Chapter 18
Bright orange flames had engulfed the far corner of the old building and were licking greedily up the side.
“Jeff!” she screamed, flicking on the lamp so she could find her clothes. Where was her phone? Where were her jeans? She seized her phone from the bedside table. Who to call? She didn’t know the emergency number for Canada. Stay calm, she told herself. Stay calm!
“Oh God, please save Sophie’s barn,” she begged, as she brought her phone to life and found the number Jeff had given her. She called him, clicked it to speaker, and threw the phone on the bed while she bent to drag on her pants, tucking her nightgown into the top. It was ringing.
“Answer, damn it!” she yelled, then lunged to the wall over her bed and hammered on it, knowing Gabrielle was on the other side.
“Hello? What’s wrong?” Jeff’s booming voice flooded the room and Annette caught a sob in her throat. Shaking, she snatched it up.
“Appelez les pompiers!” she shouted.
“Take a deep breath and tell me, in English, what’s happening,” came his steady, but now thoroughly alarmed response.
“The people to fight fire,” she hollered. “Get them. Sophie’s barn is on fire.” She clicked the phone off, dragged on her boots and flung herself out the door.
She rushed to Gabby’s door and rattled the knob. Locked. She beat on the sturdy wooden door with her fists, hollering, “Wake up! There’s a fire. Get Sophie and Rosa.” Gratified, she heard Gabrielle’s feet hit the floor inside.
“I’m here. Yes!”
Wheeling around she slammed her fists into Rosa’s door. “Get up! Fire!”
Unwilling to take any more time, she threw herself down the stairs as fast as her feet could move, trying desperately to think of what she could do to stop the flames. Was there a garden hose outside? Had she seen one in the flower bed? Despite her panic, a horrifying thought slammed into her heart like a ton of bricks.
Pearl.
She unfastened the locked front door and ran into the night, straight for the big double doors beside the blaze. In the moments she’d taken to rouse everyone, the fire had spread further. It had reached the roof top now, moving fast in the breeze that swirled down from the mountains. Fingers of scorching red flames consumed the dry wood, making it snap and crackle under the pressure.
Annette ran to the door, heedless of the danger as fire raged above her across the front of the barn. The heat was searing. Yanking her night dress out from her jeans she wrapped it around her right hand and reached for the door handle to slide it free. Even through the fabric the heated handle scorched her hand. She flinched, but didn’t let go. A terrified neigh gave her the strength to haul the door wide even as flames, whipped into a frenzy by the growing wind, rained sparks down on her head.
She raced to the box stall where Pearl lunged and dove, seeking a freedom that was unattainable. Her eyes rolled wildly in her head, the whites showing, and her ears laid back. She whinnied again when she saw Annette.
“It’s okay,” she soothed, striving to keep her voice composed. “You’re safe now girl.” In a flash she’d undone the gate and grasped Pearl’s halter. In terror, the horse lunged through the gate, dragging Annette with her. But she saw what lay ahead and pulled back with all her might. The door she’d just come through was consumed with flames.
Wait, there must be a back entrance. Dragging the frightened horse with her, Annette turned and ran down the long alleyway toward the rear, praying there would be an opening for them to escape. If not, they would both die in the inferno behind them, and it was gaining momentum fast.
The only light she had to see by was the terrible orange glow of the fire that fed on the dry old walls around them. With considerable effort, she tried to slow the panicked animal she held and feel her way along the corridor. Dimly, she could see the outline of a door in the glow of the raging light cast from the fire outside the barn.
She ran frantic hands down the center and with a sob of gratitude, found the latch. It was barely warm, and she was able to swing it wide open. She and Pearl fled to freedom. She released the horse, knowing they could easily find her again. The most important thing was to get her to safety. Pearl galloped away.
Annette took great gulping breaths of fresh air and looked up. Glowing embers rose high in the midnight sky, filling the air with an eerie glow. Suddenly the wailing sound of a fire engine filled her ears, and she heard voices shouting. She sagged with relief. Perhaps the barn couldn’t be saved, but the rest of the buildings could.
Except she was too close to the barn and needed to consider her own safety. She broke into a jog, soon coming to a corral fence that she climbed and perched for a moment on the top rail. Looking around she noticed a shrouded figure to her left. The person moved swiftly away and melted into the shadows of a small stand of trees between the barn and the arena. Someone had been lurking there this whole time, watching and waiting.
It all became clear. The fire had been set. It was the latest in the string of terrible misfortunes designed to drive Sophie from her home. A rage filled Annette’s heart and she took off after the hooded figure. There was no time to get help and she didn’t stop to consider it. It was up to her, as she had felt it would be, to catch the perpetrator once and for all.
She moved stealthily. Keeping to the cover of the sheds and fences, she edged her way to the bluff. Somehow she knew that whoever it was, they wouldn’t be watching for her. No, their eyes would be trained on their handiwork—the raging inferno of Sophie’s barn.
Closer and closer she followed and just as she was about to enter the bluff, the shape of the person emerged from the other side. They began to make their way around to the house. If Annette didn’t move quickly, her chance of catching this evildoer would be lost. She broke into a run, calling upon every ounce of power in her legs, adrenaline giving her yet again another burst of energy.
By the time the hooded figure heard her coming in all the commotion of fire engines, people, and the crackling embers of the conflagration, she was upon them. Throwing herself, arms outstretched, Annette bodily tackled the person. They both tumbled heavily to the ground. Annette was up first, and she pinned the struggling person to the ground with her weight.
“Let me go you fool!” rasped a familiar voice. With a quick flick of her wrist, Annette tore the hood from the veiled face.
“Rosa?” Annette was taken momentarily off guard. The barrel racer heaved her body sideways, dislodging Annette and sending her tumbling to the ground. Then Rosa was off, running through the assembled onlookers where she came to a stop.
Annette picked herself up and limped to where her sister stood on the driveway with an arm around Sophie. A puffing Rosa was busy explaining how she’d slept through the uproar and had only made it downstairs now. She was certainly convincing. If Annette had not just followed the young woman, the story would have been quite believable.
“Elle ment,” Annette snapped, coming to stand in front of all three women, but speaking French for just two. “Elle a allumé le feu. Elle a tout fait.”
“What did she say?” Rosa screeched. “You can’t believe her. I was sleeping this whole time and only just woke up.”
But Sophie had turned to stare at Rosa in horror. In the flickering light of the fire destroying her livelihood, she confronted the young woman. “Est-ce vrai?” she asked quietly. “Is it true, Rosa? Did you set the fire?” Rosa shook her head violently, but her wide frightened eyes gave her away.
Sophie continued, shock and revulsion entering her voice. “You poisoned the water and killed an animal. You could have killed me. And you cut the fence in hopes of causing a major accident that would hurt others.” Her voice rose with each new revelation, and she stepped away from the woman, distancing herself. “Why?”
But as the barn succumbed to the power of the ravenous flames behind them, collapsing in an explosion of sparks and burning embers, Rosa whirled around and fled into the night.