Emma tightened the bonnet straps under her chin when the wind bucked against it. She clutched the goods for Lucy’s dress to her chest and leaned into the gust.
If only it would rain. Everything felt dried out. A body could practically hear the ground cracking and crying out for moisture. And her skin! What wouldn’t she give to fill her lovely bathtub with butter and cream and soak the afternoon away?
The indulgent thought nearly made her laugh out loud. The afternoon was slipping away as it was. As soon as she delivered a bottle of Orange Lilly to Rachael Sizeloff it was off to home and preparing a bit of supper for the men and Lucy.
Bathing in buttermilk, indeed! If the thought was wayward, the picture that popped into her brain and slowed her steps was positively wicked. Wouldn’t Matt be distressed if he could see the two of them in her mind, rolling about in the tub wearing nothing but cream?
From a block away, she spotted Joseph Sizeloff sweeping the steps of the church. His vest slapped against his shirt in the wind and Emma wondered why he bothered with sweeping when what dirt he managed to clear away was immediately blown back in place.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Sizeloff. Is Rachael inside?” Emma was forced to shout over the deviltry that swirled from every direction at once. “I’ve got her Orange Lilly.”
“You missed her by ten minutes. Little Maudie needed a nap and she’s got to prepare the sermon for Sunday.” He set the broom against the rail of the church porch, but it blew over with a clatter and scrape. “Come on inside for a minute and get out of this wind. There’s fresh coffee on the stove.”
“I’m off for home, but I could do with a cup before I head back, thank you.”
Before she set foot on the third step, Joseph Sizeloff’s smile sagged under his mustache. He gazed past the top of her head, looking at the stretch of prairie with a frown.
Stepping onto the highest stair of the porch, she smelled the trouble that Joseph had spotted so far off.
Smoke! It tickled her nose, then blew away with the next gust of wind.
“Prairie fire,” he murmured.
Emma stretched up on her toes trying to spot the flames, but all she saw was black smoke coming up from the ground, like a thundercloud settled to earth.
“I’ll have to pass on the coffee.” Emma turned to dash down the steps. “I’ve got to get home before the fire cuts off the road.”
“Hold on there, Mrs. Suede.” He caught her elbow. “It’s best you stay with Rachael and me tonight. With the way the wind’s pushing the fire, you’d never make it. By morning it will have moved on and the ground cooled enough for your horse to get you safely home.”
“But I have to get there now. What if my house burns down?” By the second, the smoke grew blacker. It billowed higher in the sky and the scent of it no longer blew away. “If anything happens they’ll need me.”
“From the direction that the wind is blowing now, it ought to cut right between your place and town. Your house should be safe enough. Wait just a minute while I bank the stove inside, and I’ll walk you back to our place.”
“I hate to put you out.”
“You won’t be in the way. Rachael will be glad to have a new ear to practice Sunday’s sermon on.”
“Well, then, I’d be pleased to stay with your family this evening, but there’s no need to leave before you intended. I know the way and I need to make a stop at the livery to let Jesse know that Pearl will be staying the night.”
“All right, then. Tell my wife I’ll be along in about an hour.”
By the time Emma had bid Joseph Sizeloff goodbye and walked halfway to the livery, ash had begun to filter from the sky like dirty snowflakes.
A woman came out of the bakery and looked up at the sky with her apron held over her nose and mouth. A big red dog leaped out of a wagon hitched in front of the bank. It ran in circles barking and making the horses nervous. A man dashed outside and opened his mouth to scold the dog, but when he saw the ash coming down he whistled and motioned for the dog to get back aboard. He jumped up on his wagon and urged his team out of town