It's update day, lucky duckies! See, I put it up in 3 weeks just like I said! ...Which is probably the first time I've ever kept a promise to you guys.
On the other hand, sorry in advance.
Summer 29th, Evening
The term "rude awakening" has never been more accurate for Jamie when the ruckus of someone frantically slamming on his door meets his ears, and all at once Jamie's heart jumps into his throat, his stomach lurches, and his pulse skyrockets. He falls from his bed straight to the floor in his haste to investigate as the noise continues. Someone is screaming his name. The world tilts this way and that as he stumbles to the door, and he scowls. Whoever the heck was waking him up better have a really good reason for it. He yanks the door open, a scowl on his face.
"I swear, if someone's not dead—" he begins, with every intent to rip them a new whole, but a harried Ellen has other plans.
"Jamie you've got to help!" she cries desperately, "It's Tina!"
She says something else—he can barely remember what—about a fire, and her chicken coop, but it barely registers as he sucks in a breath, his brain now fully awake and kicking into overdrive. Even from miles away, he can see the smoke. Worst-case scenarios are flying through his head, one after the other, and he doesn't even bother to pull his shoes on as he runs off in the direction of his rival's farm. Part of him is angered by the injustice of it all, that he should have to worry so much about someone he doesn't even like because it frustrates him to no end, but another part of him thinks that if indeed she is alive, he's surely going to kill her for causing him such a fright. First she almost drowns, now she's caught in a fire. Seriously, what were the odds? Someone, other than him that is, must really have it out for her. And even though normally that would've put a smile on his face, he also thinks maybe wanting her dead or maimed is a little bit overboard. Besides, she's his rival. If anyone is going to take her down, it's going to be him. Other people, human or whatever else, had no business causing trouble for her. That's his job.
As he comes upon her ranch, he sees it; the newly-built chicken coop is in blazes along with some of the field beside it, flames licking out at the night air like tongues. The wood of the building snaps and crackles as it slowly starts to fall apart, sending ashen embers into the atmosphere. On the west end of the property, near the river, Jamie spots Bob's brawny arms scooping a barrel into the water and heaving it up. He begins running, careful not to spill any precious liquid, to Hank, who stands closer to the shed, Blue standing even closer still in wait. They've formed a chain, and Jamie is mildly impressed at their efficiency. He almost thinks that the situation won't be so bad; that maybe they've got this under control. But something is missing.
Or rather, someone.
A gasp sounds from behind Jamie—Ellen must've realized the same thing—and he growls lowly as he launches himself into the burning shack.
"Idiot!" is the first thing he screams above the smoke and the flames, "Get out of here!"
She coughs, "I—I can't! Just, I need to find her! I have to save her! Please!"
"Damn it, Pigtails— " he's cut off as a swell of smoke clogs his lungs.
Tina is crouched on the ground, calling out in a voice that's vainly trying to sound confident and inviting, but is washed in agony and panic. She tosses around clumps of smoldering hay and debris in the frenetic search of her livestock.
The heat has long been unbearable, even though he's dressed in nothing but a tank top and a pair of cloth shorts. It started as a prickle on his skin, but now it's needles driving themselves into every pore. He could swear his organs are sweating. What hurts the most, though, are his bare feet, and he's sure they're starting to develop burns. They need to leave— now— or he may not physically be able to stand it anymore. He's fully aware that the smart choice would be to turn away and leave. If the idiot wants to waste away in the flames, so be it; that's her decision. And yet, in spite of common sense, his burning feet refuse to move until he's got one hand gripped tight around her arm. He begins his journey to the other side of the coop, narrowly avoiding a flaming, fallen beam on the ground. As bright as it burns, the smoke makes it hard to see anything. He'll have to get right next to the girl if there's any hope of pulling her out.
Of course, this strange and all-consuming impulse to save her even at the risk of causing himself harm isn't completely new. If he's being honest, that's what makes it so frightening; it was just at the beginning of this season that she was lost from his sight again and almost swallowed by the elements. And just like last time, he feels his heart plummet into his gut at the thought of not being able to save her in time. The stress of having to go through such an ordeal all over again, and so soon, is wreaking havoc on his nerves. He can feel his hands start to tingle from a lack of oxygen, and he's not sure if it's anxiety causing it or the smoke pushing everything breathable away from him. His thoughts are growing more and more frenzied. He can hardly hear the roar of the fire anymore over the pulsing of his heart. It feels something is squeezing him from the inside out.
'Where is she? Where is she?!' he thinks.
He keeps looking, keeps trying, because if he doesn't, she'll be gone.
But she is gone—somewhere far off, a place he can't see or touch her. Even though he wants to find her, he has to save her, even though he's reaching out and he's looked everywhere and he's doing everything he can but nothing's going to come of it because he can't do anything, and it'll just be him all by himself, just like before, just like always—
His palm slaps against her arm with a barely audible pop, and before she can tear herself away he clenches his hand closed as hard as he can.
"Lemme go!" she says hoarsely.
Jamie gives an unforgiving tug at her wrist and turns toward the door.
"I sai—"she begins to cough, "Said, lemme—cough—go!"
The pain in his feet is absolutely blistering, shooting up his legs with a white-hot intensity. When his knees start to feel weak, he knows he hasn't much time left. The girl, the stupid, idiot girl that is far more trouble than she's worth, keeps bucking like a bull. With every jerk, his feet sting even more. Why did he come in here to save her again? Ah, that's right. Masochism.
The black cloud breaks apart as he steps through the door frame, and Jamie gives a final yank to pull Tina forward in front of him, shoving her viciously away from the shack in case she gets any ideas about running back in. She wobbles for a moment before crashing into the grass with a soft yelp. Eyes bleary with tears glare up at him accusingly, and a face streaked with soot contorts in contempt for him. Completely different, he suddenly thinks, from the girl he once actually saw as beautiful in a dream. The nose that crinkled in laughter now creases disgustingly, rather like a dog's snout, and the freckles that made him doubt that he fully saw who she truly was once upon a time now look like splotches of filth and dirt; shoddy, haphazard, and mucky. Just like the rest of her. He had actually found that beautiful? He had once looked at that and thought she had the depth and complexity of someone worth being curious about? How ridiculous. This girl was barely even human, as far as he was concerned.
And sure enough, the loathsome idiot is back on her feet in the blink of an eye and charges him. They struggle like that for a few moments; her trying to thrash him this way and that, and him digging his scorching heels into the ground with his arms wrapped about her like ropes.
"Stop it, you don't understand!" she cries.
"No, you don't understand!" he pulls her back from his shoulder to give her a good shake, "There's nothing you can do!"
Ellen makes herself useful for once and peels Tina off of him, babbling empty comforts all the while about how everything's going to be okay, and Jamie knows it's all a load of garbage but he doesn't feel like dealing with the fallout of upsetting his rival even more. He's already had enough of her for a lifetime. The wretch wasn't even grateful that he'd saved her life!
A loud hiss, followed by more popping, erupts behind them as Blue throws the barrel's worth of water on the flaming coop. Without a word, he runs to give the empty thing back to Hank, who is rushing to meet him halfway with another full barrel. The thought of sitting around lazily leaves a gross taste in Jamie's mouth, so he jogs gingerly to the spot Blue once inhabited and whistles sharply. The men turn to stare at him. Jamie opens his arms in hopes that they'll understand.
"It'll be faster with more of us!" he shouts, and for some reason he feels his stomach squirm when Hank smiles warmly at him.
The adrenaline rush that kept him going for the past 30 minutes or so since he dashed out of his front door is starting to dwindle fast, and the next 10 minutes of carrying water, throwing water, rinse, repeat passes by in a haze. Tina sits in the field, blubbering uselessly as Ellen rubs her shoulders. They watch the fire shrink a bit more with each splash. After a while, they can no longer see any flames, but they dump a few more rounds on it just to be sure.
Bob wipes his brow. "You think it'll do, Hank?" he asks.
"Think we dern near drownt it, 's what I think."
Blue starts to chuckle, but stops short when Tina gasps out another sob. This time when she scrambles into the chicken coop, Jamie doesn't stop her.
"Tina? Tina, don't! You've been through enough tonight. We'll find her and give her a nice burial tomorrow, okay, honey?" Ellen pleads.
"She—she might still be okay!" Tina yells back, not willing to accept the truth. "Maybe she found somewhere to hide!"
Jamie shoots a glance at Hank and Blue, who shake their heads somberly. Years of experience gives them the common sense to know when to let go, but Tina is still green. She's new to farming, and doesn't ever think to prepare for the worst. After all, brushing and milking cows all day and watering crops just has to be an easy, non-stressful job, right? Gotta kick back and just take everything in stride, huh? He hated that attitude. It was what made her so foolish. And if there was one thing about that attitude that was raising his temper, it was that an irresponsibility like that often lead to big mistakes.
Fires didn't just start spontaneously, to be precise.
Blue ushers her out of the building this time, and Jamie notes with bitterness that Tina doesn't resist when he's nudging her around. He turns her to face him, bracing her shoulders with his hands. For a moment, she avoids his eyes, her lower lip trembling as tears slowly wash streaks down her dusty, red cheeks.
"Hey. It's not your fault, okay?" he says softly.
It's as though someone sounded a siren then, as she begins to wail, "But it is my fault!"
Her cries are met by overlapping protests, but Jamie narrows his eyebrows.
"Let her speak," he commands harshly, and though everyone else gives him a myriad of nasty looks, Tina stares at the ground guiltily.
"I... I'm the one who started the fire. So it's my fault," she sniffs.
"Yeah, but, I mean, it's not like you meant to!" Bob says.
"No," Jamie interrupts before anyone else can persuade her out of feeling the first bit of responsibility she's probably felt in her life, "But it's still her duty to take care of her animals and keep them safe from harm. If her animals were hurt because she wasn't being thorough in her duty, which I'm sure is the case, then she needs to grow up and accept the blame."
"Jamie, you're too harsh!" Blue argues. "She's still a rookie, and we all make mistakes!"
"Even so, she's accountable for a living thing. She doesn't need to be coddled so she can continue to take that obligation lightly."
He locks eyes with her, and he can see the remorse in her eyes. But it's not going to stop him.
"Tell me what happened," he says.
"Jamie, that's none of your—" Blue flares, but he never gets a chance to finish.
"I wanted to cook the fish I caught over an open fire," she starts, "Ray was teaching me how to do it the other day. It looked fun. So I looked around for stuff to build it with and a place to build it. The leaves that were starting to fall from the trees collected around the corner of the chicken coop, so I thought that was a good place to find some. I thought I was setting it up far away enough from the coop, but... I guess not."
She takes a deep breath before continuing. "And I kept lighting all these matches, but it wouldn't catch. I was blowing them out, I know I was! But I didn't... I didn't think about them catching fire again in the grass and the leaves, and I kept throwing them behind me in a hurry to get a fire started. And after a few minutes it wasn't working, so I got mad and gave up and I went inside to cook it on the stove. And, and I guess I just didn't think about it anymore and I went to bed."
"You didn't think. And because of it, something died."
"Jamie, that's enough!" Blue argues.
"She needs someone to drive it through her thick skull that there are consequences for her actions!"
"So what, you think she doesn't already get that by now? And who are you to lecture her like this, anyway?! You're not her family! You're not even her friend, you don't even like her!"
"What I am to her is none of your concern. And I can "lecture" her all I want, because farming is my business too. If she's running around putting innocent animals in danger with her foolishness then I'm going to put a stop to it!"
"Do you ever even listen to yourself?! You are such a freaking—"
"Boys, please, stop it!" Ellen shouts. "Arguing like this is ridiculous. What we need to do is call the doctor. Tina and Jamie were standin' in that coop breathin' in smoke for Goddess knows how long! They're liable to get sick!"
Blue rolls his eyes and tsks, but Hank and Bob seem to agree.
"I don't need a doctor, I'm fine," Jamie says gruffly, and he would've traipsed home and not given the idiots another thought if it weren't for his stupid feet choosing to give out from the pain the moment he dares to take more than 2 steps. The scent of grass and dirt fills his nostrils, and it smells like humiliation.
Blue snorts, "Y'don't look fine to me. Want someone t' carry you inside, princess?"
"Shut the hell up or I swear—"
"Hoppin' Harvest Sprites, Jamie, your feet!" Ellen interjects, horrified.
Of all things, he just had to fall on his belly so the undersides of his feet could be perfectly displayed to everyone. If there was anything more embarrassing than accepting help from these idiots, it was them knowing that he needed help. He swears then and there that he'll never answer his door at night again; the whole damn world can burn for all he cares.
"That does it, you are not goin' home, mister!"
He doesn't think it can get any worse until she crouches down next to him and grabs an arm to sling over her shoulder to hoist him up like a bag of flour.
"Damn you, I am not an invalid! I can walk just fine!" he grinds out through a clenched jaw.
"Oh hush, you!" she scolds.
Ellen was raised on a ranch doing manual labor, so of course she has the iron grip of a bear, and in his exhausted state Jamie can't seem to tear away from her. The group ends up shuffling into the house, and Jamie practically jumps at the sofa. At least he won't be carried around like a frail old man anymore.
"Move, dammit," Blue grunts, and Jamie feels his temper spark all over again.
"Why should I?" he says petulantly.
"Because this thing's only got room for two people, 'n I don't want Tina to have t' sit next to you."
Jamie says nothing, only flops his legs over the other half of the couch and glares at Blue defiantly. Without breaking eye contact, Blue delivers a harsh slap to his foot.
"Now move or I'll do it again."
It stings him so deeply he feels it in his soul, and Jamie barely registers Blue's voice as he lowers his legs to the ground, aching for the relief of the smooth, cold floor. The fog of pain starts to clear from his head, and when he looks up, he sees his rival worrying her lip as she scrutinizes his every move. She sucks in a breath when she notices the scowl he's wearing.
"Jamie... I—"
"Save it," he bites.
For once, she doesn't argue.
Ellen's voice raises an octave on the other side of the room. "Not in? Well, Martha, where is he? ...Well, when will he be back? ...Oh. I see. ...What happened? Well, Tina's chicken coop caught fire, I was worried she 'n Jamie might have some smoke in their lungs."
There is a pause as she listens, and then she lowers the receiver to speak to the two.
"Y'all got anything like dizziness, nausea, or chest pain? Or maybe feel like y' can't breathe?"
They shake their heads.
"They ain't got any'a that. So it's okay? Alright, will do. Thank ya, Martha. You too. G'night!"
She turns to Jamie and says, "Jamie, Alex is outta town for the next 2 days. I reckon we're just gonna have to bandage you up best we can. Tina, ya got any burn medicine?"
"Oh, I think Alex gave me some just in case!" she jumps up and disappears down the hall. When she comes back, she has 2 rolls of bandages and a tube of medicine with a flame on it.
"I don't know if it's enough, but it's worth a shot. Here, Jamie, let me do it."
"I can do it myself!" he protests, snatching the supplies.
"You could at least thank her for the bandages and whatnot," Blue mutters.
"And she could thank me for saving her life, but she doesn't, does she?" he shoots back.
His rival has the decency to duck her head in shame and the sense to know not to say anything. Or, who knew, maybe she's just so tired her tiny brain can't come up with anything. Either way, she's chosen to keep her trap shut for what could be the first time in history, so he's going to count that blessing and take it for what it is. By the time he's patched himself up, the bandages are almost all gone and a refreshing, tingling sensation is slowly nursing the blisters on his skin. He'll see the doctor when he can; for now, this will have to do. How he would do his farm work, though, he has no idea. Hopefully a night's sleep will do him good.
He doesn't say a word, he simply stands to head for the door. No one stops him. His head is starting to smart and all he can think about is the warmth of his bed and the silence of his room. Walking is a strange experience. It still hurts, quite a lot, but the bandages soften things and the ointment cools the burning. All in all, it's just the way things are and he'll have to find a way to deal with it. Just as he reaches for the doorknob, she cries out.
"Uh, Jamie, please wait!"
Silence is golden, or so the Harvest Goddess once said, so he stands still and keeps quiet.
"It's also my fault that you're hurt like this. And, well, maybe it might be hard for you to do your work. But I can make it up to you by helping you around your farm so you can heal faster! Would... would you like that?" she asks carefully, twisting the edge of her nightgown in her fists. She has a smile on her face, one that is fragile and daring to hope. He's sure anyone else in Flower Bud would think her resilient or even charming for it. But he knows better.
"The last thing my animals need is you being around them."
The door slams shut, and he knows she's crying on the other side, but he has no sympathy for her anymore.
I mean I gave you a heads-up apology.
Actually, you guys should thank me. Originally this chapter was supposed to contain Tina actually finding the charred body of the chick, but I felt like 1) that was a bit graphic, and 2) this chapter has enough drama as it is. Soooo... I mean... It could've been worse.