Thorn-2

The skeleton of the burnt out building loomed upwards from the ashes like a specter. The smell of the building was acrid but somehow also appealing; unlike the thick, choking smoke of the night before, the remaining odor was much easier to swllow. Lumps of burnt wheat which had melted into a gelatin like substance still smoldered making walking inside of the barn a treacherous affair. There was still an oppressive heat that lingered inside of the building and though Thorn knew that most of the danger was past he was still on full alert.
He had good reason. The Mayor's wife still had not been found and there was a rumor flying fast that she and a lover had been caught in the blaze. He didn't buy into rumors but there was more than one threading its evil suggestion in the small town before most children were up and break-fasting.
One that cause his mind to be clouded by a rage that could hardly be shaken so that he could see the burnt remains of the building before him and analyze it all for clues. To combat this he focused, his eyes scanning the debris for the slightest thing that was suspicious or out of place.
Kailey had been the subject of the viciousness. That was unacceptable. That anyone could try to blame his Kailey for something like this. Kailey might be slow, as they so snidely put it but he was no a fool. He was a man in the way that counted; he was reliable, sensible and he knew what was right from wrong.
If there was any indication that Kailey would ever be so lawless Thorn would never have trusted him to keep his house in order. And if it was one thing that Kailey did that always impressed him with take sparse provision and fresh produce and turn out a meal that was a real spread. Kailey had a talent for cooking.
He hadn't told Kailey what MayBeth had come to warn him about. He had sent him off to MayBeth's house, not even allowing him to make breakfast much to Kailey's displeasure. The boy loved to fuss over him; thought it was his right and now that he was injured it was worse.
Thorn paused in the middle of the barn and listened. He could hear the wind rustling through the trees, a carraige making it way down the dirt road, a child racing after it and finally though it took a while he could hear the groaning of the weakened beams of the building.
It pained him to remember what this had looked like jus yesterday morning. Teaming full of grain and supplying a dying town with hope. Now everything, their hope included was burnt to a crisp.
He should not be so surprised then that that hope had been replaced with pettiness and cruetly towards one of th emost mis-understood and marginalised members of the town. No, he was too cynnical to surprised, he was pissed.
He wouldn't let anyone hurt Kailey, if they so much as tried. he halted again, pearched on a fallen beam and his hands clenched. Just then his eyes fell on a spot that was blacker than the rest of it. He moved towards it. When he was near, a near stench wound it way into his nose. It was not subtle, it shoved down his throat, invading his body and then his mind with the harsh, putrid smell of burnt flesh and seared bone.
His eyes searched but found no body, but they saw something else. A beam had been moved stirring the ashes. One footstep leading out the back way of the barn, from there on could escape into the forest.
He was about to follow when a glint caught his eye. He reached for it but it was hot, he swore. he wrapped his hand in something and plucked the mis-shapen clump of silver from the ground. It was the pendant of the missing woman he knew then. In some work of God, the J scratched in the middle had not been misfigured by the fire.
'J' for Jenna. He stood there and let the implications of this wash over him like a summer's rain. She was dead, the vibrant, percocious and somewhat annoying wife of the mayor had passed on. leaving this locket and a stomach turnng stench as the only vistages of her once colourful existance.
The cold hand of fury that engulfed him then was backed with desperate despair. She hadn't just expired, her time had not yet been up. Barely twenty-three she had been and filled with more optimism than ten barns this size could hold and she had been taken. Murdered, then burned and finally moved from this spot. The cold effiiency and heartlessness left his mind reeling.
Some sick demented creature walked among then; some gutless, spineless devil. A very dangerous entity.
He walked blindly from the building, clutching the pendant in one hand and holding his other arm gingerly. Suddenly his shoulder was hurting again and indeed it was ten times worse than last night. His face he knew was ashen, his eyes bleak.
His boots hit the gravel in time with the sluggish beat of his heart. For once he didn't know where he was going, who he wanted to see or what he was going to say. He could keep this all to himself. Leave the town with the illusion that she had run off with a gypsy. The thought was banished. No, she deserved justice, her memory would be a hard one for the town to follow but they had to face it and take stock of their situation.
Before long he had reached the town square. There he saw a gathering. Few were looking in his direction, but they fell away as soon as they saw him. That made him walk faster and that urged him to listen.
There was sobbing, the thud of a foot hitting unresistant flesh and a scuffle. He shoved through the crowd ingoring the searing pain in his shoulder. There was Kailey, curled on the ground while the resident town thug just finished kicking him thundered accusation around his head.
and people just watched, horror and wonder etched on their faces; yet none helped and he knew why they too wanted an answer to the man's angry question.
"Why's you set the damn barn on fire Kailey! How could you do that to us?! and how could you do that to Thorn who took you in?! You damn bastard he spent hours stacking that grain. You're-"
"I didn't..I didn't..." Kailey sobbed, his voice etched with pain.
When Jinn say Thorn he fell back suddenly, all of his machoness gone. Everyone suddenly was scare and Thorn didn't bother to run after Jinn and punish him. He only cared for Kailet, whose beautiful eyes were dilated pools of horror, shock and pain.
Thorn lifted him bodily, despite his size, despite the incredible pain in his shoulder. Kailey protested weakly,.
"Thorn..your shoulder,"
"It's never been better Kailey," he lied smoothly though he was unable to keep the thread of strain from in his voice or the anger.
"But Thorn-," Kailey started again and Thorn held his gaze. That silenced him.
Thorn carried Kailey down to the nurse. His mind was ruined. The anger of the morning, the discovery of the horrendous murder and now this. It was too much for him to shrug off, cold, silent rage settled deep with in his spirit and took root.
The morning was in full swing now and it was hot but none of the heat reach Thorn. There were many things wrong in this town. Jinn was the least of them but he would get his day; everyone would get their day. All who stood aside and watched as his Kailey got beat up for something he didn't do, who gaped like mindless useless fowls as a foot found Kailey's chests. Heartless, prejudicial bastards that could watch him cry and wait, wait like judges for him to confess something he knew nothing about.
People like that he realised would rather believe that Jenna ran away than face the fact that she'd been cooked like a cow in the barn. His callousness shocked him and he stilled for a moment. It was a bad decision. Kailey wriggled trying to get down and the pain in his shoulder thundered.
"God-damn hold still Kailey," he snapped, his voice was abrasive and Kailey's eyes filled with fresh tears.
"Do you think I did it too Thorn?" he whispered in a rasping voice. His chest was wracked with pain no doubt. If the bruising on his face was an indication of what had went on before Thorn got there.
"Don't be an ass Kailey," Thorn said. He wouldn't usually speak to Kailey this way but he was no longer quite himself. This had changed him.
To his surprise Kailey laughed, a hoked laboured sound but his eyes filled with mirth and joy. Thorn was struck then, by how pretty and unfettered Kailey looked then. His heart twisted, he needed to get Kailey somewhere safe while he sorted this all out. He would make someone very uncomfortable and they might use Kailey to get to him... unacceptable.
Thorn was half-way to the nurse, it was slow going and no one who would help seemed to be anywhere around. Others just watched him struggle down the street.
Kailey hugged him and kissed his cheek lightly drawing Thorn's gaze back to his face. Kailey's eyes were closed now though,so Thron didn't have a chance to read the emotion in them.
The nurse had the door wide open and the bed with wheels out on the porch. She had seen them coming and he was more grateful to her then than ever before.
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