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As Léof plunged into the stables a third time, he could see that it would not be much longer. A stable, he knew, was one of the worst possible places for a fire, since it was built entirely out of wood and kept dry so that the hay would not grow rank – a fire could not help but easily catch and spread rapidly in such a place.
There was a flash of light and a whoosh just behind and above him – the hay in the loft had caught fire! He quickly checked each of the stalls as he passed for horses still remaining; unless he missed his guess, one or two still remained. He found one of them about half way down the aisle, a normally placid gelding now worked into a frenzy. As well as he knew the horses in this stable, none of them trusted him so well as Æthel, and as with the second horse he had brought out this one was not so easily calmed as Æthel, even once he had managed to clip a lead rope he had grabbed on his last trip to his halter and swing his shirt over his eyes. Too much time, this was taking too much time!
He heard a crash somewhere outside the stall, further spooking the gelding. Léof finally abandoned his attempts at calming the horse enough to follow him and gave him a good smack on his hindquarter; the horse plunged forward, nearly ripping the rope from his hand.
Now that the horse was outside the stall, Léof could see the source of the crash; the boards in the hay loft were beginning to give out. The aisle was no longer clear enough for him to lead the horse out by the shortest way; he would have to go around, wasting even more time.
His eyes were watering and his throat burning from the smoke. When he finally emerged into clear air, he took great gulps of it, only to begin coughing violently. He couldn’t stop, though; not until all the horses were safe. He led the gelding around to the paddock where he took stock of the horses there. It took him a moment, but it suddenly hit him: Herefola was still inside!
Even though his chest was burning, he again broke into a jog, rushing past the men who were trying to halt the fire’s progression to the residential wing. Someone shouted after him, “No, Léof, it’s too dangerous!” But he did not heed him, rushing for the last time into the burning stable.
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