Harnessed Passions (39 page)

Breathing was becoming more difficult as the
smoke became thicker. She felt near surrender, when the image of a
woman caught her attention. Her eyes watered as she narrowed her
stare, trying to focus on the images her mind assured her weren’t
real. But as the wind blew the smoke and haze away Julia realized
what she was seeing was real and she could do no more than
stare.

Standing less than fifty yards from her was
Heather; her long hair hung softly down her back, her eyes warm and
friendly, just as she remembered. She stood there witnessing
Julia's struggle against the smoke and flames, but was helpless to
offer aid. She was dressed in a long gown of sky blue cotton.

Julia's eyes watered not from the fire, but
from grief. She knew that gown; it had been her's; she had given it
to Heather the day before she died. She had been wearing it when
Julia found her at the swimming hole, dead. Julia's heart pounded
with one dreadful, fearful thought. Heather had come to take her
away, to correct the mistake of Julia's surviving the swimming
hole.

She called to Heather hoping to reason with
her, make her realize she wasn't responsible for what had happened
that fateful day so long ago. The girl smiled at her then turned
her head and looked away as the smoke rose up around her. When the
haze blew thin, all that remained was an empty space where her
friend had stood. Emptiness and solitude echoed around the spot
like death itself.

Louise tried to call out to Julia trying to
stop her, but Julia didn't hear. She just kept going until she
disappeared in the burning infernal. Louise felt lost, she felt as
though a vice had clamped around her heart, encasing it in fear and
hopelessness. Her daughter had run headlong into the flames of
hell.

"Daniel," she screamed, trying to find the
only man she knew could save her daughter. She ran around the mass
of confusion shouting, searching for any sign of the man. She
spotted Jeremy near the west end of the blazing structure. He was
ordering the buckets to be filled and thrown on the flames and paid
little attention to his mother as she tugged on his arm.

"Jeremy where's Daniel?" she demanded,
pulling him around so he faced her. Jeremy frowned and glanced down
at the pale face of his mother. He couldn't believe his mother was
so concerned over finding one person in this massive chaos.

"How the blazes should I know," he growled.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're trying to fight a fire
here?"

"But its Julia," Louise gasped hard,
coughing back the smoke that stole into her lungs. "She went into
the barn to get Biscuit."

"She did what?" Jeremy growled again,
ordering one of the men to take over. He pulled on his mother's arm
tugging her behind him as they ran off in the direction Jeremy had
last seen Daniel. They found him on the opposite side of the
stables and called out to him. Daniel stopped his work of shoveling
dirt and mopped his dirty brow with one of his shirt sleeves.

"Julia went into the barn after her damn
horse," Jeremy shouted nearing the man. Daniel growled angrily
cursing obscenities as he threw his shovel down. The three ran
around to the front of the barn where Louise said his wife had
entered. They saw Biscuit heading out into the pasture; she was
limping and cried painfully, panic forcing her to keep up the
deadly pace.

"Get after her," Daniel ordered Jeremy, who
immediately did as he was told. Daniel stopped Louise from heading
into the smoking stable and told her to wait there. He ran around
the side of the stable to the trough, taking the blanket Louise had
been clinging unknowingly to. He dunked it in the water and was
about to go into the building when he saw the image of a young
woman standing in the clearing. She was very attractive, about
sixteen or seventeen with long dark hair. She wore a blue gown and
black shoes, but when he stopped to stare at her, she glanced to
him, smiled and disappeared before his eyes as a cloud of smoke
rose around them.

Daniel didn’t know what to think and for a
moment he couldn’t move. If he didn’t know better he would have
sworn he just saw a ghost, but then the screams of his wife brought
him back to reality. She was calling out to Heather again and he
knew from the sounds of it, exactly where she was.

He ran into the barn, now barely more than a
smoldering mass of black timbers and burnt hay. He called to Julia,
as he headed toward the back of the stables, kicking the burning
timbers aside. He stopped short when he saw her staring out the
window. She was trapped behind a pile of burning timbers. Julia's
eyes weren't looking at him, but were staring instead out the
broken window.

"Julia," he shouted, gaining her attention.
He could see she was fine, but very shaken and near exhausted from
the choking smoke and blistering heat. "Stay there, I'm coming."
Daniel draped the wet blanket across his head and shoulders like a
shield then jumped kicked the timbers aside, jumping over the
burning debris.

She looked weak and vulnerable leaning
against the side of the barn. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with
fright. Daniel felt a lump form in his throat and he kicked dirt on
the fire that surrounded her. Her long silky hair had been singed
in places and her face was covered with ashes and soot as her lungs
labored to pull fresh air into them.

Daniel gathered her up in his arms and
covered them both with the blanket and quickly made their way back
to the barn's door. He kicked several pieces of debris out of their
way, and dodging several larger timbers as they came crashing
through the roof.

Louise was waiting out of the way when
Daniel and Julia emerged from the inferno. She ran to them pulling
the wet smoky cover off their heads as Daniel lowered Julia to the
grown, sitting next to her in the dirt and weeds. Once outside the
fresh air made them cough violently as they tried to expel the
smoke from their lungs.

"Are you alright?" Louise asked, taking a
corner of the blanket to wipe Julia's soot blackened face. She
nodded amidst her coughing and looked to Daniel. Three times now he
had saved her life. Three times, he had proven to be her knight in
shining armor. Suddenly the image of her nightmares came clear. He
was the one trying to rescue her in her dreams, but disappearing
before he reached her. It was her fault; she was pushing him away
from her, making so he couldn’t reach her in time.

Daniel pulled her into a warm smoky embrace,
kissing her damp face. He had nearly lost her again; the thought
still echoed in his mind. He thought he'd die the last time she had
been hurt and it had happened all over again. Only this time, she
had done it herself!

"What the hell do you think you were doing?"
he shouted as he moved away from her, shaking her shoulders with
angry hands. "Don't you know you could have been killed? What am I
going to have to do, build a tower and lock you in it in order to
keep you safe?" Julia's eyes filled with tears and she began to
sob. She knew she could have been hurt - or worse, but it wasn't
until she saw Daniel that she realized how desperately she wanted
to live. She didn't want to die; she wanted to be with him always,
to have his children and to grow old with him.

"I'm sorry," she coughed, sobbing violently.
Daniel felt the sting of guilt biting his conscious and lost the
urge to punish her. He pulled her back into his embrace, wrapping
her tightly in the strength and protection she could only find in
his arms.

"You're alright Princess. I'm sorry," he
told her gently, holding her against his smoky, sweaty chest. "What
were you doing in there?" He needed to know why she chose to ignore
her own safety and venture into a blazing inferno alone, without
asking anyone for help.

"I had to get Biscuit, she was trapped,"
Julia remembered the horse, the reason she had gone into that hell.
"Where is she?" she asked, pushing away from Daniel and looking at
her mother. "Is she alright?"

"Forget your damn horse," Daniel answered
for the woman. "If I see her again I'm liable to kill her myself. I
don't ever want you to do anything so stupid again, is that clear?"
The man's anger was quickly burning back to life as memories
replaced concerns.

"But I had to help her, she couldn't get
out," Julia's hysterics gave way and determined anger took its
place, lifting her voice in the air around them. Louise knew there
was a fight at hand and chose not to witness it. She'd had her
share of arguing for one day. She left the two alone still sitting
in the dirt covered with ashes, haloed in smoke.

"Did it ever occur to you to ask someone for
help? You could have gotten one of the hands to go in after her;
you didn't have to do it yourself!" Daniel growled angrily.

"But they were all busy and I didn't think
about it. I just wanted to save my horse."

"Dammit woman, don't you ever think before
you do things? It's dangerous to run into a fire, regardless of the
reason. You could have been killed. I don't know how much more I
can take of this," Daniel pulled her back into his embrace, holding
her tight against him. His anger was easing again with just the
touch of her body against his. In its place, was a feeling of
terror so deep, he nearly lost himself to it.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," she whispered,
realizing it wasn't concern so much causing his anger, but love.
Daniel's lips sought hers; kissing them with such urgency it stole
her breath away. She could taste the smoke and sweat of the
evening's activities and yet she could barely recognize it beneath
the passionate pressure of his mouth.

"I couldn't stand it if I lost you," he
said, reaffirming his lips on hers again. It was several minutes
before he was in control enough to release her without fearing
she'd disappear before his eyes.

"I promise not to cause you concern again,"
Julia swore, holding the man's hand as they stood up. The feelings
of despair and desperation still lingered in Julia's heart and
mind.

"Daniel," she began quietly. "I saw her
again."

"Who?" his mind was so consumed on having
Julia close, he couldn't comprehend the meaning of her
statement.

Heather," she whispered. "I saw her again.
She was standing outside the window, just staring at me." Daniel
frowned.

"Was she wearing a blue dress?” he asked
sternly.

“
Yes,” Julia said with wide
eyes.

“
I saw a woman too, but the
smoke hid her departure. I don’t think it was a ghost, but there
was someone there.”

“
But it was her, I saw her,
I know it was her.”

“
Julia, it's impossible.
Heather is dead, there's no way on earth you could have seen
her."

"It was her, I know it was."

"Enough!" Daniel's mind ached with the
thoughts of ghosts haunting the stables, much less his wife. He'd
had enough of the subject to last a lifetime and with the events
unfolding around him, he didn't want to hear anything more about a
dead woman coming back to life.

"Julia, I have to get back and check on the
horses," he informed her. “We’ll talk about this later. Go up to
the house, I’ll be along shortly.”

"Why won't you believe me?"

"Look, I know you saw someone, I did too but
it wasn’t a ghost.”

“
She was wearing the dress
I gave her; the same one I found her in when she was dead. You have
to believe me; I know it was Heather.”

“
I want to believe you
Princess, but it's not easy. You're telling me you're seeing
ghosts, what the hell am I supposed to think? Do you have any idea
how that sounds?"

"I'm not lying Daniel; I know what I
saw.”

"The first time you saw her, you said she
was wearing a white gown and now she’s wearing the dress she died
in. I may not know much about ghosts, but I doubt they change
clothes."

"Don't patronize me, dammit. Whether you
believe me or not, I know I saw Heather." Julia turned away from
him, hoping to make her escape before they said anything more that
would cause another rift between them, but Daniel grabbed her arm
before she could escape; pulling her back to him. He wanted to talk
to her, to tell her how much he loved her, how much he wanted to
believe her, but now wasn't the time. The stables were a mess, the
animals needed to be bedded down and he had to help get things
under control.

"I'm sorry I upset you," he told her firmly.
"But as much as I wish I could, I can't stand here and discuss
this. I have to help round up the horses and see what damage we
sustained. We'll talk about this more when I come up, alright?" He
didn't want to leave her, but he knew there was no choice in the
matter. It was his land now and he had to help save it.

"Don’t bother, there isn’t any point,” she
said pushing him away. “You don’t believe me and I can’t convince
you I’m not insane. You don't need to worry about me. Mr. Browning;
I won't ever bring the subject up again; or any other for that
matter." Julia jerked free of his embrace and turned to the house
walking as fast as her legs could carry her in order to get away
from him.

Daniel watched as she hurried away. He
wanted to go after her, to tell her she wasn’t insane; he had seen
someone too, but he would never believe it was a ghost. This was
someone’s idea of a cruel, sick joke and he was determined to get
to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, his original idea that Sharon
Farnsworth could be behind all of this, was blown out of the water.
The girl he saw tonight was not Sharon, though they did resemble
each other quite a lot; still he refused to concede that the ghost
of his wife’s best friend was haunting her, or trying to do her
harm.

As he contemplated going
after her, he heard someone calling his name. He turned around as
Julia slammed the back door closed, finding Jeremy standing just
inside the barn door, waving a hand toward him. With a final glance
back to the house, he turned and walked toward the remains of the
stable. He never ceased to be amazed at how easily and how quickly
Julia could lose her temper and revert back to calling him
Mr. Browning
. It was a
habit he was eager to break.