Firestorm (17 page)

Ali began
pacing as his eyes bounced from the skies around us to the paths
ahead of us.

“Okay, we have
to work fast and I don’t really think we have much choice here.
That hill takes us back to the house but it’s in the direct path of
the fire, and with the wind that’s picked up, it’ll over take us
before we get to the top. That leaves us with going by the water
but it’s too much of a drop and I’m not sure how to get him down
there. But, we have to get down there because from what I see I
think the water is going to be our only way of escape.”

The whole time
Ali was talking Brad was leaning over the edge of the river ledge
trying to see down the grassy slope that was spread ahead of us
between the rocky wall and the river.

“Hey, Ali, I
think we can do this. Look at it. It’s narrow, a bit rocky but it’s
fairly consistent, goes right down to the water and it looks like
there may be an area where we can rest. If we can get down there
it’ll be a lot easier getting him into the water. What do you
think?”

The smell of
smoke was becoming more predominant by the second and I was anxious
to take the chance down the narrow slope. Meagan agreed that it was
our only choice and Ali nodded with her.

“Sounds good
but we have to really huff it. That smoke is coming in fast down
there, too. Look at it crossing the water towards us.”

Megan moved in
beside Brad as he pointed towards the path and tapped his arm.

“We’re all good
swimmers and we’ve been through worse – and the water might not
even be that deep down there. Even Don is a champion swimmer, so I
think we have to do it.”

Ali pointed to
his backpack and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Okay, and
we’re gonna need that extra rope so we can tie him onto this thing
because if he moves around when we’re going down that path, we
could all fall.”

Meagan yanked
the rope from one of the backpacks and she and Ali quickly tied it
around Grandpa so he was secured onto the stretcher. When she
lifted his arm, Grandpa told her that he felt sick, and so she
rubbed his face gently and told him that we would be home in a few
minutes. Ali tied the last knot and then looked up at us.

“Okay, are we
ready? Let’s go.”

I looked at him
and then at Grandpa and that’s when my eyes caught Don pointing
anxiously to the path. He was willing to get down there and I was
glad of that because the last thing we needed was a fight to get
him to move.

“Okay, I’ll
walk with Don and follow you guys, okay?”

Ali nodded as
he and Brad lifted the stretcher. Meagan and I each tossed a
backpack over our shoulders and then we all edged slowly towards
the grassy slope that ran between a rocky formation and the river
that was about fifty feet down. Brad looked back at Meagan and I
and his words gave both of us a bit of hope.

“I couldn’t see
it that clearly, but it looks like a little cove down there that
just might be protected from the fire for a while, so if we can get
down there, then maybe one of us could just swim back to the house
from there to get help while the rest stay here with him.”

Don and I
followed the guys with Meagan just ahead of us, but he was eager to
get going and so he forced us both into high gear, and seconds
later we brushed by everyone as I held onto the rope. I was yelling
at Don to slow down and wait for the guys to lead but Ali shouted
out for us to just go. And he was right because the important thing
at this point was that Don was cooperating, so we headed down the
narrow path.

It was a very
uneven and rugged path, only about four to five feet wide and
covered in dry grass and small rocks, intermingled with hidden
potholes. Somehow Don was able to practically run down the slope
but I was running awkwardly behind him taking every step as if it
were my last. One slip and I’d be in the river below, not that I
was afraid of the water because I wasn’t. What bothered me was that
this was a very rocky area and I had no idea if there were rocks
just underneath it or not, and I didn’t want to fall into it to
find out.

Don stopped and
turned to me halfway down the slope as he spoke anxiously.

“Come on, Pete.
Hurry up. The boat’s down here.”

“I’m coming.
I’m coming.”

I turned back
to see the others and Meagan was a few feet behind me but the guys
were far behind her. They were good at trekking and at mountain
climbing so I knew that if anyone could get Grandpa down this path
it would be them. But it was a real challenge that didn’t allow for
one slip up. And I had my own challenge ahead of me.

“Okay, we’re
coming, Don. Slow down. I just wish there really was a boat down
there.”

“There is a
boat, Pete. I know it.”

Don practically
pulled me down the slope and although he slipped and fell several
times, it never slowed him down. I felt as if I was taking my dog
for a walk as Don pulled on the rope and yelled for us to hurry
up.

Meagan kept the
pace right behind me and I turned back as often as I could just to
make sure that they were all still following and that they were
okay. The overwhelming smoke that followed us was enough incentive
to keep us moving in spite of the challenges.

But what we
originally thought was a dead end plateau turned out to be a big
rock that we were able to skirt around and so we continued moving
quickly down along the water’s edge. Don held onto the rock with
his right hand that was wrapped in bandages as he started to
shuffle along the narrow passage. I had to hold him back so we
could wait for the others.

“Don, wait. We
need to wait for the others. We’ll get lost if we don’t, so hang on
a second.”

“But, Pete, the
boat’s down here. We can get to it from here.”

“I know, I
know, but we have to wait for the others or we’ll lose them. Let’s
just stop and wait for them, okay?”

I had to yell a
couple of times before Don actually stopped moving. I could tell he
was panicking as he stood and pointed to the inferno that was about
half a mile or so away on the other side of the lake.

“It’s coming
here, Pete. We have to hurry.”

“I know it is,
Don, but we have to wait for the others. Just stand still for a
minute until the others catch up, okay?”

I held onto the
rope tightly as I stood on the edge of the narrow path. I looked
back at the guys and my heart raced with fear as I wondered how
they would carry Grandpa along it without falling into the water
below. But they seemed to handle the trek relatively easy and that
should have given me a spark of hope, but a sudden gust of smoke
sent me almost into a panic.

Meagan soon
joined me and ran over to the big rock to look down the path.

“It’s almost
the same as the one we just came along, so if the guys are okay
with it, maybe we should all just get down there and wait there
instead of up here.”

The smell of
burning trees was so heavy all around us now that it was scaring me
and my dream was becoming more real by the second. A few seconds
later the guys joined us on the small, rocky plateau and rested
Grandpa on the ground. Brad immediately ran to the path that Meagan
was looking down.

“Hey, Ali, we
can do this. It’s only a few yards long and it looks like it takes
us right down to the water. I’m going to check it out.”

Within seconds
Brad had disappeared behind the huge boulder and I stood beside
Meagan as we watched and waited for him to return. And sure enough,
a few seconds later Brad was back and motioned for us to follow
him.

“It’s almost
like that other path only shorter. The thing is it turns a bit
around that rock but it takes us right down to the water and
everything around is rock so we should be safe resting there for a
few minutes while someone goes for help.”

The guys lifted
the stretcher again and Ali turned towards me for a second.

“Sounds good to
me. You okay with Don?”

I held the rope
tightly and to keep Don from running on down the slope.

“Yeah, he’s
fine. It’s me I’m worried about.”

“Okay, let’s
go.”

Don was
anxiously pulling on the rope and kept telling us to hurry up so we
could get on the boat.

“The boat’s
down here, Pete. Come on. Let’s get it ready for the others and
then we can take everyone to the rescue ship.”

“Yeah, okay
Don. Just don’t pull so much. I don’t want to slip.”

I followed
closely behind Don and I was surprised how well he moved for an old
man. He stepped quickly and carefree along the path and didn’t seem
to have any fear of it being narrow or of the danger of the river
below.

We got to the
huge rock within seconds and we were able to get around it easily
enough, but I was worried about the guys bringing Grandpa around
it. Meagan grunted as she squirmed back around the rock to look at
them.

“Well, I think
we’re going to have to help them somehow, although it’s not going
to be easy because there’s not much room to move.”

I looked back
down the path and the guys were only seconds away.

“What if I grab
the side closest to this big rock and help pull it so that Brad can
focus on the other side and keep his balance. What do you
think?”

Meagan opened
her eyes wide as she huffed.

“Could work.
But you’re going to need to scrunch around this rock and you can’t
let go no matter what. Here, give me the rope and I’ll hold onto
Don. Are you sure you can do this?”

“Yeah, I just
have to get in the right spot, that’s all. Okay, I think I can grab
it from here.”

As the guys
slowly approached, Meagan told them what I was going to do and Brad
said that was a good idea but to not touch anything until he said
to. Meagan and I watched and my heart raced as I worried about not
grabbing the stretcher properly or in time.

They took slow,
methodical steps and as Brad turned on the bend he told us to get
ready to grab the one side. I waited with my hand out for the right
second and then when he said “Now” I grasped the corner of the
stretcher and held it tight as I backed up. Brad came around and
stepped carefully onto the plateau and then quickly turned and took
hold of both front branches as he moved backwards. When Ali got to
the turn, Brad told Meagan and I to take the front of the stretcher
and moved close to the rock and grabbed the one corner to help Ali
get around the rock. Meagan and I moved backwards and both guys
stepped onto the plateau.

We immediately
set Grandpa down and both of the guys collapsed onto the ground to
catch their breath. Brad opened his eyes a few seconds later and
smirked as he looked around.

“Any other time
this just might be the place to hide from the world. Almost cozy
here.”

I hadn’t really
thought about it until he said that, and it was a cozy little
hide-away. The clear water was only a few feet down and the
platform was surrounded in huge rocks. I’m sure that normally the
view across the water was peaceful and pretty but today, it was
anything but that. I was anxious to move on and I forced myself to
my feet.

“I’m going to
swim ahead for help. You guys should be safe here for a little
while because it’s almost totally surrounded in rocks.”

Brad put his
hand up and took a deep breath.

“Wait, wait,
wait just a second, Sarah. I’ll go with you. Just give me a second,
okay?”

Don began to
dance around in excitement.

“The boat is
just down there. Are you going to bring it to us? It’s so close.
Oh, I’m so glad we’re going to get out of here now.”

Meagan rolled
her eyes as she grunted.

“Oh, you and
that boat. Just stay calm, okay? Sarah is going to check it
out.”

Don turned and
squinted at Meagan with a confused look on his face.

“I mean, Pete
is going to check it out with James, okay, Don? Now just sit here
and wait with us, okay?”

Brad and Ali
both looked worn and tired and I know that carrying Grandpa along
that dangerous path was playing on both of their nerves. They
needed the few seconds break to regain their strength, although it
seemed as if we were waiting through an eternity of time.

Brad looked up
through his dark eyebrows and his face broke into a wide grin.

“Are you ready
to go swimming, Sarah?”

“Sorry, Brad.
This whole thing just scares me and I guess I’m just anxious to get
out of here and get Grandpa to the hospital.”

“Me, too. So
let’s see who gets their boots off first.”

We both unlaced
our boots and yanked them off. I tucked my socks into my boots and
put them beside Meagan, and she reached out and tapped my hand as
she forced a smile and asked me if I was okay with this for
real.

“I’m fine,
don’t worry. We’ll be back real soon. And we can’t be far from the
dock anyway which means we’re close to the house and we can call
for help. Are you going to be okay, here, though?”

“Yeah, just
go.”

I motioned for
Don to go sit beside Meagan while we were gone but he his face was
flushed as he moved around excitedly.

“I can’t sit. I
want to get on the boat. You’re getting the boat now, Pete?”

“Yeah, we’re
getting the boat now so you just please sit down and wait with
Meagan, okay?”

Brad and I
edged our way down to the water and he was just about to step into
it when he turned to me and grabbed my arm.

“Do you see
that?”

I looked where
Brad was pointing and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I almost fell
over from shock.

I could feel
the adrenalin rush as the excitement shot through me. Brad grabbed
my arm and his face lit up with a huge grin.