Part 13 (1/2)

We went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

PSALM 66:12.

AN APPALLING SIGHT awaited me close to the entrance of the house. Smoke was rising out of my fathers office in wispy billows. The chamber was on fire.

Inside that fiery room sat our whole supply of new merchandise. Joannas dowry was going up in smoke before my eyes. I froze, unable to think for a moment. Viriato, who had taken to staying at our house when he worked late, appeared next to me, his chest half bare, his hair sticking out in every direction, his scar thick and vivid on his pale face. He made a fearsome vision. I turned to him as if he were G.o.ds own angel of salvation.

Viriato! What shall we do?

He ignored my question and dashed inside the blazing chamber as if he could blow the fire down with the breath of his lungs. I screamed, certain he was running to his death. Coming to myself, I organized the servants to bring buckets of water and blankets and sent Joanna to warn my mother, hoping to keep both out of harms way.

Before we could run to Viriatos help, he stumbled out, coughing and wheezing. In his arms, he held a great pile of fabric. He had tried to save some of our stock.

I rushed into the chamber with a bucket of water, knowing that the sight of a young woman facing the inferno would encourage the servants to overcome their fear and join me. The water in my hands vanished in a moment with hardly any effect, and I stood uselessly for the s.p.a.ce of a heartbeat and stared at the growing blaze around me. Wood furnis.h.i.+ngs and fabrics filled the chamber. The fire ate them up with voracious hunger, growing bigger the more it consumed.

I grabbed a blanket and shoved it into a servants bucket until it grew saturated with water, then started to beat at the flames. I was fighting to save our whole house now. We had a narrow window of time to prevent the fire from spreading to the rest of the building. My family would lose everything if we failed.

Make sure my father is safely out of the house, I yelled at Joel above the din that surrounded us. And my mother and Joanna and any of the older servants who may still be in bed. See that no one remains in the house.

The wet blanket proved more effective than water alone, and soon other hands joined mine as we beat at the conflagration with all our strength. Several of the servants were quickly overcome by the smoke and had to leave. The fire was winning. My strength had begun to wane, but I could not give up. If I walked out of that room, the servants would soon follow me and we would lose everything. For all his valor and strength, Viriato alone could not overcome such an insatiable fire.

I couldnt see the far wall now; the smoke had grown too thick. Without warning, my foot caught against a low table and I stumbled. I threw out my hands in a precarious bid for balance, but I could not steady myself. Horror filled me as I fell forward into a wall of fire. I felt its heat touch my face, felt it lick at my hair and eyelashes. Smoke and heat smothered the rising scream in my throat.

A pair of hands s.n.a.t.c.hed me with brutal force from behind and lifted me off my feet.

I flew into the air for a moment and then landed against a hard chest with a thud. My eyes were streaming with tears. I could not see whose arms held me or carried me away from the inferno.

Elianna! G.o.d have mercy! You almost died before my eyes!

Ethan, I choked. Ethan, we need to go back there.

I am going back. You are staying here.

No, Ethan.

Ethan shoved me against the wall, his hand hard against my chest as he held me imprisoned. If you say no to me right now, I will bind you with ropes and dump you outside; do you understand me, woman? And I will lose precious time doing it.

I stared at him mutinously.

Elianna, I have brought more servants with me. Viriato and I will handle the fire. But if you are in there, the two of us will be so distracted about your safety that we will endanger ourselves needlessly. Do you want that responsibility on your head?

My eyes widened. I shook my head violently.

Then stay here. And let me deal with it. Promise me.

I promise.

It almost killed me, keeping that promise, staying outside, knowing Ethan and Viriato and the others were risking their lives to save my home while I stood in safety and did nothing to help. From where I stood, I could see into the room. I began to despair. The flames seemed unquenchable.

Those servants who could no longer tolerate the heat and smoke of the chamber scurried about the rest of the house, emptying it of valuables lest the fire spread. I joined them, dragging carpets and tapestries and furniture into the courtyard before running back inside to fetch more.

I could not understand how this calamity could have come upon us. There had been no lamps burning in that chamber when I walked out. I had checked the lampstand myself. No one should have gone into my fathers office after me. No one had any business in there late at night.

To my unspeakable relief, the tide turned within the half hour. Somehow Ethan and Viriato and the fresh group of workers Ethan had brought with him from his home managed to subdue the flames before they spread into the rest of the house. My fathers office lay in utter ruin, but the rest of our home was safe.

Ethan and Viriato looked exhausted. Are you hurt? I asked, as soon as they came out.

Dont fret, mistress, Viriato said, rubbing his head with the fresh towel I had fetched. I am too robust and Ethan is too stubborn to let a little thing like a fire overcome us. Hardly a scratch on either one.

Ethan drew me under the light of the lamp. You have burned your lashes and your brows. He touched my forehead gently and I winced at the flash of pain that pierced my flesh. Youve singed the skin. Let me see your hands. He grabbed my wrists and turned my palms over; even I grimaced at the sight. They were blistered and b.l.o.o.d.y.

Look at what youve done to yourself.

He made me sit down on the bottom stair and had a servant fetch ointment and clean cloths. With feather-soft strokes he wiped my hand and brow and applied the ointment. I tried not to flinch from the pain.

To distract myself I said, What started the fire? Could you tell?

No. The whole place is annihilated beyond recognition. He took a gulping breath. The soot on his face did not hide his bone-white pallor. You could have been killed, Elianna. You almost were. Seeing you topple into that wall of fire . . . He shook his head and left the rest of his sentence hanging.

Before I could answer, Viriato brought the large bundle of fabrics he had managed to pull out of the chamber. Dropping them at my feet, he knelt before me. I am sorry, mistress. None of this can be salvaged. If the fire didnt get them, the smoke did. There is no way to repair any of it.

I grabbed the corner of a fabric sitting on top of the bunch and pulled. Not the green with the silver thread! Not the green! The sight of that beautiful length of cloth, the best thing I had ever produced, blackened by soot and pockmarked by burning embers was my undoing. I put my head in my half-bandaged hands and started to weep.

Joannas dowry! I wailed.

Ethan let me cry my fill. When I ran out of tears, he cupped my chin in his fingers and forced me to look at him. This must stop. You cant go on like this, on your own. I dont want you to. You think you are protecting me by refusing to marry me. But it hurts me more, having to stand aside and watch you suffer. Enough, Elianna. I want you to marry me. I will help you with the care of your family. We will manage, with G.o.ds help.

I opened my mouth. Before I could say a word, he pressed two fingers against my lips to silence me. I know your favorite word. You are about to say no. Think again, Elianna. I could hold our contract over your head. Threaten you with the courts. But I wont have to. All I have to tell you is that you are breaking my heart by refusing me.

I slumped against him.

You want to protect me from pain? Then marry me.

I looked up to see eyes bright as gold coins daring me to refuse. I realized I did not want to. I had run out of fight, out of pride, out of arguments. More than anything, I wanted Ethan. Nodding, I whispered, I am bringing you a world of trouble for a dowry.

He flashed a smile that made my insides melt. So long as you come to me, Ill take any dowry you bring.

Viriato rubbed his hands together. Does this mean we are finally going to have some roasted lamb around here?

I had forgotten he still sat near us and had witnessed the whole exchange. My sandals seemed to offer sudden fascination, and I bent to adjust them. After this fire, you should thank G.o.d if I can afford to serve boiled turnips, I mumbled.

He rubbed his belly. Then I suppose suckling pig would be out of the question?

Yes! Ethan and I cried together. I grinned. For the span of a whole hour I made myself believe that my troubles were coming to an end.

Thank the Lord you took those lengths of fabric with you, or there would be nothing left, I said to Joanna as we scrubbed the walls. Every corner of the house seemed to have become covered in oily ash. Our home stank of its pungent smell. We had been cleaning for three days straight and it still would not leave.