Not tonight, though, as there was a storm brewing. It was already dark outside as it was well after ten at night. The thunder and occasional lightning had set in fifteen minutes ago. I had just finished pulling my father’s sweater over my head when I was startled by an incredibly loud sound. It had sounded like a few gunshots going off at the same time.
“What was that?” Riley asked at the same time I ran to the window. I could see smoke coming from the stable, and then lighting flashed, still very close to the building.
The stable was on fire.
Still half naked, Iran out the bedroom door in the sweater and my underwear, running like my ass was on fire. I had to get to the barn. I needed to put the fire out. There was no rain yet and plenty of hay to fuel a large fire very quickly.
“Emma, what’s going on?” Riley called out, hot on my heels.
We were getting strange looks from the staff as we took off through the house. I knocked over a vase and couldn’t care less.
By the time I was standing on the front porch, I could see the orange flames licking the roof.
“Oh,” he said, slamming into my back as he was distracted by the flames.
“Dad!” he screamed. “Call 911!”
I heard shouting in the house but didn’t have time to comprehend what was being said. I was running toward the stable full steam ahead.
“Emma, where are you going? Come back!” he shouted at me.
“I’m getting the horses out!” I yelled.
“Don’t you run in there!” he demanded.
“Too late,” I mumbled to myself as I got to the door. I could hear Riley’s panting getting closer. I could see him approaching from my peripheral vision. If he got here before I went in, he would never let me enter.
Another deep breath, and I pulled the sleeves of the sweater over my hands. The stable was already producing so much heat. If I hadn’t grabbed the door with a barrier, I would have burned my hands. I opened the door, and smoke began billowing out, like smoke from a locomotive. I held my breath and rushed in.
The roof all above me was on fire. Bits of fiery debris rained down on me as I ran between stalls, letting out the horses. Riley could hunt them down and put them into the furthest pasture.
I could feel the heat from the fire, as the temperature inside the barn continued to climb. My legs were directly exposed to the heat, and they were burning already. At least the sweater shielded my upper body. My bare feet had to pick their path very carefully.
With each horse I freed, the stable became more unstable. The horses were screaming and pacing their stalls, kicking at the doors. I let Iris and her foal out. Iris shoved the little filly toward the door. I got to Star, and I felt water spraying me in the face, coming through the open stall window.
I peeked out the window and saw Riley there with the gardening hose, trying to wet as much wood as he could, and the horses, to keep them from burning. Star rushed past me out of the barn, and then I found Lola. She was frantic, and I barely got her out of her stall without getting kicked.
As I made my way to more horses, breathing and seeing got harder. The smoke got denser, and it was difficult to see. It felt like suffocating under a wet blanket. It didn’t matter how deeply I tried to inhale through the sweater that I now hadpulled up over my nose; there wasn’t enough oxygen in here. The fire was burning it all, to fuel its destruction.
I could see water being shot into Athena and Tigger’s stalls, and they were the last two left. I went to step in front of Athena’s stall when a truss from the stable roof fell in a heap of flames. The edge of it caught my shoulder, and I screamed out in pain, depleting my saved-up oxygen.
“Emma!” I heard Riley call out through the sound of the crackling flames and wood collapsing.
I pulled open Athena’s stall, but she didn’t move from her spot. She looked me in the eye and then looked to Tigger, who was pacing his stall and crying out.
Damn horse wouldn’t leave her boyfriend.
I heaved open his stall door. I had no more oxygen to work with, and I was in a coughing fit. I grabbed onto Tigger’s mane as he began to move past me. The horses would find their way out; I just had to hold on long enough for them to drag me out with them.
Tigger ran right past Athena’s stall and called out for her, and she was right on our heels. Her head was on my back, pushing me ahead of her.
I had caught Tigger with my right hand. My injured right shoulder screamed out in protest, but I ground my teeth. It was better than dying in this stable.
Tigger pulled us out of the flaming building, and I let go of him, having no more strength or air to move a step further.
Athena just avoided trampling me as I went down. She circled back around, biting at the sweater. Tigger pawed at the ground, anxious about how close we were to the flaming building.
I was lost in a coughing fit. I wasn’t sure what burned worse, the smoke or the fresh oxygen.
