All the windows were open upstairs on a very warm August night, Fred and Frances were sound asleep in their bed, with little Freddy also asleep in his cradle against the wall by the bedroom door. Something made Frances wake up out of sleep.
"Honey..." She whispered, and looked over and saw that he hadn't stirred. "Fred...Fred, wake up!" Frances shook him a little.
"Hmmm...what?"
"Do you smell something?...Like smoke. It smells like smoke!"
Fred turned his attention to outside and got out of bed and ran to the window to get a better look. "The barn's on fire!" He grabbed a pair of brown trousers that were hanging over the bed and tucked his nightshirt into them..."I've got to get the animals out!...I'll be back..." And he raced down the stairs that winded at the bottom, and climbed through the small window that was at the bottom of the stairway. "Glad I put this window in. Knew it would come in handy someday..." He said to himself and ran as fast as he could over to the barn, opened the barn door and ran inside.
"Yah!...C'mon! Let's go!" He yelled as he was shoving their two teams of horses out the door. "C'mon!" He was trying to guide their milk cow out, but she wouldn't budge.
Frances was at the stairway window the whole time and had watched the horses run out through the fields and take off down the road. She was extremely worried now. "He needs help, its either that or..." She stopped herself. She didn't want to think of it. Frances knew her husband could take care of himself in such a situation. He wasn't a moron!
Frances let herself out the window and ran to the burning barn, and braving the flames and the choking smoke, she ran inside. She scanned the inside of the barn and saw her husband struggling to get their cow to move. "C'mon! Move!...You stupid cow! Get out! Move!...C'mon!" She screamed, trying to help her husband in moving the milk cow and getting her out of that burning barn. The smoke was beginning to overwhelm her and she began coughing. "C'mon, move yourself!...You stupid cow!" She screamed in between coughing while pushing the milk cow as hard as she could, trying to guide her outside.
"Frances! Get out of here!" Fred hollered. "Get out! Its no use! She won't move worth anything!...Get yourself out before something happens!"
"But if we just try!" She yelled back at him, and coughed and sputtered and was beginning to gag.
"Get out of here! Now!" He yelled at her, and was coughing just as much as she was!
"You're coming with me!" She said, grabbing him by his nightshirt and the two ran out of the burning barn, which was almost fully engulfed in flames...They both felt their legs starting to give out and both collasped on the bank in front of their little house. Frances was on her knees on the bank still coughing and gagging. She started throwing up right there on the grassy bank. Frances felt her husband's strong arms on her shoulders.
"You all right?"
"I'll be fine..." She said, yet still throwing up. "Are you okay?" Frances asked.
"I'm okay. Miraculously, no scratches, no burns...Just a little frazzled, you know. We're gonna have to let the barn burn to the ground...Its hopeless."
"Fred...You worked so hard on that barn! By yourself!" She exclaimed, leaning her head on his heaving chest. "Can't we just TRY to put the fire out?...If we just TRY!"
"We can't! Its hopeless!...The well's too far away! And we don't have enough hands! Won't be able to get enough water there in time...Besides, I can build another barn...The important thing is we're not hurt." Fred said, wrapping his arms around her.
Their neighbors, a middle-aged couple, the Fylan's, saw the blazing fire and the smoke and rushed over as soon as they could.
"Land sakes! Are you youngin's okay?" Mrs. Fylan exclaimed rushing over to the young couple..."Especially you, deary! You look mighty weak!"
"I'm all right, Mrs Fylan..."
"Now Frances, I told you to call me by my first name! Heaven sake's, I'm your neighbor, you don't need to be so formal!" She laughed. "C'mon, let's get you up and you can come over to our place for a cup of tea. This house of yours is really close to that barn!...And where's your little one?" She questioned her.
"Oh Lord! Freddy!...He's in the house, upstairs!" Frances was driven to tears already and ran into the house. Lorena followed her in. Frances was feeling dizzy still and couldn't really walk straight, so as best as she could, she supported herself and walked along the wall and into her sewing room, through the spare little room leading to the stairway, up the stairs and into their bedroom in the back. Frances quickly grabbed her sleeping 8 month old, and ran back the way she came.
"C'mon...Let's get you over to our place." Lorena said, guiding the younger woman, who was now clutching her son as close as she could without hurting him. "Perry, you know where I'll be...You try and be a help to Fred, now." She said to her husband and walked off down the road with Frances.
"I thank ya, Mr. Fylan...but there's not much we can do...We're gonna have to let it burn down...Too bad of a fire. Won't be able to put it out. Not enough people here that could help!" Fred said, as the two men were out on the road, a distance aways from the burning barn.
"Its a shame..." Perry said. "Nice barn you had there."
"Thanks...I can build another though. That's no trouble."
"Right."
"Surprised the house didn't catch fire." Fred said, his hands on his hips and he kicked at a rock on the ground. He looked back up at his barn that was still burning its way to the ground. And he couldn't do a thing about it.
"Count it as a blessing from the Lord, but lets stay out here awhile and make sure it doesn't." Perry said, slapping Fred on the shoulder.
"Fine with me."
"My my..." Lorena said as she was getting the tea ready. "I know what you're going through, young lady...Perry and I had the same thing happen to us...Lost our barn...our house...and our two year old son, Harvey." She said solemnly, but with a tear streaming down her cheek at the last.
"I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Mrs. Fylan..." Frances said solemnly.
"Why thank you...Harvey would've been 22 come, oh May, I believe it was."
"I was born in May..the 23rd."
"Oh how nice!" Lorena smiled. "Harvey's was the 12th." She looked over at Frances who had her son in her arms, he was still fast asleep, leaning to the right side a little. "Well, I'm glad you folks are all right now...Do you want to put the little one down?...I think I've got an old cradle up in the loft."
"That would be wonderful."
"I'll go get it then...You don't mind carved flowers on it, do you?" She laughed. "Was my daughter, Emma's."
"No, I don't mind...That's fine." Frances laughed. Lorena climed the ladder to the loft they hadn't used in ages, and all they used it for now was for storage. She soon returned with the baby cradle. Frances passed little Freddy to her and Lorena placed him in the cradle.
"My Lord, our tea might have to wait! You look so pale, deary. You look like you need to lay down awhile! That door leads to the bedroom."
"Thank you...I believe I will." Frances said. She was feeling quite dizzy still and tried to get up and walk to the little room. Frances got against the wall and dropped to her knees and slumped over, face foreward.
"Good Heaven's!" Lorena exclaimed, rushing over to her. "The poor thing's fainted!" She left Frances there for a moment and ran back outside and called for her husband, who was with Fred.
"Perry! Go get Dr. Clark!"
"What's wrong?" Fred exclaimed.
"Your wife's fainted..."
"Gosh!..." He exclaimed and ran into the Fylan's place, and Mrs. Fylan followed him...with Perry running down the road, across the bridge and took a left and ran down the road, a little past Walker Street and the school, to where the Clark's lived. He came back with the doctor as soon as he could, who examined her.
"I think its just a combination of nerves and dehydration...I think she'll be okay...Just wait for her to come to."
"Thanks, Dr. Clark." Fred shook the middle-aged man's hand.
An hour or so had passed and Frances awakened to the sound of her baby laughing, she recognized a woman's voice and two men's voices. One of which she recognized as her husband's. Turning her head so it was now off of the pillow, her eyes fluttered open.
"Wh-where am I?"
"You're at the Fylan's place."
"Fred?"
"I'm here, honey." Frances heard him whisper and felt his manly hand on her arm.
"The barn caught on fire and we were trying to get the animals out...And then we were on the bank in front of the house...Then I went to get Freddy...That's all I can remember right now..." Frances started to say.
"Yes, honey..." Fred whispered and kissed her cheek. "Mrs. Fylan thought it better for you two to stay at her place, just in case something happened to the house too..."
"The house!" Frances gasped and sat up half-way.
"Its fine...The barn's burned down though."
"You said it would have to. I remember that...Where's Freddy?" She asked, leaning back against the pillow again.
"He's right here with me, young one." Mrs. Fylan smiled. "He woke up early this morning and so I tended to him...Such a little darlin'!...Yes he is!" Lorena smiled at the 8 month old in her arms, who had that adorable little grin on his face!
"Thank you, Lorena." Frances smiled. "Has he been good for you?"
"He's been wonderful, deary...You just lay back down and rest yourself."
Frances smiled weakly and did as she was told. "So what happened again?"
"You fainted, Frances." Fred said.
"Fainted!...I did not! I haven't fainted a day in my life! Its all put on is what that is!"
"Oh you fainted, all right." Lorena said. "Scared me to bits, you did!"
"I'm sorry, Lorena." Frances appoligized.
"That's quite all right, deary...I'm just glad you're okay now."
"That makes two of us..." Fred smiled and gave her a kiss on the lips.
"Three of us!" Frances laughed, pointing to herself.
"You just rest, okay." Lorena smiled.
"Oh no, I'm feeling much better, Lorena..." Frances said, and got up out of bed. In doing so, she felt dizzy again. And she sure showed it! "Got up too fast I guess." She chuckled, sitting back down on the bed.
"See what I mean?...You need to rest yourself! Don't worry, I can handle little Freddy. Tended to all seven of my children in my lifetime...Joel, Jack, Emma, David, Sarah, Conrad and Harvey." She said, rattling off their names...All were adults now, except for her last child, of course.
Frances smiled. "Don't worry, I trust you...With seven children, I know you've had a lot of experience!"
"Yes indeed...Now, you lay down and rest yourself!...Or you'll make me mad at you!"
Perry snickered. "Trust me...That's not a good idea!"
A/N: Interesting little fact for y'all! The house (which is the house my family and I live in now.) and garage Fred (my great great grandfather) built (by himself!) that is used in this story was built in 1923. Fred's full name is carved in the garage door. I haven't seen it since I was a little girl, and since that's my Dad's territory now, I don't bother with it! lol.
And yes, there actually is a little window, stuck right at the end of the stairway...WHY Fred put that window in, I'll never know...(because in the next room, there's a window in that room too...) maybe so they could get things upstairs easier or something. IDK. lol! But I thought my situation was pretty logical. lol. Also, Fred put all different sizes of windows in our house! WHY? That's another mystery! lol.
Frances NEVER fainted a day in her life! She thought it was all put on...Remember in the eariler chapters about the women fainting in church? I can understand that part, thinking it was put on, because they'd always have a strong man there to catch them! lol. But yet, the never fainting thing, I can understand too, because I've never fainted a day in my life either! lol. Interesting how certain things get passed on down from generation to generation!
The characters, Perry and Lorena Fylan and their children who were mentioned are of course my own! :)
