Jade Lee - [Bridal Favors 03] Read Free

pain.
    Harry stepped forward and lit the four candles Grant clutched in his fist. Good long wicks, thank God, so the flames rose high. Time to burn! he thought somewhat gleefully, despite Dandy’s whimper of anxiety.
    Grant gestured for Harry to back away. The last thing he’d need was an amateur getting in his way. Then he took a big mouthful of lantern oil. Hideous taste, but he was used to it by now. Then he took a lungful of air, held the candles aloft at the right distance, and misted the oil.
    Perfect! The oil fluted just right. The candle flames touched the mist and the flume of fire appeared. Glorious! He’d never done better!
    Ka-boom! whispered his madness.
    No ka-boom. A steady plume of flame that kept growing and growing. And growing. What the hell?
    Dust. Bloody hell, the dust ! This was a threshing floor. The problem wasn’t the few bits of wheat left on the threshing floor. Well, that wasn’t the problem at first . First, it was the damned dust in the air. So fine that he hadn’t even noticed it. After all, it was a barn. That’s what barns smelled like. But it was in the air, and it was flammable.
    He watched in slowly dawning horror as his plume of fire grew, sparking and firing randomly in an expanding cone that fell steadily to the floor. Oil would have extinguished in the air before chest level because he’d aimed upward. But not when the dust motes caught fire and kept catching fire. All the way down to the floor where a thin layer of straw sparked immediately.
    He gasped and started stomping it out. Then he reached for the bucket of water that he always kept nearby. The bloody bucket of water that was still outside with the torch in it.
    He stomped on the flames, but it was too late. Hot wax splattered on his hands as he jerked the candles out, but it was a useless act. The fire spread lightning fast. He was still uselessly stomping on the nearest bits when the whole floor burst into flame.
    The boys screamed. Harry managed to strip off his jacket and beat at the flames near Grant, but the fire was too big and was rapidly growing too hot.
    “Out! Out!” Grant bellowed.
    Grimly, Harry nodded, the dismay clear in his red face. Then they both rushed for the door. It was only then that he heard the frightening lowing of the cattle downstairs. The cattle! His family couldn’t lose the cattle! It would ruin them for sure! Then he heard the horses scream, and he remembered all that expensive horseflesh down there as well.
    He had to get the barn doors open. And then he had to herd the animals out. Harry was already ahead, slamming a smaller side door open. Grant pivoted, aiming for the main doors. Behind him he heard the roar of the flame—loud and horrifying.
    It took all his strength to haul the doors open. He shoved them wide, the rush of cool air a relief even as it gave the fire more life. What had been loud became a screaming inferno.
    Where were the cows? The beasts were too stupid to run out. They had to be huddling together and would have to be herded out. Bloody hell, he couldn’t see! The flames were crackling and popping everywhere, and the smoke was so thick, his every breath burned.
    He stepped forward and nearly tripped—on what, he hadn’t a clue. Yes, he did. It was Dandy, the dog. The herding dog!
    He whistled twice—two long, sharp notes—all he could manage in the thickening smoke. It meant it was time to get the cows to pasture. Dandy was off in a wink with Grant stumbling after him. Inside. Into the roaring flame.
    He wasn’t thinking about dying. He was thinking of his brother’s face when Will found out he’d burned down the barn. It was manageable if it was just the barn. But they couldn’t lose the cattle. They couldn’t!
    So he stumbled inside, coughing and gasping as he tried to find the cows. But the horses were nearest. He ran to the closest stall and slapped the thing to get it moving. Not as dumb as a cow, he decided, because the thing reared, but then