When kindred spirits uni.., p.14
When Kindred Spirits Unite, page 14
Glancing over her shoulder, Nora wondered if they were going to get help. She decided she didn’t have the time to worry any longer. More help would be needed. Now that she was closer, she could see the flames.
She reached the property at last. The house and the barn and shed appeared to be on fire. Seeing figures nearby, Nora leaped off her horse to go help them.
“Careful!” She caught a young girl in her arms who stumbled away from the barn. The girl held her arm close to her, a minor injury there. There was no time to wait around. Finding movement to the right, Nora helped the young girl over to the nearby well. Trees were just beyond it, with four other children huddled together. “Here we go.”
Nora set the young girl down before turning back to the fire. Seeing other adults nearby, she hurried to join them. Grabbing a bucket of water left on the ground, she took it over to the nearest man.
“Thanks,” Theo said before recognizing her. He dumped it on the fire and then handed it back. His eyes widened in surprise before a half-smile made it to his face. “Nora.”
She swallowed. “Theodore. Hello. How can I help?”
“Getting water from the well is the hard part right now,” he said, panting slightly. “That, and the animals. That chicken coop right there….”
At last, the rain started to fall. The first sprinkle caught her by surprise. She glanced up and then caught his eye.
He didn’t need to go on for her to understand. She nodded. “I’ll take care of it. Just focus on the barn.”
Then she hurried off to help.
Rain started to pour. She was soaked quickly. Everything was slippery now.
She grabbed two buckets of water from the well and brought them over before finding the containers for the chickens. She grabbed them by the feet and shoved them in. Feathers wouldn’t stay well, but that didn’t matter right now. The chickens protested as she dragged them over to the children and then she started back to Theo and the parents.
“Theo,” she called to him. But just as she was about to reach him, she suddenly slipped in the mud and fell ungracefully into a puddle.
“Whoa!” Theo was there in a second, grabbing her arm to help her up. Water droplets streamed down his face. He tugged her up onto her feet so quickly that she bumped into him. “Careful, now. I wouldn’t want you falling just for me.”
Warmth flooded her cheeks. Nora couldn’t think of anything to say to something like that. She felt her heart flutter before she gave a jerky nod and then looked away. The two of them worked together to put out the last of the flames. Luckily, the rain helped. They worked until their arms ached. At last, all that was left was some smoldering.
Nora paused to catch her breath. With Theo on her left, the two parents were on her right.
“Hello,” she managed to say. “I’m Nora.”
“Thank you for your help,” the woman told her. “We’re the Taylors.”
She swallowed, nodding. “Hello. Was this lightning? Did it strike your barn?” When the couple shrugged, she frowned. “I saw those three men. The men that were riding back to town. Had they been here? Were they going for help?”
“I don’t know them,” Mr. Taylor said. He coughed, leaning down on his knees to catch his breath. “I don’t know what happened. One moment, we were cleaning up for the night. In the next, we were surrounded by the flames. I don’t even know what we do from here.”
“Speaking of, I should probably get going,” Theo mumbled beside her.
She turned to look at him with a frown. Everything had been going so well a moment ago as they were working side by side. But he had to ruin it. “Going? Where? Why? These people need help!”
“The fire is out,” he said. “I have a duty to the ranch there.”
“It’s all right,” Mrs. Taylor started.
Nora wondered if he always ran away. Shaking her head, she pursed her lips at him and took a step back. “Then go already! I don’t understand you.”
Surprise shined in his eyes. “What? Nora, I’m not abandoning you or them. I have responsibilities. I’ll come back tomorrow to see what I can do. But the worst is over, isn’t it?”
“I said go,” she told him with a scowl.
Though he opened his mouth as though to protest, no other words came out of his mouth. He glanced over her head to the Taylors. He nodded, fixed the damp hat on his head, and then started off.
Part of her hadn’t believed that he would actually go. Nora’s throat constricted when he left her side. A chill set in over her. She licked her lips and told herself this was for the best. Turning to the Taylors, she forced a smile on her face before helping them sort things out for the night.
Chapter 22
Theo was dripping wet when he stepped into the ranch house.
Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.
He wasn’t sure about the time anymore, not since he had first arrived at that farmhouse. Seeing the place erupt in flames had been one of the most startling things that he had ever seen in all his life. It was a sight he hoped to never see again.
Every part of his body was sore. For the longest time, it had felt like they weren’t making any progress. There had been no time for manners or friendly greetings when he had raced over to help. He had rushed to get the horses out of the burning barn. Hearing a scream, he had found the man, the husband, trapped inside as well.
Then Nora had showed up.
How could he be surprised at this point? She appeared all over the place whether he was prepared to see her or not. But not once would he argue about seeing her again.
The two of them had worked well together. Though they’d said little along the way, they had moved together in sync. It was as though they had always been side by side. It had been a desperate time to save what they could of that barn, but he couldn’t forget how nice it had felt to be next to Nora like that.
Shaking his head, Theo sighed.
Maybe it had been nice to do just that, but that wasn’t how it had ended when he left. Instead, she had practically pushed him away.
Had he deserved it? He worried that was the case. The Taylors would need a lot more help in the next couple of days. Leaving like that hadn’t felt good. But he knew it was late and if lightning had caused the fire, which made the most sense, then he couldn’t help but worry about the ranch as well.
It was just fortunate that he had come back here to find all was well. Everything was drenched with the downpour and no trouble in sight.
Theo took his hat off and set it on the hook on the wall. The dripping doubled. He ran a hand through his hair, water spraying everywhere. He supposed that he should have tried to take off more layers before stepping inside. It was too late for that now.
He reached his room and put a hand on the doorknob to enter. Before he did, he caught sight of a flicker of light from down the hall.
Curious, Theo made his way forward. He squinted in the dim lighting before finding his uncle at the kitchen table. The man was writing on a piece of paper that he then put inside a book.
“Uncle?”
Racer glanced up and frowned. “You’re wet. What were you doing outside, Theodore?”
Shrugging, he stepped forward to answer. “The neighbors had a fire in their barn. Do you know the Taylors? The whole thing was…and it nearly got to the house. Burned half their garden, I think. We’re just lucky the rain came when it did.”
“What?” Racer said, more emotion in his voice than Theo would have expected. “That’s terrible! Oh, those poor people. That is terrible news. Yes, the rain. My boy, why didn’t you tell me sooner? I would have done something to help them. There must be something that I can do. What horrible news.”
Theo nodded. “It sure is. I’ll be going over tomorrow to help them. Perhaps we can go visit them together.”
“Yes, well, tomorrow. You’re dripping everywhere, you know. Get yourself dry so you don’t fall ill. It’s rather late,” his uncle added pointedly.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Theo said. He offered a short wave before turning back to his room.
He was completely exhausted from the draining day. So much had happened. He peeled his wet clothes off and toweled himself dry before settling down in his bed. Although Theo thought he had enough adrenaline rushing through him to keep him awake for the rest of the night, he was asleep within minutes
In the morning, he groaned at his aching muscles.
Yet he didn’t let that stop him. After he dressed and shaved, he went into the kitchen and remembered what his uncle had said the night before.
“Hey,” Theo said. “I’m going over to see the Taylors.”
“The who?”
He hesitated and then answered. “Your neighbors, Uncle. They had that fire last night, remember? You said you’d like to help them, so I wanted to let you know that I’m going over now if you would like to accompany me.”
His uncle hardly glanced up over his newspaper. “Ah, yes. That. Look at the time. I’m afraid that I forgot and I’m much too busy for that. You can help them. And make sure you tell them to be more careful.”
“Yes, sir.” The words slipped off Theo’s tongue before he could help himself. He wrinkled his nose and then sighed, shaking his head before turning away. Annoyance ripped through him, but he had a feeling that it wouldn’t do him any good.
He made his way outside onto his horse. Though ready to go see the Taylors, he paused to go see to the men on the ranch. If he left his post too frequently, then he doubted he would be welcome here for very long. Joining the men, Theo noticed that they had some of the branding supplies out.
Slowing his horse, Theo frowned.
Why would they need to brand any cows? No purchases had been made recently, and he thought that they always waited a few months before branding the calves. He glanced at the men whispering low to each other. Nudging his horse, he wandered through the grass for a while.
“Hey, Lance,” he called when he saw something. Lance was the nearest man to him with wild red hair and a smile that always looked like a sneer. “What symbol is that? It’s not our brand. Where did this cow come from?”
Lance trotted his horse over, took one glance, and then shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Theo frowned. “This cow isn’t ours.”
“Sure, it is.”
“How would you know?” Theo asked pointedly.
Spitting out a wad of tobacco, the other man snickered. “Because it’s on our land, of course. We just messed up the branding some time ago, you see, and we’re fixing it now. What do you take us for? Rustlers?”
The thought had been on his mind. But getting called out made him hesitate. It wasn’t like he could prove anything. He knew nothing about the other neighbors or buyers or anything. Realizing how crazy he had to sound, Theo sighed and turned away.
Until he realized what the symbol was.
It was three connected lines. But now, he realized it was two letters connected. Two t’s, as though for Taylor. His stomach tightened. Theo excused himself from Lance and then started on his own to round up the cattle with that branding.
The other men were distracted with the fire. Once Lance had joined them again, Theo hurriedly got to work and started moving. His body was tense the entire time as he waited for something bad to happen. As usual, no one paid him any mind, and soon he was crossing over property lines where there was a gap in the fence.
This was slow work, but Theo kept moving. He needed to get the cattle back to where they belonged.
Chapter 23
Nora had hardly slept through the night, leaving her aching and sore as she moved about the Taylors’ farm.
Two parents with five children and herself. Among them, the worst injury was on the eldest daughter, Bethany, who had a burn on her arm and a slightly sprained ankle. There were a few minor burns on everyone else. Otherwise, the only damage was on the ruined farm.
“Here, let me,” she said as she took the bucket from Mrs. Taylor. “We’ve already been working for a few hours, ma’am. You look tired. Maybe you should take a break?”
The woman kindly patted her shoulder. “I was about to say the same thing about you, dear. Let’s make a little more progress and then call a break.”
Nora nodded and then went to set the bucket down. She was helping with the household chores as well as trying to see what they could do about the ruined barn. It was no longer on fire or smoking. But it had left a large heap that towered over their heads of burned wood and goods that couldn’t be used for anything anymore. They had to do something about it, she knew, though she wasn’t sure what.
“Rebuild, I guess,” Mr. Taylor said with a shrug. He put his hands in his overalls. “I don’t see what choice we have. It’s that or we leave. I’m sure some folks would like that, but this is our home, and we like it here.”
Though she liked his hope, there was something about those words that caught her attention. “What do you mean by ‘those folks’? I don’t understand. Does someone want to run you out?”
She watched the way that the couple exchanged looks with one another, apprehensive and clearly convincing themselves that they meant nothing serious. They turned back to her and shrugged it off.
“It’s nothing. I’m just grumbling,” Mr. Taylor said to her.
Before he could say anything more, there was the sound of hoofbeats headed their way. The two of them glanced up to find Theo heading over. She saw his crisp, clean shirt and the way he had brushed his hair back. The young man rode tall with his shoulders straight all the way over before he climbed down and gave her a nod.
“Good morning, Nora. Good morning, Taylors.”
She swallowed hard, telling herself that there was no reason for her heart to flutter like it did when he came around. Though Nora gave him a nod in return, she didn’t have anything to say to him.
“It looks like you’ve already started on the cleanup. How can I help?” he asked.
Mr. Taylor chuckled and thanked him. He started talking, explaining what they had been able to get done and what they wanted to do next. “I’m just hoping we can get another barn up soon. Too long and we’ll have to move.”
As they talked, Nora thought it all through. She could hear what Mr. Taylor was saying and not saying. Someone had wanted to buy this land. Since the family didn’t want to sell, maybe someone had decided to try to get them out of here in another way. Frowning, she glared at Theo when the Taylors started off to check on their children.
Beautiful things were dangerous, she reminded herself.
“Hello to you, too,” he said in an amused tone.
“It was you,” Nora scowled. “You and your uncle. I know it. They wouldn’t sell, so you tried to push them out of here.”
His eyes widened. Looking around, he hunched his shoulders and then touched her elbow as though to keep her close. “What? Come on, Nora. Please. That’s a serious accusation. I said I would look into my uncle’s ranch, all right? But we can’t be making mistakes at a time like this. Accusations can be dangerous.”
She huffed and then gestured over to the Taylor family. “What do you think is happening to them? You’re destroying families.”
“You haven’t given me any time,” he pointed out to her. “I know that you’ve been hurt, and I know that you care. But you have to give me time to see if this is true or not. You have to let me find the proof that you are looking for.”
