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Wade nodded, then ran down the street toward the gathering crowd whose heads were staring in unison up the mountainside. The woman ran after him. Reaching the gathering first he turned to follow their gaze. When she too turned, she was stunned by what she saw. A chilling finger of dread ran down her spine. Far up the northern slope a billow of black smoke climbed high above the tree tops. Directly in the general location of the village. The village she called home.
A dark foreboding shadow washed over her. As if reading her mind, Wade Haddock turned and stared down at her. Hard. Inwardly, she flinched from the sheer look of suspicion etched across his face. Outward, she stood in a frozen state. Unable to react. Then suddenly she began to shake. Violent, uncontrollable shakes. The suspicion vanished from Wade’s face and she thought she heard him curse low under his breath.
“What’s happened? What’s going on?” Prescott had come running down the street.
“Forest fire.”
Wade snatched her arm in his huge grasp and headed toward the mill where they had left the chuck wagon. “If we leave now, we might be able to get back before the ranch hands head out on the western roundup.”
“Right.” Prescott was serious for the first time since she had known him.
She winced when Wade dragged her swiftly back up the street. His grip rough and painful, but she knew he didn’t even realize his steely grip. His focus was not on her, but the fire raging angrily toward his ranch.
* * *
The race back to the Circle H was at deadly speeds, but Wade had no choice. In the back he could see the boy being tossed around the wagon as it bounced and jerked all over the already uneven road. Slowing down was not an option, he was just glad the boy at least had the cover of the chuck wagon as protection. Otherwise, he was certain he would have flown free of the wagon by now and landed either in a ditch or worse, thrown over the road’s steep slope.
He kept his eyes focused on the fire high in the mountain. Forest fires were rare this time of year and he knew the only thing on his side was the weather. There was a pretty good chance the cold autumn winds would keep the flames from spreading, but he didn’t want to take that chance. The Centralia River was thick and ran long through the northern slopes and would act as a good barrier from the spreading forest fire, but only depending on weather conditions. If winds in the highlands were at speeds greater than the lowlands, there was no accounting of what could happen. History was full of out of control fires that swept hundreds of kilometers of mountainside, sweeping effortlessly past rivers, lakes and anything in its path.
At lightning speeds, the chuck wagon flew into the compound of the homestead where Joe and some of the ranch hands were waiting.
“Where is everyone?” Wade asked, leaping from the wagon.
“We spotted the fire and held off heading out.” Joe said as the duo walked at a quick pace back to the barns. “I thought it best we wait for your return.”
“Good.” He was pleased to see his men saddling their horses. “There will be about twenty volunteers from the town heading up along the south trail, but I think we can get there ahead of them if we follow the river.”
Chuck had Sty already saddled and brought him out of his stall. Wade gave the old man a curt nod, then swung up on top of the bulky animal before he shot out of the stables. Before he sped over the grassy pasture toward the river, he spotted the boy standing beside the chuck wagon. His young face paled with fear. A pang of sympathy had him averting his gaze and pointing Sty toward the mountain. It was best the boy stayed as far away from the scene as possible.
Admittedly, when he initially saw the fire and its location his first suspicious thought was to blame the boy. It almost made sense. He knew from the look of fear in his eyes the night before, the boy was not lost as he originally thought. Rather hiding instead. From what, Wade wasn’t sure yet.
The chances of the fire being started from the result of nature was more than unlikely this time of year. Whether it was purposely started or accidental, remained to be seen. Till then, he thought it best the boy stay at the ranch. If he was able to come to that conclusion so quickly, it wouldn’t take anyone else much longer.
Chapter 5
Anna Nicholson stood on the banks of the river, her eyes unwavering as she waited for signs of life. A coldness hovered over her heart from a memory she could not recall. An arctic breeze swept through the valley from the north and carried with it the scent of death. From every corner a feeling of horror lurked in the shadows, waiting patiently to engulf her.
She turned and looked toward the homestead, a lone disfigured silhouette stood watching her. The crippled old man made her wary, heedless of Prescott’s words. They had been the only two left behind when the men followed t
he river north. Anna had known from the moment she saw the fire, she had something to do with it. Any memory had vanished, yet the vile gnawing at her insides told her what her memories could not. The same unspoken words which had been clearly seen in Wade’s eyes. He knew.
A ghostly wind passed through her numb form and sent a quiver of dread down her spine. She raised her eyes and looked up the mountain. An inner voice demanded she return, but the sense of foreboding kept her from moving. Instead, she stood and continued to watch until the curse of the mountain released its prey.
* * *
It was nearing sundown when the last of the fire was under control. Wade and the rest of the men had been able to intercede the fire at one of the many branches off the Centralia River where Lake Grisham emptied into Stellar Falls. Having concluded the winds were in their favor, they forced the flames north back toward the lake by forming a brigade, passing buckets of water from the river’s edge to the core of the burning inferno. Hours later, they were successful in managing the fire and with the use of wet blankets able to extinguish any remaining flames.
As he stood at the foot of the now dimmed fiery path he stared out at the charred and smoldering remains of his beautiful mountain. If it had been two months earlier, the loss would have been greater. As it stood, the destruction consisted of approximately ten acres of forest and the total elimination of a small village within its core.
The kid did not have to speak for Wade to know this was where he had called home. The realization the boy no longer had somewhere to return, temporarily crossed his mind.
He walked up the scorched hillside toward what looked like a holding pen for a large animal. It wasn’t very spacious and wouldn’t have been able to hold more than four or five animals. The four dead corpses he found lying within proved him correct. They were black, almost to the point beyond recognition, however something caught his attention. Stepping inside the pen he knelt beside one of the carcasses to get a better look. Sure enough, he recognized the Circle H brand.
Giving his beard a rub, he looked over at the other dead cows and noticed his ranch’s brand still visible among their charred skin. He had thought the missing cattle were on account of a cougar feasting on his livestock. Cursing under his breath, he ran weary hands through his soot covered hair.
“Haddock!” Someone called from across the way.
Thrusting his thoughts aside, he stood back up and headed toward the cluster of remaining huts that constituted the core of the village. He spotted Constable William Stanford with Prescott standing next to a mound of burnt logs. They were in the middle of what looked like a small courtyard. Evidently the core of where the people in the mountain lived. However the homes were more similar to sod houses than wooded huts, and built directly into the mountainside, which caught him as being strange, considering all the timber available for proper housing.
