He gripped the stall door across from Wilbur’s pen and tried to steady himself. That’s when Bella kicked at the door and nudged his head.
“Shit,” he said, feeling sick again. He swallowed the bile and removed his shirt and tossed it over Bella’s eyes. When he opened the door, the animal backed up into the stall. He took her harness and pulled as hard as he could, but he felt himself growing weaker while the horse kicked out and jerked backwards.
“Nick?” Kara rushed to his side.
“Bella.” He motioned. “I’ve got her. Get out.”
“We’ve got her.” Kara took hold of the harness. Together, they pulled the animal outside.
When the horse was free of his T-shirt, she kicked and ran off through the field in the fenced area. Nick’s knees hit the ground.
“Larry’s still inside,” Kara said.
Nick wrapped his hands around her ankles to stop her from going back inside.
“No, it’s too far gone,” he said, coughing.
“I can’t.” Kara shook her head and jerked free.
“Kara!” he called out and stood up to rush in after her. Everything spun and he fell to his knees again, dry heaving. “Damn it,” he growled. He forced himself to stand up and head back into the now fully engulfed barn. “Kara!” he screamed over the sound of wood breaking and burning. There was a high-pitched hissing coming from the hay loft area that told him there wasn’t much time.
He knew that at any moment, the entire second floor would come crashing down on them.
Then, something large flew past him, knocking him on his ass again. He coughed as he stood back up and covered his mouth with his hands. His eyes burned, his throat was on fire, and his vision was so dull, he couldn’t make out anything.
“I’ve got you,” Kara said, taking his hand in hers and leading him further away from the barn.
When they collapsed in the snow and mud, he realized she’d had her shirt wrapped around her face the entire time. He lay in the muck, coughing and throwing up, as they watched the barn continue to burn.
He didn’t know how long it took the firetrucks to get there. Or how long it was until the fire was out. He didn’t even know if he’d passed out again or had thrown up anymore. For the next long while, his only memories were of coughing and blurry visions as shapes passed in front of him.
He couldn’t even hear what people were saying through the loud ringing in his ears.
The one thing he did focus on was the feeling of Kara’s hand in his through it all. He was lifted and then poked with something that made his body feel numb. He slept for a while and woke to the sound of Kara talking softly.
“Hey,” he said, waking up quickly. “The horses?”
“All got out okay. Wilbur was a little singed, but the vet says he’s going to make a full recovery. Daryl’s put them all in your barn for now,” she answered quickly.
“What were you thinking?” Kyle’s voice sounded from somewhere across the room.
“About?” he asked, trying to get his eyes to focus on her or anything. He kept blinking, thinking they would correct themselves, but somehow, it only made his vision grow worse.
“Running into the barn in your state,” Kyle answered.
“In… I was in the barn first. Someone hit me over the head and left me in the loft.”
The room went quiet. “Did you see who hit you?” This came from Gary.
“No,” he groaned. “Whoever it was must have been strong enough to carry me up the ladder and drop me in the loft. Will someone tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
“We’ve put out warrants for Dean, Mike, and Willy,” Kyle answered.
“You think they did this?” he asked.
“We’re not sure, but the three bullets I told you about yesterday, they match guns registered to the three of them.”
“Yesterday?” He frowned.