“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 mymouth, 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 flamesconsuming 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.
Chapter 43
Stand By You – Rachel Platten
Cassidy
All I could see from the distance was black, billowing smoke and flames of deep orange and blue whipping up against the inky blue sky. Each flame that rose sent a shiver of fear through me. Not just fear but bone wracking horror at the sights and sounds coming from the area of the stables. From my perch on an old tree stump to avoid being trampled, I watched as horse after horse charged into the paddock. A couple ran beyond it, but one of the stable hands who was with me told me not to worry. We were surrounded by thousands of acres of Miller land so they would be safe enough. Honestly, they were the last of my worries, all I cared about was Gunner, but there was no sign and with each passing minute my anxiety grew tenfold. It clutched at my throat, strangling me with its icy fingers.
When I heard the sirens of fire trucks I turned my head in the direction of the house to see two engines careering towards us.
Thank God.
Looking back toward the stables I could see that the flames had got higher, the smoke thicker. As the trucks screeched past me I stopped breathing, every ounce of hope seeping away as a couple more horses ran into the paddock without any men following. I knew Gunner and I knew he’d be fighting the fire. Fighting to save his pride and joy, his work and dreams and I was petrified.
Another horse, a straggler, ran in, and I was thankful it was a big enough space to take them all, especially when I saw Songbird protecting Gypsy, her foal, against the fence. We didn’t need a crushed foal or a horse fight to add to the enormity of the chaos and destruction.
When I heard running feet coming my way, a jolt of optimism shot through me. It was Mikey, though, his face and clothes blackened from the smoke and disaster of the night.
“That’s the last of the horses,” he called to the stable hand as he pushed the gate closed. “I’ll look for the others when it gets light.” He turned to me and held out his hand. “Here, let me help you.”
“Gunner?” I asked, ignoring his help and jumping down.
Mikey didn’t answer me with words, but his eyes shifted in the direction of the devastation.
“No,” I gasped as my feet took me on the road to my worst nightmare.
“Miss,” Mikey yelled, his feet pounding behind me. “Cassidy. Miss. Turner, he wanted you to stay safe.”
Ignoring him I carried on, my legs pumping, my lungs screaming at me to take a breath, but I couldn’t not until I found him. My Gunner. My cowboy.
When I reached the stables it was pure bedlam. Men were dousing flames on anything that had caught fire from the sparks, the fire crews were hooking up their hoses to the ranch’s hydrantand Wilder was being held back by a fire fighter as he fought and kicked to get away from him.
My heart stopped like an old clock; its springs uncoiled, making it useless. “Wilder, where is he?”
Wilder whipped around in the fire fighter’s arms and tugged at his hair. “They’re in there, Cassidy and they won’t let me in.”
I looked over his shoulder at the stables to see the roof had partially collapsed and the fire was spreading rapidly. No one was stopping me from going in there. I instantly ran toward the burning building pushing past Wilder who held out an arm to grab me.
“Get her,” someone yelled behind me. “Jack, grab her.”
Whoever Jack was I didn’t give a damn. I had to get to Gunner. I had to try and save him. The heat was scorching as I got closer and the smoke denser and clogging, the acrid smell of burning wood and something else, something terrible, filled the air, but I didn’t care. I was almost there when a hand grabbed my arm and jerked me back.
