Page 56 of Legacy of Lies
She wheezed and hacked until tears ran down her soot-dusted face.
“Get her out of here,” Garrison ordered Eric. “I’ll put the damned horse in the corral.”
“I’m on it.” When she waved off a firefighter’s offer of medical assistance, Eric cursed as he slung her over his shoulder and hurried her into the house. An EMT followed with his medical bag.
The firefighters began to spray the fully engulfed barn as clouds of steam and smoke thickened the air.
“Whoa, boy, I know you hate the fire,” Garrison crooned to the panicking horse over the roar of water, flames, and sirens. “Let’s get you to a safe place.” He petted the skittish horse’s head. After getting a better grip on the bridle, he redirected the horse to the corral on the far side of the main compound.
Kerr hobbled up behind him and shut the gate after the horse. “Holy backdraft, Batman. What the fuck?”
Another large fire engine screamed to a stop, lights flashing. In rapid coordination, more firefighters dashed out, pulled a hose, and drained the tank in a matter of minutes.
The thick smell of water, mud, and burnt wood seared Garrison’s nostrils. He turned to Kerr.
“Son of a bitch. What happened?”
Kerr scrubbed at his sooty face. “No clue. One minute we were sitting in the house having dinner; next minute, the damn barn was up in flames.”
Garrison asked, “Where’s Dad?”
“Inside. With Shelby, our boneheaded sister. She nearly died. And since she’s more stubborn than even you, she won’t let anyone check her out.” Behind his mad words, Kerr’s wary expression told another tale. He was scared. No doubt, the inferno had triggered some of Kerr’s carefully hidden PTSD.
“We’ll try again to get someone to evaluate her. I’m sure she’ll be okay.” The confidence in his words? All for Kerr’s benefit. Truth be told, Garrison was crapping himself.
Garrison blew out a breath, and then started coughing until his eyes ran. “You get everything out of the barn? All the animals?”
“With that last horse of Shel’s, yes, it’s clear.”
Another whoosh of fire and sparks heralded the beginning of the end. Wood beams straggled upward, like charred fingers reaching into the cold night sky. Despite the firefighter’s efforts, all that remained was a flaming, smoking, twisted hell of wood and metal roofing material.
The barn. Gone. And the supplies with it.
A weird sensation on the back of Garrison’s neck made him turn around to peer into the dark fields and hills. He could have sworn he heard a deep chuckle in the distance near a far hill, but with all the yelling and roar of the fire, how could he have heard anything?
He stared at the moonlit mountains, indistinct behind the clouds of smoke.
Could this have been set deliberately?
The fire trucks left after the flaming rubble had been reduced to smoldering ashes. Kerr and Garrison completed statements for the police arson investigation, and that was that. Silence, punctuated by the occasional hiss of a hot spot in the rubble.
They checked once more on the horses and cattle and, satisfied that the animals would be safe until morning, trudged back to the house.
The front door felt like it weighed a thousand pounds to push open. Tonight, they could have used Vaughn’s power to anticipate danger. Would’ve come in handy tonight. Damn his brother, running off. Dumping all the responsibility on Garrison’s shoulders.
The last million wishes hadn’t brought Vaughn back home; no chance today’s would, either.
Tomorrow, Garrison would have to look into building a barn, and fast, with winter coming.
Great. More shit to shovel.
