fall to the ground. I’m too dizzy, I can’t stop coughing. I feel so sick, so weak.
Oh god, please, someone help me…
Everything goes black.