by April Henry
The ends of Jason’s collarbone had been put back together, and his arm had been put in a sling. By the time Natalia left, officers from three different agencies were interviewing him.
Just before her parents picked her up, the emergency department doctor, a guy about her parents’ age, sought her out.
“Everyone keeps telling me about how you took care of some big medical emergencies out there in the woods,” he said. “This is what I do for a living, but I’ve got staff and supplies and even machines. You had nothing but a little first aid kit.”
Natalia shrugged, embarrassed. “We all worked together. Once we knew no one was coming to rescue us, we realized we were the only ones who could save us.”
It turned out their group hadn’t been the only hikers trapped in the woods that day. To get people out, first responders had been forced to rely on sketchy information and a lot of unknowns. Everything had been on the move: dozens of stranded hikers, their would-be rescuers, and the fire itself. Some groups on other trails had also self-rescued, but unlike their group, they hadn’t been trapped overnight. Forest Service rangers who happened to be nearby had walked two different groups of hikers out. And the Oregon National Guard had plucked three hikers off nearby Ransom Ridge with a Chinook helicopter.
Through some miracle, not one person died in the fire that day or the ones following. It took three months to be fully extinguished. By then, it had destroyed forty-eight thousand acres of wilderness and forced the evacuation of a dozen small towns. Interstate 84, which ran east to west, had been closed for weeks. Even now, a year after the fire, a lot of businesses along the corridor were still feeling the effects of months without income.
But it could have been so much worse. People had survived, structures had mostly survived, whole towns had survived. If the wind had pushed the fire west, it could have threatened Portland. As it was, the city had spent several months covered with a dusting of windblown ash. People had worn masks to exercise or even just go outside.
In addition to being charged with the museum’s robbery, Jason was also facing eight counts of reckless burning, one count of criminal mischief, and one count of reckless endangerment of others.
“I can’t believe he’s pleading not guilty,” Darryl said now.
Lisa replied like the lawyer it turned out she was. “It’s pretty standard. If he’s smart, he’ll take a plea deal and not let it go to trial. Even if jurors say they’re impartial, it’s going to be hard to find twelve people who weren’t affected in some way by the fire.”
“Enough about Jason.” Beatriz leaned forward. “I want to know how all you guys are doing. Like does Trask remember anything?”
They all turned to look at Trask. Farther down the shore, the two-year-old was throwing a stick for Blue with great enthusiasm and terrible aim and distance. Each time it landed only about five feet away. And each time Blue happily retrieved it and dropped it for Trask to throw again.
“He’s never had a single nightmare.” Lisa gave them a lopsided smile. “I can’t say the same for us. But we’re a lot better now.”
Ryan held out his hands and flexed his fingers. “My burns have healed. Now I’m just working on range of motion.”
“How about you guys, Beatriz?” Lisa asked.
Beatriz held out her own left hand. Her nails were silver and sparkly. And on the ring finger was a plain gold band topped with a tiny diamond. Marco grinned and put his arm around her.
“You’re engaged!” Natalia exclaimed.
“Congratulations, you two!” Lisa said. “I think this calls for another toast.”
“Zion, can you fill up everyone’s cups?” Darryl asked. As his grandson picked up the bottle, he said, “And Zion and I are both doing well. We’ve got EpiPens stashed everyplace, and now I always carry a few packets of sugar. Just in case.”
Zion spoke up. “Before we came here, we went to REI and got the ten essentials.” He shot a shy, sidelong glance at Wyatt. “And I’m going to join Boy Scouts next year. I know their motto is ‘Be Prepared.’ Like you were.”
Wyatt held out his hand so Zion could give him a high five, which he did with a grin.
“How about you, Wyatt? How did college go this year?” Darryl asked.
“I like engineering, but I’m still trying to figure out what kind of engineer I want to be.”
“You should think about bridges,” Darryl suggested. “You did pretty well with the bridge we had to cross.”
Ryan looked over at Natalia. “And what about you?”
“I just got certified in wilderness medicine.” The first day, they had gone around the room to say why they were taking the class. One person had sea kayaked. Another free rock climbed, which meant they did it with no ropes. Natalia had simply said she liked to hike, but then the rock climber looked at her more closely and said, “Aren’t you one of the Basin Falls Twelve?” But hardly anyone had recognized her lately. Her fifteen minutes of fame had been up a long time ago.
The course instructors had done their best to make it feel real, including putting special makeup on people so they appeared to be bruised, bleeding, or badly infected. When faced with someone pretending to be screaming in pain, some of Natalia’s classmates had panicked and forgotten everything they had just learned. For her, it had been a cakewalk.
Beatriz leaned forward. “Still planning on going into medicine?”
“First I have to get my undergrad degree. I’m going to major in biology.”
“Where are you going?” Ryan asked.
“Uh, Columbia University.” It still felt a little fantastic. “Part of the application is writing an essay. You can guess what I wrote about.” After talking to Dr. Paris, Natalia had even included Conner’s death.
Beatriz’s eyes widened. “Columbia! We need another toast. Can you top us up, Zion?” She turned to Wyatt. “Are you going to go see Natalia when she’s in the Big Apple?”
She was obviously trying to play matchmaker. But they were way ahead of her.
“Of course.” As he spoke, Wyatt brushed his fingers against the top of Natalia’s hand. When he was at school, they texted nearly every day. And when he was home, they spent most of their time together. This summer, they were both back at work at the Dairy Barn, where they occasionally snuck a kiss in the walk-in cooler.
“It sounds like we’ve got plenty to celebrate,” Lisa said. “There were so many times a year ago when I would have said none of us was going to make it out.”
Natalia said, “The one thing that makes me feel sad is how different everything is. On the drive out here, I was looking across the Columbia River into Washington. It makes it obvious how much we’ve lost.” Before, the two sides of the river had been like mirrors of each other. Now instead of trees, the ridgeline on the Oregon side was topped with a long line of blackened, leafless trunks, like the bars of a cage.
Wyatt put his arm around her shoulders. “The Gorge is already starting over. She’ll come back.”
Natalia bit her lip. “But it won’t be the same.”
“Nothing ever is,” he said simply. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t be just as good.”
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
This book was inspired by the Eagle Creek Fire, which decimated the Columbia Gorge in 2017. A single person’s careless actions endangered many lives and burned fifty thousand acres. Among those affected by the fire were a variety of people who had taken a short hike to a waterfall. Trapped by the fire, the group had to flee for their lives.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
So many people helped me pull this book together. Any errors are my own.
Lee Etten, a fire captain and paramedic, Portland Fire & Rescue, explained how house fires behave.
Joe Collins, a firefighter and paramedic, helped me figure out the best way to torch a car—and how to make that fire spread.
Jake Keller, a volunteer with Multnomah County Search and Rescue, helped me brainstorm worst-case scenarios.
To help me
write this book, I became certified in wilderness medicine through NOLS (which began life as the National Outdoor Leadership School). One of my instructors was Paul Dreyer, CEO of Avid4 Adventure (avid4.com), which introduces kids to the wonders of the outdoors. For months after the course ended, Paul answered a million and one questions about how to deal with various first aid emergencies in the wilderness.
Craig Aronson II, RN, helped me understand what would happen to a diabetic who hiked for hours and did not eat.
Ginny Gustin, president of Austin Babywearing, answered a bunch of bizarre questions from a stranger about how to carry a toddler in various dangerous scenarios.
Garrett Gustafson, a senior structural engineer for MaineDOT’s Bridge Program, explained how bridges work and told me all the correct names for bridge parts.
Sheri Burns, honeybeesonline.com, answered my questions about wild bees nesting in trees.
Marco Carocari, a photographer and writer, bid in a fundraising auction to have his name used in this book. He even sent me pictures of himself when he was the same age as the fictional Marco.
Even I find it hard to believe, but this is my twenty-fifth book with my agent, Wendy Schmalz.
My editor, Christy Ottaviano, helped me ramp up the book’s tension. Associate editor Jessica Anderson has a sharp eye and keeps us all organized. Publicist Morgan Rath has helped me survive planes, trains, and automobiles. Mike Burroughs designed the amazing cover. Other wonderful folks at Henry Holt include Nancee Adams, Melissa Croce, Lucy Del Priore, Molly Ellis, Alexei Esikoff, Erica Ferguson, Katie Halata, and Allison Verost.
HONORS FOR APRIL HENRY
Edgar Award Finalist
Anthony Award Winner
ALA Best Books for Young Adults
ALA Quick Picks for Young Adults
Barnes & Noble Top Teen Pick
Winner of the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award
Missouri Truman Readers Award Selection
TLA TAYSHAS Selection
New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award Winner
Oregon Council of Teachers of English Spirit Book Award Winner
One Book for Nebraska Teens
Golden Sower Honor Book
YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
OTHER MYSTERIES BY APRIL HENRY
Girl, Stolen
The Night She Disappeared
The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die
The Girl I Used to Be
Count All Her Bones
The Lonely Dead
Run, Hide, Fight Back
The Girl in the White Van
THE POINT LAST SEEN SERIES
The Body in the Woods
Blood Will Tell
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
April Henry is the New York Times–bestselling author of many acclaimed mysteries for adults and young adults, including the YA novels Girl, Stolen; The Night She Disappeared; The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die; The Girl I Used to Be, which was nominated for an Edgar Award and won the Anthony Award for Best YA Mystery; Count All Her Bones; The Lonely Dead; Run, Hide, Fight Back; The Girl in the White Van; and The Body in the Woods and Blood Will Tell, the first two books in the Point Last Seen series. She lives in Oregon. For more information visit aprilhenry.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1: Blanket of Fire
Chapter 2: Ribbon of Scar
Chapter 3: True But Not the Truth
Chapter 4: Extreme Danger
Chapter 5: Blackened Lace
Chapter 6: What If It Was You?
Chapter 7: Orange Twilight
Chapter 8: Disco Boots
Chapter 9: Five Things You Can See
Chapter 10: What Can Happen in Ten Minutes?
Chapter 11: The Color of Blood
Chapter 12: Whatever Does Kill You
Chapter 13: A Flash of Silver
Chapter 14: Every Breath
Chapter 15: Nothing But Darkness
Chapter 16: Suffocating
Chapter 17: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan
Chapter 18: Naked and Afraid
Chapter 19: In Her Bones
Chapter 20: Is This Too Close?
Chapter 21: Try Not to Think About It
Chapter 22: Don’t Play Dead
Chapter 23: Like a Zombie
Chapter 24: Blue to the Sky
Chapter 25: Pure Terror
Chapter 26: Not Nearly Enough
Chapter 27: Crashing Down
Chapter 28: Everyone Else is Dead
Chapter 29: Scars Now Made Visible
Chapter 30: Suck You Under
Chapter 31: Stop His Heart
Chapter 32: Not the Monster
Chapter 33: Just Scared
Chapter 34: Vigilantes
Chapter 35: The Bitterness of Fear
Chapter 36: Into the Empty Air
Chapter 37: Her Fate
Chapter 38: Starting Over
A Note From the Author
Acknowledgments
Other Mysteries by April Henry
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 by April Henry
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
120 Broadway, New York, New York 10271
fiercereads.com
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Henry, April, author.
Title: Playing with fire / April Henry.
Description: First edition. | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2021. | Christy Ottaviano books. | Audience: Ages 12–18. | Audience: Grades 7–9. | Summary: “When a fire engulfs an Oregon forest, a group of trapped hikers must find another way out”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020020572 | ISBN 9781250234063 (hardcover)
Subjects: CYAC: Survival—Fiction. | Forest fires—Fiction. | Wilderness areas—Fiction. | Hiking—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.H39356 Pl 2021 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020020572
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First hardcover edition 2021
ebook edition 2021
eISBN 9781250234070
