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Amish Firefighter

By Laura Hilton

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Chapter 1

“And there she goes…”
The man’s voice was hushed. A hoarse whisper. The strong odor of gasoline filled the air.
Gasoline? Abigail stilled as a black cat wove its way around her ankles. Her new friend, Miranda, continued toward a lantern-lit room in the back of the barn. She’d said they were meeting her boyfriend and a couple of his friends at the small engine repair shop. That probably explained the odor.
The cat purred as it wrapped around Abigail’s ankles again. She picked it up and cuddled it close to her chest then hurried past the dark shadows of a buggy toward where Miranda disappeared. She wanted to make friends here, even if they were Englisch, like Miranda. It’d be nice to have someone want her, instead of being thrown out. Rejected. Abandoned at the bus station…
Nein.
Pain knifed her. She firmed her shoulders and forced a smile.
She’d almost reached the door Miranda disappeared into when dark, back-lit, figures darted past, heading out the big barn doors. Miranda snickered, then turned to chase after them. “Come on, Abby. Hurry!”
“Where are we going?”
Miranda didn’t answer. Just giggled again, fainter this time, as she disappeared from sight.
“Wait.” Abigail didn’t want to be stranded in a dark, unfamiliar barn. She turned to follow them, scrunching her nose. The gasoline odor burned her nostrils. She tightened her grip on the cat. She wasn’t sure whose barn they’d gathered in since she’d only been in the area a week. Long enough to make one friend. Miranda. Not long enough to know where she was.
Something crackled behind her. Abigail glanced over her shoulder. A dim light flickered in the small engine shop. Had they left a lantern burning? Dangerous. It wouldn’t take long to put it out. The last thing she wanted would be some poor farmer losing his barn to a fire. Especially if she could prevent it.
She turned and retraced her steps, stopping to peek in the room. The lantern was lit… but worse, fire flickered along some rectangle hay bales stacked alongside the barn wall opposite from where the lantern sat on a table.
Not from the lantern.
Abigail caught her breath, her heart pounding. Her fists curled into the cat’s fur. Ach, nein. Miranda’s friends had done this? Really? The glow burned brighter.
A pail. She needed a pail. And water. She’d seen a pump earlier…
She whirled. A fire would be a devastating loss for an Amish farmer. For anyone. She cringed. She should’ve listened to the inner voice that had warned her to stay home to-nacht. But, nein, she’d had to go. And now… now…
Behind her, the barn wall whooshed into flame. A dog barked a loud warning to the sleeping family. A horse screamed.
The black cat clawed its way to Abigail’s shoulder and jumped, disappearing into the darkness.
Abigail raced toward the barn doors. Maybe there was a pail on the pump behind the haus so she could start fighting the fire. Or should she begin letting the animals out?
Or maybe ringing the emergency bell should be first, so she’d have help.
She tripped over something in the darkness and went sprawling.

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