Chapter 16 - Fire and IronAs Ray took another step forward, raising his heavy crowbar, I kicked the iron fireplace poker violently across the floorboards. It clattered loudly against a metal bucket, distracting two of the thugs for a split second.
That was all the opening I needed.
I lunged sideways toward the hearth, grabbed the heavy plastic canister of lighter fluid, and squeezed the trigger, spraying a thick stream of highly flammable liquid directly across the wooden floorboards between us and the intruders.
Before Ray could react, I struck a long fireplace match against the brick hearth and tossed it onto the wet trail.
Whoosh!
A wall of bright orange flames erupted instantly across the floor, creating an immediate, roaring barrier of fire between us and Ray’s crew. The thugs shouted in panic, stumbling backward as the intense heat scorched their boots.
“Grab Amy, let’s move!” Silas yelled, firing a second defensive blast into the ceiling to keep them pinned down while he led us toward a hidden cellar door located behind the kitchen pantry.
“After them! Don’t let them escape out the back!” Ray screamed through the smoke and roaring flames, coughing violently as he tried to swat away the smoke.
We scrambled down the steep, dark wooden stairs into the damp stone cellar beneath the cabin just as the heavy footsteps of the thugs reached the kitchen floor above. Silas slammed the heavy iron cellar door shut from the inside, throwing the thick deadbolt into place just as heavy fists hammered furiously against the wood from above.
“This way! Hurry!” Silas urged, holding a flickering oil lantern as he guided us through a narrow, stone-lined underground tunnel that sloped downward into the mountain hillside.
“Where does this tunnel lead?” Amy asked, her voice trembling as she clutched my hand tightly in the dark.
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“To the old drainage creek fifty yards down the ravine,” Silas panted, his breath coming in short gasps. “It’s the only way out before they figure out how to breach this door.”
We sprinted through the damp darkness, our footsteps splashing in the shallow puddles of runoff water, carrying the stolen will and the truth of my family’s history toward safety.
