Shade called out to Marcello and the other warriors and they teleported instantly to the stables, the hay bales along the back wall completely engulfed. Where is Lorenzo? Angelo was barking orders, as Shade shouldered past stable hands and warriors leading the panicked horses out of the stables, as they screamed in fright.
Shade called out to his son. "Lorenzo! Come to Daddy!”
Shade couldn’t see him anywhere and was about to run into the flames, when he heard bel.
Kate ran into the stables amid the chaos of screaming horses, as the warriors worked furiously to open the stalls and let them run free. She saw Shade as he ripped at the bales of hay, calling for Lorenzo. He thinks Lorenzo is trapped here!
“Shade, no!" Kate ran to him, grabbed at his shoulders and pulled him back from the flames. "He’s safe! He’s in the house." She could feel the heat of the flames on her face as she pulled at him.
He felt her trying to pull him free, the flames scorching his arms and the smoke filling his lungs. Suddenly, her words hit him full force. Lorenzo was in the house! Turning, he saw her fear for him, and he picked her up and ran with her outside the stables.
"Stay here. Don’t move!”
He headed back inside the stables, and Impavido was coming at him full speed. "Whoa boy, whoa!”
The horse bolted past him and Shade grabbed his mane and swung onto the horse, mounting him as he fled from the fire. The horse was panicked and wasn’t responding to his efforts to calm him. The frantic actions of the other horses didn’t help. Impavido was heading straight for the fence line. Gripping his mane, Shade leaned over the horse’s massive head as they took the fence together. He leaned into his ear, while using his thighs to grip the horse and tried to slow him down.
"Come on boy, it’s okay. We got this. Calm down.”
He gradually got the panicked horse under control, but he could see the other horses ready to jump the fence, following behind the stallion. Telepathically, he let Angelo know the animals were out, but they needed to control the horses in the field before they bolted. Shade could hear the warriors. Some were grabbing fire extinguishers, putting out the flames and others rushed to the field to help corral the panicked horses. Telepathically, he called to Kate, “I need help bel, talk to them! The horses are going to jump, help me control them.”
Kate responded and called for help in controlling the horses, as Aegis, Night Stalker and Warrior surrounded the herd and started to corral them into the pasture. As Bravado ran past Kate, she grabbed the horse’s mane, and jumped on, using it to guide him. She rode among the horses, calming them, as she led them away from the fence and out into the center of the field, away from the stables. She glanced over her shoulder to see Shade on Impavido. He jumped the fence and led the massive horse in her direction.
"Shade, what happened? How did the fire get started?"
Shade looked on in amazement as the horses all responded to her, calming immediately, and following her out into the field, grazing, as if nothing had just happened. Riding up to her, Impavido and Bravado rubbed noses, leaning into each other, providing comfort to each other.
"I don’t know yet, mi amore. Are you all right? Cazzo, this happened so fast. Let’s go see how bad the mess is, make sure everyone is okay, and see what damage was done to the stables."
Leaning over, he lifted her from her horse, taking her in his arms and sitting her in front of him.
"Tell me you are both fine because I never want to feel that damn fear again. I thought Lorenzo was inside the stables. Angelo said he could not find Lorenzo. Was he inside the stables earlier?"
"Yes, he goes to the stables almost every day. He loves the horses, and he loves being around Angelo. He’d just come back inside, covered in mud as usual. I was getting ready to give him a bath when I felt the horses’ fear. Thank God he wasn’t in there when the fire started."
Shade shook his head. "I can’t imagine how this started."
As they rode to the stables, Angelo came out and they inspected the damage. Although the fire seemed fierce at the time, little damage was done to the stables. The hay had allowed the flames to grow to such intensity so quickly. The rapid response from the stable hands helped to prevent the fire from spreading.
Shade shouted out orders, as the stable hands rounded up the horses and inspected each one, making sure they were all accounted for, and there were no injuries. Angelo assured him they were all fine, and the stable hands started to lead the animals back into their respective stalls once they calmed down. Angelo and the other stable hands would clean up the mess from the fire and attend to the horses.
Angelo told him he had no idea how or why the fire started, and they couldn’t see any evidence of sabotage in the mess left behind, leaving them all a bit baffled. Angelo said he’d seen Lorenzo playing near the hay bales and hadn’t seen him leave the stables, so he assumed he was still inside.
Looking at Kate, Shade requested her assistance. "Maybe he saw something. Can you ask Aegis if she escorted him back to the house? I want to know if he saw anything unusual."
Kate dismounted Bravado and knelt down, calling Aegis to her. The she-wolf walked forward as Kate leaned in and placed her head against the wolf. "Aegis, were you with Lorenzo? Did you bring him home?"
Kate looked up at Shade. "She says she was lying outside the stables. She didn’t go in because the horses don't like it. She said Lorenzo came out of the stables quickly and ran back to the house, and she followed him there. Once he was inside, she returned to the woods. Do you think Lorenzo knows something about the fire?"
"I don’t know, mi amore. Angelo does not smoke in the stables, and none of the stable hands do either. It is one of my rules. It is dangerous to smoke here for this reason. But we are going to find out."
With the warriors helping to clean up, and things under control, Shade and Kate walked back to the house, his mind rolling. Shade was wondering if Lorenzo could have seen someone in the area that might offer a clue.
"I don’t want to scare him, but we need to find out what he knows. It is possible he may have seen someone around the stables, and that is what sent him back to the house. I can’t come up with a reasonable answer as to how this happened.”
As they entered the house, Theresa greeted them with a freshly bathed Lorenzo in tow. "Is everything all right, my lady? We could see the smoke from here."
Kate grabbed up Lorenzo and hugged him tight. He smelled like soap and sunshine, and she buried her face in his hair. "Everything is fine, Theresa. No real damage. Angelo responded quickly, and the horses are safe."
Turning to Lorenzo, she inquired, "Lorenzo, there was a fire in the stables where the horses live. Did you see anything?"
Lorenzo tucked his chin and shook his head no. Kate looked up at Shade. Lorenzo was a non-stop talker, and his sudden quietness was uncharacteristic. "Lorenzo, it’s all right to tell me if you know something."
Lorenzo flashed a look at his father, and then asked, "Can I play with Warrior?"
Shade shook his head. "No, not at the moment. I want to know a few things. Can you help me? Daddy needs to figure out what happened. Come here."
Holding out his arms to his son, Lorenzo hesitated briefly and Shade’s heart broke. Looking at bel, he knew she could feel his pain.