by Linda Warren
Kelsey didn’t say anything. Walt backed the truck into a bar ditch and turned around. They headed home, somber and quiet. Kelsey kept looking back at the smoke.
* * *
ABBY RAN TO Ethan’s side and stared at the sky in horror. A fire! Flames leaped ferociously over the treetops. Clouds of dark smoke billowed straight toward them. The wind kept whipping it closer and closer. The stench of burning grew stronger. There was no way to outrun it. “Ethan, what do we do?”
“We have to find some sort of shelter.” He looked around and they both knew the fire would devour anywhere they could hide. Her heart drummed in her ears and fear snaked up her spine in vivid clarity. This time they would not survive.
Ethan grabbed her hand. “We have to get back to the water. Do exactly as I tell you. Run.”
She didn’t plan on doing anything else.
They ran until they could barely breathe. Ethan fell down by the puddle. “Start digging with your hands as fast as you can. We have to make a hole big enough to lie in.”
She dug on one side, he on the other. Her arms grew tired, but she kept slinging mud until they had an indentation big enough for both of them. She had mud up to her shoulders and all over her.
Once Ethan was satisfied with the depth and length, he said, “Remove your panties. Nylon will melt to your skin. Your slacks and top are cotton, right?”
“Yes.”
“And remove your shoes.”
She kicked off her shoes and jerked off her slacks. Her hands and body were wet and muddy, but she managed. Ethan removed his underwear because of the elastic. His shoes he threw into the woods.
With their clothes back on, Ethan pulled her into the trough. “Lie facedown.”
She did as instructed and Ethan began to cover her with the mud. He smeared it on her face and hair until not a spot of her skin was showing. Ethan then lay beside her and pulled more mud around them. He shifted covering most of her body with his. She knew what he was doing. That way he would take the brunt of the fire.
“Ethan.”
“Shh.” He rested his face in the curve of her neck. “Keep your face down. Breathe only when you have to.”
The burning scent became intense and then the roaring, cracking, popping and hissing followed. The fire was seconds away. Waves of unimaginable heat rolled toward them. She thought of Chloe and bit back a sob.
“Ethan.”
“Shh.”
If they were going to die, there was something she had to tell him. “Ethan, I love you.”
His arm tightened around her and they seem to sink farther into the mud. It wasn’t important that he answer her. She knew he wouldn’t. It was just important that she say the words she might never get to say again.
The roar of the fire drowned out her thoughts and then the smoke blanketed them as flames leaped around them with searing, scorching heat. Pain stung her shoulder, her neck. Smoke filled her lungs and she fought to breathe. Fire and brimstone rained around them and a hell like she’d never known devoured them. She gasped, fighting for air, and then everything went black.
* * *
ETHAN FLOATED IN and out of consciousness. His legs and back burned and smoke filled his lungs. He couldn’t breathe and he fought to stay awake. He wasn’t sure how long the fire raged. It felt like hours, but it could have been minutes. Then he realized the roar, hissing and cracking had stopped. And the intense heat had passed. The smoke, ash and soot lingered, coating them.
He lifted his head. “Abby.”
She didn’t respond. Her body was so still.
“No! Abby!” He pulled her face from the mud. She wasn’t breathing. “No!” His hand shook as he wiped mud from her nose and mouth and then he placed his mouth over them and blew air into her lungs. “C’mon, Abby.”
She sputtered and coughed. Soon she lifted her mud-coated lashes and looked at him with her gorgeous baby blues. He’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
“E...”
“I’m right here.”
“Are we dead?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? This feels like hell.”
He hoped this was as close as either of them would ever get. “Let’s get you out of the mud.” He raked away clumps with his hands and helped her to sit up. They sat there looking at the total devastation around them.
The monster fire had burned everything. The trees were tall black charred sticks, smoldering and smoking. Ash and soot continued to rain around them. The ground was black as coal, and hot. Sparks glowed from the bigger trees and the wind circulated the smoke.
“Oh, my God!” Abby cried.
“Shh.” He gently rocked her. “As soon as the ground cools we have to walk out of here.”
“We don’t have shoes,” she pointed out. “It will be like walking on ashes.”
“We’ll wait until it cools. The wind will help with that.”
She coughed and couldn’t seem to stop. He had a smoke taste in his mouth he couldn’t shake. His back and legs burned, but he had to stay focused to get them to safety.
“Firefighters will be coming in and they’ll find us. We had to get out of the mud so they can see us.”
“I don’t have any strength left, Ethan. I can’t move.”
“Rest while the ground cools.”
She laid her head on his chest and he prayed for strength. After some time, he noticed the ground had stopped smoking. He eased away from her. “I’ll check it out.” He stood and the horrible scene swayed. He felt as if he was standing on quicksand, but he quickly regained his balance and tested the ground. It wasn’t as hot as he’d thought it would be and there were patches of dried dirt untouched by the fire. They could make it out of here.
He went back to Abby. “Let’s go. We can make it.”
She had a coughing fit and he gave her time. “I—I can’t.”
“By now Chloe’s missing her mommy.” He hated to do that, but she needed incentive.
Tears rolled from her eyes down her muddy cheeks. His heart took a hit. “Hey, remember what I told you about crying? You haven’t cried during this whole ordeal and now isn’t the time to start.”
“My baby,” she moaned.
“I know. C’mon, I’ll help you up.” With his arm around her waist, he lifted her out of the mud. She staggered, but he held on. “Take a step.” Holding on to each other they started to walk.
They made it to the clearing and there were no rescuers in sight. Where in the hell was everyone? Had the whole world forgotten them?
They kept walking. The smoke was heavy at times and breathing even more difficult. Abby continued to cough, as did he. Suddenly, she went limp and he swung her into his arms and kept walking. His legs cramped, his back burned but he took long strides willing his body to keep going. He had to keep going. He stumbled, but he caught himself in time. Then he heard a chopper. Voices. Shouting. Rescuers? Or was it his imagination?
The sounds grew louder. Help had arrived. He sank to his knees and then fell to the ground, still holding on to Abby.
Finally, she could go home to her family.
And so could he.
But their lives would never be the same again.
CHAPTER TEN
TO PASS TIME, Walt, Henry and Kelsey played dominoes at the kitchen table. He and Henry started and then Kelsey wanted to play. Walt didn’t see any harm in that. They weren’t at the Rusty Spur where they played with murder in their eyes and beer on their breath. The game was for fun and to keep their minds on something else besides the fire and Ethan’s dire situation.
Kelsey slapped her last domino on the table. “Domino. I win. Yay!”
“Shazam,” Walt said.
“Shih Tzu!” Henry shouted and Walt wanted to laugh, but he wasn�
��t in a laughing mood. “Walt, your granddaughter is cheating.”
Kelsey made a face. “I’m just very good. My grandma taught me.” She shuffled the dominoes. “Let’s go again.”
Walt looked at his five dominoes. “Son of a beady-eyed bitty.”
Henry peered at his. “Shih Tzu.”
Kelsey placed a double-five on the table. “Ten points for me.” She scribbled the score on a pad.
“Are you Shih Tzuing me?” Henry frowned at her.
“You sorry baboon,” Walt said to Henry. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
“Shih Tzu on you,” Henry came back at him.
“Stop it.” Kelsey held up her hands. “You’re driving me crazy with those stupid words. Shih Tzu is a dog.”
Walt just stared at his granddaughter.
“Grandpa, I’ve heard bad words before. My mom said them and so did my grandma. You don’t have to make up words.”
“Now, I promised your dad and I’m not going back on my word.”
“Bull Shih Tzu,” she said with a smile.
“Listen, young lady...”
“Oh.” Kelsey jumped to her feet. “There’s an update on the fire.” She ran into the living room where they had the TV on. A reporter was on the screen with a microphone in his hand. Smoke swirled behind him.
“Just a warning—what you are about to see is gruesome. You might not want your kids to watch or if you have a weak stomach you might want to turn away. One of our cameramen caught this a few minutes ago.”
Thick smoke hung in the air and suddenly out of it emerged a figure. Actually, two figures. One was carrying the other. The camera zoomed in and the two were charred from head to toe. Ethan fell to the ground and emergency personnel surrounded them. The whirl of a chopper pierced Walt’s numb composure.
“Oh, my God!” Walt cried. “That’s Ethan.” Realizing Kelsey was staring at the screen, he grabbed her and held her face against his chest. “Don’t look, Kel. Don’t look.”
“Grandpa, is he...is he burned?” she muttered into his shirt.
“Shh, child.” His hand shook as he stroked her hair.
Henry turned off the TV. “Let’s go. I’ll drive y’all to the hospital. On the way I’ll call Levi to find out where they’re taking Ethan.”
Walt couldn’t move his feet. All he could do was hold on to Kelsey. He’d been waiting for news of Ethan, but he never thought it would be like this. What kind of horror had his son gone through? And how much pain was he in? It was too horrible to think about. He had to be there for his son, but his damn feet wouldn’t move.
“C’mon, Walt,” Henry called.
Kelsey took his hand. “C’mon, Grandpa, we have to go help Daddy.”
Besides her brown eyes, Walt never saw much of Ethan in his granddaughter. Until now. She had Ethan’s strong spirit.
“He’ll be okay,” she said, and led him out of the room.
When did she get to be so confident? He was shaking like a baby.
* * *
EVERETT SAT IN his chair, resting and waiting. He’d lost all hope, but he would never stop waiting until Abby came home. He should be stronger, he told himself, but he didn’t know how to handle the loss of his only child. Disgusted with himself, he sat up. Abby would not want him sinking into this self-pitying crap. She was strong and he would emulate her.
He was never quite sure where his daughter got her strength. He and Anna were both quiet, gentle people who stayed close to home and minded their own business. Yet their daughter was the neighborhood poster child for helping everyone. When she was nine, she started babysitting neighbor’s dogs and cats when they were out of town. Mrs. Wilkins, who lived down the street, had been diagnosed with cancer and soon became so weak she could no long get in and out of her house or her bathtub. Abby wrote a letter to the paper telling Mrs. Wilkins’ story. People volunteered to build a ramp and a walk-in shower. Abby then had a lemonade stand and earned enough money to decorate the new bathroom. His daughter had been an amazing kid, and she was an even more amazing woman. Abby would never give up and neither would he.
He reached for the remote control and clicked on the TV.
“Everett, turn that off,” Gayle called from the kitchen.
He paid her no mind as a reporter appeared on the screen. Smoke lingered in the background.
“I have an update on the two people rescued here a few minutes ago,” the reporter said. “As we suspected they are Ethan James and Abby Bauman, the two people taken from an Austin bank robbery yesterday morning.”
A video came on. A figure trudged out of the smoke carrying someone. Everett caught his breath. The two were badly burned.
“Oh, no,” Gayle cried, wrapping her arms around him.
“Be quiet. I can’t hear.”
“We were informed that Mr. James is awake, but Ms. Bauman remains unconscious. It’s a miracle they survived that inferno. We will keep you updated on the extent of their injuries. The fire has moved off to the east and firefighters are still fighting it. We’ll have a full report at ten.”
Everett clicked it off, refusing to think bad thoughts. They’d found his daughter. The wait was over. Everything else he could handle. “We need to go to the hospital.”
“I’ll get my purse. I’m driving.”
“I’ll call Detective Logan on the way. And I have to let Holly know.”
One hour and thirty minutes later they were directed to a waiting area of the burn unit at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. It was one of the best in the country, treating severely burned soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. The best burn doctors were here, and they would help his daughter.
Two elderly gentlemen and a girl were at the information desk. The girl’s long black hair was in a ponytail and had a purple streak in it. He glimpsed it for a second, glad Chloe wasn’t a rebellious teenager—yet.
“I’m Walton James, Ethan James’s father. I want to see my son.” One of the men told the lady sitting at the desk.
“Sorry, Mr. James, the burn team is working on your son. No one can see him.”
“How badly burned is he?”
“I can’t give you that kind of information. A doctor will come out and speak with the family once he’s made an assessment.”
“Thank you.” The threesome took a seat in the waiting area.
Everett approached the lady. “I’d like to check on my daughter, Abby Bauman.”
“It’s the same as I told Mr. James. You’ll have to wait. Your daughter is in very good hands.”
“Thank you.”
He and Gayle walked to the waiting area. Instead of sitting in a padded wooden chair, he stepped over to Mr. James and held out his hand. “Everett Baines. Abby Bauman is my daughter.”
The man stood in worn jeans, cowboy boots and a hat in one hand. With the other, he shook Everett’s hand vigorously. “Walton James, nice to meet you. This is my granddaughter, Kelsey, and my friend Henry.”
He acknowledged them and then said, “I’m glad your son was with my daughter.”
“Ethan’s tough. He can handle any situation.”
Detective Logan and Levi came around the corner. Everyone shook hands.
“Have you heard anything?” Walton asked.
“Not yet. We just have to be patient,” the detective told them.
“So what happened?” Everett asked.
“Everett.” Doug walked into the waiting room, carrying Chloe. She was asleep on his shoulder.
He was stunned for a moment. “Doug, what are you doing? And with Chloe? She shouldn’t be here.”
“I saw the story and that awful video on the news and I had to come to be here for Abby. My parents are out with friends, the maid doesn’t work on Sunday and the nanny is unavailable. I st
opped by your house and you weren’t there so I had no choice but to bring her. How’s Abby?”
“We don’t know anything yet.”
“That’s absurd. They have to tell us something.”
“No, they don’t,” Detective Logan said. “Ethan and Abby are alive and the burn team is working to ensure they stay that way without family barging in demanding answers.”
Doug stared at the tall detective with the gun on his hip and backed down like the weasel he was. “Yes, of course. I’m just very worried.”
Everett had no choice but to make the introduction. Chloe stirred and Gayle gathered the baby from Doug’s arms and sat with her in a chair.
“I rode with Ethan in the helicopter,” Levi said. “Since he was burned so badly, the paramedic had a hard time starting an IV. They put him on oxygen and gave him something for pain, but he wanted to say something so the paramedic let him. First, he asked what the hell took so damn long.”
“That’s my boy.” Walton nodded.
“Then he wanted to know how Ms. Bauman was. I told him she was being treated and he relaxed. The paramedic gave him more oxygen and he closed his eyes. Then he opened them, and I could see he wanted to talk again. He said to tell Kelsey he was sorry. He was on his way home to take her horseback riding when Ms. Bauman suddenly stopped in front of him on the highway. He rear-ended her and he was steamed.”
“Why would Abby do that?” Everett asked.
“She said she’d missed her turn and slammed on the brakes without thinking because she was upset with her ex for pulling a no-show when he was supposed to have their daughter for the weekend. She had to interrupt her dad’s Saturday once again to keep the baby.”
Everett was so angry he couldn’t speak and was glad when Detective Logan spoke up. “As we suspected, Ethan followed her to the bank to exchange insurance information. As he walked to the door of the bank to meet her and Mr. Harmon, the robbers showed up and pushed them inside. After that, he didn’t say anything else and I didn’t press him. I just told him he’d be okay and that Kelsey was fine.”
Everett couldn’t hold his anger in any longer. He pointed a finger at Doug. “This is all your fault. If you had been man enough, responsible enough, to care for your daughter the way the divorce decree stipulates, Abby would have been safe inside that bank before the robbers showed up. Since it was Saturday, only the drive-through was open. The doors to the bank would have been locked. I’ll never forgive you for this. Never.”
