Take the Reins (A Cowboy's Promise #2) - Megan Squires Page 0,69

clear path to take. Trust me.”

Josie just shook her head over and over as they backed away from the paddock and the blazing remnants of the barn that looked like some special effect from an action movie. Seth had never seen such destruction take place in a matter of mere minutes. Whinnies squealed in unison with Josie’s cries, and her sounds were only partially muted as she wept into his shirt.

In no time, the opening they had just created was swallowed up in new flames. Seth sheltered Josie against his chest to keep her from glimpsing the hopeless sight. The wall of opaque fire obscured the desperate horses imprisoned on the other side, but it couldn’t contain their hysterical neighs of despair.

Then, like a promise in the night, a distant siren wail sent a wave of sheer optimism rippling through Seth’s body. Thank God, help had finally arrived.

“The fire department’s here!” He shook Josie, peeling her from his chest where she burrowed.

The back of her hand smeared across her eyes, blinking and unbelieving.

At the same time, Seth’s mother and father rushed out from the farmhouse, both in robes that they cinched tightly around their waists as they ran toward the commotion.

“Is everyone okay?” Mitch’s slack-jawed gape matched his rounded eyes.

“Where’s Tanner?” Donna cried, just as Amy and the boys sprinted up behind her. She hauled her grandsons into her arms to shield them from the devastating display. “Where is he?”

“He’s opening up the gates for the cows,” Josie said, her composure only slightly regained. “But the rescue horses are trapped.”

“Not for long,” Seth assured. A fire truck, followed by an ambulance, slowed in between them and the barn, and the chief jumped down from the first vehicle once it came to a full stop. Seth filled him in on the situation with the horses and the crew got right to work with a synchronicity that could only come from working as a team day in and day out.

Seth knew there was nothing more he could do and that it was best to leave the firefighters to their job, but a helplessness still tugged at the core of his being. His family ranch was being swallowed whole before his very eyes and it was a chilling, stark reality that he was powerless to save it.

Mighty surges of water flooded from fire hoses angled toward the barn, quenching the ailing structure and smothering the angry flames. The chief called out orders and his crew moved quickly to meet the demands. Their presence provided a modicum of control in the midst of utter uncertainty. Popping sounds of igniting beams. Neighing from terrified creatures. The whooshing rush of water that attempted to overpower the persistent flames.

It was all a cacophony of chaos and then, with one eardrum shattering whinny, Bruiser vaulted over the hedge of fire like an Olympic equestrian jumper. Seth had never seen a sight so majestic, so unbridled, and when the four remaining mustangs followed his lead, Seth couldn’t keep from weeping. Tears, hot and insistent, trailed down his cheeks and skated along his jaw.

“Josie, look.”

Bruiser reared on his hind limbs, kicking out his front hooves as he tossed his head wildly like a grand send off before bounding for the open pasture, his herd mates on his heels.

“They’re free,” Josie whimpered at the sight.

For the first time since stepping from one nightmare into another, Seth was able to breathe easy. The same couldn’t be said for Josie. She coughed and hacked, choking on the smoke that enveloped them like a dense, dark vapor. Seth gasped when she suddenly went languid like a rag doll in his arms.

“Help!” he screamed. “Somebody, help!”

A young paramedic bounded across the dirt with his medical bag, hollering for his partner to follow. The second rushed over, pushing a stretcher. Seth stood there gaping as they peeled Josie from his grip and strapped her onto the frame to take her vitals. They rattled off numbers that Seth didn’t know the meaning of and spun the gurney around. As if in a fog, Seth stared blankly when the ambulance doors slammed closed with Josie secured behind them, lights flashing in red, disorienting swirls. The siren kicked on. Dust sputtered out from the vehicle’s tires and Seth remained frozen in place until the ambulance became a distant speck on the two-lane road outside their property.

“Who are they taking away?” Tanner suddenly jammed up behind them on his horse. He swung down from the animal and gathered the reins