As Miss Wise reached the threshold of the church, she leaned over with her lips puckered, but she froze, eyes fixed on the sky. A few motionless beats later, she began trembling like a withered branch in the midst of a winter storm. Her lips parted and let loose a bloodcurdling scream. Pa’s melodious nonsense cut off and all heads popped up.

Rushing outside to see what had her freaking out, we found billows of thick smoke just past a thin line of trees in the direction of the west tobacco barn. The wind shifted and the acrid odor of smoke entwined with the sweet aroma of curing tobacco, creating a new scent I’d wish I’d never been introduced to. Breaking out in a sprint, a long line of us hurried to the burning barn.

Jinx and Tripp got busy trying to douse the flames while Pa worked on cutting the gas from the barn’s furnace. I focused on moving anything within the flames’ reach out of the way. The more the men struggled to snuff the fire, the more it fought back. Through a fallen wall, we helplessly witnessed the beautifully sewn tobacco we worked months and months to produce incinerate within a blink. A hissing sound started rising above the cacophony of shouting and crackling.

“Run!” Tripp shouted, scooping up the two-year-old twins like Pac-Man collecting dots while trying to outrun the ghosts. I did the same, making Boss help me carry Peg while pretty much shoving the older twins to keep them in front of us.

We’d barely made it to the line of trees when the boom shook the ground and sent a thick shower of ash to rain down on us. There was no gathering the barn or its contents back together ever again, so the soot-covered group of us plopped on the ground and attempted to collect ourselves instead.

Eventually Foxy took action, checking each one over for injuries and then directing Tripp and Pa to follow her so that she could dress their minor burns. The rest of us returned to the chapel to gather what was left behind, having no clue we’d left a distraught Miss Wise until finding her on her knees in the side yard. Her entire body and mouth vibrated in silent sobs, as if someone had hit her mute button. It was disturbing yet so eerily captivating that I couldn’t look away.

Similar to approaching a rabid animal, we crept closer, arms extending and then retracting, indecisive on whether to reach out to her or keep at a safe distance. Suddenly the tremors paused and her dull gray eyes widened in horror as Miss Wise began slapping at her hair until it started unraveling from the bun.

“Get it off me!” Miss Wise screeched, batting the ashes off her suit jacket while completely spazzing out.