Her Firefighter Hero (8 page)

Chapter Seven

A
persistent ringing woke Megan. Cracking her eyes open just a bit, she squinted into the darkness. A quick glance at the bedside clock told her it was just after three in the morning.

Ring!

She reached for the phone, knocking the clock off the bedside table in the process. It clattered to the floor. Who on earth could be calling her at this time of the night?

“Hello?” she answered, her voice sounding groggy.

“Good morning! You awake yet?”

Jared's words made her eyes pop open wide. At first, she was confused. But then, her senses returned.

She chuckled. “I am now.”

“Sorry to disturb you so early, but we've got a fire. It isn't big, yet. Just fifteen hundred acres, but it's zero contained,” he said, his voice upbeat but also serious.

Megan rubbed her eyes, which were gritty with fatigue. She'd received these calls in the past. So had Blaine. They'd come from a different FMO back then, but he'd always sounded energetic and ready to face the coming fire.

“How many workers will we need to feed today?” she asked.

“Two hundred men and women have been called in this morning, with about fifty administrative people to run the incident command post. They've called in several more hotshot crews, which will be arriving later this afternoon. You should plan to feed about four hundred people for dinner tonight.”

Whew! Good thing she had enough T-bone steaks stashed in the freezer chest. “Okay, I can handle it.”

“I'll be up on the mountain by the time you reach the fire camp.” He then proceeded to give her instructions on how to get there.

“Do you know the area?” he asked.

“Yes, I've been there before.”

“Good. Just drive carefully and stay safe,” he said.

His caring words sent a tingle of warmth up her spine. “I will. And you, too.”

As she hung up the phone, she realized what she'd said. They sounded like a pair of good friends looking out for each other. And they weren't friends. Not really. And yet, she couldn't help worrying about him, and the other hotshots, too.

Shaking her head, she hurried to make some phone calls of her own. Her team was on standby and knew she might call them at any time, day or night.

By nine o'clock that morning, she'd notified her crew, loaded up the trailer, buckled her kids into their seats and was driving her truck along the winding mountain road. They hit a bump that jarred them all, and June gasped. As Megan watched closely for some sign of the wildfire base camp, she was grateful Jared had insisted she use his more reliable truck.

Her crew drove in tandem. She led the way, followed by Frank driving the semi with the mobile kitchen attached. Catherine Brindley, a school lunch cook, and four high school seniors with enough maturity to help with this job, were in a van bringing up the rear. They'd be staying up on the mountain for several days, until Megan brought in another crew to relieve them of their work. She'd hired a couple more cooks and waitresses to man the diner in town, but Megan wanted Frank's expertise to help set up their operations at the fire camp.

The trailer hitched to Megan's truck thumped behind at an even clip. It was filled with cooler chests, canned vegetables, fresh salad mix and bags of potatoes for baking. She had enough bacon, eggs, pancake mix, meat, bread, potato chips, trail mix and fruit to make breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. By then, she'd be back up here with another load of food. While the fire lasted, she figured this would be a daily trip, shuttling between the restaurant in town and the fire camp in the mountains. No doubt it'd take a toll on her, but she wanted to ensure everything ran smoothly. And she'd be paid well for her labors, the money a welcome blessing.

Just off the smooth asphalt, she saw a red sign with a black arrow pointing to the west that said Incident Base Camp. This must be it. An alpine meadow high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The large clearing was filled with red Indian paintbrush, now trampled beneath hundreds of boot heels and tires from large, heavy equipment. Bulldozers, pumper trucks and water tenders. You name it. They were all here, lined up in tidy rows and ready for action.

Clusters of men wearing a variety of yellow Nomex fireproof shirts, windbreakers, spruce-green pants and heavy Vibram-soled boots were moving around the camp in a melee of organized chaos. To the north, the office district had been set up where the operations of the camp took place. Long mobile offices with the words
Finance
and
Check-in
stood off to the side near the entrance. Moving nice and slow, Megan pulled into the camp, wondering where Jared wanted them to set up.

“This is it,” she said to her kids.

Caleb and June sat beside her, their eyes wide as they craned their necks to see everything.

Megan gazed toward the south, where dozens of little tents dotted the landscape. Undoubtedly, this was the residential area, where hundreds of men and women slept, ate and got their orders before going out on the fire line each day. A miniature city. From the looks of things, Megan's catering crew would be up here serving meals for a couple of weeks. Maybe more.

She parked the truck near the check-in. “Stay here. I'll be right back.”

Sitting in a booster seat beside his sister, Caleb snapped off his seat belt and leaned against the dashboard. “But I wanna go with you, Mom. I wanna see Jared.”

Megan inwardly groaned. Maybe she shouldn't have brought her kids with her. But she wanted to spend more time with them. She'd brought them along, thinking they wouldn't be here long.

“Remember we talked about this? We're just dropping off supplies, setting up the kitchen, and then we're going back down the mountain into town. I don't want you to get into any trouble,” she said.

“I just want to see Jared,” Caleb grumbled.

“He's working. You know that, son.”

“Where is Jared?” June asked as she gazed out the windshield.

Megan opened her door. “I'm sure he's here somewhere. I'll be right back.”

She got out and went to tell Catherine and Frank what she was doing. No sense in everyone getting out of their vehicles right now if they were in the wrong place.

As she approached, Frank rolled down the window of the semi and rested his beefy arm against the outside of the door.

“I'm going to find out where we should set up. Would you mind keeping an eye on the kids for a few minutes?” She pointed to where the kids still remained safely inside her truck, craning their heads this way and that as they looked out the windows.

He waved a hand. “Sure will. I'll wait right here until you tell me where I should go.”

It wasn't long before Megan had checked in and received instructions on where to unload their food supplies. As she returned to her truck, she caught herself staring at each man she passed. Some wore yellow or red hard hats, others wore baseball caps, and it dawned on her that she too was looking for Jared. She couldn't help wondering why that was. She was a mature woman and knew what she was doing. So why was she eager to see him again?

Back in the truck, she turned on the vehicle and drove toward the east side of the command center. The semi groaned as Frank put it in gear and followed behind, with Catherine and the high school kids in pursuit. They all parked near a wide, empty area on the west side of the camp, then hopped out and gathered around for instructions.

“Let's put up the tent right here with the kitchen over there. I think that will give us the best advantage of sunlight throughout the day.” Megan pointed to indicate where everything should go.

The crew went to work, opening up the trailer and unloading boxes.

“There's Jared!” Caleb pointed and would have run toward the man, but Megan latched onto his arm.

“Stay here. He'll come to us.” She didn't want her boy running around the fire camp. Not with all the big, noisy equipment moving around.

Sure enough, Jared came striding toward them, wearing a white hard hat, his Forest Service shirt, spruce-green pants and heavy fire boots. He looked handsome, strong and in control, and Megan's heart gave a powerful thump.

“Let me go, Mom. I want to see him.” Caleb strained against her hand, and his eagerness surprised her.

“You've got to wait,” June said. Being the big sister, she tugged on Caleb's shoulders.

“We're going to see him, but you kids stay with me. Remember what I told you about safety while we're up here? No wandering off, or I won't be able to bring you up here again,” Megan told her children.

“Okay,” Caleb grouched.

Both kids nodded obediently, but that flew right out the window the moment Megan let go of Caleb's hand. He raced toward the firefighter, screaming with joy.

“Jared! Jared!”

“Hi, Caleb.” Jared welcomed the boy with a big smile and open arms.

Caleb hugged him tight. As Jared swung him around, the child's laughter filled the air. June stayed beside her mother, seeming a bit ambivalent toward the FMO. Megan felt a hard lump of ice form in the pit of her stomach. Her son loved this man. Which made it even more difficult to pull away from him. And once more, she regretted bringing her kids up on the mountain with her today.

“Hi, there.” Carrying Caleb, Jared greeted Megan with a smile that sucked the air right out of her lungs.

“Hello.” She forced herself to look away as she set a box of canned corn on top of the growing pile.

“Let me call a camp crew over to help. We'll have you set up in no time,” Jared said.

He set Caleb on his feet, then sauntered off and returned moments later with five strapping young men wearing blue jeans, long-sleeved shirts and work boots. They didn't hesitate before they each pulled on their leather gloves and went to work. Megan was startled at how quickly they got everything unloaded.

Next, they started laying out the tent. With people stationed on all four sides, they spread the heavy canvas across the ground, pulling and stretching until it was a wide oblong shape. The barracks-style tent was huge, large enough to cover tables and chairs to seat three hundred people at one time. After arranging the support lines, they installed the wooden masts to hold the tent up.

“Pull!” Megan called to the men.

In unison, they lifted the masts and the tent rose slowly into the air. Caleb stood near her, pressing his tongue against his upper lip as he grunted and helped Tim Wixler tug on the line with all his might. As the tent rose into the air, June giggled and hurried beneath it, staring straight up at the heavy canvas. She stood near Jared, who was installing the center mast.

Crack!

The sound of a gunshot caused Megan to jerk her head around. June looked at her mom, her eyes wide with alarm. Megan couldn't tell where the sound had come from.

“Look out!” one of the men yelled.

Another crack sounded, like the snap of a heavy timber. Megan stared in confusion. A sick feeling settled in her stomach. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what.

At that moment, Jared darted in front of June, placing his own body protectively at the fore. Simultaneously, the center mast broke in two, the top portion hurtling through the air toward Jared. It struck him solidly across the chest with a sickening thud. He grunted and reared his head back, as though the air had been knocked out of his body. Blood spattered into the air, and he jerked his hand up to his chin. Red oozed from between his fingers. The broken mast must have clipped his chin, slicing though his flesh.

“Jared!” Megan cried.

He was injured! And in a fraction of time, Megan knew that without him there, the heavy mast would have struck June across the head.

The tent quivered and swayed. The tension on the support lines was too much. Like a slingshot, they whipped free of their bindings, and the tent started to collapse in on itself. The workers scrambled to get out of the way.

“June!” Megan raced toward her daughter, but too late. Jared and the little girl disappeared beneath the voluminous folds of the heavy tent.

A lance of fear speared Megan's chest. Just one thought pounded her brain. June! She had to get her daughter to safety. And Jared. He was obviously wounded. But just how serious the injury was, she didn't have a clue.

Megan thrust Caleb toward the cook. “Stay here with Frank.”

Frank took hold of Caleb's arm to keep him there. Satisfied that her son was safe, Megan turned and ran toward her daughter. Without the support of the rest of the tent, another mast fell directly in front of her. It barely missed her as she lurched back in surprise.

People were yelling, running to help. The tent hit the ground, causing puffs of dirt to rise up in its wake. Megan watched in helpless horror, circling the perimeter of the canvas, searching for a way inside. A large bump and ripple of movement beneath the canvas told her exactly where Jared and June were located beneath the heavy tarp. Megan couldn't see her daughter, but she could hear her frantic screams. Over and over, June yelled. And every instinct inside of Megan was desperate to reach her daughter.

“Mommy! Help!” the child sobbed.

“I'm coming,” Megan called back.

And then, Jared emerged from beneath the tarp. He clawed his way out with one hand while he carried June in his other arm. The moment they broke free of the tent, the girl stopped screaming, but tears ran down her face and she cried hysterically.

“Mommy! Oh, Mommy.” The child sniffled and reached for her mother.

Megan enfolded June into her arms, hushing her tears. She searched to ensure the girl was all right, with no bones broken. “Are you hurt?”

June shook her head, still wailing with fear. The child was visibly shaken by the mishap but appeared to be all right.

“There, sweetheart. I'm here. Are you okay now?” Megan asked.

June nodded, wiping her eyes with her hands. “Uh-huh. I'm okay. Jared. He...he saved me.”