Brian hurried up to him, grabbing his arm. “No one can help him now, Jake!”
“It’s too damn late!” Cole could be heard shouting to the others. “Let it go! Let it go before somebody else gets hurt!”
“Pepper! Where’s Pepper?” Jake roared.
“Jake, give it up,” Brian told him. “You’re too injured to do anything about this.”
Lloyd left him there and ran all the way around the barn, searching for more horses that might have escaped and hoping to see Pepper. By the time he made it back to Jake and Brian, the barn was beginning to creak, and the flames had reached the highest loft.
“Pepper never came out!” Vance Kelly shouted. “And most of the horses are still inside.”
The continued, near-screaming whinnying of the trapped horses stabbed at Lloyd and Jake like a dagger in the heart. For a few more agonizing minutes, the gut-wrenching sounds continued, until finally there was nothing but the roar and crackle of the fire as the barn became completely engulfed in an orange glow. All any of the men could do was watch while the building they’d helped construct creaked and groaned, until it finally collapsed with a huge rumble that hurt the ears. Glowing sparks spiraled high into the sky, accompanied by black smoke that enshrouded the sparks as the rubble continued to burn.
“Jesus God Almighty,” Jake groaned.
Lloyd held his stomach and turned away. The rest of the men filled the air with curses and shouts.
“That beautiful bay I cut out of those wild mustangs the other day was in there!” Terrel Adams groaned.
“Thank God there’s plenty of snow on the ground, or that fire might have spread through the grass to other buildings,” Cole commented.
They all stood around in stunned disbelief, most of them wearing nothing but long johns, boots with no socks, and an array of fur or buckskin winter jackets.
“What the hell happened here?” Lloyd seethed. “Who saw the fire first?”
“Pepper! Goddamn it! Pepper!” someone yelled. “He never came out!”
Cole noticed Jake’s jaw was turning so purple it could be seen even at night by the light of the fire.
Again Jake bolted for the barn, his injury leaving him still confused. “We have to get Pepper out of there!”
“Pa, get back!” Lloyd grabbed him and pulled him back. “It’s too goddamn late! There’s nothing we can do!”
Jake ran a hand through his hair and turned in a circle. “Sonofabitch!” he roared so loud everyone jumped. “Who the hell was in the barn last?”
“Nobody was in there,” Cole answered. “We was all sleepin’ when Pepper suddenly yelled that the barn was on fire.”
“Jesus, we’ve lost over half of our feed hay,” Lloyd lamented.
“And most of the best horses you were going to sell,” Brian added.
“Jake, that fire went too fast to be natural,” Cole told him. He turned to Lloyd. “Seems like it was all around the whole barn right away, not in just one spot. No fire breaks out everywhere at once like that unless it was set.”
“Who in hell would do that?” Terrel asked.
Suddenly, Jake grabbed Cole’s arms, his dark eyes on fire with rage. “You really think it was deliberately set?”
Cole cringed. “Jesus, Jake, let go of me!”
Brian and Lloyd pulled him off Cole.
“Are you sure?” Jake repeated, yanking his arm away from Brian and Lloyd.
Cole put his hands on his hips, stepping back a little. “It’s the way it went,” he told Jake. He turned to Lloyd. “It just didn’t seem like no ordinary fire.”
“I found an oil can layin’ outside,” Terrel told them, “and it ain’t the brand we use to fill lamps and burn brush.”
Jake looked at Lloyd, still seeming confused at first, then stumbling backward. He looked toward the house, then back to Lloyd. “Sonofabitch!” He began running toward the house. “Brian, go check on Evie and Esther and Sadie!” he screamed.
“Pa, I left Katie and Tricia at the house with the baby!” Lloyd yelled, hurrying to catch up with him.
“Go make sure they’re all right!”
Most of the men ran right behind them.
“We have to make sure all the women and kids are accounted for!” Jake roared. “All three boys are at my house!” He ran toward the main house.
Lloyd grabbed Jake’s arm. “Pa, what are you thinking?”
“Brad Buckley!” Jake roared. “That’s what I’m thinking! That fucking sonofabitch did this! You can bet on it!” He turned and kept running.
Lloyd made a beeline for his house. “Katie!” he screamed.