PART 8
Later that afternoon, Nan was milling around in her room. She carefully put away her black dress and brought out a dark orange one, which she had dubbed her fall dress. After buttoning up the shirtwaist, she slipped the skirt on. It was made if very fine, soft material that David had bought her once. She stood in front of the mirror, smoothing out the dress. She raised her hands up, and unpinned her hair. It fell a little past her shoulders, curly from the up-do she had put it in that morning. She sigh and looked out the window towards the barn. David was scurrying towards it, looking behind him all the way. Frowning, she quickly ran downstairs and, grabbing a shawl, went to the barn.
"Where are you going?" she asked, seeing David leading a saddled horse out the back door to the barn.
"Annie...what are you doing out here? You must be freezing, go put on a coat-"
"Where are you going David?" she asked again.
"I…uh, just for a little ride. You know, to look over the grounds." When Nan made no reply, he began to leave.
"Is my father involved in things like this as well," her voice sharply accused.
"Annie," he said softly, giving her a look of despair.
"Just get away from me," she said, backing away, and then slowly walking towards the house. After a moment, David slowly got on his horse and rode off.
Much later that evening, after dinner, Jo had decided to go alone for a walk in the orchards. She needed time to sort out the ever-growing questions in her heart. Nick apparently had feelings for her, yet they weren't as strong as they had been. And then there was the fact that he had been paying a lot more attention to Meg lately. Not to mention…that he and Jo…they hadn't even kissed in the longest time.
"Thought I'd find ya here," a voice said behind her. Jo turned around to see Nick with his trademark "happy grin" on his face, and she couldn't help but smile.
"Why here?"
"I don't know," he answered truthfully…then thoughtfully he said, "I just…did."
"Look Nick-"
"Jo, we-" They both laughed as they spoke at the same time. "You first," he said.
"No, you," she smiled.
"You're sure?" he asked, and she nodded. "Alright, well, Jo we gotta talk."
"I know…"
"Look…even thought it's only been a year Jo…my feelin's have changed. A lot."
"I see," Jo said quietly, knowing what would come next, and trying to keep the tears out of her eyes.
"I-" Nick was interrupted by loud screaming coming from the house. They looked at each other and ran. When they got there, David was riding his horse towards the house.
"There's another fire! They need help!" he screamed. No one hesitated this time; even Amy and Meg got on horses. Nan and Bess agreed to stay home with the babies, on the condition that Nan would be sent for if any injuries occurred. So everyone rode off…leaving the two girls alone. All alone.
Harrison, Amy, and Meg had taken the wagon into the nearest town, to fetch a doctor - they didn't want to be unprepared this time. So everyone else had trudged on through the cold wind towards the homes of their friends. Yet something was…wrong. Each felt it as they rode on. A sense of dread, despair…and fear. "You sure you heard right?" Dan called over to David.
"It's what I heard in town," he replied. Dan shared a look with Nat. Although the two were still at odds, something told them that they would need to put that aside and rely on each other for the time being. As they got closer, no fires could be seen…in fact, all the homes looked dark and sleepy.
"Bishop!" Dan called out. There were other multiple shouts from the group which eventually caused lights to turn on, and people to come running out of their homes.
"Dan! What's wrong?" Bishop called.
"We heard there was a fire," Dan said, looking around in confusion.
"A fire!? Gracious Lord, no! For that we can be thankful!" Bishop exclaimed. Dan looked at the others in confusion and shrugged.
"Something's going on here," he said, getting off of his horse, "And I don't like it one bit…"
"Here ya go…come on, just eat a little," Nan coaxed the small baby in her arms. She glanced over to where Bess was getting the other girl to eat her dinner quite easily. "You always did have a knack for this kinda stuff," Nan grinned.
"Well, I guess that's because I always wanted a small little child of my own," Bess said wistfully. Before their conversation could go any deeper, a great banging startled the girls. "What's that?!" Bess exclaimed, trying to keep her voice calm. Putting down the baby, Nan walked over to the window. Through the blowing snow she could see the barn door flapping in the wind…as well as some animals trying to escape.
"It's the barn door," she replied, grabbing her coat, "I'll just go shut it."
"Do you think that's wise Nan? I mean it's windy, and cold…"
"Don't worry Bess," Nan grinned, "I'm not afraid of a little wind or cold." Bess smiled and nodded back, then began to tend to the babies. Nan slowly made her way over to the barn, stumbling once or twice on small patches of ice. She sigh heavily once she reached the barn, and pushed the large door shut.
"There," she sigh, "that should do it!" She looked around and found one of the horses…whimpering in the back of a stall. "What's wrong there girl? Huh? There's nothing to be afraid of…just a little wind is all," Nan said, trying to reassure the horse, but it only backed away more. The look in its eyes frightened Nan, and she decided to just get the horse in its stall and then go back inside. But her plan would never be carried out.
She heard a sudden and sharp noise to her left, and when she turned to look felt a sharp pain on the right side of her head. As she began to stumble, she fell down into the lower part of the barn. Her last thoughts were of Bess and the children…but then all that was left was…….black.
PART 9
