Firestorm (7 page)

It was only
about ten minutes into the one trek when Meagan turned back and
motioned to us that we were going to rest again. Grandpa didn’t
look well at all and he was sporting a slight fever. We sat down
under the shade of some overhanging trees in the open terrain on
some small rocks and I gave Grandpa a few sips from my water
bottle.

From where we
sat, we couldn’t get a good view of the sky behind the towering
trees behind us, so in one way that eased my stress even though I
knew that it was still there. Brad and Ali ran ahead and
disappeared behind some rocks on the wide rocky terrain. I opened
my water bottle again to give Grandpa some more water but he pushed
it away and began to moan about his leg.

“No more water.
I think I’m going to throw up as it is. I’m not sure how much more
I can go on this. It hurts a lot now, more than before. And I’m so
darn dizzy.”

Grandpa’s face
was pale and looked almost sunken, and it was obvious that he was
in a lot of pain. And I’m sure that knowing there was a fire behind
us only added to his stress. I stepped back to stand alone with
Meagan and we were already thinking the same thing. She leaned in
and covered her mouth as she whispered to me.

“The infection
is making him sick, Sarah, and he’s got a fever. Look how pale he
is. I’m really worried about him. I don’t think he can walk
anymore.”

As she spoke, a
prickle of fear crawled across my neck. I knew that the infection
in his leg was spreading fast and that we had to get him to a
doctor soon, but it was going to take us several hours at the rate
we were going just to get to the bridge.

“I know, Meg.
Maybe we could make a stretcher of some kind to carry him on. Do
you think?”

Meagan shook
her head in disappointment just as the guys were running back. They
both collapsed in front of us and Ali panted as he tried to
talk.

“Brad and I ran
as far over there as we could. We couldn’t see much but there’s a
lot of smoke on the far side of the forest. Grandpa’s right. A
shift in the wind and it’ll come right at us.”

This is not the
news that we wanted to hear and it scared me. I wanted to keep
thinking positive but now it was becoming a real challenge.

“Well, if we
can get to the bridge we’ll be safe. It bottle-necks at that point
but the bridge is metal and there’s water below it so the fire
can’t really spread across it. And the river gets really wide on
either side, especially to the right, so even if the fire does
spread towards us, once we get across the bridge we should be safe,
right? Brad? Ali? Why don’t you look more hopeful?”

I followed
Ali’s eyes to Grandpa’s leg and I knew why. Brad was intrigued with
the smoke and wandered off to the side to study it more carefully.
As I looked to where we were going I understood Ali’s frustration
because I knew that Grandpa couldn’t walk any more.

“We should find
something to make a stretcher so we can carry him. Wouldn’t that
help us move along a bit faster?”

Meagan
suggested tying the blankets somehow to branches and Ali agreed
that it could be done. Brad heard us talking and then grabbed his
bag and unzipped it.

“Maybe I have
something. When we dumped our bags back at the house I didn’t unzip
the side pockets.”

Ali jerked his
head as he grinned.

“I didn’t
either.”

Brad pulled out
what looked like a yellow bag. He winked at me and raised his
eyebrows.

“I’ve got a
nylon tent here and Ali’s got rope. Now we just need to find some
branches for the rods and we’ve got ourselves a stretcher.”

While the guys
looked for two branches, Meagan and I sat with Grandpa and tried to
comfort him as he groaned painfully. He seemed to look worse every
minute and his bandage was now completely soaked with blood. I
rubbed his hand and spoke softly.

“Grandpa, just
hang on. We’re going to make something to carry you on so you won’t
have to walk. You’re going to be okay.”

Grandpa opened
his swollen eyelids and looked up at me. His face was withdrawn and
his eyes were wet. He was trying to contain the pain but it was
spreading all through him and all he could say was that he felt
sick.

Meagan and I
cuddled on each side of him and we talked about the things we used
to do when we visited years ago and what we were going to do when
we got home. But after a few minutes he stopped chuckling and just
grunted. I knew we had to hurry.

A few minutes
later the guys returned with two ragged branches that were about
eight feet long, and then they took their army knives and shaved
off the rough and jagged parts to make it easier for carrying. The
branches were crooked and uneven but Ali assured us that they were
strong enough to hold Grandpa’s weight. Brad grabbed the thin rope
and he and Ali spread the tent out and tied it onto the branches.
Meagan and I sat beside Grandpa and watched with amazement at how
fast they put together a make-shift stretcher.

Ali smiled at
us as he tied the last knot.

“It’s all part
of our training as camp counsellors and leaders. Okay, my side’s
done. How you doing over there, man?”

“Got it. Okay,
let me just tie this off – okay, I’m done. This should hold Grandpa
and if we each grab an end we should be able to move a bit faster.
Just hope Don will keep up with us.”

Don? We’d been
so busy trying to get the stretcher for Grandpa that we’d forgotten
about Don. I turned towards the tree where he’d been resting to
tell him that we were about to continue, but he wasn’t there.”

“Don? Don?
Where are you?”

Meagan looked
surprised and started calling for him in another direction, and
then the guys joined in. We searched the area all around us as we
called out for him. That’s when I noticed the sky. The smoke was
getting closer and Don was nowhere to be found.

I stayed back
with Grandpa while the others took off in three different
directions looking for Don. I could hear them calling his name and
their voices broke the eerie stillness of the forest that prevailed
so loudly in my ears. There wasn’t a sound, not a bird chirping in
a single tree or flying anywhere around us, and no movement on the
ground from the little furry wilderness creatures.

Grandpa’s bushy
eyebrows were close together as he shook his head and grunted.

“That old fool,
what is he doing now?”

I sat looking
around nervously and wondering how close the fire was, and the only
thing that kept me calm was thinking how close we were to the
bridge. Grandpa’s face grew paler by the minute and his bandage was
even more soaked than before.

“Where would he
go, Grandpa?”

“No idea.”

“But you know
him better than anyone, and you know how he is, Grandpa. Do you
think he’s just running towards the bridge without us?”

Grandpa closed
his eyes as he held my hand in his shaking grip.

“He could be
anywhere. He’s got a bit of Alzheimer’s and sometimes he gets lost
in the war. He’s got worse lately and it’s hard to know what he’s
thinking.”

My heart sank
as I glanced across the terrain towards the back of the forest and
saw clouds of smoke rising up above the distant trees, and I knew
those clouds weren’t there a few minutes ago. They were rolling but
I couldn’t tell if they were moving towards us or just up. Grandpa
kept trying to touch his wounded leg and he was groaning under his
breath. I knew his pride didn’t want me to know that he was in pain
but it was getting hard for him not to show it.

“Grandpa, the
smoke is getting closer. We have to get going soon. I hope they
find Don so we can get to the bridge.”

Grandpa opened
one eye and looked at me through his weighted eyebrow.

“Sometimes he
just does things. He could be running to get away from the fire or
in his mind he could be fighting it somewhere.”

“But where?
Where would he go? He should have just stayed with us but now we
have to wait for him and I just want to get out of here.”

We sat quiet
and a minute later Meagan came limping back through some briar and
dropped herself down beside Grandpa. He groaned when he saw her and
I was frustrated that she had been injured.

“Oh my gosh,
Meg! What happened to your leg? You’re bleeding.”

Meagan sat
forward and pulled the bottom of her t-shirt to dab her wound that
was dripping blood down her shin.

“There’s
potholes everywhere out there and I didn’t see one. Gees, I tripped
in it and the grass and branches are so darned dry they cut my leg.
Ouch! This hurts.”

I leaned over
and grabbed Ali’s backpack to get the first aid box and then pulled
out the disinfectant and some tissues.

“Let me pour
this on the cuts, Meg. Close your eyes for a second.”

She clenched
her fists and squealed quietly as the sting of the liquid etched
its way into the wounds. There were some large, square band aids in
the kit so I put one over the two cuts that were still bleeding,
but the others were spread down her leg and they weren’t dripping
so I left them.

“Geez, Sarah, I
can’t believe that I didn’t see that stupid hole. I thought for
sure I’d twisted my ankle, but I think it’s okay. Or maybe my leg
just stings so much I can’t feel it.”

Grandpa put his
arm around Meagan and as usual broke the tension of the moment with
his passionate grin.

“Honey, you
didn’t have to do this just for me. One of us with a bad leg was
enough.”

We all chuckled
for a few seconds but as I put the kit back into Ali’s bag I was
shaking inside because the smoke was getting noticeably closer, not
a lot but enough to scare me. I still couldn’t smell it and that
was fine with me because I knew if I could then we were in real
trouble.

A few minutes
later Ali strolled in from one side and said that he’d searched
everywhere and called out for Don but he couldn’t find him. And
then a minute after that Brad ran in from the other side and said
almost the same thing. It bothered me a lot that Don couldn’t be
found, and selfishly, not just because he was lost but because we
had to get Grandpa to the hospital as soon as possible and now we
couldn’t go anywhere because of him.

When Ali saw
Meagan’s leg his eyes bugged out and he fell on his knees in front
of her as he caressed it gently.

“Awe, Meg. What
happened?”

Meagan
explained how she’d injured her leg and then looked sideways to
Grandpa. Meagan tapped his thigh as she looked at Ali.

“I’ll be okay,
Ali, but we have to Grandpa to the doctor – like soon.”

Ali stood up
and huffed loudly.

“Well, this is
just great. Kind of a catch-22, isn’t it? We need all four of us to
carry the stretcher but we can’t do anything until we find Don.
What’s with this guy, anyway?”

Grandpa forced
himself to his feet even though his body was wavering.

“I’ll just
walk. Don’t need to carry me. Maybe I can head back with one of you
and the rest can search for Don.”

Just then
Grandpa fell back onto the rock and Brad caught him so he helped
him to sit.

“I’m just a bit
dizzy. Give me a second and we can go.”

Brad shook his
head at Ali and raised his eyebrows.

“He can’t walk.
His leg is bleeding. We need to carry him. Okay, let’s get a plan
and get going.”

Ali stood up
and turned in every direction and then threw his hands in the
air.

“I don’t know
where to begin looking for this guy. Where would he go? He’s old,
how far can he get?”

Grandpa reached
forward and grabbed Ali’s arm. He looked up and spoke slowly.

“He’s old but
he’s fast. He’s a retired marathon runner, old and crazy. And he
knows these woods better than anyone.”

Somehow I just
couldn’t picture Don tearing his way through the dry grass and
stony paths to get home, especially when the only way back for us
was to cross the sway bridge that he was afraid of.

“But, Grandpa,
he’s in pain. He’s been groaning and complaining about how much his
hands hurt. Do you really think he can move so fast that we can’t
find him?”

Grandpa
snickered cynically.

“You don’t need
hands to run, Sarah. His legs are fine and he’s fuelled with fear.
He could be quite a ways away by now especially if his mind goes on
him.”

Ali paced the
stony ground and then turned towards us and threw his hands up
again and then slapped them at his side.

“But where
would he go? He’s afraid of the bridge so he wouldn’t go there, and
he’s afraid of the fire so he’d be running away from it. So, maybe
he’s hiding somewhere nearby?”

Grandpa shook
his head slowly as he opened his eyes and looked down at the
ground. The rest of us spent the next couple of minutes talking
about where he might have gone. Brad looked over at Grandpa and
then sat down on the boulder beside Meagan.

“Grandpa, when
he was caught in that fire before, you know, the one he mentioned
that was back in the fifties? How did he escape?”

Grandpa grunted
and I knew he was trying to think above the pain and sickness that
was now very obvious by the gruelling expressions on his face. He
puffed a couple of times as his eyes shifted from one direction to
the other.

“There was a
lake and he was a good swimmer back then. He swam out to a little
mound that was far out into the water and he waited there to be
rescued. He screamed for his partner to swim out with him but he
couldn’t swim so he stayed in the water near the shore hoping that
I could get to him.”

We all watched
Grandpa painfully tell us this horror story. Lumps of agony rose up
into my chest and it was hard to swallow.