Chapter Twenty-One
June’s eyes fluttered open as light blared in through the windows, painting the bedroom in a soft gold color.
She stretched and groaned. It had been a long night, and she was exhausted.
Far more than usual. She and Seth had stayed up and talked for hours, it seemed, before he bid her goodnight at her bedroom door.
And they’d kissed.
She’d wanted so badly to kiss him again before she walked into her room, but he hadn’t tried, and she wasn’t one to make the first move.
A blush crept up to her cheeks just remembering it.
When did things change for her?
When did she start wanting to do things like kiss Seth Whitman?
He was her husband. It seemed strange to not want to kiss him, but until last night, he’d given her no indication that he even wanted to be married to her, whether she was Annabelle or June.
It seemed like for the first time in her life, something was starting to fall into place.
And suddenly, Trey Bishop didn’t seem as daunting.
Seth had told her last night that the real Annabelle and her sisters had found new husbands.
And regardless of who started the fire, Thomas Turner was in jail.
It seemed like everything was going well in Fort Davis, for June, her friends, and Seth.
A faint smile curved her lips as she slipped out of bed and tied her hair back with a ribbon. For once, the world felt … okay.
And she felt steady atop her own feet.
That was until she noticed that the golden hue outside was flickering, and a sharp smokey smell hit her in the nose. Alarmed, she ran to the window and looked out.
Smoke.
A lot of it.
The entire night sky of stars looked murky, dark billowing puffs smudging up the window. Her heart lurched when she saw where it was coming from.
The barn.
Without thinking, she screamed. “Seth! Fire! The barn is on fire!” But when she ran across the house to his room, he was already out of bed.
She plowed outside to see him already lunging through the rising smoke and throwing open the barn doors.
One of the walls was completely taken, and the fire was spreading to the others.
She knew that as soon as the fire hit the hay, it was all over.
Seth was already heading inside to set the animals free. June leapt off the porch and her feet pounded powerfully against the earth. Her pulse roared in her ears so strongly that it nearly drowned out everything going on around her.
Quickly, she grabbed a bucket near the well at the other side of the house and began filling it with trembling and panicked hands. By the looks of the fire, though, she realized that what she was doing was probably futile.
The fire had been going on long enough. They were too high.
Too much of the barn was already gone.
Her skin felt seared even from across the yard, and Seth barked curse words as he continued to lead out as many horses as he could.
That’s how I need to help.
Quickly she grabbed the bucket, running swiftly toward the barn. The smell of burning wood and hay stung her eyes and throat, but she kept moving toward the fire. Her lungs were already heavy with smoke—and fear.
“June, no!” Seth yelled out, but she wasn’t listening.
“We got to get them out!” she screamed, pouring the bucket of water onto the pathway that the horses would take. She had to get Suzanna. Seth had already set Skip free, and even Jud, which surprised her.
This was her barn, too.
Those were her horses, too.
***
“Why did you get Jud before Suzanna?” she asked, as soon as the horses and the stabled milk cows had been set free. The barn was almost completely gone now, and all she could do with Seth was watch as the rest of it burned.
Seth sighed heavily and looked down at his feet. “Jud was my pa’s horse. I couldn’t stand the thought of him burnin’ up in there. It wasn’t smart. Suzanna is a better horse. I should have gotten all my strong horses out first…”
June watched as he gripped the brim of his hat tightly in rage. His jaw was set, but a small tear rested at the corner of his eye.
She nodded. She understood.
She’d have to be a terrible person not to understand.
She took a step toward him and lay a hand on his arm. “We need to ride into town and let Henry know there was an accident—”
“This wasn’t an accident,” Seth muttered under his breath as he threw his hat down angrily.
His words hit June like a punch. She thought of the night when the horses had gotten loose… and she realized that he was right. Fires didn’t just start on their own—not like this.
A knot of dread coiled in her stomach as her mind raced.
Turner.
But that was impossible. He was in jail.
Then it hit her. A name. A face. A realization so chilling it made her blood run cold. Hazel’s boyfriend—Asher. Trey’s right-hand man.
Of course.
Her legs felt unsteady all over again as the pieces fell into place. Who else other than Thomas was capable of something like this?
Trey Bishop.
A hundred times: Trey Bishop.
And if Trey wasn’t there himself, Asher was plenty capable of doing it for him. He must have done it.
June’s vision blurred, and she stumbled back a step, struggling to steady herself. She had to act—and fast. The barn was beyond saving, but the rest of the ranch could still be protected. The town could be protected. Her friends.
Seth.
She needed help—but more than that, she needed to warn her friends.
Etta. Ada. They had to know.
“I’ll get help,” she called out to Seth, already turning to run to Suzanna. “I’ll bring Henry and Jack!”
Her heart pounded as she clambered on bareback, indifferent to the discomfort, the urgency in her chest growing stronger with every second that passed. But her body was shaking so much that she struggled to pull herself upright.
“June…” Seth jogged behind her. “When you find Henry and Jack, you tell them that if Thomas Turner was behind this, I’ll kill him myself…”
June closed her eyes briefly and nodded, already knowing that Turner almost definitely had nothing to do with this.
The fire was a message. A message for her. And that message was loud and clear: This isn’t over.
Not by a long shot.
***
The ride to Etta’s homestead felt like an eternity. June would start there, since she knew that Henry was very likely still home at this hour in the morning. Suzanna’s hooves pounded relentlessly into the dirt, vibrating June’s entire body. Her stomach was already doing cartwheels.
“Easy girl!” she yelled out, shifting her weight backwards on Suzanna’s rump to come to a halt outside of Henry and Etta’s house. Etta was seeing Henry off on the porch when she arrived.
“June?” Etta’s brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
June dismounted quickly, her legs shaky. “The barn… It’s gone. Burned down this morning.”
Both Etta and Henry’s eyes widened. “What? How?” Henry’s face went pale.
“Someone set it on fire,” June said, her voice trembling and then she looked at Etta, swallowing hard. “I… I think it was Asher Burns.”
“Asher Burns…” Etta trailed off, confused—and then a shocked look came over her. “Trey Bishop’s man?”
June nodded, her throat tight. “I recognized him when I saw him in town, but I couldn’t place where…”
Etta crossed her arms, her face scrunching with incredulity. “ June, are you sure? It could’ve been someone else—someone working for Turner, maybe, or even an accident. Fires happen.”
“No,” June insisted, her voice sharp and final. “This wasn’t an accident. And Turner is in jail. Asher Burns and Trey Bishop makes sense.”
“That man Asher Burns?” Henry frowned, looking skeptical. “I don’t know, June. Looks to me like you may be jumping to conclusions before we have any proof.”
June’s frustration bubbled over, her voice rising. “Why won’t you believe me? Don’t you see what’s happening? This isn’t over! Trey may not be here, but his pal Asher Burns is here, and he’s sending a message!”
Etta placed a calming hand on her arm, but June pulled away, her chest heaving. “I’m not imagining things!” she said, desperately, pulling her friend off to the side. “Please, we need to be ready. We need to protect ourselves.”
“We’ll keep an eye out,” Henry said carefully, trying his best to soothe her. Or, it seemed, to pacify her. “You’ve been through a lot this morning. How about you ride back home, and I’ll round up some men to come help Seth fix up his barn?”
June just stared at the two of them, her heart hammering in her ears. She felt like she was talking to a wall.
They weren’t going to listen to anything.
“Fine,” she said, her voice clipped as she looked at Etta, feeling a bit betrayed. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
With that, she turned on her heel and stormed back to Suzanna. Mounting quickly, she rode off, her thoughts even more dire than before.