I heard my mom and my dad yelling from somewhere behind me, but Duke was still in there. I couldn’t just leavehim. My heart raced, and my throat was tight as I fought back fearful tears. I knew going back in was dangerous, and I was a little afraid. But even as tears threatened to fall, I ignored my parents and went back in.
“Duke.” I kept moving forward, toward the heat, toward the fire, and kept my voice even as I called out his name. But I just kept on talking even as my voice threatened to tremble. “Duke, baby, I’m coming. I’ve got you. I know. The big, bad fire is a little scary, but I need you to listen to me.”
He spun when I reached the stall, a tight, frantic circle, too scared to see me as anything but another threat.
“Duke,” I called out a little louder, and he looked at me and seemed to register who I was. I got the stall unlatched and managed to get my wet shirt up and tucked into his halter. I couldn’t reach and hold on to them both. Then, the back wall groaned. And Duke threw his head up and pulled me up with it. I’d be surprised if he knew I was there.
Duke lurched sideways, and I went with him, both of us stumbling toward the door, and I had one hand on the halter and one hand on his neck, and I was talking, steady and low, because that’s all I had left. A loud crash came from behind me, and Duke pranced. I watched his feet; one step would crush my foot. I could barely see the light of the door through the smoke. I was only yards away. I nudged Duke forward, and he took my direction.
Then a shape filled the doorway.
Bo.
My heartbeat quickened with relief as I saw him moving toward Duke and me.
He was already reading the situation around him. He was an ARFF. He’d been in more fires and seen more than I ever will in my lifetime. His face was serious, and he was in his element. His training was faster than his thinking. Hegot to Duke’s other side without a word, one hand on the halter, one at his neck, and we worked him forward together. Duke’s hooves stomped and scrabbled on the barn floor until they found the dirt outside, and he lurched into the morning air.
We released him. And he ran for the fence line, tail in the air and huffing through his nose like a dragon.
I stood in the yard with my hands on my knees, smoke still in my lungs, and tried to find the bottom of a breath. My eyes were stinging, and I’d started to cough a little. Then, in true cowgirl fashion, I turned on the faucet and ran the water over my head. I didn’t care about my hair, the fact that the little makeup I was wearing, only mascara, was running down my face. I was loving the cold water washing away some of the smoke. I used the shirt we had over Duke's face, washed it out, and then used it on my face.
The sound of sirens was already coming up County Road.
Bo’s hand landed on my shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” It came out rougher than I meant it to. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
He didn’t move his hand. Just stood there while I caught my breath.
Mason’s truck came in fast from the road, Levi right behind him, Austin a minute after that. Mason was already pulling gear from the bed before he’d stopped moving. Levi went straight for the fence line where the horses had gathered, talking to Chief with ease.
“Heya, Falon. Are your gates closed?”
I nodded, but Bo yelled out. “Yep, they’ll be fine. We’ll collect them later.”
Levi opened the gate between our properties and let the horses in so they’d be out of the way and awayfrom the fire.
The fire crew arrived four minutes after that.
I sat on the tailgate of Mason’s truck while Millie checked my hands, she’d been on a farm call two properties over and had seen the smoke from the road. She worked quietly, checking for burns, checking my eyes, her vet brain running through the same checklist she’d run on the horses.
“Your lungs are going to feel like gravel for a day or two,” she said, having been through a barn fire a few seasons back, but that was a little different. Her uncle was trying to scare her away and managed to burn her barn and almost kill her in the process, but that was another story.
“They already do.”
“Here, drink water. Don’t push it. Doc Miller should be here soon.” She looked at me straight. “You got all five out, Falon. They're fine. You did.”
I nodded. Closing my burning eyes and holding back tears as the adrenaline started to fade.
She squeezed my hands once and went to check on the horses.
I heard the crunch of gravel and looked up. Melodie was crossing the yard in her barn boots and a fleece jacket. She just pulled a blanket from under her arm and put it around my shoulders. I could hear the water from the hoses and the crackling of the fire as it hissed and protested. Men were yelling, and from the corner of my eye, I could see John holding a crying Beatrice.
Mom stood beside me and looked at the barn, shaking her head. Dad hobbled over and brushed at my cheek with his thumb.
“Let’s not try to scare your mom and me. Heart attacks are not a good look on us.” He chuckled awkwardly.
“Sorry, Dad. I’ll try not to do the whole heart attack thing in the future.”
