blood flow. You get us to the nearest vet you know outside of Rainbow Valley.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice shaking. “Okay. I will.”
Luke raced to the back of the truck and jumped inside. Shannon got behind the wheel and hit the gas.
What happened in the next half hour was a blur. Shannon drove straight to Dr. Adler’s clinic in Rosemont, about twenty miles away. Manny seemed barely conscious as Luke lifted him from the truck. The sight of Manny’s wounds made her stomach turn over with anger and self-recrimination. Damn it. Why hadn’t she found a way to replace that fence a long time ago?
Luke carried Manny to the barn, where Dr. Adler and her assistant took over with IVs and blood and wound care. Shannon just stood there, feeling helpless, afraid Luke had been too late. Afraid whatever the vet did, it wouldn’t be enough. Afraid it was her fault because of that damned barbed wire!
Luke took Shannon’s arm and led her out of the barn. “We need to go.”
“No,” Shannon said. “I want to stay with him.”
“You can’t. That fire is coming fast. If they don’t get it under control, it could eventually take out Rainbow Valley. We need to get you evacuated from your apartment.”
“But I can’t leave him like this.”
“There’s nothing more we can do now. Dr. Adler said she’d call when she had news.”
“She won’t be able to get through. All the lines are blocked because of the fire.”
“She’ll let us know as soon as she’s able,” Luke said.
“At least I need to go to the vineyard. Other shelters may have to come up to get the animals. I need to help out there.”
“Freddie Jo and Angela are taking care of that.”
“But—”
“Sweetheart, you have to trust that other people will do their jobs. It’s time to take care of you. What about Eve and your parents?”
“Eve has a big truck for her business. She’s taking them to my parents’ vacation house on Lake Travis. I suppose we’ll go there, too, once we’ve evacuated.”
They got in Luke’s truck. As they drove, she saw heavy gray clouds filling the late afternoon sky. Or was that smoke from the fire? It was getting harder to tell one from the other. She wondered how soon the buildings at the shelter would be overrun by flames. If that happened, what was she going to do if the other shelters couldn’t absorb all the animals they’d evacuated to the vineyard, and then the vineyard itself became threatened?
She didn’t want to think about it. Couldn’t think about it, or she’d go crazy.
As they drove into town, they saw cars and trucks backed up to houses and garages. People ran from houses to vehicles with as many possessions as they could reasonably take with them. It wasn’t until that moment that Shannon was hit with the full impact of what was happening.
This fire could take out the entire town.
Luke swung his truck into a parking space in front of Shannon’s apartment. As they rushed up the sidewalk, they met Tasha coming the other way. She had her handbag over her shoulder and Ginger was inside it. She looked at the blood on Luke’s shirt.
“Oh, my God! What happened?”
“It’s okay,” Luke said. “I’m fine. What about Rita? Is she out?”
“Everybody’s out. Shannon’s the last. I just heard the fire’s only six or seven miles away now.”
“Where are you going?” Shannon asked.
“There are several churches south of here that are setting up emergency shelters.”
“Can you take Ginger with you?”
“They said it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Let us know where you are as soon as you’re able,” Shannon said.
Tasha nodded and hurried off, and Luke and Shannon headed for the door to the apartment building. The wind gusted, the sky had darkened, and the air felt charged with electricity. All at once a streak of lightning sizzled to earth with a horrendous crash, following by a loud rumble of thunder. She and Luke stared at the sky. Up and down the street, everybody had stopped their evacuation efforts and were doing the same. Another lightning bolt zigzagged to earth, illuminating the murky sky, followed by a deafening crash.
“That lightning is dangerous,” Luke said, “it could start more fires. Make what’s happening now seem tame.”
Then all at once, Shannon felt a drop of moisture. Two drops. A dozen. She and Luke looked at each other, the moment suspended in time. It was almost too much to hope for given how many times in the past few months it