The Chronicles of Nicholas Clemens

Fire

"Oh, heavens!" The woman cried. Nick stopped in his tracks and looked at Joseph.

"It's fine Virginia, he's fine." Joseph, the Pony Express Station manager said, then looked at Nick, "This is my wife Virginia, Virginia, this is Nicholas Clemens, the new Pony Rider."

Virginia looked back and forth between them.

"If you wouldn't mind, he's got a couple scrapes and bruises." Joseph said, pushing Nick at her. She pursed her lips and looked him up and down. Looking down, Nick realized that the whole front of his shirt had blood on it from where the Indian had bled all over him in the fight.

"Oh, uh, this isn't mine." He said quickly, gesturing to his shirt. She let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good to hear." She said.

"That may not be his, but this is." Joseph said, grabbing Nicks chin and turning his head to the side so Virginia could see the blood on his ear. Nick batted Josephs hand away. Virginia nodded and walked to the back room. She came out with a bandage and a cream of some sort. Nick cast a wary glance at it. Joseph patted him hardily on the shoulder, grinned, then walked off.

Virginia gestured for him to sit on one of the few chairs in the main room. As he did, he glanced out the dirty window and caught a glimpse of another rider, warming up one of the horses.

"Come on, take 'em off." Virginia said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Nick said. Virginia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Your clothes, take them off." She said. Nick's eyes widened a little and he cast a worried glance back at the empty house, before remembering that he had heard Joseph leave.

"I'm sorry, I don't think that's, um-"

"I need to see your injuries, and if I'm not mistaken, I saw my husband pull an arrow out of your jacket, so I need you to take that off." She clarified, looking mildly irritated. Nick blushed a little.

"Oh." He said, and took off his jacket, scarf, hat, and shirt.

Just as she was finishing patching him up (he'd had a lot of people patch him up over the years, and he had to admit she was pretty good at it), he heard a commotion outside. Nick threw on his shirt and ran outside. Joseph was talking to a young man astride a horse. The rider who Nick had seen earlier warming up a horse was gone.

Soon, the young man wielded around and galloped away. Joseph ran back towards the house, and passed Nick.

"Grab a bucket and a horse, you're commin' with me." He said, rushing into the house. Nick followed, throwing on his jacket.

"What's going on?" Virginia asked.

"Clayton just got back from his ride and said he saw the neighbor's property on fire. Not sure if it was buildings or the fields." Joseph informed them, grabbing two buckets and shoving them at Nick, then grabbing an axe and a shovel.

They dashed outside to the stable door, grabbed reins, and jumped on two of the fastest horses, galloping away bareback. Despite having ridden all day, being sore, tired, and dirty, Nick was happy to be in the saddle again...So to speak.

The neighboring ranch was only a few miles away, so it wasn't long before Nick could see the angry glow of the fire. As they got closer, Nick could see the black, shimmering silhouettes of several people in a line, hauling buckets from Horse Shoe Creek. It also seemed that the field itself was on fire, though close enough to the house that it scared Nick, even though he didn't live there.

They stopped and tied the horses very loosely to a post not too far away, then dashed to join the fray, heading to one of the older men.

"What do you need?!" Joseph shouted over the roar of the fire. The older man wiped some soot off his face and passed a full bucket to the next man.