Wildfire Run

by Dee Garretson

  “Hi, Mom. How was the wedding?” Luke’s mom was in England for the wedding of somebody royal.

  “It hasn’t happened yet.” Her voice sounded as if she were around the corner. “I have to leave for the church in just a minute. Luke, don’t forget Callie is coming with her dad today. I want you to be nice to her. Chef Lansa told me Callie isn’t excited about moving to Washington.”

  Luke could hear people talking in the background.

  “I have to go,” his mother said. “I’ll see you in two days. Have fun. Love you.” The phone clicked off.

  The sound from the helicopters grew louder. In a few seconds, they rose over the trees, turning to the south. There were always three identical helicopters in the air whenever his dad flew, so no one could tell for sure which one held the President. Anyone trying to shoot a missile at the helicopter wouldn’t know which one to target. Luke watched until they were specks in the distance.

  “Look at the fog,” Theo said. “That’s very strange.” He pointed to the east, where a clump of fog hung over the forest outside of Camp David, down in the valley where the campgrounds and hiking trails were located. “I thought it was too dry for fog.”

  Sal looked surprised. “That’s not fog; that’s smoke, and that means fire.” He held out his hand for his cell phone. “Why can’t these campers obey the rules? I’ll make sure the park district knows.”

  Luke watched the smoke for a moment. He couldn’t see any actual fire, and the smoke was a long way away, at least a mile or so.

  Theo went back to the ladder and called, “Let’s get the robot finished so we can try it out.”

  “Okay.” Luke followed him up. At the top he looked out at the smoke and then at Sal, still talking on his phone. When Sal wanted something done, it happened, so that fire would be out in no time.

  16

  Hemlock Cabin

  After the guard with the dog cleared them past the gate, Callie relaxed. The road continued through more woods, and then the woods disappeared and something like a fancy resort came into view. Callie couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t like a camp at all; everything was landscaped and manicured to perfection. The flowers in front of the big stone-and-wood buildings looked like they didn’t dare turn brown or lose a petal, and the sidewalks were spotless. Guards with guns stood statuelike in front of most of the buildings. Callie couldn’t imagine a more boring job.

  “This is the staff area,” Agent Erickson said as he turned off the main road onto a long drive and pulled up in front of a small wooden cabin. “Why don’t you drop your bags off, and I’ll take you up to the kitchen.” He turned off the car and pulled out a key card.

  “Sounds good,” Callie’s dad said.

  Agent Erickson took their bags out of the back. “Your cabin is called Hemlock. Most of the buildings are named after plants. The main kitchen is in Laurel Lodge, the conference building. Callie, if it’s okay with your dad, you should come along so you can start to get a feel for the place.”

  “Good idea,” her dad said. “We can just put the bags inside the front door.”

  As soon as her dad unlocked the door, Callie went around him into the cabin. “I want to see where I’m going to sleep,” she said.

  “We can’t keep Agent Erickson waiting.”

  “I won’t. Can I have this room?” Callie opened the door to a room decorated in brown and green, with two twin beds.

  “Yes, but come on. We’re just dropping off the bags.”

  “Let me get rid of my jacket,” Callie said. She put it on the bed, and while the kitten wriggled out of the pocket, Callie hurried to get her dad out of the cabin.

  When they got back in the car, Callie saw three helicopters in the distance. “What’s happening?” she asked.

  “The President is going back to the White House and then to Missouri to oversee the earthquake situation. For right now you’re to stay put,” Agent Erickson said.

  Laurel Lodge was as big as any hotel Callie had ever seen. A small waterfall spilled out in front, falling into a pool of orange and white fish swimming lazily in circles.

  “I’ll take you in the front entrance,” Agent Erickson said. “But there is a back door.” Meaning, Callie thought, Next time, don’t come in the front; you are just the staff.

  They went through an entrance hall full of paintings like a museum, and then through a door at the end of the back hallway into the kitchen. Callie and her dad were introduced to the Navy chef, Owen, and soon the two chefs were talking away. Callie knew she had to make her escape before Chef Owen could start on some incredibly detailed tour showing off every possible spoon and pan.

  “Dad, I’d like to go back to the cabin, but I’m really thirsty. Can I take a big glass of milk to the cabin?”

  “This isn’t like the ranch, Callie,” her dad answered. “You can’t just take food from the kitchen. I’ll buy some things this morning for our cabin.”

  “I think we can let her have a glass of milk,” Chef Owen said. “Are you hungry too, young lady?”

  “No, sir,” Callie said. “Just thirsty.”

  When Chef Owen opened one of the refrigerators, Callie didn’t feel bad about asking for milk. It held at least ten cartons, both white and chocolate. Chef Owen handed her the glass and she sipped it.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Can I go now, Dad?”

  “Sure, go ahead. Here, take my key until we can get another one. Can you find your way?”

  “Yes, Dad.” Callie rolled her eyes at him, but he was already examining the espresso maker.

  Callie walked back to the cabin as fast as she could without spilling the milk. When she came into her room, the kitten was wobbling around on the bed, mewing softly.

  “Come here, little fellow,” Callie said, picking him up. “You’re going to like this.” The cabin had its own small kitchen, and Callie found a saucer. When she put the kitten and the saucer on the floor, the poor thing was so hungry he put his front paws right in the milk, trying to get at it. He wasn’t very good at lapping. He kept sticking his whole nose down in the milk, and then every few seconds he would come up for air and sneeze.

  “I’m going to name you Tocho,” Callie said, sitting on the floor beside him. The kitten was so cute trying to drink the milk, Callie knew she had to take his picture. Nobody could get mad at her for taking pictures inside the cabin. There was nothing special about the place at all.

  The kitten didn’t even look at her while she snapped away. It was funny to see the little droplets of milk all around his mouth and on his whiskers. He was a mess, and so hungry. Callie filled the saucer again.

  “Milk should hold you for now,” she said. “At lunch I’ll get you more food.” There was one problem, she realized. There was no litter box. She couldn’t leave the kitten go to the bathroom on the floor of the cabin. She would have to take him outside.

  Maybe Luke would help her convince people to let her keep the kitten. Maybe he had forgotten about falling off Hania. She wished he would go back to being the old Luke. They used to spend every summer running around the ranch, exploring all the different rock outcroppings, looking for gold and silver. The first time they found some galena, they were sure they had discovered silver and were going to be rich. Maybe if she gave him the galena she had brought with her, it would remind him of the fun they had and they could go back to being friends again.

  The front door opened. “Callie, I’m leaving soon,” her dad called.

  She pushed the saucer under the bed with her foot, scooping up the kitten with her other hand, stuffing him back in the jacket pocket. He was so sleepy, he didn’t even open his eyes. She picked up her jacket just as her father came by.

  “Why are you bringing that? It’s hot as blazes outside.”

  “I just feel cold today,” Callie said, easing the jacket on carefully. She felt the sweat start to trickle down her back. As soon as her dad left she would find someplace to put Tocho down outside.

  “I hope you aren’t get
ting sick.”

  “No, I’m fine.” She smiled brightly.

  “I hope so. Agent Erickson told me Luke is probably in his tree house. It’s behind the President’s lodge, the big building called Aspen, past the swimming pool. Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

  Her dad was already out in the hall, so she grabbed her camera too, put it around her neck, and shifted it so it was under her jacket at her side. She’d take pictures only when no one was looking. Agent Erickson had probably forgotten anyway.

  As they walked up the road, Callie’s dad told her all about the size of the kitchen staff and the appliances. She could tell he was happy, so she didn’t make any sarcastic remarks, even when he got excited about the number of dishwashers in the place.

  Partway down the road, the SUV pulled up again, or maybe it was another one, because there was a different agent behind the wheel. “Are you ready, Chef Lansa?” the man asked.

  “Do you mind, Callie?” Her dad pointed to the top of a big tree behind a building. “There’s the tree house, or at least a corner of it.”

  “Go ahead, Dad. I’ll be fine.” She would say hi to Luke and see what he was like now. She was willing to put up with a lot if he would help convince people she could keep Tocho.

  17

  The Inner Zone

  The tree house wasn’t the flat little platform she was expecting. She should have realized Luke wouldn’t have anything ordinary. This probably even had running water and electricity. Luke and a tall boy stood at the base of the tree, talking and looking at a notebook. Luke’s dog sat by his side. As she drew closer, Callie heard Luke say, “She doesn’t know anything about robots. When we want to work on it, we’ll just tell her we have a summer assignment for school. She’s really bossy and she usually doesn’t listen, but that should get rid of her. She only likes horses anyway. I think robots are too complicated for her. They don’t have hooves.” He laughed.

  “Too complicated?” Callie yelled as she came up and grabbed his arm, pulling him around. “You think I’m stupid just because I don’t care about your little bits of plastic? At least I’m not a baby who can’t even take falling off a horse.” There was no way she was going to give him the galena now.

  Before she could push him down, Luke’s dog jumped at her, barking, and a Secret Service agent, a woman, was there between them.

  “Let’s just calm down now,” the woman said. “What’s going on here?”

  “Nothing, Isabelle.” Luke backed away from Callie. “We were just goofing around.”

  Another agent walked up to them. “Everything okay, Luke?”

  “Everything’s fine,” Luke said.

  “You must be Callie Lansa. I’m Adam.”

  Callie looked up to see a man with dark hair and nice green eyes and a face that looked like it smiled once in a while.

  “Hi,” she mumbled.

  “We’re glad you made it here. It sounds like you three will have a terrific week.” The man grinned at all of them like nothing had happened. He had a nice voice, Callie thought, like someone who didn’t just bark orders all the time.

  Everybody was silent, and then the tall boy said, “I’m Theo.”

  “Oh, yeah, this is my friend Theo,” Luke said, not even looking at her.

  “Well, now that you’re all here, I can give my little speech,” Adam said. “I’m sure Agent Erickson already told you about how things work, Callie, but there are a few more things everyone needs to hear. Luke, Theo, are you listening? Everybody needs to stay out of the woods today. Callie, some of the security systems are being checked because of the earthquake, and they’re doing testing by sections.”

  “How long is it going to take?” Luke said.

  “I don’t know, but don’t plan on any hikes until we get the all-clear. How’s the robot coming?”

  “It’s going to be amazing!” Luke said. “We were just going to test it out.” He put the robot down on the ground. “Theo, why don’t you put the ball about ten feet away?”

  Callie could tell Luke had forgotten about her. He was rocking forward and backward drumming on his legs, totally focused on the robot.

  When Theo had the ball in place Luke turned the robot on. “Theo, do you want to do the whistle?”

  Luke pulled the whistle out of his pocket and handed it to Theo. When Theo blew on it, the robot moved forward, making a pinging noise.

  “We programmed it to ping like a sonar signal while it’s moving toward something. Isn’t that great?” Luke said. “Once it grabs the ball and comes back to the starting point, it’s programmed to play a fanfare.”

  The dog crept toward the robot, growling, and Callie felt the kitten shift in her pocket. As the robot drew within inches of the ball, Theo blew the whistle two more times. The robot stopped and closed its claws on the ball, but when they clamped on, the ball popped out over the top of them.

  “The ball is too slippery,” Theo said. “And the claws are squeezing too tightly.”

  Callie moved over to it so she could get a closer look. “Why don’t you just stick something spongy to the claws? It could hold on to things better that way.”

  “Good idea,” Theo said. “We can fasten some pieces of foam to each of the extensors. What do you think, Luke?”

  “I don’t think it will work,” Luke said. “We just need to adjust the rotation of the gear to the claws.”

  “Callie’s idea is worth a try, at least,” Theo said. “That way the robot could hold on to things of different sizes.”

  The kitten shifted again and Comet started sniffing at Callie’s boot.

  She tried to use her foot to push him away, but he didn’t back up. The dog moved his nose from her boot to her leg and growled at her. She put her hand in her pocket, holding on to Tocho so he wouldn’t poke his head out.

  “Weird,” Luke said. “Comet likes everybody. Maybe you smell funny.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  “No, I meant…I meant maybe you smell like your dog or something.”

  Comet came closer, almost sticking his nose in her pocket. The kitten squirmed and hissed, and then gave a loud enough meow for everyone to hear.

  “What’s that?” Luke asked, just as Comet gave one startled bark.

  “It sounded like a cat,” Theo said.

  For a moment Callie wondered if she could bluff her way out of it and claim she was just clearing her throat or something, but Tocho stuck his head out of her pocket before she could do anything. Comet barked again, bringing his face close to Callie’s pocket, growling.

  “Luke, get your dog away. He’s scaring my kitten.” Callie put her hand on Tocho in case Comet jumped at them.

  “You brought a kitten into Camp David?” Theo asked, as Luke grabbed hold of Comet’s collar. “Is that allowed?”

  Everybody looked at Adam.

  “I don’t think it ever occurred to anyone to make a rule,” Adam said. “The people who visit here don’t normally carry their pets around in their pockets. Now that it’s been done, though, someone will have to make a rule against it.”

  “You won’t take him away from me, will you?” Callie asked, worried. She took Tocho out of her pocket and held him close, glancing at Adam. Adam didn’t look like he was angry, but she knew from past experience that it was hard to know what Secret Service agents were thinking. The kitten stopped struggling and snuggled closer.

  “We’ll see,” Adam said.

  “He’s so little, he won’t hurt anything, I promise. His name is Tocho. It means ‘panther’ in Hopi,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

  Luke cracked up laughing. “That little smudge of fur doesn’t look much like a panther.”

  “He will when he’s bigger,” Callie said defensively. “At least he’s going to grow into something. Your dog is already grown and still looks like a stuffed animal.”

  “So what!” Luke yelled. At the sound of Luke’s raised voice, Comet started barking.

  Tocho struggled in Callie’s hands
. He was so skinny, he squeezed through her grip and jumped to the ground. Arching his back, Tocho spit at Comet. The dog broke away from Luke and skidded to a stop inches from the kitten. He sniffed at Tocho cautiously and wagged his tail, but then the kitten lost his nerve and took off at a zigzag run over the grass and into the woods. Comet hesitated just for a moment and then dashed after him. Within seconds, the dog caught up. Just as Comet’s jaws were about to close on the kitten, Tocho turned abruptly to one side. Comet lost his balance, tumbling over. The little kitten kept running.

  “Stop, boy!” Luke yelled. Comet picked himself up and took off again after the kitten.

  “He’ll hurt Tocho if he catches him!” Callie yelled. She ran after Comet, not able to see Tocho anymore. “Get your stupid dog, Luke!”

  She could hear Luke behind her, and then Adam roared, “Luke, stop now! Don’t go in the woods! It’s too dangerous! Callie!” She looked back. Luke had stopped and Adam and the woman were running toward them. What was in there? Callie slowed and then came to a halt. Neither animal was in sight now. The agents and Luke jogged up to her, Theo coming behind.

  “Don’t go in the woods,” Adam repeated, his voice totally unlike the friendly one she had heard just a few minutes ago. He didn’t even look the same. She could see the tension in his body, like he was ready to leap at something.

  “Adam, what’s going to happen to Comet?” Luke sounded panicked. “Is the defense system on? It could kill Comet, couldn’t it?”

  “Calm down, Luke,” Adam said. “I’ll notify the camp commander and have them stop the testing until we can get Comet. They may not even be testing that section of the woods right now.” Adam moved away.

  “What kind of defense system do you have here that will kill animals?” Callie asked. “There’s nothing like that at the ranch.”

  “It’s new. These boxes are mounted on the trees and they send out this radiation, kind of like microwave rays, and they cause so much pain you think you’re on fire before you pass out.” Luke was talking so fast his words were tumbling over one another. “I overheard my dad say that it killed some goats when they tested the prototype. Why did you bring a cat here anyway?” Luke’s voice rose to a yell. “Comet could get hurt!”