Katie stood in the distance, frozen with fear, almost encircled by fire. It raced toward her through the grass, flaring high when it overtook a patch of sagebrush.
“Oh, no! I dropped her right in the middle of it!” Zoe rushed forward, straight toward the fire, and Ellen tackled her.
“Don’t,” Ellen struggled to hold Zoe down. “Kat! Get out of there!”
Zoe struggled beneath Ellen, rolled onto her back and tried to wrestle for her freedom. “Get off!”
“Katie!” Ronan shouted and dashed through the flames, his fur catching fire and smoldering, but the flames were too intense and drove him back.
“Stop it, you two!” Penny dropped to her knees and struggled ineffectually to break the girls apart. “Zoe, Ellen … look!”
Zoe and Ellen paused in their struggles long enough to turn to Penn
