“The woods are burning”

“The woods are burning” names the fire that follows Charlie McGee through a forest ride on Necromancer. Repeated as a refrain rather than spoken dialogue, the expression marks a change in the scene’s emotional force: the fire first accompanies a headlong sense of freedom, then returns as a threat to the horses she fears for.

The Fire and the Ride

As Charlie rides through the tangled woods, she feels Necromancer’s muscles beneath her and urges him to go faster. The path becomes a tunnel; behind them, crackling and smoke announce a fire she has started. At this point, the expression registers the immediate fact of the burning woods, but Charlie feels no guilt. She believes she and Necromancer can outrun the fire and reach the brightness ahead.

The refrain returns as they leap a deadfall. A spark briefly stings Charlie’s skin, and she realizes she is naked, yet the realization belongs to a rush of freedom rather than shame or alarm. The woods are still burning behind them, but the ride’s momentum makes escape seem possible.

A Changed Refrain

In a later passage, the image of the open land and light ahead is mingled with fear and loss. Charlie recognizes John Rainbird’s face, and the remembered fire phrase turns into a plea not to hurt the horses. The burning woods no longer serve only as the danger she and Necromancer might outrun; they are bound to her fear of harm coming to the animals.

When Charlie wakes the next morning, fear, confusion, and desolation have begun to harden into anger. Set against that emotional change, the expression’s recurrence connects the exhilaration of the ride with the distress that follows, while the plea for the horses makes the danger personal rather than merely part of the landscape.

Narrative Function

The expression works through repetition and altered emphasis. At first, fire supplies a perilous backdrop to speed and anticipated escape; on its return, the image carries fear and concern for the horses. The shift preserves the ride’s freedom and excitement while revealing their limits: the fire remains present, and the sense of safety gives way to anxiety and, by morning, anger.