Firestorm - Ellie Masters Page 0,12

for all the animals trapped in the fire without a way to escape.

Focus!

I can’t allow my soft heart to distract me from survival. Seth said something about digging a ditch. Or am I thinking about surviving a tornado? I’ve learned too much about the outdoors that it’s all getting muddled in my head.

But then, I remember George showing me how to lay face down, feet pointed toward the fire. He told me to cover myself with dirt or rock and let the fire pass.

Let it pass?

Like, let it pass over me?

I’m so terrified I can barely breathe, but I am breathing. The choking smoke is above me. Not that my situation can’t change with a shift in the winds. I keep thinking about canyons funneling hot winds.

I make it to the boulders and there’s the tiniest opening big enough to fit my head and shoulders. It’s dark inside and it’s getting darker outside.

That red glow? It’s not from the sun. The fire is growing. Roaring. The fearsome sound is straight out of a nightmare.

I wiggle into the space between the boulders, but there’s not a lot of room and my legs stick out from the knee down. I pull out and dig a trench, keeping George’s words in mind.

Dig a trench. Cover yourself with dirt and rock.

I have nothing but my hands. I unwrap the cloth from around them and set it to the side. Then I dig and prop rocks along my little trench. It’s not much, but I cover my legs with dirt while trying to twist back around to lay on my stomach. I used all the water during my mad dash, but the rags for my hands, and the one around my head, are still damp.

It’s the best I can do.

With boulders overhead, and my feet sticking out, I hunker down and pray.

5

Asher

I leave Brody and Cage with mom and race back to the house. It’s too early to think about evacuation, but I know fire. The wind blows toward us. I’m not taking chances with mom’s house. As for the vineyard? If that fire spills down the hill, our entire livelihood will be at risk.

My brothers will extend the clear space surrounding mom’s house. She keeps a fire break, or rather I do, one of my obsessive compulsions after seeing far too many homes destroyed by wildfires.

The thin column of smoke behind me grows.

That’s bad.

The drought doesn’t help. All the vegetation is dry; primed to feed a fire’s hunger. If we’re not careful, we’ll have a firestorm on our hands. As I gallop away, Brody fires up the chainsaw while Cage goes to town with the rake. They’ll do what they can to protect the house.

When I get to the barn, George is waiting. Brody must have called ahead.

“Get him inside and gather the mares from the fields.” I turn over Knight’s reins.

“Already on it. Juan and Miguel are getting them now.” George steadies Knight. “I’ve got Andy on the tractor clearing the road.”

My foreman is amazing. He’s got our men already at work. Juan and Miguel will keep the horses safe, corralling them in small fenced enclosure next to the barn. If we need to evacuate, it’ll be easiest having them contained rather than chasing them across a field. Terrified horses fleeing fire is not a good thing.

“I’m hooking up the trailers, just in case,” George adds. “You think I should move them now?”

“Hopefully not.” We have twenty-five horses to evacuate if the need arises, and barely enough hauling capacity to do it.

With Andy working the roads to push back any vegetation which may have overgrown from our last pass at the beginning of spring, I’m hopeful. Our vines should be safe. The main house, barn, and working buildings are in the center of our property with a large clear space around them. Even if we lose the vines, chances are the main structures will endure. With the exception of the barn, the buildings are constructed mostly of stone. We’ll survive and rebuild.

It’s my hope this is nothing more than an exercise in preparedness.

Always ready to respond at a moment’s notice, I sling my go-bag over my shoulder after pulling on my protective gear. A quick stop at the sink to fill the bladders of my hydration packs, and I race out of the house.

Over my shoulder, the faintest ruddy glow is visible at the base of the smoke. The damn fire is establishing herself. She’s going to be a feisty bitch. I feel