Chapter 2 SECOND CHAPTER

"Slow down Buddy" Connor said as his dog sped pass him. Buddy ran back to his side and let out a bark while shaking his tail excitedly. They were on their way out of town where Connor had gone to sell the week's produce from the farm. Whistling a tune to himself with a bounce in his step, Connor was satisfied with how the day's sales had gone. With the way things were going, he would be well underway with a quarter payment of the loan in a short while.

"Good day to you Connor" came a voice which startled him out of his reverie. "

"Good day to you too, Adam" he replied. Adam Matthews was an old schoolmate of his in high school. Short and a bit on the round side, he was a jolly good fellow who was always nice to everyone. He now worked in the department store as a cashier.

"I just popped out of the shop to take in some fresh air" Adam continued. "Yes, it must be quite stuffy in there I presume" Connor replied with a chuckle. "Indeed it is," said Adam, " seems you're going back up to your place" he continued. " Yes I am, couldn't bring my horse with me to town as we had a very busy morning and he is tired" Connor said with a nod. "I understand, one of these days I will come for a visit and to lend a hand in a task or two," Adam said. "Alright, that would be very much appreciated" Connor replied with a laugh and they clapped each other on the back and went their separate ways.

Quite a few appreciative glances and smiles were thrown his way by some ladies but Connor just smiled politely at them and tipped his hat to some. He knew he wasn't bad to look at, at 6'3" in height with muscles that were defined by years of hard work, strong legs encased in his jeans and boots, he also had closely shaved blond hair, grey eyes and a small beard he kept neatly trimmed, it wasn't a surprise he had admirers but he felt like he wasn't yet ready to have a woman in his life. There would be time for that later. He continued on his journey home.

When they were on a field with tall trees that was a short way from home, Buddy ran into the distance and ran back to him barking wildly. " What's wrong, boy?" Connor asked as he sensed something was amiss at the way Buddy was barking. His first thought was that perhaps there were thieves up there hiding behind the trees but when Buddy just kept on barking in the direction of home before running towards the direction, Connor knew that wasn't the case because Buddy wouldn't have ran back in the same direction if there really was danger up ahead. He ran after the dog as dread settled in his stomach.

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As he got out of the field and closer to his ranch, he could see some commotion in the distance and increased his speed. Getting closer, he saw smoke rising from his barn and his heart fell to his stomach. It was clear that his barn had caught on fire and that a few neighbours were trying unsuccessfully to quench the fire with buckets of water. In a short while, he arrived at the barn yelling " what happened? Jesus Christ, what happened?". About three people started talking at once but Connor focused on grabbing a bucket of water to throw into the fire. Barnaby Collins, who owned a farm along the road told him " Mcjunkins, I saw smoke rising from your farm a very short while ago and I rushed here to see that your barn was on fire and other neighbours were already here trying to quench it" It still made no sense to Connor as he asked " But how.... why...... what started the fire?" " We have no fucking idea man" another neighbour replied sadly. The fire service were on their way but it would take time before they could get here. Endless buckets of water were thrown on the unrelenting fire which only increased its ferocity. It was getting bigger and the roof was almost fully on fire with wood falling as the sides of the barn was rapidly burning. His animals were making a lot of noise inside and they couldn't run out because they were tied to their posts. Tears blurred Connor's vision as he saw his entire life going up in flames. " My horse, my cattles, my sheep, my entire life and future is in there" he said with so much pain and heartbreak in his voice. His neighbours rallied around him while still throwing buckets of water on the fire.

Connor saw red and before any one suspected what he was about to do, he ran inside the burning barn. Yells of " Connor no!!! Wait!! Stop him!!!" came from behind him as he raced into the barn while covering his head and face with his hat. He went straight to untie his animals from their posts and release them from their pens. He untied his horse and opened the stalls of the cattles and sheep and chased them out of the barn where he was sure his neighbours would hold them. After freeing and chasing out the last animal, he kept his head down and also ran to the entrance. It was at that moment that a beam fell from the roof and because he was facing downward, he didn't notice it until it almost hit him. He jumped back to avoid the falling beam and in what seemed to him like slow motion, he ended up slipping and falling down. In a reflex action, he tried using his hands to shield his face but when his hand fell on burning wood, he yelled and rolled away from there, thereby pressing the left side of his face on hot pieces of fallen wood. He used his gloved hands to push himself to lay down on a safe place on the ground and was overcome with the nerve-wracking pain that assaulted his body.

He knew, he just knew that he had caused irreparable damage to himself. His arms felt like they themselves were on fire, he saw that his leg had gotten close to a burning piece of wood and fire had caught on his jeans which he alternated between using his gloved hands to pat down and hitting it on the floor to quench it. His face was so hot tears dropped endlessly from his eyes which made the burning feeling in his face worse. He forced himself up on his feet but the pain he felt on his face almost knocked him unconscious and he got to his hands and knees to try searching for the exit through the overwhelming smoke. The smoke made this feat seem impossible and the barn started collapsing around him as the fire got bigger. He felt fear resonate deep in his bones and he tried calling for help but the smoke filled his breath and he started coughing. He tried calling for help again when he saw his dog, Buddy, running into the barn amidst yells of "stop the dog " from outside. The dog who seemed to be able to see well jumped over burning logs and ran straight to him and nudged him with his nose. " That's a good boy," Connor crooned with a raspy smoke-infused voice. He held until the dog with hands that burned and stood to his feet while bending over. The barn was falling at an alarming rate and he knew they had seconds to get out of it before everything comes crashing down. Connor couldn't see past his nose but Buddy navigated the exit more easily. They quickly got to the exit and immediately they exited the barn and Connor saw the grass, smoke-filled skies and his neighbours running towards him, everything went black.