Doggone Ugly Creek by Cheryel Hutton

Author:Cheryel Hutton [Hutton, Cheryel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, small town, comedy, fantasy
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2017-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

I saw the smoke long before we arrived at the fire. Apparently, half the town had seen it too, because they were gathered to watch. We had to park a block away and push through a herd of onlookers to get to the house that was on fire.

Volunteer firefighters were already hard at work holding fire hoses that poured water on the house. I didn’t see any flames, but smoke billowed out of the doors, windows, and a huge hole in the roof. The air was thick with the smell of wood burning, and my eyes stung.

“I’m going to move around to get some shots.”

I nodded. I’d spotted a crying woman standing to one side and holding the hand of a little girl. I headed in that direction. “Are you all right?”

The woman looked at me with huge eyes that were filled with tears. “What?”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“She just keeps crying,” the little girl said.

I sat on my heels. “My name’s Shay. What’s yours?”

“Magnolia, but everybody calls me Maggie.”

“That’s a very pretty name.”

“Thank you.”

She looked at the house, then back to me.

“When will the fire be out?”

My heart melted. “Soon,” I lied.

“Hello, Maggie.” A tall woman with the sweetest smile I’d ever seen touched the little girl’s head. “How are you?”

Tears filled Maggie’s eyes. “I’m scared, Miz Fitz.”

“I know, but we’ll take care of you. You know Ugly Creek takes care of its own.”

A tiny smile pulled at the little girl’s mouth. “I know.”

Miz Fitz turned to the mother. “Valla.”

Valla turned and looked at Miz Fitz with eyes that were large and filled with pain. “It’s all gone. Everything is gone.”

“I know. I’m so sorry this happened, but we’ll take care of you. We’ll help you get through this.” Then the two women were embracing, and Miz Fitz held Valla while she cried.

I looked at Maggie, and tears ran down her face. “It won’t be easy, but it seems like you’ll have plenty of support.”

Maggie nodded. “Ugly Creek takes care of its own.”

That phrase intrigued me, and I considered how to ask about it. And then the world exploded.

My first thought was protecting Maggie, but her mom pulled the little girl into her arms.

Miz Fitz turned to me. “I’ll take care of them. Go make sure he’s all right.”

I shoved through onlookers and firefighters before I realized what she’d said. By then, though, I didn’t care. All I could think of was making sure Ace was safe.

Chaos. The entire area was sheer chaos. People rushed in all different directions. “Propane tank,” I heard somebody say. My eyes burned from the smoke, and people seemed to just appear in my way. Frustration tore at me, rapidly morphing into anger. I wanted to scream at the mass of humanity to get the hell out of my way. Then I realized they weren’t all human. I can’t say what it was that had me thinking that, but somehow I knew.

I shoved my way past a firefighter and saw Ace.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.