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“Eliza, get out of here now!”
She hesitated before disappearing outside. Once convinced of her safety, he turned and weaved through the hungry fire. He pushed through the front door and tumbled out just as Nathaniel and the girls rushed from around the back of the house.
Thomas careened from the burning building and rested on all fours. Coughing and choking, his lungs devoured the clean night air.
Eliza flew to his side and brushed her hands along his body. “Are you hurt?”
He raised his throbbing head and tried to give an encouraging smile, but none would surface. “I’m fine.”
Large tears flooded her dark gaze and spilled over her cheeks. Their eyes communicated what their voices could not.
The unbelievable had happened.
Nathaniel sat next to Eliza, then laid flat on his back still clutching at his shoulder. Kitty perched at Nathaniel’s side, brushing his hair away from his face, and pressing a wad of cloth to the hole in his shoulder.
The heat from the inferno throbbed against their bodies as the flames consumed the screaming wood. A towering cloud of smoke rippled through the air, lending a vile smell that burned his nose and throat.
Eliza’s soft voice cracked, her eyes shimmering. “It’s all my fault, Thomas. I should never have gone to the rally. I should have listened to you.”
“It isn’t your fault—”
“Look what’s happened! Father’s home, all our memories are gone. And Samuel’s dead!”
Thomas’s throat thickened. “We can talk about all this later, my love.”
She nestled her head into his neck and cried harder, gripping tighter to his back.
Kitty moved closer and tugged on Thomas’s arm, her large eyes swimming with tears of her own. “We must get Nathaniel some place warm, some place we can treat his wound.”
Thomas nodded. “Of course, we’ll go at once.” He wrapped his arms tighter around Eliza and helped her to stand. Her arms were freezing. They needed to find shelter and fast. He knelt by Nathaniel and helped him to stand, lacing his arm around his waist and allowing his friend to lean into him.
“It is a fair distance to my cousins, but I’ll walk beside your horse while you ride, Nathaniel. The girls can both ride mine. Do you think you can walk to where we left them?” Thomas’s tone carried more worry with it than he intended, but the pale look of Nathaniel’s face caused his gut to harden.
Nathaniel huffed tiny breaths through gritted teeth before he nodded and rested the bulk of his weight into Thomas. “Remind me not to come with you on your next adventure.”
Thomas couldn’t help but chuckle. At least his friend hadn’t lost his sense of humor.
Eliza came to the other side of Nathaniel. Kitty followed and rested a caring hand on his forearm.
“Samuel was right, you know,” Nathaniel croaked. “He’s dead, and we look strangely suspicious. It’s only a matter of time . . .”
Thomas flashed his eyes at Eliza. From the tight form of her lips and the roundness of her eyes, she had already surmised as much. Thomas stiffened. What terrifying implications awaited them now?
A resounding crash thundered and the four of them whirled toward the tumbling house. Massive plumes of smoke and ash exploded and raced for the stars as the house crumpled into itself, the flames still devouring the victim within its grasp.
Kitty wailed and flung herself into Eliza’s embrace. She cradled her sister’s head as tears plummeted down her own cheeks.
It wouldn’t be long before the far away neighbors came rushing up the road. The flames could likely be seen from a great distance. And with them, would come the sealing of their fate.
“We must face whatever comes,” Thomas said. “It was I who fought him, so I shall take the blame.”
Eliza pressed her hands to her mouth, a chirping kind of sob escaping her lips. She released Kitty and grasped his arm. “No, Thomas, please. There must be a way to—”
“You need not worry.”
A shadowy figure emerged from the trees. Eliza gripped tighter and sucked in a frightened breath. Thomas gripped around her small waist as his blood congealed in his veins.
“Donaldson. What are you doing here?” He kept his voice strong, not wanting to show how his knees had turned to jelly.
