One More Song

by Nicki Edwards

  Todd and Paul were the tool operators and their job would be to activate the heavy cutters and spreaders. Ben was on safety duty, looking out for hazards and dealing with any that threatened the safety of either the team members or the casualty – in this case, watching for any spot fires or flying embers.

  They travelled the familiar road from Yallambah to Osbornes Flat, fear clutching at Eddie’s throat the entire way. She peered out the window and saw nothing but smoke. It was getting darker – whether because of smoke or storm clouds, Eddie wasn’t sure. Then she saw flames.

  She tapped Steve on the arm. ‘I thought you said the accident was nowhere near the fires?’ She had to shout over the noise.

  Steve stared into the smoky haze and shrugged. ‘That’ll be the crew from Stanley doing back-burning.’

  ‘Buggered if I know how you can tell the difference,’ Paul said, leaning forward.

  He grinned at Eddie and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was still a newbie and this was his first accident. Eddie bet a million bucks he wouldn’t be grinning in half an hour. More likely vomiting. She recalled her first reaction to a fatal roadside crash. It hadn’t been pleasant.

  The silence was tense. No one exchanged a word or a look as they stared out the front window, waiting for the headlights to pick up the accident site. They turned off the main road onto a gravel road, more of a bush track. What was the driver doing down here? Were they lost? Had the smoke confused and disorientated them? Or did they live out this way?

  Seconds later the headlights picked out the gleam of metal and Eddie’s stomach churned again. As they neared the accident scene, it was worse than she’d first imagined. The roof of the car was caved in and the driver’s door crushed into the side of a massive gum tree, the impact causing a branch to splinter from the tree where it lay sideways across the car. It was almost impossible to make out the front and rear sections of the vehicle.

  Eddie swallowed past the massive lump in her throat and jumped from the truck. Her stomach twisted in knots and it took every ounce of professionalism to walk and not run to the car. They needed to ensure there was no danger to themselves first. The air was thick with the smell of dust and petrol and blood, and her eyes stung from the inescapable eucalyptus-infused smoke. She stared at the mashed-up car and forced back nausea. Surely no one could have survived that. Had the driver’s age or inexperience caused the accident? Had they been going too fast on an unfamiliar country road trying to escape the fire? But her job wasn’t to ask questions. Right now the driver was someone’s family member and Eddie’s job was to get her out of the car in one piece. It was up to the police to determine the cause of the accident.

  They were already on the scene, having been alerted by a passing farmer who then helped the police secure the area before the SES got there. When they gave the all-clear that it was safe to approach, Eddie jogged over to the car. The smell of petrol was stronger the closer she got, and in the distance she could hear the roar of the fire as it inhaled the tinder-dry foliage.

  ‘How far away is that thing?’ she asked Steve.

  ‘You’re safe for now,’ he replied. ‘Just get in there and do your job. We’re watching out for any spot fires.’

  Getting as close as she dared, Eddie ducked down to peer into the car. From her angle she couldn’t see the driver’s face.

  ‘Hey. My name’s Eddie. Can you hear me?’ She squeezed the woman’s hands but got nothing in return. Her pulse was thready and weak and Eddie could hear her laboured breathing. At least that meant her airway was open, but until they removed her from the vehicle, Eddie wouldn’t be able to do a thorough assessment.

  ‘The driver still with us?’ Steve called down to her.

  ‘Just.’

  Behind her, the whir of the truck’s generator started up. Eddie stepped back, her boots crunching on broken glass. She scanned the area. ‘It’s not going to be easy to get her out,’ she told Ben. ‘I’ll need you to clear away that branch as quickly as you can.’

  ‘Todd and Paul are on it already.’

  ‘Can they move any quicker?’ she asked

  ‘Doing what we can, Eddie,’ Steve replied.

  Seconds later the entire scene was lit up like a stage on opening night, but visibility was still limited from all the smoke.

  ‘Good timing,’ Ben said, pointing to a truck from Beechworth that had arrived and was backing into position.

  Soon hydraulic motors were starting up and everyone was doing their jobs, better than any training exercise they’d ever done. Todd and Paul circled the car and even though it was rammed into a tree they worked quickly and methodically to wedge blocks around the tyres to ensure it didn’t budge. As much as Eddie wanted them to hurry, she knew they were doing what they were trained to do and wouldn’t take any chances. The car was perched nose down towards a ditch and pinned under a branch, but without the handbrake engaged one wrong move could cause it to roll down the embankment.

  In the background the generator ran steadily, adding the smell of diesel to the smoky air. The noise kicked up a notch when Paul and Todd began clearing the fallen branch. They chopped it into sections in no time, then started on the car. It protested audibly as the panels gave way under the force applied by the spreaders. The side panel caved, making a grinding, metal against metal sound.

  When it was safe Eddie went back to the driver to work on removing her. She leaned in and her stomach coiled.

  Jenny Baxter.

  Eddie swore.

  ‘Get a move on, guys,’ she bellowed. ‘It’s Harry’s mum.’ Eddie shook Jenny’s arm. ‘Jenny. Can you hear me? Open your eyes. Can you squeeze my hand?’ No response. ‘Hurry up guys!’ She bent down close. ‘It’s going to get really noisy, Jenny, but don’t worry, okay?’ She unfolded a sheet of plastic. ‘I’m just putting this over you to protect you from any flying metal or glass. It’s not for long. We’ll get you out as quickly as we can, I promise. Hold on.’

  Moments later the hydraulics of the cutter whirred and whined. Eddie held her breath and waited. Finally with another ripping crunch the back door gave way. The car shuddered and slipped to one side.

  Eddie froze. ‘Are we stable?’ she shouted over the din.

  Ben checked the blocks. ‘Good now,’ he called back.

  ‘Steve, can you pass down the backboard and neck collar?’ Eddie asked.

  ‘Eddie, you need to give us some room,’ Paul huffed.

  ‘C’mon, Ed,’ Ben said, dragging her away from the car. ‘You know the motto: make haste slowly. I know you hate waiting but give the guys some breathing space. They’ll get her out and you can check her over again.’

  There was nothing Eddie could do except wait.

  At one point, Ben was cutting a part of the car away, mere centimetres from Jenny’s leg. It was a painstakingly slow process before they finally peeled back the front passenger side door from the body of the car, giving them access to the vehicle. Todd covered the jagged metal with a blanket of dense, rip-proof material that hung from a piece of PVC pipe.

  Eddie squeezed past him and felt for Jenny’s pulse again. Weaker. She pressed two fingers into her carotid pulse. Almost imperceptible. Grabbing a medical torch from her back pocket Eddie shone it in Jenny’s eyes. Pupils were sluggish. Not a good sign. She checked her pulse again. This time nothing.

  ‘We need her out now!’ Eddie screamed. There was no point worrying about spinal injuries if she was already dead.

  Everyone reached in to help and seconds later Jenny was on her back in the long dry grass and Eddie was checking her airway again. Open. Thank God for something. Ben tossed her the bag-valve-mask resuscitator and Eddie placed the mask over Jenny’s face, tipping her head back as she delivered life-saving breaths.

  ‘How far away are the paramedics, Steve?’ Eddie asked without looking up.

  ‘About five minutes.’

  ‘I don’t have five minutes,’ she snapped, placing her hands on Jenny’s sternum and starting CPR. �
�Where’s the defib?’

  Richard appeared and dumped the defibrillator beside her, unzipping the bag and pulling out the chest pads.

  ‘Can you take over from me?’ Eddie asked Ben, without looking up.

  ‘Yep,’ he replied, edging his hands into position.

  While Ben continued chest compressions, Eddie cut off Jenny’s blood-stained top and attached the pads to her bare skin. Seconds later she glanced at the screen then at Ben. The rhythm was unshockable. ‘Get back on her chest.’

  ‘That’s thirty,’ Ben said, soon after.

  Eddie squeezed the bag-valve-mask twice. ‘Swap with me at the end of the next set.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ he replied.

  Eddie was grateful. In her heavy suit she was baking. It felt like the fire was right on top of them.

  Three more rounds of compressions later she said, ‘Stop for a second, Ben, and let me check for a rhythm again.’

  Ben lifted his hands from Jenny’s chest and his eyes met hers, reflecting her worry.

  Eddie pressed a button on the defibrillator. ‘Analysing rhythm,’ she called out with as much confidence as she could muster. She watched the monitor. As soon as the wide and fast waveform scrolled across the screen, her own heart kicked in her chest. ‘It’s shockable!’ she yelled. ‘Stand clear.’

  Eddie delivered the shock. Jenny’s body jerked and a beautiful sinus rhythm danced across the screen, in time for the arrival of the paramedics.

  She turned to give Ben a high-five when Steve shouted out to them. ‘Eddie! Ben! Get over here now. There’s an old guy in the back seat under a blanket. He’s alive!’

  Damn, damn, damn! It had to be Jim. Fear kicked Eddie in the gut and she staggered to her feet. Why hadn’t anyone checked the back seat of the car? It was basic protocol for God’s sake. Why had they assumed the driver was the only one in the car?

  As she bolted over to the car the radio crackled, then Richard shouted, ‘Stop! Wait! We’ve gotta move now! Fire’s over the ridge and moving fast.’

  ‘Get him to the dam, now!’ Eddie shrieked, pointing in the direction of a large dam she’d spotted when they’d arrived and before the smoke had come across.

  Then another voice joined the fray. ‘Wait!’ Ben cried. ‘I have a problem here. I’ve lost her pulse.’

  Chapter 31

  ‘You need to go home and get some sleep,’ Aimee said. ‘You look like crap.’

  It was after two in the morning and they were still at the hospital in Beechworth where Eddie had gone with Jenny’s body. They’d done all they could, but in the end, her heart wasn’t strong enough to cope with the trauma of the accident and she tragically died at the scene.

  From what Steve had told her, recounted by Jim before he’d fallen into a sedative-assisted sleep, they’d escaped their property unscathed, with Jenny driving through a blazing wall of fire at the front gate. She’d headed towards town but must have become disorientated and missed the turn-off for the main road. Instead, she turned down a barely used track. By then the wind had whipped into a frenzy and an ancient red gum tree snapped at its base. The last thing Jim remembered was Jenny driving headfirst into it. The tree had crashed down on the car, trapping them and, unbeknownst to Jim, Jenny suffered a massive heart attack. While Eddie and Ben were working on her, Steve discovered Jim still in the car, sheltered in the back seat under a wet blanket, clutching an old black and white dog to his chest. The only reason he was alive was because Eddie had helped pull him from the car and drag him into the nearby dam moments before the bush exploded around them.

  After Eddie arrived at the hospital she’d snuck into Jim’s room to check on him but he was asleep.

  ‘I can’t go home,’ Eddie said to Aimee. ‘I need to be here when Harry arrives.’

  She’d tried calling him but his phone was either switched off or not in range. More likely his battery was dead – the highway was blocked and the usual four-hour drive from Melbourne would have taken Harry at least eight. Police were only allowing local residents through, but when Eddie had gone outside earlier for fresh air she’d spotted a few people who looked like journalists. Seeing them made her blood boil. The last thing people in the town needed was cameras and recorders shoved in their faces while some skinny pseudo-reporter barely out of nappies asked inane questions, like ‘How are you feeling?’.

  What a stupid question, Eddie thought. You only had to look around the burned landscape to know how people were feeling. Jenny Baxter had lost her life and at least three properties had burned to the ground.

  ‘How do you think he’ll take the news?’ Aimee asked as she handed Eddie another cup of tea. It was her fourth in as many hours.

  Fresh tears fell. ‘He’s going to be gutted.’

  ‘You did your best,’ Aimee said.

  ‘And I failed,’ Eddie said, wiping at the tears as they streamed down her cheeks.

  ‘You didn’t fail.’

  ‘I hope Harry will see it that way. I don’t think he expected to be coming home to a funeral so soon. At least not like this.’

  ‘It’s not your fault, Eddie.’

  As tears welled yet again, Eddie allowed Aimee to pull her into her arms. She was vaguely aware of someone entering the room and she drew back and wiped her eyes, surprised to see Steve.

  He rubbed a dirt-stained hand across his chin. ‘Got some bad news for you, Eddie.’

  More? She didn’t think she could handle any more bad news.

  ‘Your grandparents’ house is gone.’

  Eddie’s legs gave way as she crumpled to the floor. ‘Gone?’

  Steve nodded sadly and wiped a hand across his eyes to hide his own tears. ‘Yours too.’

  Some time later – was it hours? – Aimee helped Eddie to her feet. ‘Let’s go, honey.’

  ‘No. I can’t. I have to stay and see Harry.’

  ‘He could be hours yet.’

  ‘I don’t care. I need to see him. Tell him how sorry I am.’

  ‘Ed, he’ll understand. You just lost your home.’

  ‘And he just lost someone he loves.’

  *

  Half an hour later Eddie stood under the steaming hot water in the bathroom at Aimee’s house, her tears mingling with the water. It took three lots of shampoo to wash the acrid smell of smoke from her hair and she had to scrub at her skin to remove every trace of dirt and soot. Even her ears felt full of gunk. It was only when Aimee knocked on the bathroom door and called out asking if she was all right that Eddie realised how long she’d been in the shower. She turned off the water, reached for a thick towel and wrapped it around her body. She wiped the steam from the mirror and flinched when she caught sight of her reflection. She looked ten years older.

  Eddie picked her overalls up off the floor where she’d discarded them and pulled them on, screwing up her nose at the smell. She could almost taste the ash on her tongue. Likewise, her pink T-shirt stank too. She grimaced as she pulled it over her head. What choice did she have? She literally only had the clothes on her back. She’d left her other clothes down at the CFA shed when she’d changed into her SES uniform.

  She shuffled down the hallway and headed into the lounge where she heard the television.

  Aimee reached for the remote as she stood. ‘Hey.’ She muted the sound. ‘I thought you’d been washed down the plughole.’ Aimee went to hug her. She scrunched up her nose. ‘Sorry, I didn’t think about your clothes. Hang on. I’ll grab one of Gus’s T-shirts and a pair of trackies for you. Sorry, nothing of mine will fit you.’

  She was back moments later with clean clothes. Eddie stripped out of her own clothes. ‘Thanks, Aimz. That feels a bit better.’

  ‘I’ll take you shopping for new clothes tomorrow.’

  Eddie closed her eyes as a sob welled up in the back of her throat. The last thing she felt like doing was shopping for anything, let alone clothes.

  ‘Do you want anything to eat?’ Aimee asked.

  ‘No. I don’t think I could eat a thi
ng. I just want to go to bed. And you need to sleep too.’

  Aimee hugged her again. ‘It’s going to be okay in the morning, I promise.’

  Eddie glanced at the television. Aimee had been watching the news coverage of the fires.

  ‘How many lives were lost?’ she asked.

  ‘Only Jenny Baxter.’

  ‘Houses?’

  ‘No more than the three you already knew about, including Glenview. The other one was a holiday place. Lots of sheds though. And livestock.’

  Eddie nodded and sucked in a deep breath. ‘Are the fires all under control now?’

  ‘I think so. They’ve forecast a change in the wind direction. That will help.’

  ‘They need rain.’

  ‘And lots of it.’

  Later, Eddie slid between the cool, Disney-themed pink sheets on Grace’s single bed. She reached over and checked her phone. Still nothing from Harry. She tried to convince herself he was all right and the reason he hadn’t called was that his phone battery was flat, but she was worried. Before she could form another thought, she sank into the comfortable mattress and fell into a dreamless sleep.

  *

  In a fog of weariness, Harry made his way to the hospital. The drive from Melbourne had taken close to twelve hours after he’d been redirected twice by the police. It was nearly 4 am when he finally arrived in Beechworth. Not surprisingly, the darkened hospital car park was near empty. Other than his brother-in-law’s, the only other cars probably belonged to the nurses on night duty.

  Harry wasn’t prepared for what faced him inside the hospital. When he’d received Claire’s phone call hours earlier, he could do nothing but hang up and weep. He couldn’t believe his mum had died. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.

  The automatic doors were locked and he pressed the intercom button.

  ‘Can I help you?’ a scratchy voice asked.

  ‘Harry Baxter. I’m here to see –’

  Before he could finish the doors slid open. He entered the familiar hospital and didn’t know which way to turn. The lights were dimmed and there was no one at the front reception desk. Ahead of him, hanging on the wall, was one of his mother’s quilts and a sob caught in his throat. He knew there would be reminders of his mum everywhere he looked.