Page 11 of Fortune’s Final Folly

A light flickered in the schoolroom across the street, and Joshua wondered if he’d been caught staring up at Kate’s rooms. Had she been watching from inside while he stared at her window? Whoever was in the schoolroom must have moved closer to the front door because the light from the candle grew brighter, illuminating the entire downstairs.

Crossing the street, Joshua smiled. Perhaps he’d ask Kate to join him for a meal at the inn—or she’d invite him in for tea as any woman would likely do if they noticed someone they knew watching them from the street. The ironic twist of his musings was not lost on Joshua. What he should do was warn her of the danger inherent in her uncovered front window. He halted outside the door, waiting for the scrape of the key in the lock.

His chest tightened when he glanced toward the front window and saw flames licking up the interior walls of the room, growing in size and intensity from what he’d foolishly mistaken for a single candle only a moment before.

The building…was on fire! And the flames were spreading to devour the first-floor schoolroom.

For a brief moment, Joshua froze, his mind and body unable to work together to process the imminent danger before him or think how to proceed.

As the orange flames moved, growing in intensity, he hurled his shoulder into the door. The resounding crack could be heard over the music coming from the tavern down the road, but the door did not give way. He needed to get in, to warn Kate, to make certain she escaped safely.

What if she’d found her bed already and was wholly unaware of the flames overtaking the ground floor?

He slammed his body against the wooden door again. It flew open, crashing on its hinges, to reveal half of the schoolroom…ablaze. It hadn’t spread as far as the stairs. If Joshua hurried, he could make it up and back down before the fire overtook the room.

“Kate!” Lifting his arm, he used his jacket sleeve to cover his mouth from the smoke and ran across the room to the rear stairway, heat blasting his previously chilled face. “Kate! Kate! Are you up there?”

His sleeve muffled his calls, and he could barely hear them over the pounding in his chest.

He followed the thick, black smoke where it traveled up the stairwell.

Taking the steps two at a time, Joshua reached the top landing without incident and took in a deep breath of less smoky air. He needed to find Kate. He hadn’t seen her leave; she had to be inside somewhere. Three doors opened off the landing, and he lunged for the one with the room that would face away from the street. Crashing the door open, he found himself in a small kitchen area with a wood stove, a small table with several chairs, and shelving with assorted foodstuffs. But no Kate. The room appeared separate from the destruction spreading below.

As he left the room, the door across the hall opened to reveal a startled Kate, her dark hair tucked under a nightcap and a single candle clutched in her hand.

Her eyes widened as she took in the smoke trailing up the stairs and into the two open doors.

“Mr. Stuart?” Panic filled the space between them on the landing.

“There is a fire downstairs,” he said, pulling his sleeve away from his mouth long enough to speak without his words being muffled. The heat infiltrated the second floor as he spoke, and the space filled with the smoke from below, seeking an exit. “We need to get out. Now.”

It took no further prodding as Kate started for the stairs. He took hold of her arm to steady her as her bare feet tangled in her nightshift in her haste.

“We need to keep our wits about us,” Joshua shouted. “The fire is spreading quickly. I had to knock down the door.”

They reached the bottom stair, and it was as Joshua had feared; the flames had spread toward the doorway. The air from the gaping door fed the raging blaze.

Kate’s glare swiveled from one corner of the schoolroom to the other. “There is a door in the storage room that leads outside.”

Joshua pulled her close, noting the frigid temperature of her skin despite the growing heat. Covering her mouth with his sleeve, they huddled together and ran for the storage room. He hadn’t been in the room more than a couple of times, but he didn’t remember there being a door—or even a window large enough for them to fit through.

“Over there!” She pointed toward the far corner, and he spotted a door, blocked by a waist-high shelf stacked with books. “We can move the shelf easily enough. The key”—she coughed as the air thickened—“is in the lock.”

His lungs were burning and heavy. It became more difficult to breathe, and the room temperature continued to rise. He sucked in a breath, begging his lungs to expand even as his throat closed. They needed to get out before the building collapsed on top of them. There would be no hope if they became trapped.

Releasing her, Joshua pulled at the stacks of books, scattering them across the floor, moving the shelf away from the door.

Joshua’s panic flared brighter than the flames at their back. There was no key in the lock.

Kate dropped to the floor before the door, her fingers clawing at the floorboards.

The seconds ticked by as the rafters above creaked and groaned as the flames overtook them.

Kate pushed back to her feet, her hand held high with something in her grasp—the key.

They were almost free.

A loud boom shook the room, and a large beam fell from the threshold between the schoolroom and the storage room, trapping them inside. Dread inched up Joshua’s spine as he turned back to the door—the only thing standing between them and freedom.