Free Blowing on Dandelions by Miralee Ferrell

“Hurry, Ma. They never ring the bell at night unless something bad happens.”
    Amanda tugged on the fringe of Katherine’s shawl. “Ma? Why can’t I come?”
    Katherine bent over and whispered in her little girl’s ear. “You need to stay and keep Grandma company, honey. You don’t want her to be lonely, do you?”
    Mandy’s mouth rounded. “Okay, Ma. I will.”
    Katherine followed Lucy outside, trying to quell the nausea twisting her stomach. The bells had rung the day of the mining accident when Daniel died. Please, God, don’t let someone else’s husband be lost. As they picked their way carefully down the path to the road, gratitude for her mother’s presence swelled in her heart. Somehow Katherine believed she must be there for whatever was happening, and Katherine wouldn’t have felt comfortable leaving Amanda home alone.
    Lucy picked up the pace the minute they hit the road. “Can’t you walk any faster, Ma?” She lifted her chin and inhaled a deep breath. “I smell smoke.”
    Katherine sniffed and caught the odor of burning wood drifting on the wind. She clutched her skirt, pulling it well above her ankles, and raced after Lucy. They ran along the back edge of town, the sky glowing a dull orange against the horizon. Men’s voices shouted above the din of the flames. They rounded the corner onto the far end of the main street. Lucy bolted forward, and Katherine grabbed her hand. “No. You’re not to go near that fire!”
    “But, Ma! It’s Zachary’s pa’s barn, and they live upstairs.” Her voice rose to a wail, and she struggled to escape. “Please, let me go see if he’s all right!”
    “Lucy.” Katherine pulled the girl toward her. “Stop. We’ll go together and see what we can discover, but you’ll not leave my side. Promise me.”
    Lucy stifled a sob. “I promise. But hurry.”
     
    Frances paced the floor of the sitting room and stared at the clock. How long would it be before word came from town? She’d already tucked Amanda into bed, read her a story, and given her a glass of warm milk to entice the child to sleep, and still no sign of Katherine or Lucy. The bell had stopped ringing some time ago.
    The hands of the clock said only thirty minutes had passed since her daughter and granddaughter had left, but it seemed like hours. Maybe the timepiece had stopped working. She stepped closer and listened. Ticking. She sank into the comfort of a nearby chair, resting her head against the high wingback.
    Katherine, Lucy, and Amanda were her entire world now. Nothing and no one else mattered. She’d had her differences with Katherine over the years, but she loved her girl with an unshakable passion.
    If only she’d been able to accompany Katherine and Lucy to town … but she knew her duty as a grandmother. Surely, whatever the problem was, it wouldn’t reach its tentacles out and ensnare her two girls. She rubbed her hands against her forearms and shivered. First, her dear husband had died, then Katherine’s father, then wonderful Daniel, and most recently, her precious June. Please, God, let no one else in the family be lost this night.
    She doubted her heart could withstand another such loss.

Chapter Ten
    Micah groaned and tried to get up, but his right shoulder wouldn’t move. His thigh was bleeding, and something pinned his ankle. The end of the large rafter. It had fallen before he’d been able to leave and was resting across the lower part of his leg. His skin was on fire. He tried to push the rafter off his foot, but heat rose from the middle of the smoldering timber, which lay across his heavy leather work boots.
    From the amount of pain, he guessed his leg could be broken and his shoulder badly bruised. And it looked like something sharp had raked his thigh. He placed his good arm across his mouth and attempted to breathe. At least the smoke wasn’t as dense so close to the ground.
    “Jacobs. Micah Jacobs! Can you hear me?” Pastor Seth’s voice penetrated the