Chapter 8

Charlie used a bandanna to wipe the sweat from his face. Beside him, Houston uncapped a water, drank half of it, and then poured the other half over his face and head. A couple of the guys soaked their bandannas and tied them around their necks. Sanchez had doused herself a while back, but her hair looked like it had nearly dried again since then.

Charlie picked up the chain saw and cut off a couple thicker branches that leaned out over the line. Anything they could do to widen the strip between the fire and all this dry vegetation waiting to go up in flames meant they kept fighting the good fight.

But Charlie wasn’t interested in metaphors for life, even if firefighting had provided him with many over the years.

He shut off the chain saw and turned it so Hammer could grab it from him.

“Thanks.” The big guy jogged away with it.

At the far end of the row of hotshots all working on their section, Orion looked to be deep in conversation with Conner Young, their boss.

Charlie headed over in time to hear Conner say, “Any hint this thing is going sideways, and you hightail it back to the camp. Okay? I’m sure Charlie will go with you.” Conner waved at him.

“You’re worried?” They all were…all the time. But this one was personal. He clapped the kid on his shoulder. “We’ll make sure they’re safe.”

Orion brushed off his hand. “We’re not normally this close to camp. That’s all.”

“The wind?” Charlie asked.

Conner looked up at the trees. “I noticed it as well.”

“Do you have an updated weather report?” Maybe Conner had information that would help Orion settle. He didn’t like the idea that the kid was worried. Charlie was worried as well, about everyone at camp and the destruction that could occur there.

Only, now that he knew Orion was his son, he had that extra layer on top—being worried about Orion as well.

The whole thing was more exhausting than failing kidneys.

“There’s another fire to the north, and if this one joins that, it could spell something bad for all of us,” Conner said. “We need to get this line dug and then walk the north edge of the fire.”

“We’re done.” Hammer strode up. “The boys and I will head along the north edge, do some scouting.”

Conner nodded. “I want regular reports.”

“Yes, sir.” Hammer jogged away to Kane, Saxon, and Mack. They almost seemed like they were operating some kind of protective detail over Sanchez. Then other times, they left her and went off to do their own thing.

Charlie said, “I’ll get back to digging in.” He wanted Orion to go with him, but the kid chose the far end of the line. Charlie had Houston right beside him again. “Any advice on what I do with that?”

“It’s been a lot.” Houston grabbed a spare shovel and started getting loose dirt on the flames closest to them, suffocating the smoldering brush so it died out. “Is it any wonder he needs some time to process?”

Charlie dug beside his friend. “What if we don’t have that much time?”

“It has been a busy season so far. But what do I know about what ‘normal’ is for wildland firefighting, or firefighting at all?” Houston grinned. “I’m a pastor.”

“Turns out you’re good at both things.” Charlie tossed another shovelful of dirt.

“You and Orion…same thing. You don’t know what normal is going to look like. All you have is this first glimpse of what your father-and-son thing is going to be like. You’ve hit the ground running in the middle of a crisis, with no idea what normal is.”

“Survival mode.”

“Kind of.” Houston nodded. “If you live in crisis, you can’t understand normal. Your body gets accustomed to the stress, and then when it’s time to rest or even calm yourself, your systems don’t know how to ratchet things back down.”

“Reminds me of my grandpa, and my dad.”

“Veterans, weren’t they?”

Charlie nodded. “Grandpa was in World War II. My dad served in Vietnam. They both had this tension…it was unreal. They could react so fast it was like they flinched before the thing startled them. They both had issues acclimating to civilian life. They just dealt with it in different ways. Grandpa went to church. Dad spent every night at the bar.”

“It’s tough when you don’t have a good legacy to draw from.” Houston rolled his shoulders. “All we can do is ask God for wisdom, which it turns out is more than enough of what we need. God knows you don’t have any idea how to help Orion or even connect with him. He knows what the fire will do today. He knows how things will turn out. He knows .”

Charlie kicked the shovel deep with his boot. He hadn’t even thought about God knowing everything about his medical situation and his plan, plus how it would all turn out at the end of the summer.

There was comfort in the fact He saw it all—past, present, and future.

Grandpa said You had the whole world in Your hands .

Charlie had believed that as a kid, but it seemed like in becoming an adult and realizing he was more like his father than anyone else, he’d lost his grip on faith. He’d barely tried to fight against the steady drift away from what he’d been taught at church.

After Grandpa died, the day before he turned thirteen, he’d figured… What was the point? Charlie had proved his dad right and managed to disappoint him at the same time he got his attention off the bar for a while.

So what if it got him a juvie record in the process?

Fire camp had been his dad’s last-ditch effort to get him on some kind of straight and narrow—or just get rid of him for the summer.

It turned out Charlie loved firefighting. It got under his skin and drove him in a way nothing else had. He’d lived and breathed being a first responder for years—for himself and for the people he wanted to be proud of him.

For his grandpa.

* * *

Jayne headed back to the main house, watching the smoke on the horizon. Closer than it had been when she’d left to walk a few kids down to the propane truck. The fire was closing in. The propane truck was still overturned, blocking the road. Three of the kids’ parents had opted to drive as far as they could and pick up their kids to take them home until the danger to the camp passed.

The rest of the kids either wanted to stay, or their parents didn’t care what they did or were unavailable on vacation or whatever. Aria’s parents were out of contact. Tiger’s and the Masterson twins’ parents knew that being smart kept you safe in a dangerous situation. They were making their way here, but it would take a day or two.

Alexis didn’t need to be alone in a motel in Ember.

All of them wanted to help fight the fire and keep the camp safe anyway. This was what she’d been teaching them all summer.

Right now she had them eating lunch while she took the others to meet their folks. After the breakfast they’d had, she wasn’t all that hungry, but she grabbed a water bottle and went to check her messages in the office. Bridget had a training video for them to watch this afternoon followed by study time for an assessment that got them through this fortnight of their training.

Jayne watched them joking with each other over sandwiches, looking for those nuances that revealed that a person felt left out or had their feelings hurt. She worked hard to get them to function as a team. Out working a fire, they’d have to rely on each other to watch their backs. That would play in if they went on to be wildland firefighters or in whatever career they chose.

Tiger sat on the end of one of the long tables, hammering away on a guitar, singing a terribly off-key tune that seemed to just be the line “Take a chance on me” over and over again. Meanwhile, one of the girls by Alexis flushed pink.

Jayne chuckled to herself over the kid and his heartbreaker antics as she wandered down to her office to check her messages. Hopefully the sheriff had called her back. She knew he had his hands full, but there had been a gunman up here earlier in the day. The kids had played it off as a hunter or someone that’d run off as fast as they’d come, but she saw the fear in some of their eyes—mostly the ones who headed home.

A dark-haired man stood in her office, peering out the window.

“Can I?—”

He turned.

“Roger.” So many questions rolled through her mind. “Did you hear the gunshots earlier?”

He eased away from the window, holding his arm close to his side.

She frowned. “What’s going on?”

The guy was late thirties, but she got a brother vibe from him. Maybe just because he seemed respectful. Of her time and her personal space.

He had dark hair, hazel eyes, and a bump on his nose. He’d shaved since she saw him last, and it had grown back so that the lower half of his face was covered with stubble. A good guy, but with a dark side—a dangerous edge she hadn’t seen but could very well imagine.

“Why don’t you sit?”

He eased into her chair with a groan.

“What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter. I got away.”

She didn’t see any blood, but he might’ve bandaged whatever it was. “Do you need medical attention? I have staff who know what they’re doing, and a few of my kids have some emergency medical training.”

He shook his head. “I wrapped it.”

“What’s going on, Roger?”

He winced. “That was a fake ID. Can you do me a favor and not tell the sheriff that I’m hanging around up here?”

“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that when lying to him could put the kids in danger.” They were already in enough danger with the threat of the fire. But then, it could turn and head away from them just as easily as it came near.

There was often little margin between salvation and destruction.

Until the aftermath.

“I guess that’s fair.”

Why had he come here? “If that was you this morning, who was the other guy?”

“His name is Earl. He’s a very dangerous man. If you see him, run.”

“Is he gone?” Please tell me he’s far from here now. She needed a copy of that picture Charlie had shown her so she’d know who to avoid—and be able to give the kids the same instructions.

Thankfully they’d all be inside this afternoon. She would worry if they were out in the woods working the fire until they all knew for sure that this Earl guy was gone.

Roger shook his head. “I lost him. That’s when I fell. He’s probably doubled back by now, still searching for me.”

“So in order to be safe, you hide here with innocent people?”

“Another fair point. Sorry I’m putting you all in danger, but in my defense, I don’t plan on being here much longer.”

As if him leaving made anything better. She had to fight the need to draw in people who needed protection. Instead, it was up to Roger—or whatever his real name was—to take care of himself. “Don’t get caught in the fire on your way out. Take the road back to town. Go see the sheriff.”

He winced. “That’s how you all got stuck here, because that truck exploded.”

“The land mines were because of you?” A man had died.

“I came to say thanks for everything.”

Jayne frowned.

“You’ve been amazing. You gave me a place to stay when I desperately needed it, but you’re right. For the same reason I didn’t stay with my family. I didn’t want to put them in danger. I don’t want to do that with these kids either.”

“I appreciate that.” She wanted to know what she could do to help him, though. “Do you need an ATV?”

He smiled. “In a rush to see me gone?”

“Seems like it would be easier to dodge bullets if you’re moving faster.”

He chuckled, groaned, and chuckled some more. “I have a friend who used to say the same thing. Told the craziest stories. You never believed they were true. Now it’s like my whole life is a crazy story.” He eased up out of the chair. “Thank you, Jayne. For everything.”

She wasn’t sure she’d done all that much. “You’re welcome.” Not wanting to leave it like this, she said, “Is there anything I can do?”

He stopped at the door. “Just keep these kids safe.”

“I plan on it. Take care.”

Commotion erupted in the dining hall. She went to see what it was and didn’t spot Roger in either direction.

He must’ve ducked out the side exit, drawing a dangerous man away from camp.

Be that as it may, she was still going to tell the sheriff that Earl guy was up here, near her kids.

The police weren’t going to tromp through a wildfire to find a dangerous man, but they could at least check that her place was safe.

Jayne said, “What is it?”

Alexis turned back, already at the door. The rest of the kids were on the porch. “Smokejumpers!”

She went and gathered with them on the gravel in front of the main house, watching the plane circle. Every couple of seconds, a body left the plane, falling through the sky before the parachute caught them and they started to descend more slowly.

Eight in total.

Her heart lodged in her throat every time. “And Orion wants to do that.”

One of the twins, Samuel, turned. “Of course! It’s epic.”

Jayne grinned. “I suppose it is.” If you weren’t a mother watching your son fall out of a plane on purpose.

Alexis eyed her. “He wants to save lives. And smokejumpers are, like, the elite of wildland firefighters.”

The implication being that was the man Jayne had raised. She pulled Alexis to her side, hugging the girl. Something she normally wouldn’t do with a camper—but this was her son’s half-sister, and the girl was without a mother.

“See.” Alexis waved up at the smokejumpers. “They all made it out fine.”

Tiger said, “It’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the part where you hit the ground.”

Jayne gaped.

Alexis busted out laughing.

The Masterson twins both whacked Tiger on the back of the head. “Bro. Not cool.”

Jayne said, “All right. Once they’re out of sight, everyone get back inside. We have class.”

They filed by her into the building. Jayne hung around a little longer, watching the smoke cloud. The windsock on top of her cabin blew straight out, but the tip dropped at the end. So about fifteen mph wind speed.

Driving the wildfire right to their doorstep.

But with the threat of a dangerous man in the area, she wasn’t sure which to worry about more.