Penny knew as soon as she stepped out of her wardrobe and into her room that there was no more time to prepare for the fight. An unsteady orange light that shone through her window told her that the end game had already started.
The wheat field that Susan jokingly referred to as “Price’s back forty,” the piece of land that Susan had years ago grudgingly allowed Ernest Price to lease from her, was blazing, and the fire was racing up the hill toward the house. Zoe saw it too; she leaned heavily against Penny as she peered through the window.
“Susan,” Penny whispered but was unable to finish her thought aloud. She seemed to have no breath. It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.
Zoe tugged on her arm. “We have to tell her!”
Penny felt her paralysis break with Zoe’s panic
