26. Kristina

26

KRISTINA

He ran to the door, stumbling a little each time he put his weight on his wounded leg. Then he was inside, the screen door swinging closed behind him. Another mortar round hit the house and I heard one of the upstairs windows shatter as another room erupted into flames. No!

I looked around me, tears flooding my eyes. It looked like hell had come to the ranch. The barn was just a seething mass of flame, only a few skeletal timbers still standing. The fields were rolling seas of orange. Even the trees were burning. Now the Buchanan’s family home was on fire. And this is all my fault. I brought this down on them!

Another mortar round flew overhead, but this one didn’t hit the house. It went further, arcing down to hit a distant building that had been unscathed until now. Flaming liquid spread along the roof, letting me see the shape of it. Long and low. The stables.

A sound carried on the wind: snorts and desperate hooves, whinnies of fear. My chest contracted. Oh my God: the horses!

The stables was in the lee of the house, hidden from the sniper. I looked once towards the house, remembering Garrett’s order to stay put….

And then I ran.