At church, 11-year-old Lyle Hemmis worries about going to hell as a raging forest fireplace threatens to overhaul his city. His household consists of his father; his pregnant stepmother, Winny; his brother, Rudy; and his sister, Aggie. A ringing church bell signifies that the Eagle Hearth Firm is sending out the horses; as neighbor Mr. Publish waters his home down, Lyle selects some string, trinkets, and jacks, in addition to his father’s watch, to avoid wasting. The household leaves their home, however the siblings leap off the surrey after they hear horses in misery at Mr. Boone’s steady. The kids rescue 5 horses, together with their very own, named Scarlet. Now separated from their dad and mom, the youngsters resolve to comply with the group, using or main the animals as they try to seek out security. They go into the close by Black Lake, however then Lyle wonders if the water will warmth up or if they may drown. Lyle saves an previous girl, whom he later acknowledges as their neighbor, Mrs. Flikkema. In a survival scene that some readers might discover discomfiting, Lyle and Aggie squeeze the teats of a horse to drink her milk to slake their determined thirst. Lyle, understandably, cries a number of instances over the course of the story. Later, Winny goes into labor, and Lyle worries that she’ll die in childbirth like his mom. The creator’s descriptions of the fireplace’s results are vivid, as when soot “burned inside his nostril and reddened the edges of [Lyle’s] eyelids.” Gruenberg additionally clearly and informatively explains firefighting strategies of the time, and touches on salient themes of faith, deforestation, and loss. Nonetheless, at factors, the characters’ speech appears anachronistic; for instance, the phrase backpack wasn’t in use till the early twentieth century. That stated, as a result of the novel is ready throughout just a few days, it retains up an excellent, brisk tempo.