CHAPTER NINE
The shockwave knocked May right off her feet. She cannoned into Owen and his arms wrapped around her for a moment, preventing her from tumbling to the ground. They both staggered back at the force of the blast, which felt like a physical blow.
Smoke belched toward them in an impenetrable, toxic cloud and May covered her face with her arm, coughing at the fumes, her eyes stinging. She held her breath, not knowing what on earth had been in that setup, but pretty sure that it shouldn’t be inhaled.
Gradually, the smoke cleared, and May stared at the cottage in absolute shock.
The roof had come all the way off and was lying on the ground in a buckled, twisted heap of steel. One wall had a hole blown in it, with splintered pieces of wood sticking jaggedly out. The place was on fire.
The sound was still reverberating around the quiet valley, and through her watering eyes, she saw horses cantering around the fields, tossing their heads in reaction to the sudden noise.
"The boys! Cody and his friend!" she said in horror, as her bludgeoned mind caught up with events.
Hastily, Owen let go of her and they paced cautiously back toward the cottage. May felt deeply concerned for the two people who’d been inside, and worried they might have died in the blast. But at the same time, she was equally worried there might be a second explosion.
She felt her heart skip with relief as, through the gap in the wall, a fire-suited figure staggered out, stumbling over the loose debris, coughing as he felt blindly in front of him. His helmet visor was cracked and blackened, effectively blindfolding him, May saw.
"This way, bro," he called in a hoarse voice.
In a moment, the other figure appeared, scrambling over the debris, but looking miraculously unhurt.
May rushed forward.
"Get away from there!" she yelled. She had no idea if there would be further explosions, or what else was wired up.
She grabbed one of the men, feeling the heat of his smoldering coat.
The other man's helmet had been dislodged, and his hair was on fire, May saw, as he stumbled closer.
“We need to put that out!” Owen shouted. Quickly, he removed his jacket and swathed the man’s head in it.
A singed smell was added to the medley of aromas, most of them toxic. Deep black smoke was now belching from the cabin.
As fast as she could, May dragged the young man, who seemed half-stunned by the explosion, away from the danger zone. She got him about thirty yards away before he tripped over a tree root and they both sprawled down onto the lush grass.
"Turn around," she said, gently pushing him down as he struggled to rise. She started checking him over, praying that he wasn't hurt too badly.
"I'm alive!" he shouted hoarsely in excitement. "I'm alive! Wow, what a bang!"
Owen was examining the other young man, who was still lying on the ground, coughing and spluttering.
"Keep an eye on him," May called to him over the crackle of the flames.
And then, she saw a lavender-shirted figure marching up toward them from the main house.
"Cody!" his mother yelled, making a beeline for the man in May's protective grasp. "What the hell have you been up to? I told you when the school suspended you - no more science experiments! You could easily have injured one of the horses with that reckless behavior! Look how spooked they are!"
She stared down at him, observing his soot-smudged face, tousled blonde hair, and smoldering clothes. "And you could have been hurt, also," she admitted angrily. "Are you okay?"
"I - I'm fine, Mom," he husked. "So is Ethan, I - I think."
"Yeah," the other figure groaned. "I'm okay. I think my hair was on fire, but the policeman put it out. I'm not sure we did that right. I think it should have been wire A into slot B, not the other way around."
"Yeah, yeah, I think we might have gone wrong there. That’s a shame, because it was proceeding well otherwise."
Swiftly, May put a stop to the post-explosion analysis. "You two need to come to the police station. We are going to formally question you in connection with recent crimes and your activities in the cottage."
"What?" Cody yelled. "You can't take us in! We're innocent!"