With hesitant steps, Lisa moved toward the gate. She could feel the numbness wash over her again. All her strength seemed to be evaporating into fear that was too strong to fight. She reached for Jupiter’s halter with shaking hands and called him toward her.
After Jupiter was haltered, Jimmy told her to lead the gelding to the stable. With numb muscles, Lisa opened the gate and led Jupiter out. She didn’t think to shut the gate behind him and could hear Topper’s hoof beats following them as they walked toward the stable. Topper followed them halfway, then suddenly turned and galloped back toward the house. The relief of at least one of them being safe struck into the core of Lisa’s fear and unexpectedly she found her courage. She thought of leaping onto Jupiter’s back and racing away. But she felt so weak still. So exhausted. How could she pull herself up in time when Jimmy was standing right behind them holding a gun?
He’s going to kill us anyway, Lisa reminded herself. I’ve got to do something. Her steps began to slow as she started to plan their escape. Maybe if I jump up far enough to lie across his back, then Jupiter could carry me away. But he would have to go so slowly. I might fall off unless I’m all the way on his back. Then Jimmy will catch us anyway. If only Jupie wasn’t so big. I know he would fight Jimmy if I let him, but I can’t let him do that if Jimmy has a gun. And I can’t leave Jupie to fight it out alone. But what…
“We don’t have all night,” Jimmy snarled at Lisa. “Pick up the pace.”
Lisa began to walk a little faster. The stable was almost in front of them now. I’ve got to think of something. Anything. And right now, she thought desperately, but her mind remained blank. The dark form of the stable loomed up in front of her. Jimmy commanded her to stop, then moved around in front of Lisa and Jupiter.
This is my only chance! Lisa realized when she heard Jimmy cursing as he searched for the light switch. Quickly, she grabbed Jupiter’s mane and sprung as high as she could. She didn’t jump high enough and slid off his side, then gathered herself and desperately leaped again. This time her elbow made it over his backbone and, with her other hand still clutching his mane, she hoisted herself up with her arms, then slid her leg over Jupiter’s back.
Suddenly, light burst from the stable. Jimmy’s right hand shot back into his pocket just as Lisa straightened on Jupiter’s back. He pulled out a silver handgun and pointed it at Jupiter’s chest. Lisa froze.
“Get off right now or your horse gets it in the heart,” said Jimmy. His voice was as cold as icicles dropping to the ground.
He’s going to kill us anyway, Lisa thought again and slowly reached toward the lead rope lying across Jupiter’s neck. All I have to do is turn him and gallop away. There’s a chance he’ll miss us, though probably not a very good one. Lisa couldn’t take her eyes from the gun, glistening in the light from the stable. It looked so evil. Death was inside of it, Jupiter’s death. If she tried to escape. Lisa pulled her hand back and, with tears in her eyes, slid from Jupiter’s back.
If I try to escape now, it’s like I’ve done something to kill Jupiter, she thought. Maybe Jimmy is going to kill us anyway, but I refuse to do anything that might hurt Jupie. I couldn’t live with myself if I got away and Jupie didn’t. If we get away at all, we’re going to do it together!
Chapter 34
How am I going to save Lisa when I can not even stand? I must save her. That is why I was sent here. But the Glowing took too much life-energy. I have no more to give. Unless…what is that I hear? The door is being pushed open by a soft muzzle. Hoof beats across the floor.
Topper.
His tears fall one by one like golden kisses raining down on my weariness. And my strength is returning in waves!
We will ride together, Topper and me. And the others will help. We will fall upon the foe like an unexpected tidal wave. A tsunami! He will be crushed!
Chapter 35
Reluctantly, Lisa led Jupiter into the stable. Jimmy motioned for her to put the horse into his stall. At first Jupiter hesitated at the stall door. Lisa allowed him to lean forward and sniff the straw where Mr. Pickering had lain. Then when Lisa walked ahead of him into the stall, he followed closely behind her, his muzzle snuffling her hair.
“Come out and shut the door behind you,” commanded Jimmy.
Lisa wanted to refuse but the image of the gun flashed into her mind. She glanced at Jimmy. His hands were empty, but there was a bulge in his right jacket pocket.
“Leave the halter on him and get out here,” he said when Lisa turned and began to unbuckle the halter from Jupiter’s head. “I’m tired of waiting. Let’s get this over with.”
Lisa unclipped the lead rope from Jupiter’s halter as she turned toward Jimmy. She held it behind her back and stepped out of the stall, pushing the door shut behind her. When she heard the latch to the stall click, she whipped the lead rope from around her back and swung the clip end toward Jimmy. He sprang back but not far enough. The metal hit him on the side of the face.
Instantly, Lisa swung at him again but this time he was ready. He grabbed the end of the lead rope and jerked. Lisa went flying toward him. With one swift movement, Jimmy let go of the lead rope and grabbed her hair again.
“You stupid brat!” he screamed, his face red where the clip had struck him. “You’re going to get what you deserve! Right now.” He jerked her around so her back was to him. Lisa kicked at him behind her, but her foot missed when he jerked her arms together behind her back. Jupiter struck against the stall door with his front hoof and Lisa wished she hadn’t pushed the door shut. Jupiter was furious at Jimmy. She could read it in his eyes and his flattened-back ears. Then she felt the lead rope wind around her wrists. Jimmy was tying her up.
As soon as the rope was tight around her wrists, Jimmy tied the end of the lead rope around her ankles. Then he pushed her. Lisa fell toward Jupiter’s stall. In mid-fall she tried to twist her body so that she would land on her shoulder, but there wasn’t time. Her head hit the wall beside Jupiter’s stall and she bounced onto the floor.
Though her head throbbed in pain, Lisa wiggled to a sitting position. Jimmy was standing over her, his cheek as red as a beet. Lisa turned her head to the side and closed her eyes as he bent to strike her. The blow never fell. Instead she heard laughter: cold, cruel laughter.
Lisa opened her eyes to see Jimmy reach into his right jacket pocket and pull out his cigarettes. He put an unlit one in his mouth, then reached into his pocket and pulled out the gun. He smiled as he slowly pointed it at Lisa’s heart.
“Any last words?” he drawled.
Lisa’s mind was numb. All she could think of was the gun barrel pointing at her. She wished that at least she had been able to save Jupiter. Or Angelica. She realized Angelica was probably still slumped in the entrance hall of the Manor. I hope she had enough strength to hide. There’s a place under the stairs that Jimmy may not know about.
“No? Too proud to beg for your own life?” said Jimmy in a quiet voice, but Lisa wasn’t fooled into thinking his soft tone meant he was having second thoughts about killing her. “Okay then,” said Jimmy and he moved the gun so it was pointing at her head. Lisa watched in horror as his finger tightened on the trigger.
“Pow,” whispered Jimmy and Lisa jumped. Then Jimmy moved the gun barrel toward the end of his cigarette. He pulled the trigger and a tiny, quiet flame flickered from the end of the barrel.
When she realized what was happening, Lisa felt an incredible rage swarm over her. The gun was really a lighter! A cigarette lighter! She felt her face grow hot with unexpressed rage. I could have ridden away, she realized. I could have turned Jupie and galloped off and been home in five minutes, and Jimmy couldn’t have done a thing to stop me. But instead I gave up!
“I’ll go get your freaky friend as soon as I enjoy my smoke,” said Jimmy taunting her. “Then you and her and your precious horses will all go up in flames. Oh yes, and the will too. The will that no one knows about but you and me and the freak back there in the house.” He inhaled
another lung full of smoke, then took the cigarette from his smirking mouth. “This has been a productive night,” he continued. “I thought I would only get to kill the horses and get rid of the evidence, but now I can burn the will and you too.” He stopped and inhaled again. “It’ll be so sad,” he continued with false concern in his voice. “So tragic. They’ll think you were upset that your horse was accused of murder and you came over to the stable to steal him away. They’ll think you led him into the stable to tack him up and then lit a candle so no one would see the light and know you were here. And then, oh so terrible, the candle fell into the straw and poof! The whole stable went up in flames.”
“They won’t believe that story. They’ll know Jupiter didn’t do it,” said Lisa, her voice hard with anger. She could hear a quiet buzzing noise, far away. “They did tests on his hooves and the tests will prove he’s innocent. They won’t believe I would steal him away if I knew he could be proved innocent.”
“Oh didn’t I tell you?” asked Jimmy with wide eyes. “My new girlfriend, Tiffany, works at the forensics lab. She’s going to discover, first thing in the morning, that the samples taken from your horse’s hooves have been misplaced. Lost.” He inhaled again and when he started to speak, smoke poured from his mouth. “They’re so disorganized over there, you know,” he said. “And the poor, dear horse isn’t going to be around much longer for them to take new samples.”
“What about your car rental slip?” asked Lisa, trying to think of anything she could use to stop Jimmy. He doesn’t need to know that the slip is still in my pocket, she thought. “They’ll find it in my room and investigate it. They’ll find out that the car was rented to you: Thomas J. Short. The J must be for James or Jimmy.”
A flash of doubt crossed Jimmy’s face. He inhaled again, drawing deeply on the cigarette, then slowly exhaled. “That’s assuming they even find the car rental slip,” he replied in a nervous voice. “Your mom will probably just throw it out. She’ll be so sad when she boxes up all your stuff that she’ll hardly notice it.”
“The police will suspect you anyway,” predicted Lisa. “They’re going to look for your fingerprints and they’ll catch you.”
“But what’s wrong with my fingerprints being here?” asked Jimmy, confident again. “I’ve been staying with my uncle and taking care of him while he’s been ill, just like a good, concerned nephew should.”
“They’ll find out somehow,” said Lisa, her voice rising. “I know they will. You can’t have thought of everything and the police aren’t stupid. They’ll catch you.”
Suddenly Lisa stopped speaking. The noise she had noticed earlier was quickly growing louder. The sound seemed familiar, like a hive of bees or like the wind in the trees. Like a river. Lisa pushed it to the back of her mind again as she looked up at Jimmy. “They’ll ask you where you were,” she continued. “What are you going to tell them?”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about me,” said Jimmy. “I have an alibi. I was apparently at the opera with Tiffany tonight, and I’ll show them the ticket stub to prove it. How can I be here, murdering my uncle, when I’m treating my new girlfriend to a night on the town? And, you forget that in a few minutes there’s going to be no one left alive who can even tell them I was here tonight.”
The strange noise was becoming too loud to ignore. Even Jimmy stopped speaking and looked up toward the ceiling. When he looked back at Lisa, his face was puzzled. But now Lisa knew what the noise was. She had heard it before and every time she had been with Angelica.
Suddenly, Jupiter’s scream pierced the air. He reared in his stall, striking at the stall door with his front hooves. Firefly wheeled around and kicked at the door to her stall and Dakota added his neigh to Jupiter’s. Lisa would have covered her ears with her hands if they hadn’t been tied behind her back. Instead she began to struggle against her bonds. Jimmy turned toward the horses, stunned. “What the…” he said, then stopped when the door to the stable burst open.
Topper rushed inside with Angelica bent low on his back. Jimmy threw down his glowing cigarette and jumped toward them, reaching for Angelica. The grey gelding reared into the air, his front hooves flashing in Jimmy’s face. Firefly’s back hooves hit her stall door again and the door went flying halfway across the stable. In a second she was out of her stall. She jumped toward Jimmy with her teeth bared. Angelica raised her hand to Firefly and the mare stopped in her tracks, though she looked murderously at the man standing in front of her. Then they began to circle Jimmy. Lisa heard Jupiter strike at his stall door again, but she didn’t look away from the four beings in front of her.
Topper and Firefly stalked around Jimmy with Angelica still riding on Topper’s back. Even as Lisa struggled to free her hands from the tight rope, she couldn’t help but notice how perfectly Angelica was balanced on the gelding’s back. Her hair shined a glistening grey in the stable light, the same colour as Topper’s sleek side. It spilled over his back like a silver waterfall, blending perfectly into his coat. The sound Lisa had heard was emanating from Angelica like electricity. As the two horses and the girl swarmed around Jimmy, the sound ebbed and flowed.
Jimmy fumbled in his pocket for his gun lighter. A triumphant look flashed onto his face when he pointed it at Angelica, then was instantly replaced with shock as Topper struck out with his front hoof and the lighter went flying across the stable. With a look of horror on his face, Jimmy made a dash for freedom. He dove between Firefly’s head and Topper’s hindquarters and ran for the door. Firefly was right behind him as he raced into the night and Topper and Angelica spun around to follow him.
Then Lisa noticed the flame. So tiny. So deadly. Just a foot away from her in the straw. “Angelica!” she shrieked. “His cigarette started a fire!”
Angelica turned her head and brought Topper to a sliding stop. She leaped from his back and then stood on tiptoes and whispered a quick message into his ear. Topper sprung forward and disappeared through the door as Angelica raced toward the flames.
“A saddle blanket,” yelled Lisa, frantically struggling against her bonds. “Get a saddle blanket and smother the fire.” She rolled a few feet away from the quickly spreading blaze as Angelica disappeared into the tack room. But the fire was spreading too quickly. It raced toward Jupiter’s stall and started to climb the wall. Jupiter screamed in panic, bringing Angelica running with the blanket in her hand. She beat at the flames close to the stall door, forcing them to retreat just enough for her to reach out, grab the latch and pull the door open.
But Jupiter wouldn’t leave his stall. The flames were all around the door and he was too frightened to run through them. Angelica stepped through the circle of fire and whispered in Jupiter’s ear, but he didn’t seem to hear her. Instead he stared at the growing flames with wild, rolling eyes. One iron hoof kicked out and hit the back wall of his stall.
“Jupie, come here,” called Lisa when she realized that Angelica alone couldn’t save the black gelding. “Come to me. I need you.” She kicked at the straw as the fire jumped right in front of her. “Jupie,” she called again, her voice more desperate.
The black gelding hesitated one more second, then lunged forward. He brushed past Angelica and leaped from the stall, then stood shuddering beside Lisa. In a second, Angelica was beside Lisa as well, fumbling with the knots that tied her hands and feet. Jupiter’s stall was filled with flame now and the fire had engulfed the tack room. Lisa began to cough in the black smoke as she tried to breathe. The smoke was beginning to make her feel dizzy and sick.
As soon as the rope fell away, Angelica pulled Lisa to her feet, then boosted her onto Jupiter’s back. “Go,” she yelled. “Take him to safety.”
“But Dakota,” protested Lisa between coughing spasms.
“I will get him,” said Angelica. “You take Jupiter.” She reached up and smacked Jupiter on the hindquarters and he leaped forward as if stung. Lisa kept low to his neck as he trotted toward the door. Just before she passed through the doorway, she saw
the brightness of new flame shoot out through the smoke surrounding the hay pile. There was no hope for the stable now. The fire was in the haystack. Then she and Jupiter were outside, surrounded by the blessed cool air.
A few feet from the stable, Lisa asked Jupiter to stop and turn around. Flames were shooting from the doorway they had just left. She vaulted from Jupiter’s back and raced toward the stable, hardly noticing when Jupiter turned away from the fire and hurried off into the night. Lisa drew as close to the stable as she could. The heat was almost unbearable. Anxiously, she watched the doorway, searching for Angelica and Dakota’s forms against the bright seething flame.
How can they get through that wall of fire? thought Lisa. How are they going to escape with only the one exit? Suddenly the flames blew outward as if a monstrous wind was behind them. The hot blast swept past Lisa and she threw her hands over her face to protect herself. After a moment, she peeked between her fingers and looked at the doorway with narrowed eyes, just in time to see Dakota burst from the opening in the flames with his head low and his ears pinned. Angelica was crouched on his back, her face buried in his short mane. Her hair was like a mantle over her and Dakota, a shimmering white with grey and black spots dancing across it.
When Dakota drew alongside Lisa, Angelica sat up straight on the pony’s back. “Climb on up,” she said as Dakota stopped beside Lisa. “We have to save Jimmy.”
“What?” said Lisa, too surprised to move. “Save Jimmy?”
Angelica offered her hand. “I am afraid they will hurt him,” she said. “They are so angry.” She held out her hand to Lisa and helped Lisa swing onto Dakota’s back behind her. Then she urged Dakota into a canter. Quickly they covered the ground between the stable and the house. Dakota seemed to know where to go. His ears were pointing into the darkness. They could hear Jimmy yelling for help, his voice growing louder the nearer they came.
Dark Fire Page 10
