The Fall

by Kate Sherwood

  “A few hundred dollars.” Will shrugged. “A waste of money, but not a huge deal. But he’s spent two years on this degree, and now he’s planning to walk away without finishing it.”

  “Well, that makes more sense than spending another two years in a program he doesn’t like, just to get a piece of paper at the end.”

  Will frowned. “But he did like it, up until now. Sounds like he took some course on entrepreneurship at the summer session, and it’s got him all turned around. He says the way to make real money is to go out on your own, and he doesn’t need a degree to start his own business.”

  “The degree might help him get a start-up loan.”

  “I think he’s got his eyes on a different source of funding.”

  Oh. “The insurance?” Joe waited for Will’s nod. “He’s already pulled more out of that pot than anyone else.”

  “But there’s more in there, and he knows it.”

  “The plan was to pay for everyone’s education and then dole out whatever was left.”

  “Yup. That was the plan.”

  Joe didn’t like it when Will was the laconic one. “What are you thinking? Does he even have a business in mind, or is this all just preliminary?”

  “He’s got a few ideas, but I’d say he’s still in the preliminary stages.”

  “But he’s definitely not going back to school?”

  “He says it would be a waste of time and money.”

  “Then why don’t we wait and see on the business stuff? There’s no time crunch on that, right? But if he’s not going back to school, this isn’t a vacation, and he needs to get off his ass and find something to do. He can help you, he can help me, he can get a job somewhere else… but enough of him just sitting around.”

  “Well, that brings up another topic.” Will sounded much more careful about this, and Joe halted his horse and turned him around so he and Will were face-to-face. Will’s expression was bleak. “He’s talking about wanting to be more of a father to Austin.”

  “More of a father? What does that mean?” Joe tried to keep his voice level. “And how does that tie in with Nick finding something to do with his time?”

  “He was talking about pulling Austin out of day care.” Will looked like he was braced for an explosion.

  Joe managed to contain himself. But placid, boring Devil was prancing beneath him like a thoroughbred on the way to the starting gate, clearly reading his rider’s agitation. “Austin likes day care. It’s his routine. If Nick was going to commit to being around long-term, then, fine, we could break the routine and start a new one. But what about this entrepreneur idea? He’s going to start a new business and provide full-time child care? Seriously?”

  “Kindergarten starts in a week and a half. I was thinking maybe we should let Nick try it for that long. Let him get it out of his system.”

  Joe turned his horse and let him jog forward. He didn’t like this. Will’s plan wasn’t bad, necessarily, but it felt risky. “We should just tell him to mind his own business.”

  Will brought Angel up alongside, and Joe grudgingly slowed to a walk. “Austin is his business. He’s the kid’s father.”

  “Only in the strictest technical sense. The most responsible thing he ever did was when he realized he was too young to raise a kid and signed him over to us. If he wants to be a daddy, he can go knock up some other sixteen-year-old girl and ruin that baby’s life. Austin is our responsibility, and we need to protect him.”

  “No one’s life is going to get ruined. But we need to be careful. We’re the legal guardians, but Austin was underage when he signed those documents, and we were his guardians too. If he wanted to challenge it and say he was coerced or something… I’m not sure he wouldn’t win.”

  “Coerced? He was begging us to help him out. It was this or adoption. There was no way Nick was going to raise that kid.”

  “You know that and I know that.” Will sounded like he wasn’t confident a judge would see it the same way. “Look, you’re right. Austin’s our responsibility. But so’s Nick. He’s family too. We need to try to make this work for everybody.”

  Joe wished he was riding Misery. The mare’s attitude would be a closer match to his own mood. “This is bullshit,” he said to the world at large. He had a sudden, frightening urge to get off his horse and go find Mackenzie. They’d spent most of the night together after Mackenzie had returned from his euchre party, and it had been really… easy. Yeah, that was the right word. Being around Mackenzie was easy, as long as Joe didn’t start thinking too much. But after he’d slipped out just before dawn, on the drive home, he’d realized how dangerous it could be to feel that comfortable around someone. He’d let his guard down, and that wasn’t a good idea. So he’d made himself stop thinking about the other man, and he certainly hadn’t gone back for another visit. It had been three days now, and the urge was still there, but surely that would fade away. Or at least turn back into simple lust, instead of whatever the hell Joe was trying so hard not to feel.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Will said as they turned back toward the barn. “Just play it cool. If he wants to try looking after Austin for a few days, let him. He’ll realize it’s hard work and find something else to do.”

  Joe didn’t like it, but he didn’t have a better idea. They put the horses away, and Joe kept his mouth shut through dinner with the family and then went back to the barn and worked until well past dark.

  He was sitting in the kitchen, trying to decide whether it would be a mistake to have a drink, when Nick shuffled in and opened the fridge door.

  “I’m hungry,” he groaned. “I wish there was someone who’d deliver pizza out here.”

  Joe knew he shouldn’t poke, but he couldn’t help himself. “Have you got money for pizza?”

  Nick turned and squinted at him. “I’m a little low on cash. But I’ve got a 20 percent stake in a trust fund worth almost six hundred grand. Maybe I’ll use some of that.”

  “You’ve got less than 20 percent,” Joe corrected. It felt good to get all this out in the open. “We paid your tuition and living expenses for the past two years out of that fund. Nobody else has used nearly that much.”

  “I’d like to work out the math,” Nick said, jutting his chin out. “And I’d like to do it right. It doesn’t make sense that my rent counts against my share when everyone else has been living in this house, which is also 20 percent mine, rent-free.”

  “Rent-free, but contributing to the upkeep of the place,” Joe said.

  “But the place has also been contributing to their food. Twenty percent of whatever you pulled off this land should be mine. The beef, the vegetables….”

  “Make sure you factor in labor costs. If you really want to do this right.”

  “And I should look at the cash income too. All the beef you’ve sold in the last five years… fine, I’ll take out labor costs. But whatever’s left, I should get a cut of.”

  “There’s not going to be much left.” Joe snorted. “You may end up owing me money.” He was probably going to say a bit more, even though he knew he shouldn’t, but his pager went off, saving him from his own bad judgment. “Shit,” he said. He had the same reaction every time the antiquated device activated. It meant he was needed at the fire station where he volunteered, and that meant that somebody, somewhere, was having a worse day than he was. He glanced down at the readout. “Fuck,” he said, figuring out the address in his head. He turned for the door.

  “What’s going on?” Nick asked, his snarkiness replaced with concern. He followed Joe outside.

  “Fire at the Waltons’,” Joe said as he headed for the truck. “Sounds bad. They’re calling in trucks from other towns.” Those three kids. Maybe in bed by now….

  “Do you need help?”

  “No, stay here. The fire department’s on the way.”

  “But we’re closer.”

  “You’re not trained. Stay here.” Joe jumped in the truck before Nick could argue any further. He
pulled the flashing green light out of the glove box and slapped it on the roof as he sped down the driveway. He wasn’t likely to see any other drivers on their little road at this time of night, but he could leave the light flashing on the truck once he got to the site; it would make it easier for the others to find him, since they might not know the property as well as he did.

  It took only a few minutes until he was pulling into the long driveway. His stomach churned when he saw the house. One side was almost fully engulfed, the other end billowing smoke.

  A shape ran toward him from a pickup parked well back from the house. “I called it in,” the man said. He didn’t look familiar. “I was just driving by, and I saw it….”

  “Has anyone come outside?” Joe demanded. “There’s two adults and three kids living there.” He scanned the property and saw the Waltons’ battered pickup parked near the back door. Damn. He’d been hoping they might have been away.

  The man was shaking his head. “I haven’t seen anyone. I yelled, but no one answered, and there’s fire by the door.”

  Joe nodded. He wished he had his gear with him, but it was stowed on the fire truck, and the truck wasn’t even close enough for the siren to be heard. So there was no use wishing for the gear; he’d have to make do with what he had. He grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment. The fire department rules were pretty clear that he wasn’t supposed to enter a building on his own, but there were kids in there.

  “If I don’t come out, make sure the guys know… two adults and three kids in the family, plus one firefighter. Okay?”

  The man’s eyes were wide, but he nodded, and Joe jogged toward the house. He’d already figured out his plan. The front door was engulfed in flames, and the stairs wouldn’t be safe… but there was a shed roof on the nonburning side, with windows above it. He could at least poke his head in there and see where he was.

  He pulled himself up onto the bed of the Waltons’ pickup, then vaulted onto its roof. One advantage of not wearing his protective gear was that he was a lot more mobile, but he could feel the heat radiating out from the building, hitting his exposed skin like a force field, and he knew he’d willingly give up some speed in exchange for protection.

  There were rules about not introducing more oxygen to a fire, but Joe ignored them as he used the flashlight to shatter the closest window. He swept the plastic flashlight around the edge of the window, clearing out the shards of glass, then took a deep breath and threw a leg over the windowsill. He eased inside, then toppled through the smoke as he tripped on some miscellaneous furniture and landed on the floor. His flashlight was having trouble cutting through the haze so he felt around, keeping his right hand on the wall so he wouldn’t get lost. There was something soft… a blanket. A mattress. He was in a bedroom. He launched himself at the bed and almost immediately found a small body, curled up as if asleep. God, please let her just be asleep.

  He didn’t take any of the usual precautions for transporting someone who was unconscious, just grabbed her and headed for the window. “Hey,” he bellowed, and then he slipped out onto the roof and yelled again. “Hey! Come catch her.”

  He saw the man start to move and let the girl slide, shoving her down the roof until she disappeared, hopefully into the man’s waiting arms. One out. Which one had that been? The youngest, he was pretty sure. Eight or nine years old. Damn, he couldn’t remember her name. But this house was small, probably only three bedrooms. The youngest kids were likely to share. He took a deep breath of marginally fresher air, then struggled back through the broken window. He felt a slice of pain on his shoulder and realized he must have left some glass in the window frame, but the injury didn’t interfere with his movement. Still with hardly any visibility, he groped around the room, this time with his left hand on the wall, hoping the second bed would be opposite the first. His shin banged something, and he bent over to find another mattress. His fingers found something soft, but this wasn’t a child… a dog. He forced himself to keep going, leaving the furry creature at the foot of the bed, and he found skin. An arm. He grabbed the girl and slung her over his shoulder, and then he turned and grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck. He couldn’t just leave it there.

  This time when he struggled out onto the roof, there was another flashing light on the ground. Not the fire department, though. Cops. Still, it was something. Joe slid a bit down the roof and saw Andrew Stark waving frantically at him. “Get off there,” the constable yelled. “There’s fire underneath you; the roof’s not going to hold!”

  Joe lowered the girl into Stark’s uplifted arms, then dropped the dog on top of her.

  He believed Stark. The fire was beneath him, and that meant the roof was likely to collapse, and if it did, he’d be trapped, engulfed by flames, burned alive….

  But he turned and fought his way back toward the house. Lacey was still in there. Ally’s friend, the brave girl who looked after her younger sisters when her parents lost control of themselves. Lacey needed someone to look after her now, and Joe wouldn’t let her down. He slipped once, his hand landing on the metal roof of the shed before he jerked it back with a burned palm. Yes, there was fire beneath him. He needed to get off the roof. But he had to get Lacey out first.

  It was quick work to break the other window and climb inside, but then the torture of groping around the smoke-filled room, feeling his lungs filling with smoke instead of oxygen, feeling the dizziness clouding in on him, and along with it the realization that he had failed. He not only hadn’t saved Lacey, but he was going to die there himself. Maybe he still had enough time to make it out, but could he live with himself if he left her? Then he felt the building shake and heard a crash from outside. He didn’t go to the window, but he knew the shed roof had collapsed. His escape route was gone.

  That was when he kicked something soft but solid on the floor. He bent down and his outstretched fingers found a mass of hair, and then the rest of the girl. She wasn’t on the bed, but on the floor. She must have woken up and tried to get away….

  He grabbed her under her arms, but he was weak and her weight made him stumble. It wasn’t like he had anywhere to go, but he dragged her anyway. They headed for the window, because there was no way the stairs would be passable. Maybe he could find the strength to throw her past the burning rubble of the shed. Maybe something. Maybe somehow. He had no real plan, but couldn’t give up. He wanted to see Austin again, just for a couple minutes. Wanted to say good-bye to Will and tell him to take care of the rest of the family.

  He didn’t understand what was happening at first. A bright light, a change to the texture of the smoke… and then a spray of water right across his face, hard enough to almost knock him back down to his knees. A fire hose. And the light was a spotlight. The department had made it.

  He pushed himself the extra step to the window and leaned out to see his comrades quickly extending a ladder over the newly soaked wreckage beneath him. Someone was climbing it even before it was anchored, someone who grabbed Lacey from Joe’s arms and dragged her down the ladder.

  Joe managed to slide out the window, but everything was backward. He went out headfirst, and his arms were weak, and he just slid down, then tumbled off somewhere near the bottom and got dragged clear by two firefighters, one grabbing each of his arms.

  They pulled him all the way to the back of the truck, and someone fastened an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. He tried to breathe deeply, but the effort sent him off into a fit of coughing.

  “Take it easy,” a familiar voice said. “You know the drill.” Vince Deacon was the captain of the department and probably should have been directing the efforts to put out the fire, but Joe was glad to have him nearby. “Breathe easy.” Vince squirted some saline into Joe’s crying eyes, helping to wash away the grit and smoke.

  “The girls?” Joe choked out.

  “The team’s working on them.”

  “Their parents….”

  “Nobody else is going into that house,” Vinc
e said firmly. “And when you’re feeling better, we’re going to have a serious discussion about you going in.” His tone softened, and he looked over at the blaze. “We’ve got three trucks here, another on the way. We’ll get the fire under control and then worry about the parents.”

  “Water?” Joe asked.

  Vince knew what he meant. There were no hydrants that far from town, so they had to refill the pumper trucks from whatever source of water was nearby. “Map says to get it from the creek down the way, but it’s looking pretty shallow.”

  “Dry year. Use the lake.” Joe tried to control his shaking arm as he gestured weakly in the appropriate direction. “The gate across the road. Pasture. Lake at the back.”

  “You got cattle in that pasture? We need to worry about the gate?”

  “No cattle,” Joe said. Then he let his head sag back against the fire truck and tried to concentrate on breathing. He wasn’t sure if he should ask more questions about the girls or whether it would be better to not know. But he should absolutely get back to work with his team. It sounded like they’d given up hope of any more survivors, so there would be no heroics, just the demanding job of containing the flames before they spread to the outbuildings or, worse, to the dry forest surrounding the house.

  “Stay with me, Joe,” Vince growled. “I need to know you’re conscious.”

  Joe forced himself to open his eyes and cautiously took a deeper breath from the oxygen mask. He felt an uncomfortable tightness in his chest, but he was able to fight back the coughing. “I’m good. I’m okay. Go see about the water.”