But the horses, Billy stammered. Turn them loose, Naya hissed. Drive them into the creek bed. They will run from the fire. "Go!"
Billy scrambled to the back of the barn. Naya grabbed a pitchfork, her mind racing. She could not run across the open yard to the house. They would cut her down or rope her before she made the porch. The barn was a trap.
She heard the first torch hit the roof. There was a whoosh sound, followed immediately by the crackle of dry shingles catching fire. Come out, Ward, Harlan's voice boomed from the yard. We know you are in there. Naya did not answer.
She moved to the stalls, slapping the rumps of the horses. "Go!" She shouted in Apache. Run! Billy threw the back gate open.
The horses, smelling the smoke and sensing the panic, bolted. They thundered out into the twilight, a chaotic stream of muscle and terror. Hey, one of the riders shouted, the stock is loose. Let them run, Harlan yelled. Burn the structure.
More torches rained down. The heat rose instantly. The hayloft above caught fire, sending burning debris raining down onto the barn floor. Smoke, thick and black, began to fill the air, stinging Naya's eyes and clogging her throat. Billy ran back to her, coughing.
Miss Naya, we have to get out. We cannot go out the doors. Naya said, covering her mouth with her sleeve. They are waiting with rifles. She looked at the floor.
In the corner of the tack room, under a pile of old grain sacks, was the root cellar. Elias used it to store potatoes and carrots in the winter. It was deep, lined with stone, and had a heavy oak trapdoor. "The cellar," she choked out. She grabbed Billy's arm and dragged him toward the tack room.
The roof groaned overhead, timbers popping like gunshots. Help me, Naya cried, shoving the grain sacks aside. They found the iron ring of the trapdoor. Naya pulled, her muscles straining, her belly tight with fear. The door groaned open, revealing a dark, musty hole.
"Get in," she ordered the boy. Billy hesitated. It's a grave. "It is earth," Naya shouted, shoving him down the ladder. "Earth does not burn."
She followed him down, pulling the heavy door shut above them just as a burning beam crashed onto the floor where they had been standing. Total darkness swallowed them. The air was cool and smelled of damp soil. A stark contrast to the inferno raging feet above their heads. Naya huddled in the corner, pulling Billy close to her.