#1 Blazing Courage by Kelly Milner Halls Read Free Book Online

no sign of Jack or Jinx. My hope is fading.
    As I breathe oxygen from a mask while adults murmur about smoke inhalation, water explodes from the powerful hoses. It vanquishes the flames, but it is a little too late. The barn roof collapses into a heap of blackened splinters, and I feel like I’ve fallen with it.
    â€œWhere are you, Jack?” I say between sobs.

CHAPTER NINE
    The Smoke Clears
    â€œCome on,” Jeff says, extending his hand to help me up. “It’s nearly dawn. All the horses are safe, and it’s time to go home.”
    â€œNot all the horses,” I say, “and not all the cowboys.”
    â€œHe’ll turn up,” Jeff says. “He’s got nine lives like a cat.”
    â€œWhat if he doesn’t?” I say.
    â€œIf he doesn’t, he went the way he would have wanted to go,” Jeff says. “He went fighting for a horse.”
    I know that should make me feel better, but it doesn’t. Jack was just standing beside me. Jinx was standing beside my horse. I don’t think I can go home because leaving will make it real. And when I come back, Jack really will be gone.
    â€œFive more minutes,” I say. “I need to center my thoughts.”
    I walk to the large paddock where Poco is corralled. At first she ignores me, distracted by the smoke, the noise, the commotion of other horses. I feel the cool wind against my face. It has started to rain.
    â€œPerfect,” I say. “Things couldn’t be worse.” I start to cry, and Poco’s ears turn toward me. She nickers and trots to the rail, as if to comfort me, and I am amazed.
    â€œOf course things could be worse,” a falsetto voice says behind me. “A girl and a Buckskin could be ash in that fiery mess.” I gasp when I realize that Poco didn’t trot over to see me .
    â€œJack!” I scream as I throw my arms around his neck.
    â€œEasy,” he says. “Watch the bum arm.”
    The sleeve is singed on his sweatshirt and the skin underneath is bloody and raw. “You’re hurt,” I say, “but you’re alive. How did you, where did you, Jinx?” I’m afraid of how he’ll respond.
    â€œOver there,” he nods to the paddock near his house, the pen Poco used her first days here. “I couldn’t budge the lock on the chain, so I ran outside to Jinx’s private paddock. Ten or twelve bashes with a Louisville slugger and metal bars gave way. I walked him out of the stall, but a section of wood fell from the barn and caught Jinx on the hip. It left a nasty wound, and he’ll never grow hair there again, but the Doc says he’ll be fine.”
    â€œWhere were you all this time?” I ask.
    â€œThe vet took the back road to the stable,” Jack says. “When she saw Jinx and me limping out, she called us over and treated Jinx up at my place. Took a while to patch us up, but here we are, pretty as ever.”
    â€œThe fire,” I ask, “how did it happen?” Jack’s eyes go dark.
    â€œI don’t know for sure,” he says. “But the fire started by the office where the hay bales were stacked—right next to Jinx’s stall. To me, it looks like another hit.”
    Then I remember. I came down to go over the security tapes. Did our evidence go up in flames? I ask Jack, but he just smiles.
    â€œThis is the new millennium,” he says. “Surveillance tapes aren’t stored in dirty old barns these days. They float right up to the cloud. The stable cameras and laptop are toast. But I’ve got the footage queued up on the laptop at home.”
    â€œEverything is safe?” I say.
    â€œAs safe as a movie star’s selfies,” he laughs, “well, not counting the barn.”
    â€œSafer,” I say. “Can we search the tapes now?”
    â€œOld guys need their beauty sleep,” he says. “And you’ve earned a rest after saving twenty-five