Firestorm (6 page)

“What’s your
problem? I was thirsty.”

He tossed the
bottle onto the ground and got ready to head out. Meagan and I
looked at each other and I could see the same anger on her face
that was rising up in me. She bent down and picked the bottle up
and stuffed it in the backpack.

“Let’s not just
throw our garbage around. Let’s at least try to show some respect
for this forest and the animals that live in it.”

Don growled and
pushed me off of his arm as he began walking along the path. The
rest of us joined him and minutes later we were heading down to the
boat. Although it had been a long and disparaging haul, I was glad
we were almost there because it meant we were almost home.

We edged slowly
down the rocky terrain and it took us about fifteen or twenty
minutes to get to the water but when we got there, Don began to
shout.

“Well, that son
of a – I can’t believe he took the boat. You, Alex, go down there
and see if he’s tied it down there.”

Ali puckered
his mouth and then nodded to Don as he climbed down the bank with
Brad right on his tail. They both returned a few minutes later and
Ali stared at Grandpa.

“What made you
think the boat was there? It’s not there. It’s not anywhere around
here.”

Grandpa tried
to stand up and then fell back onto the rock as Don rose up and
began to yell at the guys.

“That’s
impossible. He always keeps it here. Go look again.”

I squatted
beside Grandpa and gently rubbed his good leg.

“It’s not here,
Grandpa. There is no boat and now we’re going to have to head back
the way we came after all.”

Just the
thought of having to drag Grandpa and Don back through the dry
grass in this heat on an empty stomach made we want to cry. Don
broke my train of thought as he stood up and began to yell
again.

“My hands hurt
so much I can’t stand it.”

I knew that he
was in pain, but when I looked at Grandpa my insides really ached.
Blood and infection was seeping through the bandage and I knew that
his leg needed immediate attention.

“We’re going to
have to head back right away. Look at his leg. It’s going to take
us the rest of the day. Brad, I’m really sorry that Meg and I are
putting you and Ali through this.”

Ali put his arm
around Meagan and said that the important issue was to get the
older men home and to a doctor, and we agreed. I was fighting the
tears and Brad must have noticed because he came and put his arm
around me and whispered.

“It’s okay.
We’ll get your grandfather home as fast as we can. I promise.”

There was a
reassurance in his voice and I was really glad that he was with us.
I don’t know what Meagan and I would have done without them so far
and I knew we needed them even more now.

We got ready to
head back onto the trail when icy chills shot up my back and I
couldn’t move. Meagan leaned in and whispered to me.

“Sarah, you
okay?”

“I don’t know.
Something is wrong. Something isn’t right, Meg, and we should have
gone back the way we wanted to go and not come this way.”

I looked back
down the path in agony as I imagined how difficult it was going to
be leading two injured and elderly men in this heat wave. My eyes
caught a glimpse of the sky, and that’s when my heart thumped
against my ribcage as a hovering fear fell over me.

We stood gaping
at the sky that was partially covered with dark grey clouds and as
my legs turned to rubber as chills of fear shot up and down my
spine.

Smoke!

Brad and Ali
darted back down towards the water to see if they could get a
better view of the smoke that was hovering in the distant sky.
Meanwhile, Meagan and I tried to search through the umbrella of
tall trees that was spread out all around us but it was almost
impossible to see anything. At least the smoke wasn’t right over
us.

“I don’t smell
smoke or anything, do you, Meg?”

“No, it’s not
close enough to smell. It’s way over there somewhere. I just hope
it’s not someone’s home that’s on fire.”

“Yeah, me too.
And I’m glad it’s not in the part of the forest where we’re going,
either.”

Grandpa had
been sitting on the rock staring down at his wounded leg. He took a
deep breath as he propped himself up so he could hobble towards the
bank of the inlet. The sun was blazing down so he put his hand over
his eyes and gazed into the sky and then across the water.

“There aren’t
any homes in that direction, girls, just forest. Any homes around
here are on the far side of the lake over where we live.”

Meagan and I
both sighed in relief when he said that. I knew that the smoke
cloud was too big to be from a normal campfire but my insides began
to shake when I thought about it.

“So it’s a
forest fire, isn’t it? This forest is on fire, is that what you’re
saying, Grandpa?”

“That’s what it
looks like. It might be way over there now, but if the wind shifts,
I don’t know….”

Hearing Grandpa
confirm that the forest was on fire made my insides shake even
more, and within seconds I was coated in a sweat just from fear of
the unknown. He rubbed his beard and shook his head. His
countenance was rent with worry that was outlined in fear.

I swallowed
hard and felt my heart thump heavily inside my chest. That’s when
Brad and Ali ran back to us with Ali shouting almost in a
panic.

“We have to
move now. Brad and I went down as far as we could go and it looks
like the fire is in this forest way behind us. It’s quite a ways
back there but with it being this dry it won’t take long for it to
get here.”

I looked at
Grandpa and grabbed his arm.

“Grandpa, are
you okay? Are you going to be able to walk?”

He looked up at
the sky and licked his finger.

“Kind of have
to, don’t I? There’s no wind now so that’s in our favour, but if
there does come a wind and it shifts, it’ll be here in
minutes.”

Goose bumps
rolled down my arms as I grabbed the back pack and flung it over my
shoulders. Brad grabbed the other bag as Meagan and Ali helped
Grandpa to his feet. I motioned for Don to come but he sat on the
rock and totally ignored us.

“Don, come on.
We have to get going.”

He looked at me
dryly and then huffed.

“There’s no
point. It’s going to be here in a couple of hours and there’s no
way we’re going to get out of this alive. I was caught in a forest
fire back in the fifties. I was young and healthy and I barely
escaped it then. What chance do I have now?”

I felt the
knots tighten in my stomach as I moved quickly to Don and took hold
of his good arm to pull him to his feet.

“We can’t just
give up. The fire is way over there. We can make it to the bridge
and over to the other side and get out of its path if we move now.
But we have to move now, Don. Come on!”

Grandpa turned
to Don and growled at him.

“Quit being
such a stubborn old fool for once. These kids are trying to help us
- and at least you can walk.”

Don bellowed
back and his shout rattled inside my ears.

“There’s no
point. We can’t outrun it. Look at the smoke, Luke. It’s covering
all the sky over there. You know as well as I do that it’s already
a mighty blaze. Why make these kids think there’s a chance to
outrun it. Who’s being the old fool now?”

I could feel my
legs getting rubbery and my hands were already shaking from the
nervous vibration going on inside me. Brad and I spent the next
several minutes trying to convince Don that we should get going,
and just as my patience was beginning to wear thin, he gave in and
we were able to pull him to his feet. He criticized us and said we
were typical teenagers who knew it all, and where Brad just rolled
his eyes and smirked, I could feel the rage of intimidation rising
inside me.

We headed out
slowly and Don complained constantly about his hands, but at this
point I didn’t care what he whined about just as long as he walked
quickly while he was doing it.

We climbed back
up onto the dry path that ran closely alongside the open terrain
but the air seemed even hotter and drier than it did earlier. The
dead grass scratched my sweaty legs constantly and they began to
sting and itch even more than before.

After about ten
minutes we had to rest because Grandpa’s leg was hurting him too
much for him to carry on. We rested in the shade under the spread
of a burly oak tree for a few minutes, and as the guys discussed
forest fires with Grandpa, Meagan and I sat off to one side and
exchanged our fears. We didn’t want the others to know just how
afraid we really were but it wasn’t easy to hide. Grandpa looked
over and smiled at us with that reassuring grin that told us
everything would be all right.

“Girls, it’s
okay to be scared. There’s a lot here to be scared of. I wish that
darn boat had been there because now I’m thinking that it would
have us home already. And to be honest, I’m not sure how far I can
go on this leg.”

Grandpa leaned
forward and gently rubbed the bandages that covered his wound.
Blood and water was seeping through and I knew the infection was
getting worse. My own legs were aching on the inside and stinging
on the outside and I just wanted to wash them and take all the pain
away. But all I could do was sit down beside Grandpa and message my
legs gently, as well. While Meagan stood up beside Brad and Ali and
gazed up into the distant grey clouds with them, Don sat alone
against the tree and became very docile.

The forest was
quiet and almost eerie and I remembered the animals.

“Well, I guess
we know now why all the animals were so scared.”

Meagan turned
to us and looked really worried.

“Grandpa, does
that mean then that the fire is really close to us or were the
animals just running in a panic from the far side until they
cleared the entire forest?”

Grandpa looked
up through his thick eyebrows.

“When animals
get scared they run until they feel safe. And funny enough, animals
seem to know more about fires than we do, so I think they know it’s
headed this way and they were running to get right out of it.”

We rested for a
few more minutes and then Ali asked if we were ready to move on. I
was more than ready and if we didn’t have to keep stopping for
Grandpa, I’m sure we would have already been well on our way. Brad
bent down to help Grandpa to his feet.

“Mr. Davies, we
just have to…..”

Grandpa grunted
as he snickered and held onto Brad’s arm.

“Ah, don’t call
me that, that’s for strangers. You can call me Grandpa just like
the girls.”

Grandpa had
such a gentle way of bringing peace into a tense situation and
that’s why anyone who ever met him couldn’t help but love him.

“Okay, Grandpa,
we just have to get away from this inlet and back to the main trail
that’ll take us to the bridge, and then once we get across it Ali
and I will run ahead and you guys can rest safely until we get back
with help.”

I was glad that
the guys were keeping an outward positive attitude and I didn’t
want to know what they really thought. But I knew that we had to
keep talking with hope to keep up our own stability.

“That’s right,
Grandpa. The forest turns away with the river at the bridge so even
if it does get there, it won’t get to the other side, if it even
gets there at all.”

Grandpa tapped
my hand gently and then looked up gravely up at the sky.

“Oh, it’ll get
there, Sarah. There’s no doubt about that. It’ll get there.”

His words sent
spikes of fear across the nape of my neck and all I could do was
keep rubbing my legs while trying to stay calm. My hands were
clammy and I was shaking inside. I didn’t know anything about
forest fires except what I’d seen on the television news, but I
knew that I didn’t want to get caught in one. And I knew that we
were all going to have to keep talking positive if we were ever
going to make it safely to the bridge.

Meagan
sauntered over to me and kicked my boot.

“We better get
going. Grandpa, I know it hurts but you’re strong and you need to
get home to Nana. We’ll try to support you as much as possible, but
we really should get going.”

Meagan and Ali
moved in to either side of Grandpa and wrapped his arms around
their shoulders. They began slowly and then headed onto the path.
Brad and I spent the next couple of minutes trying to get Don to
stand up, and then finally he yelled out a few choice words at us
and then started following the others at turtle speed. I knew this
was going to be a challenge so Brad and I walked on either side of
him and grabbed hold of his arms to hurry him along.

The trek was
difficult and my legs were aching because it was an uphill and
rocky path and we had to practically carry Don. His hands and his
one arm were hurting him and although the fire was so far away, he
kept saying that we weren’t going to make it.

“There’s no
point in rushing. That idiot took his boat and the fire will be
here soon. We’re not going to make it anyway.”

Brad was
irritated with Don’s attitude and forced him to walk even
faster.

“Yeah, well I
don’t give up that easy and it’s not here yet, so would you please
stop talking like we’re dead already?”

We rested again
about fifteen or twenty minutes later and as much as I knew we had
to for Grandpa’s sake, we hadn’t really gone very far and it
bothered me that this was going to take forever just to get to the
bridge. We went through the same routine a few more times as we
took turns supporting Grandpa. At each rest Grandpa appeared more
tired and sickly, and Don whined louder about how we weren’t going
to make it.