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“Come on. You can stand outside my bedroom.” As I turned, I saw Grams standing there. “May and Bran’s farm is on fire—I need to get dressed.”
“Oh no,” Grams said, hurrying beside me. She stood outside my door as I slipped inside, leaving it cracked so I could hear Von.
“Kells was policing the border of your land that buttresses up against theirs. He smelled smoke, so he decided to check it out. Their barn was on fire. He called 911, then ran in to try and rescue any animals they might have. He managed to get their goats out, and the horse, but then the fire grew too intense and he had to get out. He left the door open so any other animals can try to get out.”
“Motherfucking hell. Okay, give me a couple minutes.” I stripped off my nightgown and jammed my legs into a pair of jeans. Commando would have to do for now. Then, I pulled on a sweatshirt and pulled my hair back in a ponytail. I slid on a pair of boat shoes and hustled back out to Von. Grams was in her room, changing.
“Fancypants!”
He flew up. “What can I do?”
“Keep a watch over the cats. Make sure they don’t get outside. If there’s trouble…”
“I’ll get through to you.”
Fancypants and I were bonded, and over the past few weeks, that bond was growing stronger. We were able to make connections now, though not always strong ones. We spent time every week playing with the bond, seeing how far we could strengthen it.
I nodded and Fancypants flew into my room, settling on the bed next to the cats. They stared at him as he made several noises that sounded a lot like mewing. Then, Gem and Silver curled up next to him, settling down beneath his wings as he enfolded them in a gentle embrace.
Grams emerged from her room, fully dressed and ready to go. At that point, James entered the living room.
“James will stay here with your house to guard it. I’ll take you over to May’s, if it’s safe to drive to their house.” Von motioned for us to follow him.
We got in his truck and he called Kells on speaker phone. “Is it safe to drive down to the house?”
“If you do, be cautious of the emergency vehicles. You don’t want to get in their way. I warned May and Bran and they’re packed and ready to go, along with their animals. Bran has them in the trailer, and they caught as many of the chickens as possible. He’s moving the hives out of danger now.”
I grimaced. The thought of their lovely farm going up in flames made me sick. I wanted nothing more than to be able to summon the rain right now, but that wasn’t my element. I turned to Grams. “Can we do anything? Call the rain spirits?”
“You’re earth, my dear, and so am I. But we can say a prayer, at least. And we can muster up some protective energy for their farm. But let’s talk to May first. we don’t want to interfere with any magic she might be doing.”
It made sense, but I fidgeted, wanting to do something. However, sometimes the best thing to do was to stay out of the way. There were no signs of emergency vehicles on the road, though I could hear the faint wailing of sirens, so Von swung into the driveway and we headed for the house. May’s house was about as far back from the road as mine, but before we came out of the thicket surrounding her driveway, I could see a faint orange glow ahead.
I knew it was probably a foolhardy thing to do—driving toward a fire rather than away from it—but May and Bran were my friends. As we pulled into their driveway, Von eased the car off to the right, out of the way, and we jumped out. May was standing on the front steps. I hurried over to give her a hug. She was crying, and Bran was now loading things into his truck.
“Von, why don’t you ask him if he needs help?” I said.
Von nodded, hurrying over to Bran.
I turned to May. “I heard the sirens. The fire department should be here in minutes.
“Our barn—all my stored herbs and goods for the farmer’s market…and the bees! Luckily it’s night and they’re quiet, but Bran needs help to get them out of the way.”
“Von will help him.” It was extremely fortuitous that Kyle had offered me his men to watch over my house. Without them, May and Brian may not have woken up in time. I shuddered, thinking of what might have been. Inadvertently, my problem had become their safety net.
At that moment, the sirens grew louder, and two fire engines and a medic unit came barreling down the driveway. Bran ran over to direct them to the barn area.
“Stay here a moment,” I told May. I darted around the house to check the proximity of the fire to the house. I could see the flames from the back end of the backyard, but so far, thanks to the heavy rains, they hadn’t torched the trees and bushes yet. I watched as the firemen passed us, Bran running alongside the engine. After a moment, I returned to May.
“Do you know if Kells got all of the animals out of the barn?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I think so. Bran said he did. We have a couple barn cats I’m worried about, but I imagine they raced off into the woods to hide. Let’s hope so.”
Grams was sitting on the front porch swing. “This is deliberate,” she said. “Elphyra and I woke up about half an hour ago with the feeling that something’s off. I think we tuned in on the fire.”
“I think you’re right. It didn’t feel directly connected to me, although I still have the sense that we are woven into the general web of whatever sparked this off.” I shook my head. “But if someone’s targeting me and that someone is also responsible for the fire, then why? What connection could there be? Or…are the two events connected? Did chaos come out to play?”
Grams convinced May to sit down on the swing with her. “That’s a difficult question to answer until we know more.”
