A soft touch on my shoulder woke me. My eyelids flew open to the dark.
Rocky gave a long, drawn-out meow, then I heard him drop to the floor. He called again.
“What is it, you infernal beast?” I groaned and sat up. As soon as my feet touched the floor, my skin prickled and my senses went on high alert.
Rocky led me across the darkened hallway to the window in Buzzy’s room. Sprinkles sat up on her royal bed, her eyes gleaming and her head swiveling as I crossed the room. Here I could see to the north, up to the Love Nest and the far end of Farm Lane where the orange gleam of fire pulsed. The pungent smell of smoke rode a soft breeze that gentled the curtains.
Unlike the previous nights, the flames were bigger, much bigger.
“Caroline! Get up! Fire!” I shouted.
I threw on clothes and shoes, grabbed my phone, and raced down the stairs and out the door.
I stopped for a few seconds to dial 911. “Farm Lane—north end. Fire!” I gasped as I ran toward the glow that silhouetted the Love Nest. As I approached, I could see the cottage wasn’t on fire. The fire was behind it—Aaron’s house. I thought of all the trees and vegetation there … the fire could catch and spread everywhere.
As I ran full out, I remembered at the last minute the almost invisible barbed-wire fencing around Aaron’s property. The only way in was up his driveway.
The heat made an almost physical wall as I hurtled toward the house. I held up my arms to protect my face from the scalding heat. Flames consumed the front door, and the pungent scent of gasoline assailed my nose. Over the roar of the flames that consumed the house, I could hear McGillicuddy barking. I raced left, but flames ringed that side of the house. I retraced my steps, skirting a thread of fire that made a barrier around the house. In one spot, at the stone patio, this wall of fire was broken. I skirted heaps of trash, following the sound of McGillicuddy barking, almost drowned out by the crackle of the flames shooting up the side of the house. A blast of heat stole the air from my lungs. A far-off siren added to the cacophony, hyping my adrenaline.
I looked up. Aaron was at a second-story window, his hands working at his dog’s collar. “Take McGillicuddy!” he shouted. He flung himself over the sill, leaning out to hand the struggling dog out to me.
“You have to get out. Come on!” I yelled.
“The doors are blocked,” he rasped.
“Lower yourself out the window.”
He dropped McGillicuddy and I somehow caught the wriggling dog, gathering his trembling body against my chest.
“Riley!” Darwin ran from the back of the house and grabbed my shoulders. “Come away now! It’s not safe!” He dragged me back through the opening in the flames, shielding me with his body. Pru, Willow, and some of the farm interns ran up and gathered around us.
“There’s a man in there!” I shouted to the firefighters. Darwin led them to the side of the house. McGillicuddy struggled, yelping madly. Trying to soothe him, I stroked his neck, my fingers tangling in the tags hanging from his collar. Suddenly, he nipped me.
“Ow!”
Gentle hands touched my shoulders. Dandy’s concerned face loomed out of the dark, yellow in the reflection of the flames. “We can put McGillicuddy in my front yard. It’s fenced, he won’t be able to get out.” Police officers pushed us back as the fire crew aimed hoses at Aaron’s house.
Dandy steered me to her yard then touched my hand. “My goodness, McGillicuddy broke the skin. Come in, you can sit down.”
“Riley! Thank God you’re safe!” Caroline ran up and threw her arms around me, setting off another round of barking from McGillicuddy. In the glare of a cruiser’s headlights, I saw the Gravers, Gerri in a flowing ruby velvet robe and turban, and Flo in green sweats, hurry toward us. Emergency vehicles created a wall between us and the fire, and we huddled together in Dandy’s yard, unable to stop watching the flames.
“Riley, you’re hurt,” Dandy said. “Let’s wash that bite.”
Rocky threaded my ankles, hissing up at McGillicuddy.
“McGillicuddy was so scared. I can’t blame him.” I tried to make sense of what I was seeing: Aaron’s house encircled by flames, like a noose being pulled tight.
An ambulance pulled up as shouts rang from the yard. EMTs pulled a stretcher to the road, Aaron’s form limp on top. I held McGillicuddy tighter.
When I looked down again Rocky was gone. I hoped his survival instincts would keep him from the vehicles and the fire.
Radios squawked: “He was trapped in the house … both doors blocked by fire … if the stone patio hadn’t been there … some woman got the dog out.”
Next thing I knew, the Gravers surrounded me in Dandy’s kitchen as Dandy washed and bandaged my finger, then we crowded into the living room. Outside the picture window, I saw Darwin, Pru, and Willow huddled together, their faces orange in the firelight; the interns, chattering and trying to film the fire on their cellphones; Voelker’s stern face, looking down at Caroline; ambulance lights receding down Farm Lane. The last thing I remembered was the jingle of McGillicuddy’s dog tags as he ran across Dandy’s living room floor, mournfully calling for his master.