Time Will Tell [Complete]

Chapter Fourteen

  Lizzy ran recklessly down the hill, not paying any attention to her footing, just wanting to get to the farm in time. Maybe it was already too late, but maybe – just maybe – the damage wouldn't be as bad as it looked. Maybe the fire was already put out. The house hadn't looked that bad.

But as she got nearer, Lizzy could tell that wasn't the case. The fire was still raging through the fields, quickly eating up the potato stalks and grain. Lizzy knew the pressure on Patrick to provide for his family, and much of his produce was sent to England. Her heart ached when she finally slowed down just past the dirt road into it and she surveyed the damage.

She could only hope they made it out alive.

The others caught up with her as she backtracked to enter by the wide metal gate at the front. It was hanging open, and the fire hadn't made it very close to there yet, so it wasn't hot at all. Lizzy stepped through with Liam and Finn. None of them were quite sure what to say.

They couldn't see Patrick, Kit, Marjorie or Alexander, and Lizzy could only hope they weren't still in there. She wondered if it was her orders that caused their death.

If they were dead.

It was a horrible thought, really. Lizzy could barely imagine a world without them – Marjorie's motherly nature, Alexander's somewhat annoying stability, Patrick's sweet nature, masked by a thin layer of toughness. Even Kit, whom she had only met a few weeks ago, was a dear friend. His joking, compassionate, and relaxed personality balanced hers perfectly. A single tear dribbled down her cheek, and Lizzy turned away from Liam and Finn until she got her emotions under control.

Then she saw them, and a cry of joy escaped her lips.

Her companions – the very ones who, just a moment ago, she believed dead – were striding towards her. Well, more like limping. They were covered in ash and soot and looked exhausted. Their clothes were torn, and Lizzy could tell there were a few injuries that were very bad. Kit was leaning heavily on Patrick's shoulder, although he was a bit taller, and was favouring his right ankle – if Lizzy had to guess, she'd say it was broken. There was something wrong about the angle he stepped at.

Then there was Marjorie – her right arm had some sort of make-shift bandage tied around it – she had ripped a length of material from the skirt of her dress and used some of it for her arm, and some of it for Alexander's hand, which looked painful. He winced whenever he moved it, and even from where they were standing, Lizzy could hear Marjorie exclaiming for him to be careful.

"It's not going to heal by itself, you know! You have to let it rest."

Finn and Lizzy exchanged a glance, rolling their eyes.

The weirdest thing was, Patrick seemed untouched – well, he was especially dirty, but without many injuries. When they got close enough, she could tell that Patrick had a hand inside his jacket pocket.

"Am I just imagining it, or do you think he looks like he's holding something inside his coat?" Lizzy said to Finn and Liam. Finn just shrugged, but Liam squinted at him and nodded. "It does look a bit like that, yes." He said.

The others finally arrived where Lizzy was standing, and she immediately knelt to examine Kit's ankle.

"What happened?" She heard Finn ask. Kit winced as she probed the bone but remained silent as Alexander explained.

"We had seen Lizzy sitting in the café and knew she had the situation under control, so we followed her instructions and came back to Patrick's house. We were sitting in the kitchen when it happened."