Part Three of Anna's Story

April 17, 1899

Dear Diary,

It's late and I'm tired, but you deserve to know what happened to us and why we are currently residing in this awful place. The truth is, in the middle of the night, our house burned to the ground along with Mother and Father...

"It's such a tragedy!" I hear our neighbor, Mrs. Bryant, cry.

"Who will take care of the children?" Another questions.

Yes, who will take care of us? I wonder. Fear knots my stomach in two but I don't cry. The tears just won't come.

I pull my shawl tighter around my shivering body. I am still in my nightdress and wish I had thought to bring my warm, winter coat instead. But I had panicked and nearly couldn't find my way out as it was dark and still is.

I had awaken to the sound of Henrietta screaming.

"Anna! Help! Fire!" was all I heard but it hit me full force. I immediately leaped out of bed and raced to her room where she huddled in a ball on her bed. I remember shaking her and shouting, "Henri, what's wrong? Where's the fire?"

But I didn't need an answer as I could smell and hear it myself. All of a sudden, James came bursting into the room, coughing hysterically.

"Anna, Henri, thank goodness you're alright! We need to get out of here now! The entire first floor is on fire!"

Without another word, I scooped up Henrietta and followed James down the old servant's staircase so as not to get trapped on the main landing. The smoke engulfed us as soon as we had stepped foot on the stairs and I nearly fainted it was so strong. But somehow, I kept sight of James and we eventually made it outside. Relieved, I set Henrietta down. There, Clark and Obadiah met us with most of our animals. The only thing missing was...

"Where's Mother and Father?" I demanded.

They looked at one another fearfully. Obadiah was the first to speak.

"Father was the one to wake me up. He told me to get everyone out of the house and if there was time, he animals as well. He said he would get Mother and be right back, but by then the fire had really spread and I had to get out before it was too late, so I did as I was told and haven't seen him since."

Realization hit us all in the face as we turned around to look at the remains of our house. There was no way they could still be alive.

"No!" I cried, falling to the ground in exhaustion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To be continued...