A Hope Unseen (Escape to the West Book 2)

by Leigh, Nerys

  “Mr Pulaski.”

  Daniel’s head whipped up. “He’s here?”

  “He spoke to us,” Sara said.

  He felt for her hand. “Are you all right?”

  “My goodness, that honey looks delicious. I’d love to buy a jar.” Mr Pulaski walked up to the stall and smiled.

  Sara’s jaw dropped at his audacity. What was wrong with the man?

  At the sound of his voice, Daniel stiffened. He put his arm around Sara and pulled her against him. At the other end of the stall, she saw Adam step protectively in front of Amy.

  “Get out of here, Pulaski,” Daniel growled.

  “Now, now, is that any way to speak to a customer?”

  “If you don’t leave right now, I will...”

  “You’ll what, Mr Raine? Tell me, what can you possibly do in the middle of a crowded street?”

  “I don’t care where we are.”

  Sara could feel Daniel trembling with rage against her. She put a hand on his arm in the hopes of calming him. While she wanted Pulaski to go away, she didn’t want Daniel to get hurt.

  “Well, perhaps you should,” Pulaski said. “Because if you assault me I will have you arrested and there will be plenty of witnesses. And then Sara will be left alone with no one to protect her. Except for me.”

  For a moment Sara thought Daniel would launch himself across the table. Then he took a deep breath, relaxing ever so slightly.

  “I think you should leave,” Adam said, walking up to them.

  Pulaski looked between him and Daniel, then he smiled. “Maybe I’ll get that honey another time.” He nodded to Sara and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of shoppers.

  “He’s gone,” she said.

  Daniel breathed out, but didn’t let her go.

  “So that’s the Pulaski Amy told me about,” Adam said. “He’s creepy, isn’t he?”

  “That seems to be the prevailing opinion, yes.”

  “He’s dangerous,” Daniel said.

  Sara hoped he was wrong. “He just did that to antagonise you.”

  “Well, he succeeded.”

  “Thought you were going to leap across the table at him for a moment there,” Adam said. “That would have made things interesting. Maybe if you had, it would have given the local gossip brigade something to talk about other than Amy and me.”

  Daniel gave him a rueful smile. “Sorry you’ll have to remain the talk of the town for another day.”

  “That’s OK, I’ve gotten used to it now. Might miss the attention if it stopped.”

  “I’d better get going to the livery before George starts checking his watch,” Amy said. She gave Sara a hug. “I’ll see you Sunday. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  Sara leaned in close and whispered, “Sighing over Adam.”

  Amy giggled and pushed her away. Sara was sure she detected the hint of a blush on her cheeks.

  “I’ll walk you over there,” Adam said.

  “Don’t you have to be at the bank soon?”

  “There’s time.” He picked up the jar of honey he’d bought and held out his elbow. “Shall we?”

  Amy slipped her hand around his arm and gazed up at him and Sara couldn’t help but notice Adam wasn’t the only one whose face lit up when the two of them looked at each other. Amy wasn’t going anywhere, she was sure of it. After saying their goodbyes, they walked away arm in arm, talking.

  With Amy and Adam gone, Daniel lapsed into silence as he ran his hands over the jars of honey to check how many were left.

  When he hadn’t spoken for a minute, Sara slipped her arm into his. “Let’s not let Pulaski spoil this. I’m enjoying myself here. I want to just forget about him.”

  He sighed and ran his hand over hers. “You’re right. I don’t want to give him another thought. We’re having a good day for sales, what do you say to having lunch at the hotel before we go home?”

  The memory of going there on Saturday to confront Pulaski flashed across her mind, but she pushed it away. “If you think we can afford it.”

  Instead of insisting he could provide for them, as he would have before, he grinned and nudged her shoulder with his. “What’s life if you can’t have a treat every now and then?”

  She nudged him back. “Not worth living.”

  As another customer approached, she thought she spotted Mr Pulaski watching them from across the street, but the customer distracted her and when she looked back he was gone. If he’d ever been there in the first place.

  Shrugging it off, she continued serving at Daniel’s side.

  Chapter 27

  Sara jerked awake. Heavy eyelids yearning to close again, she stared into the darkness of the bedroom and wondered what had wakened her.

  Then she heard the barking.

  Out in the parlour she heard a thud and a muffled exclamation.

  She scrambled out of the bed, pushed her feet into her shoes and grabbed her robe. Not bothering to light a lamp, she stumbled to the door and into the parlour. By the light of the half moon shining in through the windows she could see Daniel trying to pull on his trousers and make his way to the kitchen at the same time.

  “Daniel?”

  “Something’s wrong with Bess.” In his haste he hit his shin on the edge of a chest and yelped in pain.

  Sara hurried over to him and took his arm, guiding him through the kitchen to the back door. When she pulled it open the smell of smoke made her stomach lurch.

  “Something’s on fire,” he said, pushing forward.

  She only just managed to grab him before he plummeted down the steps at the edge of the porch. “You’re at the steps. Let me lead you or you’re going to hurt yourself.”

  “Can you see it?” he said as he held onto her hand, fear in his voice.

  She peered into the darkness, searching for any sign of flames. The barking was coming from the large barn and she stared at it in the barely moonlit darkness. “I can’t see anything. If you...” Something caught her eye. A sliver of flickering orange light framing the doors. “The barn. There’s fire inside the barn.”

  “No!” He let go of her and started forward.

  She ran into his path, pushing against his chest to stop him. “I’ll go. You get to the pump and start filling buckets.”

  “No! I have to...”

  “Don’t argue with me!” Fear made her shout when she didn’t intend to. “You can’t do this, I can.”

  “But...”

  “Pump! Now!”

  For a moment she thought he would refuse, but he nodded, said, “Be careful,” and turned in the direction of the well.

  She didn’t wait to see if he got there. Heart pounding, she ran for the barn. She glanced at the bunkhouse in case Will had returned home, but it was in darkness.

  She could hear the fire now, mingled with Bess’ increasingly more frenzied barking and the neighing and mooing of the terrified animals. The dog met her halfway to the barn and ran with her, dancing around her legs. Without stopping to think of any danger, Sara grasped the door handle and pulled it open.

  Smoke billowed around her and she was immediately seized with coughing. She peered into the interior, struggling to see through the haze. Flames consumed a pile of hay to her right, already licking at the wooden wall nearby. Further back, another fire ate at a pile of old wooden boxes. A third blaze was taking hold of the back wall. A small part of her brain wondered how three fires could have broken out at once, the rest concentrated on what she had to do.

  Holding the sleeve of her robe across her nose and mouth, she ran inside. The heat hit her instantly and she almost turned around and ran back out, but the sound of the horses panicking in their stalls and Pea’s frantic mooing drove her on.

  She opened the cow’s stall first, slapping her on her rump to get her moving before heading deeper into the barn’s hot, smoky interior. As Sara had suspected, Ginger’s stall was empty. Will wasn’t home yet. Reaching the next stall, she fumbled with the la
tch before getting it open. Rosie burst out and galloped for the barn door and Sara moved to the final occupied stall.

  Her lungs convulsed and she was forced to stop as a fit of coughing doubled her over. River kicked at the door trapping him, neighing frantically.

  Managing to straighten, she unlatched River’s stall and he launched himself for freedom, flinging the door open and into her. She stumbled back, grabbing onto the wall to keep from falling.

  “Sara!”

  She could hear Daniel calling her. Tears streamed down her face from the smoke. The roar of the flames surrounded her.

  “Sara!”

  She pushed herself away from the stall and staggered for the blackness of the barn door. Finally making it back outside, she gulped in the cool, fresh air and was gripped by violent coughs again. Bess was immediately at her side, whining.

  “Sara.” Somehow, Daniel had found her. He grasped at her shoulders, his face filled with fear.

  “I’m all right,” she wheezed, holding onto his arms and pulling herself straight. “I need water for the fire.”

  She expected him to argue, but he picked up a bucket from the ground and held it out to her, sloshing water over the sides. Taking the heavy bucket, she took a deep breath of the relatively clean air and ran back into the barn, throwing the water on the nearest fire. When she got back outside Daniel was back at the pump with another bucket. How he knew which way to go, she had no idea.

  She lost track of time as they worked, desperately battling the fire, Daniel pumping the water and Sara throwing bucket after bucket onto the flames until her hands were raw and her arms exhausted.

  Smoke rasped at her lungs and burned her eyes and more than once Daniel begged her to stop, but she wouldn’t. After losing his eyes, she couldn’t let him lose the barn too.

  So she fought on with every drop of strength she had.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  Sparks flew around the interior of the barn, igniting wherever they landed. Sara had to dodge around flaming clumps of hay drifting from the loft above. Eventually, she could no longer stand the heat and smoke and she stumbled back into the air and away from the barn, coughing, tears of frustration streaming down her face.

  Daniel ran up to her, his arms outstretched. She reached out to take his hand.

  “I can’t do it,” she sobbed. “It won’t stop. I can’t put it out.”

  In an instant his arms were wrapped around her, holding her close. “It’s all right,” he murmured into her hair.

  She shook her head, clutching at his shirt. “It’s not all right. Everything is in there, the hay, your tools, everything. You’ll lose it all.”

  “No,” he said, his voice steady. “Everything I need is right here.”

  Her sobs stilled and she looked up at him. The bandage around his eyes was blackened with smoke. Sweat sheened his face and his clothing was stained with dirt. But in his expression she saw only peace.

  “How can you be so calm?”

  To her astonishment, he smiled. “To be honest, I don’t really know. But I do know the Lord is with us. He always has been, even when I couldn’t tell. We’re safe, that’s all that matters.”

  This wasn’t the same Daniel who had almost given up when he lost his sight. He truly had learned to trust in God completely. Maybe she needed to learn that too.

  She leaned into him, taking comfort from the feel of his arms around her, and watched the flames licking at the walls of the barn and reaching into the star-speckled sky. Bess sat beside them, leaning her furry body against their legs. Sara reached down to scratch her head.

  Father, she prayed silently, I’m scared, but I know You’re here. Thank you that Daniel has learned to trust you no matter what. Help me to do the same.

  “I hear something,” Daniel said suddenly, lifting his head.

  With the sound of the flames consuming the barn it seemed impossible to hear anything else. “I don’t...” And then she heard it, faint but unmistakable.

  Galloping horses and the rumble of cartwheels on a dirt road.

  Chapter 28

  A wagon rounded the house and came to a halt in the yard, its driver yelling, “Whoa!”

  Mr Ellery and his two eldest sons, Sara and Daniel’s closest neighbours, jumped to the ground.

  “Saw the flames and came right on over,” he said, nodding to Sara. “Ma’am. Looks like you could use some help.”

  She could barely see through her tears.

  “We sure could,” Daniel said. “You’re a real answer to prayer.”

  Mr Ellery grinned and waved his two sons over. “Well, let’s get that fire put out.”

  Daniel took his place back at the pump, filling bucket after bucket as the Ellerys threw the water onto the flames. A few minutes later another wagon arrived, this one with more of their neighbours, Mr Bowman and his son and grandson. On their heels came another, this one bringing Lizzy with Richard, Elijah Griffin, and three of their farmhands.

  Lizzy ran to Sara while Richard, Elijah and the farmhands joined the rest of the men in a chain between the well and the barn.

  Lizzy threw her arms around her. “Are you and Daniel and Will all right?”

  “We are,” Sara said, hugging her friend. “And I’m even better now you’re here.”

  She let her go to look at the barn. “Richard saw the flames. What happened?”

  “I don’t know, Bess woke us up when it was already on fire. Will you help me find the horses and Pea?”

  It took almost an hour for the men to completely extinguish the blaze, by which time Sara and Lizzy had rounded up Rosie, River and Peapod and settled them in the small barn, after having moved things around to make room. Sara could see they would need to rearrange the limited space even further, but at least for the night it was adequate. Bess found a place on a bale of hay in a corner and curled into a ball, clearly tired out. She was asleep within seconds.

  Sara had made a batch of lemonade the day before and she and Lizzy served up glasses of the sweet liquid to the men when they finally came inside, slumping onto chairs and floor.

  “Me and my boys can come back tomorrow afternoon and help with clearing the barn,” Mr Ellery said as they were leaving fifteen minutes later. “I’m not sure how stable it is right now. Probably ought to come down as soon as possible.”

  “Thanks, Silas,” Daniel said. “I really do appreciate what you did here tonight. Will will be around tomorrow too.”

  Mr Ellery didn’t ask where Will was. His frequent night time activities were obviously common knowledge. “Nothing more than you would do for me.” He clapped Daniel on the shoulder and walked out with his sons in tow.

  Lizzy gave Sara a hug. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

  “It’s good of you to offer, but we’ll be fine. I’m just going to go to bed and sleep until Sunday.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Lizzy said, smiling.

  Elijah walked up behind her and touched her shoulder. “M-Mr Shand is in the wagon, when you’re r-r-ready to leave.”

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him.

  “Thank you for your help, Mr Griffin,” Sara said. “We’re so grateful for what you all did.”

  He nodded and smiled. “Any t-t-time, M-Mrs Raine.”

  Lizzy gave Sara one last hug, said goodbye to Daniel, and followed Elijah out to the wagon where Richard was sitting in the driver’s seat. Sara waited until everyone had left the yard then closed and locked the door.

  Daniel’s arms slid around her waist from behind. “Are you OK?”

  She turned to face him and lay her head against his chest, closing her eyes. “I’m exhausted.”

  “So am I.” He rested his cheek against her hair. “I pumped so much water my arms feel like they’re about to fall off.”

  She reached behind her and brought his left hand in front of her to examine his palm. It was an angry red, nearly raw. Hers were almost as bad.

  “You should have worn gl
oves,” she said.

  “It didn’t occur to me while it was happening. It’s all right, they don’t feel too bad. I think right now I just want to sleep.”

  She felt the same, but she didn’t want to leave his embrace. She tucked her head in below his chin. “Is it possible the fire started by itself?”

  “I don’t know how it could have, but anything’s possible I guess. What else could have done it?”

  Much as she didn’t want to, she thought back to when she was fighting the losing battle against the flames. “When I first went into the barn there were three fires, all around the same size, like they’d begun at the same time.”

  He tensed in her arms. “Three fires?”

  “Yes, in three different places. It’s why I couldn’t put it out. If it had been just one, I could have concentrated on that and I might have done it, but with three I couldn’t keep up.”

  He shook his head slightly. “One fire I could believe started by itself, however unlikely it is. But there is no way three could have started at once.”

  She didn’t want to think about what that meant, but she couldn’t help it. “So you think someone did it deliberately?”

  He was silent for a while. “I don’t know.”

  She didn’t believe him. He did know, and it frightened her. “Do you think Mr Pulaski could have done it?”

  “I think we should go to the marshal tomorrow and tell him there’s a possibility Pulaski set fire to the barn.”

  “But why?” She was finding it hard to believe anyone would do such a thing, even Mr Pulaski. “What reason could he possibly have?”

  “Jealousy? Trying to get rid of me? Trying to scare you away from me? Some other twisted reason? Who knows how his mind works?”

  She looked out the kitchen window into the darkness. “Are we safe here?”

  Daniel’s chest rose and fell against her in a long breath. “We’re as safe here as we are anywhere else. We’re in God’s hands, all we can do is give it to Him.”

  Give it to God. Daniel had learned how to do that. Sara wanted to be able to too.

  Father, help me to let go of my fear. And please keep us and the farm safe.

  They walked into the parlour and Daniel drew her into his embrace again.