Home Again

by Lisa Emme

  Her uncle turned and started up the drive, Bella scampering along beside him. He came back a few minutes later dragging the hose, his face was red and he was out of breath. He reached her just as her aunt came out the veranda door.

  “Aunt Elaine,” Allie called out. “Call the police and you’d better get the fire truck on its way out here too.” With a look of concern for her uncle who was still struggling to catch his breath, Allie grabbed the hose and ran as far down the drive as she could reach, Bella at her heels. Still about twenty feet from the end of the drive, she turned the hose on full blast, arcing the water up high to try and douse the burning grass at the base of the sign.

  The sound of her aunt crying out made her turn. Bella barked and ran back towards her uncle. She watched stunned for a moment as her uncle, grabbing his chest as if in pain, fell to his knees and then keeled over to lie on the ground, motionless. Her aunt began to run down the steps towards him. Allie dropped the hose and ran back.

  “Uncle Russell, Uncle Russell! Can you hear me?” Allie shook his arm but there was no response. Panicked, she looked at her aunt. “Aunt Elaine.” Her aunt continued to babble incoherently. “AUNT ELAINE!” She grabbed her aunt’s arm and squeezed hard. Her aunt looked at her in shock. “Go to the house. Call 911. We need an ambulance and the fire truck. Do it NOW.” Allie emphasized her last words by giving her aunt a push towards the house.

  Not waiting to see if her aunt had listened, Allie fell to her knees beside her uncle. Her mind frantically raced as she tried to remember all the first aid training she had taken after Dougie was born. She bent over the still form of her uncle and checked for signs that he was breathing. Tears sprang to her eyes when she realized he wasn’t. She quickly tilted his head back, pinched his nose shut and gave him two rescue breaths. Next, she clasped her hands and measured down his breastbone looking for the correct spot to perform CPR. She placed the heel of her hand on his sternum and proceeded to give him thirty compressions. She followed up with another breath. She watched her uncle’s chest rise and fall as she tried to breathe the life back into him. She resumed compressions, counting each beat. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand…

  Allie lost track of how long she continued, alternating compressions and breaths. When her aunt appeared at her side, her face tear-streaked, Allie blinked up at her. “Did you get through?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Yes,” her aunt replied, wringing her hands. “Oh Allie, Allie. What’s happening?”

  Not stopping her compressions, Allie looked at her aunt in concern. “I think…” ten-one thousand, eleven-one thousand, twelve… “…he’s had a heart attack.”

  “Oh my Lord.” Her aunt’s hands covered her mouth in dismay.

  Allie paused to give her uncle a rescue breath and then turned to look over her shoulder at the fire behind her. The grass in the ditch was burning and it was quickly spreading along the edge of the drive and into the yard.

  Cursing under her breath, she turned back to her ministrations on her uncle. They had to get that fire under control. She looked up worriedly at her aunt. “Aunt Elaine. ELAINE.” Her aunt turned to look at her. “Listen to me. I’m doing everything I can. I need you to get the hose and turn it on the grass by the drive. We have to try and stop the fire from spreading any more than it has.”

  “I…I…” Her aunt reached out to her husband.

  “You can’t do anything for him right now,” Allie puffed out breathlessly. She was tired and her arms ached. “I’m doing all I can do for him. But we need to stop the fire. YOU have to stop the fire before it reaches the strawberry field.”

  Allie was trying not to panic her aunt but she was worried that if the fire spread to the dry straw between the rows of strawberry plants, the whole field would quickly go up, and if that happened, it was only a short jump from the field to the house.

  Allie continued CPR. Despite the chill in the air, she was dripping with sweat from the exertion. She threw a quick look over her shoulder to check on her aunt and was relieved to see that she had pulled it together and was turning the hose on the fire spreading up the drive. She had even had the presence of mind to turn the sprinklers on in the strawberry field. Good thinking!

  Minutes, that seemed like hours, later, Allie was relieved to hear the distant wail of a siren. The fire truck roared up the road and came to a screeching stop at the foot of the drive. A few moments later, an EMT was at her side pushing her out of the way. The man quickly assessed her uncle and took over compressions. Allie fell exhausted on the grass beside them as another EMT came running up, carrying the gear.

  “Allie!” Allie jerked her head towards the sound of the voice. “Allie, are you okay?” Tommy, Lori’s husband, came running up. Allie had forgotten that he was a member of the volunteer fire brigade. “When I heard where we were heading…” He let his voice trail off as he knelt beside her and pulled her into a one-armed hug.

  “The fire?” Allie asked shakily.

  “Under control.” Tommy pointed to where the men from the truck were putting out the last of the flames.

  “Clear!” the EMT shouted. He had been busy. Allie saw that her uncle was hooked up to a defibrillator. She watched numbly as the machine began beeping faster and faster, working itself up to a long steady beep before sending a shock through the leads attached to her uncle’s chest. She held her breath, listening. A moment later she was rewarded with the slow steady beep indicating her uncle’s heartbeat.

  “Oh thank God.” She looked around for her aunt. Not seeing her, she pushed away from Tommy and rose to her feet. “Where’s my aunt?”

  Tommy stood up beside her. “It’s okay. She’s over by the truck getting some oxygen. She inhaled a little smoke, but she’ll be fine.”

  Relieved, Allie watched as the paramedics began prepping her uncle for transport to the hospital. She hugged herself, finally noticing the chill in the air.

  “Here.” Tommy pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. The fireproof coat was heavy, but Allie was grateful for it’s warmth. Another siren sounded in the distance. It was the ambulance finally arriving. Thank God they had EMTs on call with the fire department. Allie shuddered, thinking of what could have happened if they’d had to wait for the ambulance to arrive to get help.

  The sound of another engine caught Allie’s attention. She turned to see Mike’s Harley speeding down the road. He pulled up, edging past the fire truck and driving right up into the yard.

  “Mike?” Allie wondered how he had known to come.

  As if reading her mind, Tommy held up his cell phone. “When I heard where the fire was, I called him.”

  “Thanks.” Allie smiled at Tommy and reached out to squeeze his hand. When Mike had parked his bike, she pushed Tommy’s jacket from her shoulders and ran across the yard to him. Mike gathered her up in a tight hug and she buried her face against his chest, tears spilling over. Bella pranced around them, excited to see Mike.

  “Shhh, shhh…” Mike held her in his arms and petted the back of her head comfortingly. “It’s all right, Kitten. Shh, it’s all right.” He continued to hold her as he shucked his leather jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Geez Kitten. What do you think this is, a slumber party?”

  Allie laughed weakly. “Well, I wasn’t really planning on having company.” She sniffed and Mike handed her a handkerchief. Allie took it gratefully and stepped back to wipe her nose. She spotted her aunt coming up the driveway with the help of one of the firemen.

  “Aunt Elaine, are you okay?” Allie rushed over to her.

  “How’s Russell?” Her aunt asked, her voice full of concern.

  “He’s okay. His heart is beating on its own and they’re getting ready to take him to the hospital now.” Allie took her aunt’s arm and led her back to her where her uncle was being made comfortable on a gurney. She w
as relieved to see that he had regained consciousness; surely that must be a good sign.

  Her aunt hurried over to stand beside her uncle and began fussing. Allie smiled at her uncle’s weak protests. “Quit your fussing woman. I’m fine!” Mike came to stand beside her, putting his arm around her, and she leaned against him gratefully.

  A commotion at the end of the driveway drew their attention. There seemed to be several vehicles parked on the road beside the fire truck. One of them was a police car. She looked back at the house. Dougie would be beside himself when he learned he’d missed all the action. Allie frowned. Speaking of Dougie, she had better go and check on him. She turned and said as much to Mike, when a voice hailed her across the yard.

  “Allie!”

  Allie turned towards the sound of her name. “Rowdy?” She stared in shock. What was he doing here? She watched him pick his way through the vehicles and come up the drive. Duncan followed a few steps behind. “G-Grandfather?”

  Mike touched her arm gently. “Go see what they want. I’ll check on Dougie.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead then turned towards the house. Allie reluctantly walked towards Rowdy and her grandfather.

  “Allison, are you okay?” Duncan asked, genuine concern in his voice.

  “Y-yes,” Allie replied, still in shock to see him there. “What are you doing here?”

  “We could see the emergency lights from our place and Grandad was worried,” Rowdy answered somewhat belligerently. “It was either drive him or let him take off on his own in the middle of the night.”

  “Well…” Allie hesitated, unsure what to say.

  “Ms. Daniels, I need to talk to you.” Allie turned to see George Pickens, Deputy-Sheriff Pickens, approaching. Allie sighed, the long night was just getting longer and longer.

  “Is this really necessary right now, Deputy?” Duncan asked. “Can’t you see she’s exhausted and in shock.”

  “Sorry sir,” the deputy replied. “We need to get a statement now.”

  “It’s all right. I’m fine.” Allie smiled weakly. “Can I just go speak with my aunt before she leaves in the ambulance?”

  “Oh, sure. Go ahead.”

  Allie went over and hugged her aunt then squeezed her uncle’s hand. “I’ll see you soon. I’ll get things squared away here and come as quickly as I can.”

  “Oh Allie, thank you. Thank you. You saved his life.” Her aunt hugged her, tears in her eyes.

  “Ma’am? We have to get going,” the paramedic said, pushing the gurney along the driveway.

  “It’s okay, Aunt Elaine. You go. I’ll take care of things here.”

  Allie watched them wheel down the driveway and then turned back to the house where the deputy, Rowdy and her grandfather were waiting.

  “Is it okay if we do this inside?” Allie asked, hugging Mike’s jacket closer.

  “Sure thing,” the deputy replied.

  Allie led the way into the veranda and plopped gratefully down in a chair. The deputy sat on the old sofa. Rowdy stood scowling in the doorway until Duncan brushed past him and gave him a pointed look. Rowdy grimaced and moved across the room to lean against the wall. Suddenly, Allie jumped up. “Oh, maybe I should put a pot of coffee on or something?”

  “Sit, sit,” replied Duncan, waving her back to her seat. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Allie looked surprised, but nodded, too much in shock to even think about how strange it was to have Duncan MacAllister in her kitchen making coffee. She turned to face Deputy Pickens.

  “Better just start at the beginning,” he said.

  “Well, I got home around two or so…”

  ***

  A while later, Allie sat under a blanket, her hands wrapped gratefully around a warm cup of coffee, as she finished recounting the events surrounding the fire. Mike sat on the arm of her chair, one hand resting comfortingly on her shoulder.

  Duncan, after miraculously serving up coffee, had sat down on the sofa beside Deputy Pickens. He listened intently as she recounted the evening’s adventure. Allie couldn’t decide if it was reassuring or unnerving to have him there.

  “And you didn’t recognize them?” the deputy asked.

  “Well, no. How could I? As I said, they were both wearing helmets. You know, the kind with visors?”

  “And you think their vehicles were red?”

  “Well, yeah. But it was dark so I can’t be a hundred percent certain.” Allie frowned. “But really, they must have been the same guys Dougie saw the day the fence was cut down. They were driving red Honda ATVs then. It’s just too coincidental that the guys tonight were also on ATVs. It must be the same guys.

  The deputy shrugged. “Well, now…we don’t want to jump to any conclusions. A lot of folks own ATVs around these parts.”

  Allie looked stunned. “So you’re telling me that you think it’s possible that two different pairs of guys are running around town on ATVs causing trouble? If that’s the case, you’ve got a regular crime wave going on.”

  “Well…” the deputy frowned as he pondered the possibility.

  Allie blew out a breath in frustration. “Well, it doesn’t matter. All you have to do is find an ATV with a broken tail light and you could have your suspect.” She set her now empty coffee mug down and threw the blanket off her legs, pushing herself to her feet. “Are we done here now? I really want to get to the hospital.”

  “Sure. If you remember anything else, just call the station and ask for me.” The deputy rose to his feet as well. “Ms. Daniels, Dr. Mike.” He turned and nodded at Duncan and then at Rowdy who was still scowling against the wall. “Mr. MacAllister, Rowdy.”

  “Good night, Deputy,” Duncan replied.

  Allie turned to Mike who had come to stand beside her. “I have to get some stuff organized and then find someone to come out and stay with Dougie.”

  “I can do that,” Duncan stood up. “Tell me what needs to be done for the lad and I’ll take care of it.”

  “Oh…I…” Allie’s eyes were wide with surprise, but the look on her face was nothing compared to the one on Rowdy’s. His was positively incredulous.

  Allie frowned, not sure what to say. Duncan put up a hand to stall her reply. “Now I know that things between us have been, well, not good. And, I know that you have every reason not to trust me, but I reckon to change all that.”

  Allie cleared her throat, ready to reply, but Duncan waved her off again. “Now is not the time or place for you and I to talk. You need help right now and I want to give it to you. Will you let me do this for you?”

  She let out a long breath. “Okay. I would really appreciate your help,” she finally replied, smiling tentatively at Duncan. “Thank you.”

  ***

  Less than an hour later, Mike and Allie were on the road to the hospital. It hadn’t taken Allie long to pre-measure Dougie’s meds and get them organized for the morning dose. Just to be safe, she had measured out the rest of the day’s doses as well. Her grandfather had seemed pleased that she trusted him to look after her son. “Don’t you worry, lass,” he had said. “The wee boy and I get along like ticks on a dog.”

  Rowdy had stormed off almost as soon as the Deputy had left and so Allie and Mike had taken her uncle’s old truck, leaving her SUV with the car seat behind, in case her grandfather needed it.

  Allie hoped that Dougie wouldn’t be too upset with the fact that she wasn’t there when he woke up. He wasn’t expecting her absence and sometimes he didn’t react well to changes in his routine. Oh well, she was sure that her grandfather would handle things as best he could. The man ran a thriving cattle business after all. He should be able to wrangle one small boy.

  ***

  Exhausted, Allie dozed while Mike drove. The change in the rhythm of the tires when they hit the outskirts of the neighbouring town, woke her. She yawned and stretched and then looked out the win
dow.

  She was worried about her uncle. He had seemed okay when they loaded him up into the ambulance. Was he still okay? What had caused the heart attack, if that was indeed what had happened? Was running the farm finally too much for him, or was having her and Dougie move back adding too much stress? She couldn’t help thinking that this was all her fault.

  “This isn’t your fault, you know.” Mike’s voice broke the silence as if he had been reading her mind.

  Allie turned to stare at him, her mouth open in surprise. “How did…?”

  Mike snorted. “I know you, Kitten. You’re probably sitting there trying to figure out a way to blame yourself for everything.”

  Allie scowled. “Well, it is my fault.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “Well, I didn’t leave town like they wanted and I’ve been snooping around.”

  “You and I both know there must be more to it than that. I’m beginning to think your other theory is sounding more likely.”

  “Yeah, well they almost succeeded in driving my uncle off. Permanently.” Allie frowned, tears in her eyes.

  Mike looked over and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Hey, come on now. It’s going to be okay. Russ was conscious and talking. All good signs, you’ll see.”

  Allie squeezed his hand back and gave him a small smile. “I hope you’re right.”

  By the time they reached the hospital, her uncle had been moved up to a ward for observation. When Mike and Allie arrived at the room, Russ was asleep. Allie stopped in the doorway and gulped in a deep breath. Lying in the bed with tubes and wires sticking out, well, everywhere it seemed, her uncle looked rather old and frail.

  Her aunt dozed in the chair beside the bed. Luckily, the other bed in the semi-private room was empty. Elaine was dressed in hospital scrubs, which was probably better than the housecoat and nightgown she had been in when she left in the ambulance, but not by much. Allie walked over and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.