Jedodiah fought the reins. We are trapped. Silas climbed over the front seat and took control. There is an old cattle path to the west. That trail ends at a steep bank.
It reaches the river. And if it does not, Silas looked back at Clara and Toby. It has to. He turned the horses off the road. The wagon struck holes and rocks as it raced across the open land.
Clara held Toby with one arm and gripped the sideboard with the other. The river appeared through the smoke just as flames entered the field behind them. Dozens of families stood in the shallow water with horses, wagons, and the few belongings they had saved. Men rushed forward and helped guide Jedodiah's team down the bank. Clara stepped into the cold river with Toby in her arms.
Silas stayed beside them until they reached a broad cottonwood near the water. The fire burned through the night. Toby finally slept against Silas's chest. Clara covered him with the dry half of her shawl. "You saved my father's Bible," she said.
Silas watched the orange sky. "I should have returned for you 12 years ago." "Yes," Clara answered. "You should have. I was ashamed."
After Charles told me you had married, I believed I had lost the right to face you. "You did lose that right." Silas lowered his head. Clara looked at Toby, sleeping safely between them. Then she placed her hand over the boy's small fingers.
But perhaps you have earned the right to begin again. Silas slowly covered her hand with his. Near dawn, Jedodiah returned from the ridge. His face was gray with ash. The fire took nearly every ranch north of the creek, he said.
I could not see a single roof still standing. Clara looked toward the black land where her cabin had been. The ranch had stood directly in the fire's path. Soon after Jedodiah delivered the news, the first drop of rain struck Clara's cheek. She looked up.
Another drop fell, then another. Within minutes, steady rain began washing ash from the frightened families gathered beside the Bitterroot River. Children lifted their faces toward the sky. Men removed their hats. Women cried as cold water ran through their hair.
The fire slowly weakened beneath the rain, but the families waited until afternoon before leaving the river. Fallen trees blocked many roads, and hot ground still burned beneath the ash. Silas drove Clara and Toby back toward the ranch. The Bitterroot Valley looked like a place she no longer knew. Green fields had become black earth.
Fence posts stood burned and twisted. Dead trees reached into the gray sky with bare branches. Clara held her father's Bible in her lap. The sewing basket rested beside her, and inside it lay Toby's silver button. Silas kept his eyes on the road.
"I can build another cabin," he said. Clara did not answer. She was not ready to hear kind words about something neither of them had seen. When the wagon reached the final hill, Silas stopped the horses. Clara slowly lifted her eyes.