Jumping Feet First

by Melissa Stevens

  Chapter 6

  The days blurred together. He was either on site somewhere, cutting trees and clearing a firebreak, on the truck either headed out to the site or back to the school for some sleep, usually eating whatever rations they had as quickly as he could get them down or in a deep, exhausted sleep while his body attempted to recover from the torture he was putting it through.

  Still, the small woman so determined to stay and keep her little farm safe wasn’t far from his mind. He’d double checked the maps every day after getting up. The fire hadn’t turned and so far, her place was safe. He didn’t know if Sheriff O’Brian had gotten her out yet or not. Somehow, unless he’d resorted to arresting her, James didn’t think so. There had been a few times when James had been glad to see a property owner who refused to leave removed, so his crew could get to the fire and do what needed to get done.

  This time was different. This time he hoped it didn’t have to be done. He hoped the fire never got close enough they’d have to force her to evacuate. Though he hoped she’d stay safe and some part of him, some deeply buried bit he was unfamiliar with, hoped not only did her ranch survive the fire, but she managed to keep all her animals alive and didn’t manage to get hurt in the process. Usually, he was of the opinion that if someone got hurt doing something they shouldn’t have been, then they most likely deserved it, at least in part. But he didn’t feel that way about Miss Keeting. While in some ways, Miss Keeting was no different than the other people who refused to evacuate when told, in so many other ways she was different. She was the first he’d ever encountered who had done so much to protect her place and her animals. He hated to see that kind of research and effort rewarded with a criminal record and the possibility of losing everything anyway. Not that someone would take it from her, but if the fire did turn back toward her place they might not have time to stop it. He hoped it didn’t come to that.

  Chapter 7

  Ally woke to the persistent bleat of hungry sheep twenty feet below. Opening her eyes, she found only a faint light leaking through the cracks that lit the barn during the day.

  Damn.

  She lifted her head and looked around, it must be even earlier than it had been the day before. She sighed and let her head fall back against the pillow. One downside of sleeping in the barn with the sheep was she was getting less and less sleep each night. Despite falling exhausted into bed each night. She hadn’t even noticed the hard, uncomfortable cot beneath her as the dreamless sleep overtook her each night. Exhaustion from working left her so fatigued she didn’t even move all night long.

  As she lay staring up at the weathered wood over her head, she could only hope the winds would die down and the crews would be able to contain the fire. Then her home, along with so many of her neighbors, would no longer be in danger. The whole community could start picking things up and putting their lives back the way they belonged. She could get back to caring for her sheep, and creating her handmade soaps and cheeses, preparing things for sale so, maybe, just maybe, she could make the bills this month. Making enough to pay the bills wasn’t usually a concern. She’d built up her client list and generally had more than a little to spare at the end of the month. But her budget didn’t include the added expense of trying to save her herd and the rest of her operation. Nor did it account for the number of lost work days she’d had in the last week and a half, since the fire started.

  Ali heaved a sigh and forced herself to sit up. Might as well get started. No one else was going to feed the animals for her. She pulled on her jeans and stepped into her boots as she pulled an almost clean t-shirt on over her head. She had run out of clean clothes up here. She either had to get more from inside or take these in and throw them in the washer. She probably ought to do both. This thing had lasted longer than she’d thought it would and so far, it didn’t show any signs of stopping.

  The firefighters who worked harder than she did must be about ready to drop from exhaustion, lord knew she was, and she wasn’t lifting or carrying nearly as much as they did. Nor keeping the super long hours. The last couple days she’d fallen exhausted into bed shortly after dark, only to have the animals below wake her as soon as the sun came up.

  She wasn’t entirely out of touch with the world. Every evening after the sun set and she’d settled the animals in for the night she’d retreat to the cot in the loft and pull out her phone. New information on the fire was always her first priority. She checked on containment progress and what the forest service had to say about what they planned to do. She also needed to make sure no one else had been hurt.

  Two days ago, she’d found out a half-dozen of the fire crew had gotten trapped too close to the fire line. Something had happened, the news story hadn’t been clear exactly what, but they’d ended up taking all six into the hospital in Blackjack, they’d released three the same day, but kept the other three for smoke inhalation. The article hadn’t named them, not that it would do Ally any good. Try as hard as she could, she couldn’t remember the name of the man who’d been here a few days ago. Other details about him, like the glow of his warm brown eyes and the way they’d watched her, the low timber of his voice and the way it had rumbled through her. Those she couldn’t forget. After several hours of trying to remember his name, she wasn’t sure he’d even told her. It didn’t matter, for some reason Ally couldn’t figure out, she’d spent the last several days worrying that he’d been hurt. It was ridiculous, she knew. She barely knew the man. Yet worry for his well-being had been on her mind for days.

  She climbed down the ladder. When she reached the ground, she busied herself with feeding and caring for the sheep and goats. Trying to keep herself too busy to worry about a single nameless fire fighter when there were dozens working their butts off to save not just her place, but the entire area.

  As much as she didn’t like anyone trying to get her to leave her land, it didn’t mean she wished anyone harm or wanted to see anyone hurt. Especially not anyone who only came to help them. She hoped he wasn’t one of the ones injured, and wondered if she could call the sheriff and ask but without his name she’d sound like an idiot. Besides, she didn’t need to remind Sherriff O’Brian she was still here and hadn’t evacuated.

  Ally wished she had time to go into town and check on how things were going, but she had so much to do she couldn’t justify the time. She couldn’t risk leaving the ranch and the animals unattended that long. Something might happen and keep her from getting back to the ranch. She was terrified something would happen to the animals. They were more pets than livestock to her. She couldn’t leave them to possibly suffer or die. At least not alone.

  Chapter 8

  The days blurred together in cycles of work and passing out on one of the narrow cots set up in out of the way places at the small high school. James no longer knew or cared what day it was only that they finally had things under control enough that he got more than an eight hour break to inhale a meal and get what sleep he could grab before his ride took off back out to the line.

  His first priority was sleep, he kicked his heavy boots off and sat on the edge of the cot he’d been assigned. It sat with five others in a small class room with no windows, letting the exhausted smoke jumpers sleep no matter what time of day it was. Not that it mattered to James. He’d been doing this long enough he’d learned to sleep whenever and wherever he could, no matter how much light there was in the room.

  With his boots off, he lay back on the cot and closed his eyes, wondering again how Miss Keeting had faired and if they’d gotten her out. He’d check after he woke up.

  James woke with a start. He’d overslept. Panic raced through him, making him sit upright, spin and shove his feet into his boots. His body on autopilot as he thought about the ass chewing coming his way for missing the truck. Why hadn’t someone come to wake him?

  That’s when it hit him. No one had come to wake him because he didn’t have a time to report. He inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting the tension and p
anic flow out as he blew out the air. The memory of his commander’s orders to sleep, take as long as he needed or until someone fetched him came back and the wash of relief was so strong he nearly fell back against the cot but stopped himself. Now that his brain wasn’t fogged with adrenaline, he remembered he was going to see what had happened with the Keeting woman.

  A glance at his watch told him he’d been asleep for nearly fourteen hours. He blinked and shook his head, but it wasn’t the longest he’d slept after one of the marathon working stretches of a raging wildfire, so he didn’t worry about it too much. If something had made a turn for the worse, someone would have come to wake him. Now, he went in search of coffee first, then the sheriff or whoever was in charge for this shift. Food would be his next priority but first caffeine and information.

  “You’re telling me no one’s been out to check on her? Not since I left her,” James checked the date on his watch and did the math in his head, “six days ago?”

  The poor kid who was manning the command center while everyone else napped, ate, or got a breath of fresh air flushed.

  “I think so.”

  “You’re not sure?” Frustration made James’ tone sharper than he intended. How could they not know how she was or if she’d even been visited again? What kind of operation was this?

  “Can I help you?” Sherriff O’Brian’s voice behind him made James spin around. He had someone new to focus his ire at and didn’t hesitate to let it go.

  “You’re assistant here can’t tell me if Miss Keeting was evacuated. He can’t even tell me if anyone’s been out to check on her since I was last there.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure what good he does if he can’t give basic information.”

  “Hold your horses, son. Bobby here was just manning the desk while I stepped out for a smoke. He’s doesn’t know the system I’ve got set up here to check the status, and since we were slow, he was told to fetch me if there was an emergency.” The sheriff turned to the boy James had been grilling and jerked his head to one side, telling him without words he was relieved, and could go.

  Bobby shot a glance at James, then took off as if someone was chasing him, not bothering to look back. Almost as if he was afraid James would go after him and continue what he’d started.

  Bobby needn’t have worried, James was more interested in Sheriff O’Brian and what he’d come to find out.

  “Do you know what Miss Keeting’s status is?”

  “The wind changed after you came back, and she wasn’t in danger. At least not immediate danger. We’ve been busy and I haven’t been able to spare anyone to go out and see if she’s evacuated.”

  Dread shot through him. “She hasn’t.” James shook his head. “I’m gonna grab a bite to eat then see if I can get a truck to go out and check on her. She’ll be there trying to save her place.”

  The sheriff frowned. “You think so? I thought she’d pack up and be gone by now.”

  “Not unless she found some way to get her animals out. She insisted she couldn’t leave them and when I asked about neighbors helping, she brushed it off saying they have their own herds. I got the impression she hasn’t has the warmest welcome around here.”

  O’Brian shrugged. “Sheep and goats aren’t the most popular with cattle ranchers.”

  James shook his head and turned away. Why waste his time telling the sheriff how backwards that was? It wasn’t like he could change things, if he even wanted to. Hell, James didn’t even know why he cared so much, only that he did. Someone needed to care enough about the stubborn woman to make sure she was okay.

  He hit the table of food, grabbing a sandwich and a couple pieces of fruit, then refilled his coffee before getting a pickup from his commander to make the trip. He climbed in the driver’s seat and started the engine hoping he was wrong. That she’d gotten out and he would find the place empty. The longer he drove, the heavier the ball of dread in his stomach felt. Smoke was thick, and getting thicker as he approached the turn off to her little ranch. He worried that the fire had turned again, endangering her once more, but knew his commander and Sheriff O’Brian would have warned him if it had. They’d be out here trying to get her out of here and trying to fight the new fire line. He knew he had to be wrong, but from how thick the smoke had become, he couldn’t help but worry a little. Was it only that she was down wind and all the smoke was hitting her?

  Chapter 9

  A cloud of dust coming down the road alerted Ally that she had a visitor. The smoke was heavy, but not so bad she couldn’t tell the difference between it hanging low in the sky and the dust rising off the road. She let out a sigh and went back to work. They’d find her, or not, either way she had too much to do to worry about someone who’d come out unannounced. She went back to carding the wool from her most recent sheering. She was behind schedule. Preparing for the fire, and keeping her precautions ready, had taken time she didn’t have to spare. She had orders and not much time to finish them. Even then she’d have to risk a trip to town to get them shipped. She watched as her sheep and goats ran through the pasture, leaping and playing in the mud as if they were thankful and happy just to be free again.

  The field was already green and growing, such a difference from the cut to the ground she’d done a few days ago it was hard to believe. It had been a difficult few days, but things seemed to be improving, at least it was if you didn’t consider the smoke that seemed to be settling in her little valley. It hadn’t been bad at first, but became thicker every day until now, if she did anything that made her breath heavily, she’d end up in the middle of a coughing fit. Pleasant, it was not. Still, it could be worse.

  She added another chunk of washed wool to the paddles and combed it so all the fibers began to line up. It was mindless work, but it let her think about the next step, once she had it carded, she’d form thick strands called roving. That she would either dye or ship it out the way it was for others to dye and spin. At least with this batch. She did spin some of her own wool, but only a small percentage of it. She’d found there were a lot of people out there who wanted to be able to spin for themselves and a small group of those wanted to custom dye it as well. She like having less work to do, but the more she did to the wool, the more she could charge for it, that meant she could reinvest more into the farm to grow her operation and make things a little easier. First on her list was a carding drum so she’d be able to do this about ten time faster, if not even more. The faster production time would allow her to get more animals. One of the reason’s she’d kept her herd this small was because she simply couldn’t process everything from more. She had a plan, and this was going to set back her timeline a bit, but she hoped not too much. All she could do was try to keep from getting too far behind.

  “I’m glad to see you’re all right.” A voice drew her attention to where the fire fighter who’d tried to get her to leave days earlier appeared from the far side of the barn where the house and driveway sat.

  Unbidden, a smile spread across her face. “I am. I’m glad the winds changed, and I didn’t have to find out if my precautions would work to keep this place safe.”

  “I am too, but you’re not out of danger.” He scanned the pasture where the animals milled. “How long has the smoke been this bad?”

  “Just today, but it’s been getting a little worse each day. I think it’s just settling in the hollow of the meadow.” She gave him a halfhearted smile. “I almost wish we’d get a good wind to blow it out of here. At the same time wind will make the fires flare again, and we don’t want that, do we?”

  “No that wouldn’t be good.” He approached, watching her for a few seconds without saying anything for a while. “Anything happened since I was last out?”

  “Not really. I kept them all penned until the winds changed, but let them go a couple days ago. I’ve been keeping an eye on the fire reports to make sure the fire doesn’t turn again and come back this way, but so far so good.” She watched him a moment but kept working the wool while she w
aited to hear why he was there. Was he going to try to get her to leave again?

  “Still soaking the field?” He turned back to her.

  “Every day, just in case the winds pick back up and the fire turns back this way.”

  “That’s why the grass is growing so fast.”

  “It is. It’s good food for them. They’re not used to being penned. I’m glad the fires turned because they were getting restless. The goats will eat almost anything, and they were starting to try to eat their way out of the corral.”

  “They look happy now.”

  “They are. I’m hoping the whole thing won’t hinder their coat growth, and maybe even enhance it this year. A nice sheering next spring would help me recover the expense of this.” She scanned the meadow noting again the dark mud darkening many of the animals. Next season’s sheering would have to be washed extra carefully to make sure she got all the dirt out. Some would come out in the rain showers and when they ran under the sprinklers she used in the meadow during the summer, but this was far more than they usually got into and she would want to make sure all this mud was gone before she processed it.

  “What’s your plan now?” He bent down and sat on one heel, folding his arms across the one left bent in front him.

  “To get back in the routine of running things around here. I’m going to have to work double time to get everything out on time, but I can manage, if I work hard.” She added another bit of wool to the brushes she was working and continued pulling.

  “You ever think about hiring some help?”

  “I have, but I can’t afford them, at least not right now. My herd needs be a bit larger first, I need to make more to be able to afford to pay someone for help.” She looked up at him a moment, noticing the pressed lips, as if he wanted to say more, but was trying to keep from it. “I don’t remember if you gave me your name before.”