Lucinda had spent the entirety of the short fire exchange crouched under the table, alternately berating herself for being so useless, lamenting the supper above her that was getting cold -- and maybe had glass shards in it now -- and wincing at the reports of Clara and Aurelian's guns. Jacob's wasn't so bad since he was up on the roof.

As the shooting lessened and the wild yells ceased, she scrambled out from under the table. Were they leaving? Just like that? It sounded like at least one of the defenders' shots had hit someone, but were their assailants giving up that easily?

Jacob was hollering something from the roof. Something about putting out the fires. Now at last there was something she could do. She grabbed a bucket from beside the washtub and darted to the door. The flames from the barn still illuminated the night, blazing almost as brightly as a sunset.

"I'm going to the well!" she called to Aurelian before racing outside, grabbing her skirts up in her free hand.

It looked even worse outside. Her breath hitched in her throat at the sight of the blazing barn. What good could her water bucket do against that inferno? But she had to try. As she pulled desperately at the rope on the well, she searched the yard for Wyatt.

Hadn't Jacob been hollering for him a minute ago? "Wyatt!" She yelled. Where was he?

With his last shot, Aurelian was certain he hit one of those bastards and he had aimed center mass too. Their attackers rode off into the darkness and they'd at least suffered some for their raid. Even as Jacob slid down the roof, Aurelian was racing toward the barn, but his concentration was on finding Wyatt. The barn was a total loss, in fact the roof was already collapsing into the already flaming interior. Least the horses had got out but sadly not their milk cow.

"Wyatt!" his voice joined Jacob's.

And suddenly there he was standing up from the grass, not five feet from his father.

"I'm here...I'm OK..but...Bessie.." the boy looked close to tears.

"Oh, she's gone but all of us are alive and that's the important thing," he hugged the lad.

Behind them he heard the ladies even as Jacob joined him and Wyatt at their side.

"I'm going to the well!" Lucinda called to Aurelian before racing outside, grabbing her skirts up in her free hand.

Clara was outside then too but gazing worriedly in the direction the raiders galloped off, the big revolver still in one hand.

 As Lucinda pulled desperately at the rope on the well, she searched the yard for Wyatt.

Hadn't Jacob been hollering for him a minute ago? "Wyatt!" She yelled.

"It is alright, he is OK. I see him with Father," Clara now informed the woman who would soon be her stepmother.

She then joined Lucinda at the well, "You need not bother. The barn ....it cannot be saved. It is ....gone."

Jacob was quite the optimist or maybe just stubborn, part of it was probably due to his youth but Aurelian looked out on the fields. They were either burnt up already or about to be. A couple of people stamping a few stalks down was not going to stop the rapid progress of that fire. It was a lost cause. Fortunately they'd already harvested and sold most of the corn crop. But it was the barn which was the big loss. They would need to build a new one from scratch and also buy another cow. Even now he could smell the awful stench of the now deceased animals burnt corpse. The memory brought him back to the late war. He had smelled that foul odor when the dead - and even worse - some of the wounded soldiers were caught up in fires in woods or dried fields. It wasn't just the smell either, there had been the dreadful screams from those doomed fellows. Bad memories, ones which would probably never quite go away.

"No, let the fields burn out. The barn seems to be collapsing inside itself. Think we don't need to do nothing there either but let the fire run it's course. Right now, we need to worry about them maybe coming back for another run at us," Aurelian frowned.

"They took losses so I doubt it. They probably didn't expect that. But we don't know that for sure," he sighed.

"Jacob, you need to ride inta town. Maybe someone there already saw the light from the fires and some folks might be coming. Maybe not. But tell the law what happened. We will hole up inside just in case there is another attack. We could all head inta town but then if they do come back, we lose our home too. Not letting that happen."

"You're a rider for a living, you make the most sense to go. Go, son, and hurry!"

***

Clara was listening to her father then turned to Lucinda, "You know what? Let us fill some buckets and bring them into the house. Might come in handy if they do come back for a second try at us."

"Gone?" Lucinda paused in her efforts at the well and echoed Clara's words stupidly, tears coming into her eyes. It wasn't fair! Aurelian had worked so hard to turn his homestead into a real home and farm. And in less than an hour, it was gone.

She stood with the rope pulled taut, watching Aurelian and Jacob. Poor Aurelian Part of her balked at the idea of sending Jacob into town. What if the ruffians did come back? That would leave them down one gun. It wasn't as though she could take his place, knowing nothing about guns except that they were dangerous. But Aurelian's plan did make sense, and so did Clara's plan of preparing buckets of water.

Lucinda dashed her sleeve across her face to get rid of the tears on her cheeks. It was ridiculous to be crying now that the danger was over. Well, probably over. Like Clara said, they might come back. She hauled on the rope to pull up a bucket of water and handed it off to Clara, who probably shouldn't have been lifting the bucket in her condition.

"You take that one. I'll be right behind you." She reached for another bucket to fill it up as well. Somehow, having the younger woman around bolstered her courage. She should be the one reassuring Clara, but here she was following the soon-to-be mother around like one of her children.

Clara hadn't wanted Jacob to leave without that last chance to wish him well and then there was .....

As for Clara, her husband approached her and said, simply enough "Your Pa's sending me to town, I'll be back presently" But, more emotionally, he stepped forward and kissed her passionately on the lips: even though the others were standing there. After all, they might never see each other again. 

Clara melted into that embrace and lingered with the kiss until they reluctantly had to let each other go.

"We will be fine here. Please be careful. I need you and soon enough this child will need his or her father," she reminded him.

**********

Eventually some locals from town (and I imagine Charlie as the acting law) showed up with Jacob among them. It was too late of course. Not that Aurelian could place any blame on them. In fact he thanked them for coming out as befitting good neighbors. By daylight the last cinders of the field fire were out. The barn was a blackened ruin. But Aurelian thanked the Good Lord they all were alive and in a less charitable Christian thought, hoped at least two of those bastards were dead.

At some point, Aurelian made a concerted effort to get Lucinda away from all the others, even his children. They embraced and just enjoyed the closeness for a bit before he declared.

"Lucinda, I think we should get married as soon as possible. I hope you aren't hankering for a big wedding........given the current circumstances and our future situation for who knows how long.........I don't think we can do that. But I want you to be my wife. All official and clear as crystal. Just in case .............well, if something happens to me, you will inherit the farm and Wyatt will be your stepson then. I know that doesn't sound romantic but you know I love you. Sometimes one simply has to be realistic too, practical."

After all the hustle and bustle had faded away, it felt good to be alone with Aurelian, not having to thank the neighbors for coming over for nothing. Lucinda tilted her head up, keeping her cheek pressed against Aurelian's shirt. "I don't need a big wedding, Aurelian. And I think you're absolutely right. We don't need to wait any longer. Don't worry about romance. That can come later, and I know it will. I've seen hints of it already."

She grinned, allowing herself to imagine for just a moment the very near future when she and Aurelian would be married.

There was nothing wrong with Aurelian's statements at all. He was quite right to be practical. Practicality was one of the main reasons marriages happened out here. People couldn't live alone. If something like this had happened to her first husband's old homestead, she would have been burnt to a crisp inside the house.

"I want you to teach me how to shoot," she added. "If something else happens, I'm not going to hide under the table again."