He had to outrace the sprinting flames, the grass and shrubs crackling like popcorn. He hopped and dodged and headed for the barn. He was barely able to breathe by the time he got to the door.
Ian yanked the door open and began to yell. “Ronnie? Buddy? It’s Ian. You in here?” Ian cupped his hands over his mouth, the roar of the fire already deafening. Ian shut the door, seeing the flames a few feet away, hoping it would buy him just a few more minutes.
The front of the hayloft was in three tears, the bottom piles of loose hay and a few bales ready to break for feeding; the second and third tears stacked tight with bales. There was no ladder. Ian spotted the old conveyer off to the side. It was a struggle but he managed to push it to the loft. Ian yanked the cord to the pull start and just as the door to the barn went up in flames.
He looked across the floor to see how quickly and where the fire was spreading. The flames had already begun to lick across the front wall. He knew that once they touched the hay piled in three tiers along the back wall of the barn the whole place would go up in seconds.
Ian yanked the crank a second time. It still didn’t catch. He heard shuffling and looked up. The mama cat was leading her young to safety, through an opening at the side. He yanked again, still no start. “Screw it.” He said out loud. He jumped on it and started to run.
Movement caught his eye once again. He looked down hoping it was Ronnie coming out of his hiding place. It was that smoke colored kitten, ignoring his family and coming straight for Ian. “The other way you stupid cat!” He yelled at it, and went back to his climb.
He was halfway there, but he’d have to pull himself up the third tier. He looked down. The entire front wall of the barn was now cracking and popping covered in the orange yellow licks of fire. And there was that stupid cat, climbing as fast as it could up that conveyer.
“Damned rodent!” Ian whirled around took two steps back and scooped the thing up. “If we die, you varmint, there will be hell to pay!” He shoved the cat in his coat pocket and ran back up the belt.
He had to jump and catch himself on a beam, hoisting his feet on the third level. Adrenaline kicked in and Ian managed to catch the beam and hoist himself up with little struggle. Ian stuck his feet in the cracks of the tightly packed bales and shimmed across the front until he found what he was looking for.
It was on old chute, long ago used for corn that ran through the center of the third tier. It was too small for him to get in, but the right size for a child.
Ian stuck his head in as he could feel the heat rising behind him. “Ronnie?” He called. “Ronnie? It’s Ian.” In the dark just beyond his reach he saw the small boy laying on his belly blinking at him. “Ronnie are you hurt?”
The boy didn’t move. “Ronnie, the barns on fire, we have to get out of here!” The boy looked at him. “You’re safe now…but you have to help me. Can you do that?” Ronnie nodded.
“Crawl up to me…come on…come to me…no one’s gonna hurt you….come on…” and the boy wriggled and came toward him, just enough so that Ian could grab him and pull him the rest of the way out. Bruises had already begun to form around the child’s neck and face.
“Hold on buddy, just grab around me and hold on tight!” The wrapped himself around Ian so tight he almost lost his balance. Ian looked down the flames were starting to devour the second tier already. Ian was having trouble breathing and Ronnie was coughing.
He hoisted the boy on his hip and stood. “Hold on.” It was a balancing act, but Ian managed to take steady steps toward the center of the third tier. He lifted Ronnie over his head. “Grab on to the beam.”
Ronnie pulled himself up. Ian pointed and yelled. “Are there hay stacks at the back still?” He got no answer. “Okay…we’re playing this one by ear Ronnie, just hold on. Shimmy to the window and jump. When you land…run! Just run into the field!”
“Go!” Ian watched the child begin to crawl across the beam over his head toward the open hole at the peak of the barn. “Don’t look down, just look at the window and crawl, Ronnie. Crawl!”
He tossed his shoes over the edge and grabbed the beam over his head with one hand. Ian kicked himself off the floor, using his hands to pull himself up until he could wrap his legs around the beam. Upside down he began to inchworm to the opening.
“Don’t look down…don’t look down…” He repeated over and over, until inch by inch he could feel the cool air from the opening.
It was the center pole across the top of the barn his Uncle used to hang tobacco sticks across. He prayed it would continue to hold his weight until he shimmied its length and figured out how to flip himself around as he hand walked its length to the opening in the center tip of the barn.
He felt his feet bang against the wall. Ian looked down. The far end of the third tier was now a roar, fire racing toward him. He released the beam with his legs, the weight of his body took a full swing almost pulling him off the beam.
Ian heard someone yelling. “Com’mon. Just a little further. You can do it! Com’mon.” It was Ronnie. Ian looked up from his grip, and there the boy was a little more than arms length away.
“Jump, Ronnie, jump!”
Ronnie had laid down on the beam, his feet locked over the edge of the window and was reaching out to him. Ian knew that if he grabbed the boy’s hand, the quick shift in his weight would pull them both over and into the fire pit below. His only hope was to swing his feet up onto the ledge, hopefully enough to levy himself.
“Get back boy.” Ian yelled. Ian managed to swing a leg up and over the top of the beam. As the fire crawled upward, somehow Ian found himself on top of the beam. It was hard to breath and Ian was dizzy but he slowly managed to crawl the few feet left to the sill of the opening.
Ian caught his breath. He felt something struggling in his pocket. He reached in and pulled the cat out. He handed the cat to the boy. “Here this is yours.” Ronnie’s face lit up as he held the cat tight.
The boy took his hand and they looked down. If they could jump out far enough the could land in stacks of loose hay, otherwise it was 200 or more feet to the hard ground which would soon be enveloped in fire. “Okay kid,” Ian said. “We gotta jump out”
“Like on a diving board.” Ronnie nodded. He looked up at Ian. “I’m scared.”
“We can do this. We’re strong men. We always land on our feet.” He reached out his hand. The boy took it. “When you land, get up as quick and you can and run, run away from the heat.” I pointed out. “To the field.”
Ronnie nodded and squeezed his hand. “On three?”
Ian smiled and nodded. “One…” They both took deep breaths and looked at their target, about 10 feet out.
“Two…” They both squatted down, like frogs about to take a leap. Ronnie nodded his head and they both said “Three.”
As he yelled three, Ian felt his body hurling, he didn’t know if it was toward the pool of flame, or just to the ground outside the barn. All he knew is that he was falling. He let out a scream.
Reese had managed to get Jude to the field in back of the barn, but he could see black smoke billowing out the open holes near the top. He saw no movement.
“You see ‘em?” Jude said.
Reese shook his head. Jude’s head snapped up and pointed toward the barn as they watched layers of fire poof out the bottom.
“Get back.” Sonny grabbed Jude and pulled him further away from the flames. Both of their heads shot toward the sound of sirens. They knew it was too late to save most of the buildings and searched with their eyes whatever wasn’t quickly being engulfed by fire. Another crack made them both jump and they ducked as they saw the back wall of the barn begin to crumble and fall toward them.
It fell in pieces onto the ground, large burning chunks hitting the grass and the stacks of hay. “Oh my God!” was all Reese could say knowing that both Ian and the boy were probably gone. His heart sank and Jude grabbed his shoulder.
Suddenly above the din they heard a piercing cry, “DAMN CAT!”
“Over there!” Jude pointed and ran towards a haystack that was beginning to burn. A chunk of the top point of the barn had fallen on it. Reese could see something struggling in it. He saw little hands pushing and pulling trying to free itself. Jude ran behind Reese, ignoring his own pain and headed toward the haystack.
Reese arrived first and began to toss broken boards to one side. By the time Jude had arrived they could hear coughing. One arm swinging broken to one side, Jude showed amazing strength with his other, lifting a large heavy chunk just enough so that Reese could reach in and grab.
“I’ve got you!” Reese grabbed the hand and pulled. Ronnie sprang from where he was pinned and gulped for air.
”Ian!” The little boy screamed and began to fish in the smashed haystack.
“Hurry!” Jude yelled straining at holding the large chuck.
Reese just dove head first in, holding the clinging child on one hip. He felt a hand grab his. Reese dug his feet into the ground and wrapped his hand tight around the partial length of arm he could feel but not see and then just straightened up; smacking the back of his head on the beam attached to the bottom of the chunk Jude was holding.
Ian popped out of the haystack gasping for air like rising from the bottom of a body of water. He wrapped his arms around Reece’s waist and pulled himself to safety. Reece tried to pull Ian all the way out but Ian reached back into the haystack and pulled something out.
He handed a hay covered pissed off cat to Ronnie. “Here this thing is yours.”
Jude dropped the pylon and the four scrambled back just as the stack burst into flame. Reese wrapped his arm around Ian, Ronnie and kitten still tucked under his arm. Jude wrapped his good arm around Ian’s other side the four managed to stumble themselves as far from the flames as possible.
As they all dropped to the ground a fat man in a rubber suit walked over to them. “What seems to be the problem?” Ian stood up and decked him.
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