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Then the thought hit her—a window.
She pushed up onto her feet, wincing as the fabric of her shirt scraped against the burns.
She moved to the side, feeling with her hand until it hit the smooth wall. Then she stood, rushing along it, swiping her hand from top to bottom.
She made it all the way back down the hall when her cane finally hit something in front of her. Her hand shot forward, immediately feeling a door frame outlining a shut door.
Maybe that would lead further back into somewhere with a window.
But when she turned the knob and forced the door open, an immediate wall of heat punched against her front.
The back of the house was also on fire.
Chapter thirty-three
Saff’s eyes widened as she turned the corner and saw the front of the storing house engulfed in flames. Yet not a single hesitation went through her head as she hit the driveway.
Her eyes immediately went to the left side of the porch, where the fire still hadn’t reached.
She leapt up onto the porch, darting past the roaring flames.
Fire already covered the one large window at the front of the house, but the front door appeared to still be mostly untouched.
Saff surged forward, grabbing the handle of the door.
A yelp of pain escaped her throat, and she ripped her hand back as the hot metal scorched her palm.
She pulled the edge of her shirt forward, using it to block her hand as she tried again.
Smoke poured out, stuffing her mouth and lungs as the door swung inward.
She coughed, covering her mouth with her arm as she stepped past the threshold.
“Maddie!” she choked out between coughs.
Half of the room was already engulfed in flames, while the other half was slowly being lit up by what appeared to be a fallen wooden beam.
She stepped toward the half of the room that was in flames, scanning every inch for any sign of Maddie.
But there was none.
She turned to the other half, moving around the fallen beam and other objects littering the floor.
“Maddie!”
Her eyes stung, and she had to squint to see past the gray, hazy air.
As she finally made it past the debris and through the flames, she looked down the hall and froze.
The entire night, up until that moment, her brain had shut out every thought.
She hadn’t consciously made any decisions—hadn’t had any say in what she’d done. It was as if her body was acting entirely on its own. Like it knew what to do, every step to take, even if she didn’t.
And now suddenly, seeing Maddie bent over, coughing at the end of the hallway, her body finally relinquished control.
“Maddie,” she rasped as she scrambled forward, making it down the hall in only a few steps.
Maddie’s head snapped up in her direction.