Rebel Heart (12 page)

Shannon tossed and turned after she went to bed, her thoughts turning endlessly to Jase. She remembered every instant they'd been together, every word he’d said, and how he’d said it. Involuntarily she had to smile sometimes. He could be so charming. Even knowing he’d be gone soon didn’t make her immune to his charm. Wishing she were stronger, Shannon finally drifted to sleep.

“Shannon.” A hand shook her. “Shannon, wake up.”

“Jase?” She blinked up, confused. Glancing around she saw it was still dark. The only light spilled in from the hall. “What is it?”

“I think we’ve got a problem. Come with me.”

She sat up. “What time is it?”

“Almost four. Come on, now.” His hand grasped her arm and he pulled her up from the bed.

“Wait till I get a robe.”

“You don’t need it, come on.” His hand tugged her across the room and down the hall to the front of the house. Shannon noticed he wore only jeans. What was he doing up?

Standing at the window in the front room, he pointed to a strange orange glow that defined the horizon. “Is that normal?”

She blinked and strained to see better. There was nothing in that direction but open range.

“What is it?”

He sighed, dragging his hand through his hair. “Damn. Unless I miss my guess, it’s a fire. I’d kind of hoped you’d tell me something over there always glowed like that in the night. But the smell of smoke is what woke me up.”

“Fire! Oh my goodness, Jase, do you think it’s a grass fire? That’s my range out there. That’s where the main herd is grazing.”

Panic touched her. Fire. After the dry summer they’d had, the grass had to be as dry as tinder. It would go up like a match. Shannon ran to the front door and yanked it open. The hot wind still blew; now the scent of smoke filled the night air. She closed her eyes, fear overwhelming. She could lose her whole place.

She turned to Jase, but he wasn’t there. She heard his voice and hurried into the study.

“Yeah, we’ll do what we can from this end. See you.” Hanging up the phone, he turned to the door, walking toward his room, speaking as he moved.

“I called the fire department, they’ll deploy what they’ve got and call in the volunteers. We need to get out there and see how bad it is and get those cattle moved.”

Shannon crossed to her room, dressing so fast her fingers stumbled on the buttons, all thoughts of a bra gone. Dressed, she dragged her hair back in a ponytail and stomped into her boots. She ran back out to find Jase already in the yard calling Gary and Dink.

“Do we take horses or the truck?” she asked as she ran out. The scent of smoke was strong. The hot air stirred around her. It might be her ranch, but she deferred instinctively to Jase. He knew more about ranching than she did, he’d know what to do.

“I’ll take Shadow and cross country the fastest we can go. You take the truck and head for any fencing that will keep the cattle contained. Cut the wires in as many places as you can. I’ll try to push the herd away from the flames.”

“Won’t they go anyway?”

“Honey, cattle are stupid creatures. They’ll be so panic-stricken, they’ll stampede. Depending on which way they’re heading they could run right into the flames. I’ll do my best to head them away, you make sure they have an opening to run through.”

Dink, still buttoning his shirt, ran up in time to hear the last of Jase’s instructions. “I’ll go with you, I can still ride fine. Gary will go with Shannon to help with the wires. Fire department notified?”

“Yeah. They’ll be here as soon as they can.”

“What happened?”

“Don’t know. Heat lightning's my guess.”

“How long’s it been burning?”

Jase shrugged as he moved to the barn, each movement unhurried, yet swift and competent. “Probably a few hours. We saw lightening before we went to bed.”

“Lot of land can burn in a few hours,” Dink said, snagging a rope to get his horse.

“Jase?” Shannon paused beside the truck.

“Yeah?”

“Take care of yourself and Shadow.” She was afraid for him. Cattle could be so dangerous when spooked.

“Yeah, you too, darlin’. Cut the wires, then get the hell out of the way. When they come, they’ll be coming fast.”

She nodded. Starting the truck, she backed to the bunkhouse. Gary came flying out and hopped into the truck. As Shannon drove recklessly over the uneven ground, she filled him in on everything she knew.

“I’m going as close to the fire as I can get, to see what’s going on,” Shannon told Gary as they bounced across the rough trail. She pushed the truck for all it was worth. Time seemed to drag by, then speed up. She felt disoriented as they hurtled toward the glow that grew brighter and brighter. The smoke started to blur the landscape, thick and gray.

Twice Gary stepped down to open a gate, climbing back into the truck with the gate left wide open. Soon the smoke was so strong, they rolled up the windows to keep it from filling the truck, though they couldn’t escape it entirely. Visibility diminished even more. The smoke now seemed to glow orange as it reflected the fire behind it.

The glow grew brighter until she could see the flames licking along in an erratic line, greedily consuming the tall, dry grass. Still a mile or more away when Shannon veered away and drove along the line of fencing of that section, its progress was relentless.

Steers already milled around in panic, bawling and snorting. The scene was chaotic. Scrambling from the cab, Shannon grabbed a pair of wire cutters and attacked the nearest stretch of fence, trying to wrap the loose barbed wire around the posts, moving on to the next one.

Gary hobbled ahead and began cutting the next section. Coughing in the thick air, she ignored discomfort and worked quietly, desperately. Slowly but surely they moved along the fence, destroying all the work that had gone in to stringing the fence in the first place.

Shannon kept a wary eye on the cattle, noting with relief that some of them were drifting her way, taking advantage of the openings and moving away from the encroaching flames. Their panic was abating now that they had a clear path ahead.

She heard thundering hooves and looked around. Jase and Dink rode by, mere silhouettes against the fiery glow. Dawn was still an hour or more away. Shannon returned to work, the need to keep her cattle safe uppermost in her mind. Coughing in the thick smoke, she tried to see the next strand. Her eyes watered almost too much to see.

Afraid to get too far from the truck, she jogged back to it, started it up and moved it ahead. She rejoined Gary, cutting, wrapping the dangerous barbed wire round the posts so cattle wouldn’t get caught in it, moving on to the next section of fence. She moved the truck again.

When she heard the thunder, she looked up again. It wasn’t caused by lightning this time, but by the sound of cattle as men pushed the steers away from the flames.

“Gary, come on, run. Head for the truck until they’ve passed.”

She ran for the limited safety of the pickup. Gary was only a few steps behind her. In seconds they were surrounded by frantic cattle. The noise was fierce, the confusion rampant. Crazed with fear, the cattle ran blindly. Several bumped into the truck, rocking it. Time and time again Shannon held her breath, wondering if the pickup would protect them as the cattle surged past. Swerving around the truck, the cattle continued their frantic pace.

The line of flames drew steadily closer. Shannon could clearly see Jase and Dink silhouetted in the light of the fire. Her heart caught several times when Jase seemed to head Shadow directly into the flames to try to turn a maddened steer. Each time they turned away unscathed she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Best be moving away from the fire ourselves, Shannon,” Gary said as the fire drew close.

She started the engine and turned to the next section. In the distance she could hear the wail of a fire engine, see the flashing lights. Thank God, help at last.

She pulled up a few yards and stopped, her lights flashing to let the firemen know where they were. The fire engine swerved and headed directly for her. In only moments a dozen men jumped out and headed toward the fire to assess the situation. Shannon ran to join them, Jase rode up on Shadow.

“You got here fast,” Jase said, dismounting beside the chief.

“We’re from a substation near this side of town. The others will be along as soon as they can get here. How long’s it been burning?”

“We don’t know, but figure a few hours. Depending where it started, it’s burned a lot of acreage. The river is over yonder and would have stopped it there.”

“Yes, and the highway along the north boundary will stop it eventually. That leaves this area and to the south.”

“If it continues in this direction it’ll get the house and barns.”

“We’ll stop it before then, but not much before, unless I miss my guess.”

“Can you put it out?” Shannon asked.

“Ma’am, the line looks to be over a couple of miles in length. With this wind, and the grass as dry as it is, it’ll take more than what we’ve got to stop it completely anytime soon. Best to just contain what we can and let it burn itself out. We want to keep your livestock safe, keep your buildings. Beyond that…” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You have tractors coming?” Jase asked.

“Yes, three. Two from our department, one from one of the local ranchers. As soon as they get here, we’ll start to work on the firebreaks.”

“Start around the house first,” Jase said.

“Right. Then we’ll pull in between the cattle and the fire line and do what we can.”

“We’ll try to bunch the herd, keep it tight and as far from the fire line as we can. We need some more help, though.”

“I’ll get a horse,” Shannon said.

“No. We’ll need food, coffee. You do that,” Jase said.

“Forget it. This is my place, in case you’ve forgotten. I’ll help defend it.” She would not be shunted off like some helpless female.

“God, you’re headstrong.” He reached out to encircle her neck with his hand, drawing her up for a quick, hard kiss. “Stay away from the fire,” he ordered.

“You, too,” she said, turning back to the truck.

“Gary, I’m getting a horse, can you stay here and help however they need it?”

He nodded.

“I’ll give you a ride back, if you like, ma’am.” The fire chief caught up with her. “I need your phone and that’ll leave the truck with your man.”

“Thanks.”

As they drove to the ranch house, two more tanker trucks passed them. Shannon was relieved at the quick response, she only wished they had known about the fire earlier. How much of her range land had been destroyed? Had any cattle been burned?

The first trailer with a tractor pulled into the yard just as they arrived. The fire chief jumped out and went to give directions to the crew while Shannon hurried to the barn to saddle Bugle. She couldn’t believe what had happened in the short time since Jase had wakened her. Dawn was beginning to break in the eastern sky. It would help to have light to see what they were doing. How long before the blaze could be extinguished?

Her heart pounded with fear. What would she do if she lost everything. Surely they could protect the house. The fire was still a ways away.

No time to worry about that now. What happened, happened. Now she was anxious to get back to help. She rode out of the yard at a gallop.

The wind blew, fed by the heat of the flames. After a while a fire generated its own wind; how much stronger would it become? She rode toward the fire line. The hot, acrid air burned her lungs, her eyes. She wished she'd remembered to get a bandanna. She used one at branding time, it would help now. But she didn't want to take the time to ride back home to find one.

The cacophony of sound was awful, worse than any roundup she’d attended, worse than the branding and notching she’d worked. The cattle were frantic, milling around, bawling and snorting, thundering first this way then that. It was impossible to contain them with only two men. Even with her help, they wouldn't be able to do much but keep them away from the fire.

The horses whinnied their protest, their hooves rumbling. The snap and spit of the fire, the hoarse shouts of the fire fighters all blended to add to the chaos.

Jase and Shadow worked tirelessly, constantly turning the cattle from the fire line when the steers tried to break toward it in their panic. Shannon joined him and Dink. They needed a dozen men to do the job right. Maybe more would come. She had asked the fire chief to send any volunteers as they arrived. But she didn’t have time to think about that now, she had to keep those steers away from the fire. She kicked her horse in front of one recalcitrant animal and headed him back.

The tanker truck had moved to her left, spreading down a line of water in an effort to stop a portion of the fire. With the wind gusting behind them, and the heat of the flames as it consumed the raw grass, it was a futile effort at best.

Where were the dozers? That's what they needed.

Shannon felt the intensity of the heat, heard the crackling as the grass flashed into flame. Her own mount was uneasy and no wonder. Skittish cattle on one hand, a threatening fire behind it, it was a wonder Bugle responded as well as he did.

Time seemed to stand still. Again and again she moved the cattle, again and again breaking left or right to head a recalcitrant steer back. They were moving steadily closer to the house. It seemed as if she played the same scene over and over.

A roar behind her caused her to turn in the saddle. Her truck had been engulfed in flames. For one panicked moment she wondered if Gary were in it. But he would have no reason to be in it. He was working with the firefighters.

Sparing only a brief regret for the loss of her vehicle, she moved closer, crowding the cattle, urging them away from the confusion and danger .

In the distance she saw the tractors. The wide swath they plowed would be the firebreak. They needed to cut a path the entire length for containment. If the fire jumped at any point, they would have the situation all over again.

Smoke blew thicker now, low along the ground, choking everyone. The wind gusted, swirled around, feeding the fire even as the dry grass fed it. Shannon kept rubbing her eyes, they watered in the smoky air, her vision blurred. How much longer would they have to keep it up? The sun shone overhead, its heat exacerbating the fiery air generated by the fire. She had long since given up any hope of knowing what time it was, of wondering if she could get a cold drink somewhere. It felt as if her whole being revolved around driving the cattle away from the fire. She almost couldn’t remember doing anything else.