The Outlaw (19 page)

She stepped back into her room, shut the door
and leaned against the wall, one hand clutched at her heart.
Thoughts of Colt came to mind and tears sprang to her eyes. She
didn’t know if they were from the smoke or from knowing she was
about to die without ever telling him how she felt. Even though he
didn’t want her, she wanted him to know how much she loved him.
Now, he'd never know.

* * * *

The fire to Morgan’s office was out of
control. There wasn’t enough water in the entire town to put it out
and when the left side of the building fell, Colt cursed and jumped
back.

Morgan was off to one side, staring at the
building with something that looked like relief on his face. He
turned toward him and the expression changed in an instant. “The
hotel.”

Colt turned to look behind him and his gut
clenched. The hotel was on fire, its walls blazing and lighting up
the night sky.

Half the town
was burning and Colt ran, barefoot, down the road toward the hotel,
Morgan’s voice chasing after him. He ignored the screams of the
people he’d grown up with, ran past them as they begged for his
help as a litany of whispers echoed in his head, running on repeat
that
Sarah’s in the
hotel….

He looked up at the second floor of the
building and was relieved to see the glass dark. The building
wasn’t engulfed and he thought his heart would burst from his chest
when he saw someone lean out one of the windows and yell for help.
It wasn’t her and he didn’t know whether to be relieved or more
frightened. He didn’t know what room she was in, hadn’t even wanted
to know when he paid the clerk for it and wished now, he would have
asked.

Reaching the building, he ran onto the wooden
sidewalk and opened the front door. “Sarah!” He raised his arm over
his face when the heat hit him, the blaze snaking across the lobby
to eat away at the main staircase.

He turned and ran, rounded the back corner of
the building and found the backdoor open. Someone had used it to
escape and he hoped it had been Sarah. He yelled her name again
into the darkness and heard someone cough from the tree line. He
saw shapes take form.

“There are still a few people up there.” It
was the clerk from the day before. He walked into the light and
Colt saw his face and clothing covered in soot. His pants legs were
burnt and the skin on his legs looked red and blistered. “I
couldn’t get to all of them.”

Colt searched those people around the tree
line, looking for Sarah. “Sarah Hartford… is she here?”

“I’m not sure.” The clerk called her name but
no one spoke up.

Turning, Colt ran into the building, avoiding
the flames climbing the walls. He spotted the back staircase hidden
behind a large cabinet, the fire dancing across the bottom and took
several steps back before running and leaping up onto the stairs.
He landed hard, his knee slamming into the edge of the steps and he
cursed before standing and climbing up the rest.

The door at the top of the stairs was locked
and it took several kicks to knock it loose. Smoke billowed into
his face the moment it opened.

“Sarah!” The hall was dark, smoke filling the
corridor and making it hard to breathe. He coughed, lifted the
collar of his shirt to cover his mouth and nose, and yelled her
name again.

Most of the doors were closed and he looked
inside each room when he came to them. Near the end of the hall, he
heard a faint cough and his heart nearly exploded with relief.
“Sarah!”

He opened the door to his left and saw a
woman clutching a bed sheet to her chest. Her eyes were wide,
frightened, and he held his arm out to her. “Come on, we have to
go.”

She hesitated, looked around the room and
finally joined him in the hall. He checked three more rooms and the
fear clawing at his chest nearly suffocated him. Two more people
joined the first lady in the hall and when no one knew Sarah or had
seen her, his hands started shaking.

He turned to those he found and pointed down
the hall. “The back stairs are at the end of the hall. The door is
off its hinges. You can’t miss it.” He coughed again, his chest
aching as he did. He covered his face, blinked until his eyes
watered. “They’re on fire but if you want to live, I suggest you
jump it. There’s no other way out.”

Turning, he started searching the rooms
again, calling Sarah’s name. He stood and listened, ignoring the
flames dancing along the walls, straining to hear over the fire
roaring in the background. His stomach was twisted into knots, his
heart pounding in his chest and the smoke was burning his eyes.

A faint whisper reached him and he turned his
head, looking back down the hall. He followed the sound and heard
his name, the relief so profound his eyes watered.

She was huddled in the corner, hidden from
view of the door by a bureau. She was in her shift, her hair
falling down her shoulders, her face covered in soot with tear
streaks running over her cheeks.

He sighed in relief, gathered her in his arms
and sent up a silent prayer of thanks. “Why didn’t you answer me?”
His arms tightened around her and when she made a snuffling noise,
he realized she was crying.

“I couldn’t get the window open. I didn’t
know what to do.”

“Shhh, It’s going to be all right. I’m going
to get us out of here.” He picked her up, held her close to his
chest and started back for the stairs. The fire was halfway up now
and he knew he wouldn’t come away unharmed. Sarah’s face was buried
against his neck, her arms tight around his shoulders. “Hold on,
Sarah, and whatever you do, don’t let go.”

He felt her nod against his neck, her grip on
him tightening. Colt sucked in a deep breath and knew, when he hit
the floor, it was going to hurt like hell.

“Colt!” Morgan’s voice drifted to him through
the smoke and the relief at hearing it lifted the weight straining
his shoulders.

“At the top of the stairs.” He saw Morgan
then, moving on the first floor. Colt looked over the rail and took
the first two steps down. “Catch her, and if you drop her, I’ll
kick your ass.”

Looking down at Sarah, he tightened his hold
and shook her a bit to get her attention. “Morgan is going to catch
you. Let go.”

She looked up, her eyes red, cheeks dirty,
and kissed him with a hard, punishing press of her mouth.

When she let go, he smiled at her. “Just
close your eyes, okay?”

“Okay.”

Holding her over the banister, Colt looked at
Morgan and hoped he could catch her. The fall wouldn’t kill her,
unless she broke her neck, but it wouldn’t feel good either.

Letting go, his heart stopped until she was
in Morgan’s arms. He exhaled the breath he’d been holding. “Get her
out of here.”

* * * *

Sarah couldn’t stop coughing. Her chest felt
tight and she couldn’t seem to get enough air. She was going to be
sick and struggled in Morgan’s arms until he let her go. She made
it to the bushes before the supper she’d eaten came back up.

Someone put their hand on her back and it
wasn’t until they rubbed small circles between her shoulders blades
that she realized the hand was small. She looked up and saw
Abigail, the woman she’d met under the trees.

“You’ll be all right,” Abigail said. “Just
take deep breaths.”

Sarah did and turned back to the burning
hotel in search for Colt. When she didn’t see him come out, she
panicked. “Colt’s still in there!”

“Morgan went back in after him. He’ll be
fine.” Abigail guided her a few feet away, where the air was clear
and sat her on the ground. “Just rest a bit.”

The minutes ticked by slowly and Sarah
watched in horror as the building burned. Dark shapes moved beyond
the door and her heart was pounding by the time she saw them. She
struggled, trying to get to her feet but Abigail’s hand on her
shoulder kept forcing her back down.

When they exited the building, both men fell
to their knees, coughing. Sarah was able to stand and ran to where
they were, Abigail right behind her. “Colt?”

He coughed again and laid his forehead to the
ground. “Get away from the building, Sarah.”

His voice was hoarse and he coughed until
Sarah felt the pain of it in her own chest. She dropped to her
knees, wrapping her arms around him and trying to help him up.
“Come on, Colt. I can’t lift you by myself.

He stood, staggered and let her lead him
away, collapsing near the trees where everyone else sat. He grabbed
her the moment he’d steadied himself, pulling her down to sit
across his legs, wrapping his arms around her. He never said a
word, just sat there and held her, and Sarah let him.

Long minutes ticked by, the flames eating the
sky and lighting the entire town. It would probably be seen for
miles. Morgan gathered everyone, had them all move to the other end
of town. They huddled in small groups in the schoolyard, tears and
wails mostly unheard as the shrieks and groans of the burning
buildings hissed, cracked, popped, then fell.

“How did this happen?” Sarah looked at
Abigail when she spoke, saw her with Morgan, the town Marshal. “Is
the marshal your brother?” she asked, remembering Holden mentioning
a brother, Morgan, at supper the night before.

Colt nodded and tightened his arms around
her. “Yes. He talked me into staying in town tonight. If I
hadn’t…”

He stopped talking but Sarah didn’t need to
hear the rest of what he would have said. She could see it on his
face. If he hadn’t been there, she probably wouldn’t have been
either.

A man ran across the street and joined them,
walked toward Morgan and ushered him a few feet away to talk in
hushed tones. Sarah saw Morgan look toward Colt before he motioned
for him to join them.

“Stay with Abigail. I’ll be right back.”

Sarah walked to the woman’s side and sat down
on the bench with her. “Does Morgan know who did this?”

Abigail shook her head. “No. All we know is
Colt saw three men running through town earlier tonight. He
couldn’t sleep and was on the porch and didn’t think anything of
it. There’s always people coming and going from the saloon but he
saw the flames in the jail a few minutes later. By the time he
realized the building was on fire, it was already too late. He woke
Morgan and they tried to put the fire out. It was only a few
minutes later that the mercantile went up.” She sighed and wrapped
the blanket across her shoulders tighter around herself. “When the
marshals office started to fall, they saw the hotel burning.”

“So those three men set the town on
fire?”

“I don’t know,” Abigail said. “Colt seems to
think so and Morgan’s inclined to believe him.”

Sarah watched the men talk, saw others join
their little group and realized how close-nit this community was.
Willow Creek was small but the people who lived in it cared about
their neighbors. She didn’t think she could say the same about her
own town. It was large, boasting three saloons, a bank, several
dress shops and a number of other businesses. The people were
friendly enough but everyone pretty much minded their own business.
Here, everything that happened was everyone’s business. The
survival of the community depended on them helping each other, of
knowing what was going on.

“Abigail! You need to be inside.”

Sarah heard Abigail groan and saw her duck
her head. A heavy-set woman was walking toward them, her arms
burdened with blankets.

Abigail sighed. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to
escape her.”

“Who is it?” Sarah asked.

“Edna Pierce.” Abigail plastered a smile onto
her face as Edna approached. “I’m fine, Edna. I’d rather be here
than home alone.”

“I’ll go sit with you. You shouldn’t be out
in this cool air. Morgan should have his hide tanned for allowing
it. Where is he?” Edna turned in a circle looking for him. “I’ll go
have a word with him myself. Of all the reckless...”

“Edna,” Abigail said, standing. “I’m fine.
I’m not going home. I’m perfectly fine here.”

Sarah watched the exchange, amused at the
woman’s antics until she turned her head to look at her. Edna
looked her over, her lip curling a bit before she sniffed. “Who are
you?”

Abigail intervened and Sarah was glad for it.
“This is Sarah, a friend of Colt’s.”

Edna gasped at the name, her hand rising to
cover her chest. “Colt? Colton Avery?” She turned widened eyes to
Sarah. “Why in the world would you befriend that man? He’s an
outlaw, you know. You’d be best to steer clear of him, dear.”

Sarah opened her mouth to respond but Abigail
touched her shoulder and gave a light squeeze.

“I’ll be sure she knows all about him, Edna.”
Abigail smiled again, the motion causing lines to bracket her
mouth. “I do believe Mrs. Jenkins was asking for you earlier.”

Edna’s chin lifted and she sniffed in a
haughty manner before nodding her head. “I’m sure she is. Lord
knows this town would fall to pieces if I weren’t here to make sure
it ran smoothly.” She turned on her heel and walked away, barking
out orders that carried over the entire schoolyard.