craggy path, trying to stay calm. She shook the bucket. She called his name in a singsong voice. She tried everything that had always worked before to lure him in, but it wasn’t working now.
If only Luke were here…
Finally she saw Manny on the path ahead. She kept moving toward him, shaking the bucket softly. He stood there and watched her without moving, and she felt a ray of hope that maybe he wouldn’t run. But the smoke was telling him something was wrong, and in his world, when something was wrong, humans were to blame. As she moved closer, his tail switched nervously, the whites of his eyes reflecting his anxiety. Shannon inched closer to him again. Time was running out. If she couldn’t get him now…
She lunged for his halter. He threw his head back at the last second, whirled around, and disappeared down the overgrown path.
Shannon had the most sickening feeling that she’d reached the moment of decision. Manny was too scared to let her touch him. The fire was creeping closer with every second that passed. Angela was with the other horses, waiting to evacuate, soon to be threatened by that fire if she didn’t get them out of there.
She had no choice. She had to leave him.
Shannon backed away one shaky step, then two. Tears filled her eyes, and soon Manny’s dappled coat in the distance became nothing more than a gray blotch. Unable to take it another second, she wheeled around and raced back toward the barn, inhaling wisps of smoke with every breath, tears streaking across her temples. She whipped low-hanging branches aside as she ran, her lungs stinging with the effort. She burst through the trees and ran across the pasture. When she reached the gate, she propped it open with the bucket. Angela had loaded the other animals into the trailer and stood waiting.
“Get in the truck,” Shannon said.
“Where’s Manny?”
“I couldn’t catch him. He was too scared.”
“But we have to get him.”
“We can’t.”
“I’ll try,” she said. “Maybe I can—”
“No! We have to go.”
“But we can’t leave him!”
“I’m leaving the gate open so at least he won’t be trapped in the pasture. Once I get you and the other horses to safety, I’ll go back and try again.”
“But there’s no time! Did you see how close the fire’s getting?”
“Yes. I saw.”
“If we don’t get him now—”
“If I don’t get you back to the vineyard, I’ll have your father all over me, and for good reason. Now, get in the truck!”
Finally Angela circled around and got into the passenger seat. Shannon leaped into the driver’s seat and swung the truck and trailer onto the highway, clasping the wheel so tightly her hands ached. She knew she was driving too fast, so she forced herself to ease off the gas pedal. If she drove into a ditch, nobody was going to make it out alive.
As they approached the cutoff to Rainbow Valley, they passed a state trooper pulling to the shoulder on the other side of the road.
“What’s he doing?” Shannon asked.
Angela looked into her rearview mirror. “I don’t know.” Seconds passed. “Wait a minute. He’s turning his car sideways in the road.”
For a few moments, Shannon didn’t realize the full impact of what that meant, and when she did, a wave of despair washed over her.
“Oh, God,” she said. “He’s closing the road.”
Angela gasped. “He can’t do that! You won’t be able to get back up there!”
“I’ll talk to him when I go back. I’ll get him to let me up there.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“I’ll find a way,” Shannon said, swallowing tears. “I’ll find a way.”
Angela sat back and closed her eyes, her hand at her throat. Neither one of them spoke, because they both knew the truth. Shannon wasn’t getting back up that road. And there was no other way to get to the shelter except through the burning forest. The helplessness she felt in that moment overwhelmed her, wrapping around her heart and squeezing so hard she could barely breathe.
She thought about Manny, who’d suffered so much already and trusted no one but Luke. She thought about Luke, who had the same walls around his own heart. They’d been kindred spirits who recognized each other, but in the end, they’d shut out everyone else, keeping only to themselves, staying in that prison they’d been forced to live in through no fault of their own.
And now both of them were lost to her forever.
A truck was approaching from the other direction. Clearly