"Whoa girl, whoa!" Roy yelled while pulling back hard on the reins.
The sweaty Johansson mare was foaming at the mouth and breathing hard. Roy hobbled the horse with the reins and then tied Sugar-Girl to the side of the wagon. Grabbing his canteen, Roy removed his hat and poured some water into the upside-down hat. The mare started choking on the water as she drank in large gulps so Roy pulled the hat away.
"Easy girl, easy does it."
Giving her another opportunity to quench her thirst, the mare consumed all the water. Roy poured more water into his hat and she resumed drinking. Roy pulled the hat away again and dumping the remaining contents over the horse's mouth and face. Placing his hat back on his head, Roy patted the mare's neck and could feel her body trembling. She smelled like smoke. Roy walked around the wagon and when he saw the back of the buckboard, it was burnt and charred. Everything else looked normal. He returned to the mare and refilled his hat again with water. This time the horse slowly lapped the water indicating she was starting to calm down.
"Tell me, girl, what's going on? Why are you out here like this and what's this all about?" The mare rubbed her head against Roy.
After tying Sugar-Girl to the back of the buckboard, Roy hopped into the seat. Turning the wagon around, he headed toward the Johansson farm. While driving the wagon slowly, so that the mare could cool down, Roy contemplated the situation. None of scenarios Roy thought of resulted in a good outcome. Several times, Roy stopped to give water to both horses from his hat. Roy wanted to drive faster but was afraid the stress would kill the mare. As Roy was about to round the last ridge, he stopped. A faint cloud of gray smoke was rising from the direction of Sara's place. Ignoring all common sense, Roy urged the mare to run.
Snapping the reins, Roy yelled, "Giddy up, yah, yah!"
The mare raced while Roy urged her faster, and faster.
Pulling onto the Johansson farm, the house was completely burnt to the ground and smoldering. The corral was broken open and the Johansson barn was still burning but crushed flat. Roy stood up in the wagon and yelled, drawing each word out.
"SARA! SARA! ABE, BILLY! ANYONE HERE?"
Roy heard his own voice faintly echo from the mountains. Cupping hands around his mouth, Roy loudly called out in several directions again.
"SARA! ABRAHAM, BILLY! ANYBODY? HELLO?"
But there was no response. Roy tied the mare to the cistern and moved Sugar-Girl alongside the mare so the two horses could drink. They eagerly drank the refreshing water. Roy started walking around. Periodically, Roy stopped and called out, then listened for any faint responses, but there was none. The heat from the barn caused Roy to keep a safe distance as he scanned for any signs of life or bodies. God, please don't let me find their dead bodies. Let them be alive, Roy thought.