Wildcard by Cheyenne McCray Page A

danger.
    She had to find her sister. Had to help her.
    And then Trace was out in the open. She ran across the dream desert…she dodged through tumbleweeds and mesquite bushes, hurrying toward the barn. Yes, that was it. She had to get to the barn. She had to hurry—
    Trace’s eyes flew open and she stared up at the white canopy above her bed. Her heart raced like she’d really been running and she couldn’t catch her breath.
    Her limbs trembled as she sat up in bed and braced her back against the headboard and her arms on her knees. That horrible feeling that something was wrong wouldn’t go away. She’d never been superstitious. Never been one to believe in dreams or intuition, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she should get up and go check on things. Why, she didn’t know, but she just had to do it.
    A sense of urgency took over. She hurried out of bed, pulled her nightgown over her head and tossed it onto a chair. After she yanked on her sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, she stuffed her feet into her Nikes. She grabbed her jacket as she headed down the hall and toward the front door.
    Someone had left on the Christmas lights, and they helped her make her way without stumbling. Blue stirred in the kitchen and Trace heard the dog’s nails click against the tile as he followed her into the living room.
    “You sense it to, don’t you, boy?” Trace murmured as she neared the window.
    Blue’s ears pricked forward as he jumped up and rested his front paws on the windowsill and looked out into the night with Trace.
    Everything was still. Nothing moved.
    And then Blue growled.
    Trace was about to look at him when she thought she saw a flicker at the far end of the barn, where the storage room was, and her skin chilled. There it was. Stronger now. Like a flashlight…but different.
    Her heart pounded and she started to yell for Jake and Dee, that there was an intruder, when she realized what the flicker was.
    Fire.
    Blue growled and then barked, loud and sharp, and Trace shouted at the top of her lungs, “Fire in the barn! Fire in the barn!”
    She ran toward their bedroom door, still yelling, but as she reached it Jake came crashing out, pulling on his boots, his pants undone and no shirt on.
    “A fire in the barn,” Trace repeated frantically and then turned and ran for the front door, yanking it open and barreling into the night, screaming, “Fire! Fire!”
    Blue barked at her heels and Trace didn’t stop yelling as she ran toward the barn. Vaguely she remembered seeing the man’s shadow from the house’s window, but she couldn’t be concerned with that now. There were too many animals locked up in that barn and she had to help get them out.
    The acrid odor of smoke met her as she neared the barn. She coughed and choked as she tried to shout some more. The bell! Trace dove for the ancient bell and grabbed the rope hanging down from it and pulled.
    It started clanging, loud and clear in the night. Above the noise she could already hear the shouts of men and saw them running toward the barn.
    Smoke poured from the barn and the horses screamed their fright from inside. She’d seen the fire at the opposite end of the barn, and so far no flames from the barn door.
    Trace released the bell’s rope and dove for the lights, flooding the barn with a yellow glow that blinded her for a second. She yanked off her jacket and tied the arms around her head so that her nose and mouth were covered, but she could still see. Dodging inside the barn, she ran toward Dancer’s stall.
    Men shouted behind her, and Trace thought she heard someone calling her name, but she didn’t care about anything except getting those animals out.
    Smoke burned her eyes as she reached Dancer. The mare was wild-eyed and frantically pawing at the stall door. Trace climbed up the side of the gate, took the jacket from her face and covered Dancer’s eyes with it before releasing the bolt lock, speaking to the mare in low, steady tones