Patricia Potter by Lawless Page A

door, throwing it open, yelling as loud as she could to wake the others.
    Chad immediately appeared, and so did Estelle and the twins. “Take care of Sallie Sue,” she shouted to Estelle as she ran out the front door toward the barn, barely aware of the large pinto and the man swinging down from the nervously sidestepping horse.
    He brushed past her without a word and ran into the barn. Willow followed right behind him, terror filling her mind. The man opened the stall gates and flushed the horses out, while Willow ran toward the tack room in the back. She knew Brady was there.
    The door was closed, smoke curling out from the crack underneath. She tried to open it, but it was stuck, and she slammed her body against it fruitlessly.
    Then she felt herself being pulled away, and she saw the stranger kick the door open. Flames spurted out, and he disappeared into the hole of fire and smoke.
    In what seemed like hours but must have been merely seconds, he reappeared, carrying Brady over his shoulder. Brady’s head rolled with each movement.
    “Get the hell out of here,” the stranger roared.
    “Jupiter,” she cried.
    “I’ll get him,” he said. “Just get out of here before you kill all three of us.”
    Willow looked around. The hay was on fire, and lit embers were floating everywhere. She could hear the hiss and crackle of the growing inferno, and the heat was terrible. She could also hear the frantic bellow of Jupiter.
    “You go out,” she said. “I’ll get Jupiter.”
    The man didn’t argue any longer, but grabbed her arm roughly. Willow felt propelled along without choice. When they got out of the smoke-filled barn, she was thrust into the arms of Chad, who had just taken out the two cows and had started to go in again.
    “Jupiter,” the boy yelled. Willow saw the man nod impatiently as he set Brady down on the ground. He said, “Get everyone out of the way. When that old bull comes out, he’ll be wild.” Then, pulling his bandanna over his mouth, he returned to the barn.
    Willow and Chad dragged Brady toward the fence as she yelled at the others to get on the other side. The whole barn was ablaze now, and Willow knew fear like she’d never known before. The man wasn’t going to make it out-no one could. She ran toward the entrance to tell him to forget Jupiter, when she heard a yell, then the sound of heavy hoofbeats. There was a crash, and then Jupiter charged through the doorway, his eyes red and his back gray with ashes. The man stumbled behind him, his shirt torn and smoldering, and his gloves scorched.
    “Get away from the barn,” he yelled. “It’ll collapse in minutes.”
    But Willow couldn’t move. “You’re…hurt.”
    “Goddammit, get away,” the stranger roared as he leaned down and once more picked up Brady’s still body. They ran toward the open gate, but when they heard a crash, Willow stopped to turn around. The roof had caved in, and flames and smoke reached up into the hazy sky.
    They walked toward the others. Estelle was holding tightly on to Sallie Sue, while Chad was trying to hang on to the halters of two horses. The other horse had disappeared, and Jupiter was running toward open range as though he were still a young bull.
    The stranger dumped Brady on the ground, and Willow flew toward him. “Is he…?”
    “Drunk,” the stranger said with disgust. “It looked like he started the damned fire.”
    “Then…it was an accident?” She didn’t want to think anyone would do this to them.
    “He smells like a damned saloon,” the man said. “The fire obviously started in his room. What in the hell do you think?”
    But she was no longer listening to him. She knelt down at Brady’s side, holding his hand, reassuring him as he started to mumble some words. She just barely heard the stranger’s grunt of disgust. She did notice his dusty boots moving away, and she suddenly realized she had not thanked him. She looked up to see him striding to his horse.
    “No!” she