"Who?"
She pointed toward the office.
"My son!"
For a moment, everything changed.
The woman explained that her twelve-year-old boy had been helping carry small parcels earlier that afternoon.
He was sent into the office to collect a tool case.
When Briggs rushed inside, the child had not yet returned.
Now smoke poured from the windows.
The boy was trapped.
Caleb didn't hesitate.
He ran toward the building.
Clara cried out.
"Caleb!"
He turned briefly.
"Stay with the others!"
Then he hurried toward the sheriff.
Boone saw him coming.
For a moment, the older man looked furious.
"Caleb, I told you—"
"There's a child inside."
The sheriff stopped.
Then nodded.
"Back room."
Caleb pulled a wet cloth over his mouth.
The deputies forced the outer door enough to create an opening.
Smoke rolled through it.
Caleb crouched low and entered only far enough to locate the interior passage.
He called out.
"Boy!"
A frightened voice answered from beyond the inner doorway.
"Here!"
Caleb moved toward the sound.
The smoke was thick.
He could barely see.
But he found the boy crouched behind an overturned desk.
The child was coughing.
His face was streaked with soot.
Caleb knelt.
"Can you walk?"
The boy nodded weakly.
Caleb took his hand.
"Stay close."
He guided the child toward the exit.
A burning beam cracked overhead.
Caleb stopped.
Shifted direction.
Then used the clearer side passage to reach the doorway.
The deputies helped them outside.
The boy's mother ran forward.
She gathered him into her arms.
Both began crying.
Caleb bent over, coughing.
His eyes burned.
Clara hurried toward him.
"Caleb!"
He looked up.
She reached for his face.
"Are you hurt?"
He shook his head.
"Just smoke."
Her eyes filled.
She embraced him.
For a moment, he held her tightly.
Then the sheriff shouted from near the building.
"Briggs!"
Caleb turned.
Nathaniel Briggs had emerged through the rear doorway.
His coat was smoking.
He carried a leather case.
One deputy moved toward him.
Briggs swung the case, striking the man's shoulder, then ran toward the horses.
Caleb felt anger rise.
For a moment, he remembered Thomas.