Chapter 4

Wednesday, October 15th

Tracy was out on the porch reflecting on the past year and a half. She'd successfully purchased the Ranch from the Boyd's and with their help had turned it into a very profitable business once again. She still felt horrible about Debra leaving Kirk, even though she had done nothing wrong. Kirk had reassured her (repeatedly, it must be said) that things weren't as bad as she thought and that this separation had actually helped them work some things out. She sighed heavily and flipped open her Omni for the umpteenth time. Still Red. "What more do I have to do to get this dumb thing to turn green?"

She heard footsteps and saw Phineas approaching her with a concerned look on his face. Before she could ask what was wrong he held up his Omni, red light glaring. "It was Green when we landed here."

Now she was starting to get concerned. "You had a Green Light until just now? Well, that figures." Phineas gave her a quizzical look, to which she smiled ruefully, "I'm still on Assignment, remember? And mine is still red! You'd think I'd have figured it out and be done with it after being here for a year and a half, but no."

"Well, you bought the ranch, saving it from the auction block, didn't you? Wasn't that your assignment?"

Tracy sighed as she gazed into the clouds, "I'd been at VHQ when the assignment came in, and it was urgent. Garth personally rounded things up for me as he hurried me along, 'Keep the Boyd's from losing their ranch. It needs to stay in the family at all costs. Do whatever you need to, Reynolds, to get the job done.'"

Phineas laughed at the dead on impression of Garth and even Tracy had to smile. "I got sent out from VHQ with just enough info to get my foot in the door and enough money to buy the ranch. I'd been here about six months when I get a message from Garth telling me the assignment was going to be longer than expected and to 'keep up the good work.' At least your Omni was green last month, which means I must still be on the right track." She sighed and snapped her Omni shut. "Well, time to grab the old Guidebook and see--" Katie's whining cut her off. The dog was sitting straight up, looking down the road, ears pricked to catch whatever sound she was hearing. "What is it, girl?"

Katie ran toward the front gate and barked sharply twice. Bogg and Tracy were now on their feet, watching her. "It's gotta be Bo," Tracy said. Katie suddenly dashed off toward the bell in the center of the yard and started pulling on the rope with all her might. When Tracy started training the dogs for ranch work, she also taught them to ring the 'all hands' bell if there was trouble.

"What's that dern dog up to? What's going on?" Ray panted as he got there, followed by Matt, Kirk, Nick and Tom.

Bogg shrugged, "We're not sure...Wait! Tracy you were right. Here comes Bo!"

The dog came racing through the gate and down the path to where the bell hung. Katie went over and nuzzled him, whining.

"What is it, boy? What's wrong," Tracy asked the tired dog. Bo sneezed and barked incessantly, running around the small group then down the road and back again. Then Katie started in, barking and jumping. Tracy called the dogs to her and gave the hand signal to sit. They obeyed but Bo was quivering, barely able to hold still. "Now, lets try again. Bo, alert." He barked three times and pawed the air: the signal for fire.

"Do you think he can lead us to the fire?" Phineas asked as Nick and Tom ran to the barn to get the fire extinguishers.

Bo ran up and down the driveway. "Looks like he's trying to do just that," Tracy said tersely as she motioned him to her truck. Not wanting to be left out, Katie jumped into the back of the truck.

It was then that Phineas noticed that the kids were not part of the group. "Hey, Trace, where are the kids?" Bo barked again, ran to him then ran up the road again. Bogg looked at Tracy, fear in his eyes. This had to be why the Omni was red!

Kirk had been watching the dog as he frantically tried to lead them to the fire. 'He keeps sneezing for no reason,' he thought as they loaded the equipment. 'The last time he did that was when Simon... no, he's been clean for a while...' Bo sneezed again and pawed at Kirk's leg before running down the road again. Kirk's face clouded over, the anger and fear warring within him.

Tracy pulled up and Kirk climbed into the truck after Phineas. "I'll bet it's the old Johnson barn," Kirk said darkly as the two vehicles followed Bo down the road.

"Why do you think it's there?" Tracy asked.

"Do you remember last year, when Simon got in with that crowd? You know, hanging out with that Jimmy kid?" She nodded. "Well, Bo never cared for him much, and he'd always sneeze whenever Jimmy was nearby. That was how we discovered Simon had been smokin' that damn weed..."

"Weed?" Phineas looked confused.

Kirk rolled his eyes, "You know, pot? Marijuana?"

"Jeff's been hanging out with a drug addict?"

"Now hold on there, Phin! Simon's been clean now for 6 months!" Kirk snapped back in defense of his son.

"Quiet! Both of you!" Tracy yelled above the men. "We'll deal with that later, if it's even an issue! We've got to..." She trailed off as she saw the smoke rising above the trees. "Oh dear God... " Her radio crackled with the call from Tom in the second truck, alerting the Fire Department. She slowed down long enough for Bo to scramble into the back of the truck, then raced to the burning barn.

All 9 boys had gotten out of the barn and watched as the blaze got bigger. Jimmy, on the other hand, was busy saving his investment. As he was putting the weed and paraphernalia back in the shed beyond the barn, Tracy and Tom pulled up. The kids started to scatter, but were quickly rounded up by Matt, Nick and Ray.

"Are all of you outta there?" Ray asked the dazed group. They just stood there, staring at the burning barn, and said nothing. He turned to Simon, "Is there anyone else in the barn?"

He looked around the small group and thought very hard, "Umm, I think, maybe, ahh...I don't see Jimmy..."

"There might still be kids in the barn!" Ray yelled. Kirk and Tom ran inside just as Jimmy walked out of the bushes behind the barn.

"Kirk! I hear the fire department," Matt yelled, "Get outta there!" A moment later, the front of the barn collapsed and became a wall of fire.

"Oh my God, no!" Tracy screamed.

"Kirk! Tom!" Matt yelled.

Matt and Tracy started toward the barn, but were stopped by Phineas, Nick, and Ray. "Let me go!" She struggled in vain against Ray.

"My brother's in there!" Matt cried, fighting Bogg and Nick as they held firm and tried to calm him down.

"The fire department is here, Matt! Let them do their job!"

As the two fire trucks pulled up, the dogs took off toward the barn.

"Bo! Katie! Stop!" Phineas commanded. The dogs paid no heed as they raced to the back of the barn.

The group was moved away from the barn as the firemen attacked the fire. Nick went to one of the firemen and was told him there were two men still inside. As he gave the order to send in a search team, Bo and Katie came out from behind the barn with Tom and Kirk in tow. A cheer went up from the group.

Phineas and Matt ran over to the men and helped them over to one of the trucks. As they caught their breath and cleared their lungs, Matt looked over at the group of kids and noticed Jimmy standing off to one side. He wasn't even in the barn... Matt thought. He was all over Jimmy before the kid knew what hit him.

"My brother ran into a burning barn save your sorry hide and you weren't even in there!" He brought him over to the group of adults. "Here's who you went in after...He wasn't in the barn at all!"

When Kirk saw him, he lunged at Jimmy. Nick barely stopped him and held him back, and Kirk's eyes burned with hatred. "You little bastard! You nearly destroyed my family last summer! I almost got killed today thanks to you!"

"Don't start you self-righteous crap with me, man! They came on their own! He's the one that wanted the stuff," He pointed to Jeff. "They came to me."

Phineas turned in shock and looked at Jeff. He was standing with the other kids with a glassy, far off look in his eyes. Stunned, he walked over to Jeff. "Kid? Jeff, is it true?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" Jeff responded. He looked at Simon, and they giggled.

Phineas grabbed Jeff by the shoulders, "Jeff! Why? You're smarter than that! Don't do this!"

Jeff stared at him a moment, with a goofy grin on his face, then said, "But, it feels so...good. It makes me happy. And, I don't have to think about...about..." he turned to Simon, "what was it I was trying to forget? Oh well, this stuff did its job." Both boys burst into a giggling fit.

Just before they got the fire out, Sheriff Hayes pulled up along with two deputies. Tracy and Tom filled him in as the deputies led the kids to the waiting squad cars. Sheriff Hayes walked over to Jimmy and took him by the arm. "Haven't we done this already?" Jimmy just glared at him as Hayes put him in his squad car. He turned back to Tracy, "My men'll take these kids back to the station for a stern talkin' to before we call their parents. I should book Simon this time around, but I think this was a good wake up call, especially with his dad bein' in danger and all."

"Thanks, Sheriff. I mean it." Tracy shook his hand and went looking for Phineas.

Jimmy surveyed the scene from the back of the squad car and tried to find something, anything, that would give him leverage. Simon and Jeff were obviously being lectured by Simon's dad and another man Jimmy didn't know. Must be Jeff's dad or something, he thought. He watched the barn smoulder, then saw Tracy pull Phineas aside to talk as some of the other men called the dogs and got them in the trucks to head home. I knew Boyd was gonna be trouble! I've been doin' this for three years, and the ONLY time I get caught is when that yahoo needs a hit or has a new buddy he wants to hook up. Simon needs to be taught a lesson. He watched Kirk lead Simon to one of the trucks, and then the plan started to take shape in Jimmy's head. Oh, I'm gonna make them pay for this. Him and his goody-goody friends. He sat silently as the Sheriff got in and headed for the station.

"You are in big trouble, mister," he said as they headed into town. "As if last year wasn't bad enough... don't you kids ever learn?" Hayes continued to lecture Jimmy all the way into town, but he wasn't listening. He was busy planning on how he was gonna make Simon pay.