Moonshine Hollow

Chapter Thirty-Two

They spent the day around the store. They opened for lunch and were busier than Rose had expected considering they had been closed so often lately. She made simple fair, which was really all they had as she had not taken much time for planning. There were a few new faces she didn't recognize and she caught herself standing closer to where the shotgun was kept. But no one caused trouble and it ended up being a peaceful afternoon and evening. The regulars laughed and talked and made no mention of the store being closed so perhaps the brother's closing the store sometimes for days at a time wasn't as uncommon as she thought.

The brother's all stuck close to the store that night in anticipation of there being trouble. Rose mentioned the new faces to Peter before he went up to bed but he only shrugged. "Klan's bound to figure out we're back sooner or later." And he kissed her on the head and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry too much." And he shuffled up the stairs.

Forrest stayed down with Rose and helped her close up. He scrubbed tables and dried dishes, not saying anything but staying close. Rose found herself wondering if things would change now after their time together in the woods. It felt different but Forrest was Forrest so who knew. She bit at her lip. For some reason sleeping together around the fire felt less intimate than the prospect of bedrooms. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye but he was carrying a stack of glasses into the kitchen and didn't notice.

Rose finished sweeping the last of the floor. She opened the door and swept the pile of dirt out the door onto the porch. She was just sweeping it off the porch when the explosion blew through the hollow. A fireball lit up the night, it threw Rose to the ground as smaller explosions continued one after the other. Rose pushed herself to her feet. The barn up in the hollow was on fire.

"Forrest!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs and she took off running for the barn. Tessa was still up there. She ran up the dirt road, half blinded by the fire. She crashed face first into someone. She shrieked again, only this time it was in rage. In the glow from the fire she recognized the deputy. She grabbed a hold of his jacket and bellowed in his face.

"Glad to run into you," he sneered into her face. She could read his intention in his face, and he let go of her with one hand to reach for his gun. She balled her hand into a fist and swung it with all her might. She slammed it into the shoulder she had filled with buck shot. The deputy howled in pain and let of her, trying to twist away from her. But instead of running she slammed her knee as hard as she could into his groin.

This fire was big enough the whole of the town would be able to see it. The sheriff would be on his way and Forrest was right behind her. All she had to do was keep the deputy from getting away.

She kneed him hard enough to send him to the ground. Once he was down she wound up and kicked him as hard as she could between the legs again. He stopped making noise and starting gagging and bawling.

"Lorelei!" Forrest was yelling as he ran. She turned and saw him coming.

"He set the fire!" she called pointing at the deputy at her feet. She ran for the building once more.

Forrest caught her arm. "What are you doing?"

Tessa," Rose gasped, trying to pull away. "What if Tessa was caught up in the fire?" She slipped from his grip. She could hear him yelling behind her but she wouldn't let anything happen to Tessa. She ran for the barn but couldn't get close enough. She kept trying but the heat from the blaze kept her thirty feet from the barn. Small explosions continued, sending glass spraying out the windows. Rose backed up even further. The heat burned the tears from her face as she thought about poor sweet Tessa who loved and trusted Forrest. She would have been sleeping in the lean-to off the back of the barn.

"Rose!" she heard Forrest yelling, but it was hard to hear him over the roar of the inferno. She turned and spotted him, not behind her as she had thought, but down the fence line towards the pasture. She ran to him and standing there, looking wide eyed at the blaze was Tessa. Rose threw her arms around Forrest's neck and sobbed.

"I thought she was dead!"

Forrest nodded and rubbed her back soothingly. "I turned her out to pasture this evening since she was kept in that small pen while we were gone."

Rose nodded then suddenly pushed back from him. "Where's the deputy?!" she cried. "You let him go!" she was mad now. She had done everything in her power to keep that man from escaping.

Forrest wrapped an arm around her shoulders shushing her. "Peter and Arthur are holding him. The sheriff should be here in no time...though judging by how you subdued him, I doubt he will be able to walk, let alone run away for several days."

Rose took a breath and nodded as she calmed down. She looked back to the barn. "Shouldn't we trying to put it out?"

Forrest gave her a sad look. "Most of what we had stored in there was at least one hundred proof, a good portion was one hundred and fifty. There's no putting that out. All we can do is wait for it to burn out."

Rose watched the flames. She reached out and laced her fingers with Forrest. "I'm so sorry Forrest."

Forrest squeezed her hand. "No one was hurt, that's what mattered." He led her back to where Arthur and Peter stood. They were calmly watching the deputy, who was still retching on ground. Arthur seemed amused by his plight. The fire continued to rage, explosions continued within the barn, but they were steadily growing fewer and further between.

A truck rumbled up the hollow and the sheriff parked behind them and climbed out. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner, I was trying to find my d-" he stopped as he saw the crumpled man on the road.

He looked from the deputy to the four of them. "Why don't you begin at the beginning," he suggested.

The deputy began wailing, claiming he had come up at the first sign of fire and Forrest had attacked him. Forrest stared at the man on the ground as though he had sprouted a second head.

"That's a lie," Rose said, stepping forward. "Forrest didn't touch him, I'm the one who attacked him."

The sheriff arched a brow and it was obvious he was suppressing a grin. "Is that so?"

Rose nodded earnestly and began at the beginning, recounting the entire evening from beginning to end.

The sheriff listened, his eyes ranging from Rose to the deputy who had managed to push himself up into the sitting position to the barn. Once Rose finished the sheriff stepped toward the barn. "I suppose you had all sorts of flammable hay and grain in there," he said thoughtfully. "Unlikely we could get that fire out once it had been set."

Forrest nodded. "That's true. All we can do is let it burn out and make sure it don't spread."

The sheriff nodded. "Miss Rose's story seems to be true. I'll take the deputy away." He arrested the deputy and tipped his hat. "You let us know if you need any help with your barn."

Forrest nodded and shook his hand. "Thank you sheriff."

Peter eventually sent the rest of them back to the store to get some sleep, claiming he had already gotten a couple hours. Arthur shook it off. "I'll stay with you," he said, dropping onto the ground to watch the flames.