Astounded by the enormity of losing everything she’d worked for and dreamed of, Pippa stood trance-like, unable to move or think. The noise and confusion around her dimmed.
‘Pip.’ Davy tugged at her skirts, his face pale.
For a long moment she stared at him. She didn’t realise she was frightening him until his bottom lip quivered.
‘Will we die, Pip?’
Wrenched out of her daze, she blinked as his words sank in. ‘No … No, darling.’ His hand inched into hers and she squeezed it tight. ‘We’ll be fine. I’ll take care of you.’
A shout made her jump. Colin rode like the devil towards them, waving his hat in the air. Everyone stilled and then quickly joined Pippa and Davy near the creek as Colin pulled up his horse to a skittering halt before them.
‘Well?’ Robson demanded, his body tense as he ran towards them.
Colin winced as he swallowed, his lips dry and face coated with dust. ‘It’s heading this way about four or five miles from here, maybe a mile more, but that’s all.’ He sagged in the saddle. ‘It’s coming from the direction of the Merediths’ property.’
Time froze for a second and then everyone started talking at once.
Millie stared in horror at Pippa. ‘Oh, no. Amelia and the baby, and Douglas.’
‘They might be safe. Don’t worry.’ Pippa patted her arm and then looked to Robson for direction.
‘It’s closer than I thought.’ He frowned, rubbing his fingertips across his forehead. ‘Right, we’ve got to leave the valley now. Colin, bring the work horses here for the ladies to ride.’
‘Can we not fight the fire, Robson?’ Pippa felt her heart would explode from the pain of losing it all. ‘I mean, we’ve got water at our feet. Can we not—’
‘Miss, a few buckets of water will not stand up to a bushfire. You’ve never seen one before. It’s a wild beast feasting and growing in front of your very eyes. There’s no stopping it.’
Her frustration burst into anger. ‘I will not lose this place! I will stay and fight.’
‘Don’t be silly, Pippa,’ Millie scoffed, returning to her side with a large canvas bag bulging with clothes. She took Davy’s hand. ‘We’ll do as Robson says. We must get out of harm’s way. Nothing is worth putting yourself in danger.’
A rifle shot echoed across the valley, sending birds screeching from the trees.
Pippa wheeled around to stare at their entrance into the valley, but no vehicle or horseman came dashing out of the trees at the base.
Robson scanned the slopes, shading his eyes with his hand as the sun burnt down relentlessly. ‘Someone needs help. It’s a signal.’
A shiver of trepidation ran down Pippa’s back. ‘Father,’ she whispered.
‘No!’ Esther jerked. ‘He’s in Berrima.’
Hilary, eyes wide, stepped closer to her mother. ‘But what if he had started to journey home?’
‘Get down off that horse, Colin.’ Pippa grabbed the horse’s bridle. She’d never ridden this particular gelding, Smokey, an apt name considering, but she wasn’t concerned about that now as Colin dismounted and then legged her up onto its back.
‘What are you doing, Pippa?’ Millie cried.
Robson whipped off his hat and wiped his sweating brow. ‘I’ll go search, miss. You stay here.’
Pippa shook her head and put her feet into the stirrups, silently thanking the fates that Colin shared the same height, making any adjustments to the stirrups unnecessary. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’
‘This is madness!’ Robson gripped Smokey’s bridle. ‘I don’t want to have two people to rescue. Now get down, miss, I insist.’
Pippa leaned down to him. ‘I need you here to save my family. No one but you can lead them to safety should the fire enter the valley. I trust you to keep them from harm.’
Esther stepped forward. ‘Philippa Noble, get off that animal immediately! I forbid you to leave us.’
‘No, Mother. Now heed Robson’s instructions. I’ll be back shortly.’ A distant rifle shot sounded again, and she wrenched Smokey’s head around and out of Robson’s hold. ‘I won’t be long.’
She thundered away over the valley floor. The horse, sensing her urgency, gathered speed and she merely clung to him. The scent of smoke became stronger the nearer they came to the wooded slopes. Slowing down to a trot, Pippa scanned the area. She cupped her hands to her mouth. ‘Anyone there? Father!’
The silence urged her on and she guided Smokey up the rough cart track. Climbing higher, Pippa called out at intervals but received no answer. The trees and thick scrub growing up the side of the ridge limited her view.
Rounding a slight bend, she looked up at the track ahead and gasped. Thin fingers of smoke filtered through the trees like wisps of mist. The horse, alerted to the danger, threw its head and sidestepped.
‘There now. There now.’ She patted his neck. ‘We’re all right.’
Finally, at the top of the ridge, Pippa steered Smokey to a clearing, which usually afforded a view over the wooded rolling hills and deep gullies stretching out to the west for hundreds of miles. Only now there was nothing to see, as a large smoke cloud hung low. On the closest line of hills, a thin red fire strip zigzagged over them, eating away the bush. Mesmerised, she sat watching it devour all in its path. Eucalyptus trees exploded into fireballs, showering burning scarlet embers down onto new areas, spreading the mouth of the fire even wider.
Turning away, she directed Smokey along the track towards Berrima. Attentive to every sound, Pippa frowned as she heard a distinct noise, a rumble. Thunder? Through the canopy of branches and smoke above her, she peered at the patches of sky, but it was clear blue, not a cloud in sight. A shiver of dread crept over her as she rode on, spurring the horse into a canter.
A shout. A crack of a whip. The wagon came upon her before she knew what happened. Smokey skidded into the scrub. Pippa gripped the reins as they whirled about.
‘Christ Almighty!’ Douglas Meredith stood up in the wagon, trying to keep control of his wild-eyed horse. A baby’s crying added to the mayhem.
Pippa rode closer to the wagon, frowning at the strange, dazed look on Douglas’s face. He was standing up in the wagon, clenching the reins similar to a Roman warrior in a chariot. His clothes were damp with sweat, streaked with grime. The baby continued to cry.
‘Douglas?’ She swallowed her shock as he continued to stare straight ahead. Her eyes flickered to the baby in a basket on the wagon floor, wedged in between two crates. ‘Douglas, where is Amelia?’
He slowly turned his head towards her, his eyes vacant. ‘Gone. It’s all gone. Everything.’
Pippa thought her heart would stop beating. ‘W-what do you mean?’
‘Fire. All gone.’ Suddenly he plopped down on the seat.
‘Where’s Amelia?’
‘She was so brave …’
Pippa stifled a groan of dismay. Blinking rapidly, trying to concentrate, she became aware once more of the distant crackle of flames. ‘Did you fire your rifle for help?’
He shook his head, grimacing as though reliving painful memories.
Taking a deep breath, Pippa nodded. ‘Go on down the valley, I’ll be along soon. Millie and Robson will help you. They are walking up over the ridge to safety. I’m looking for Father. We heard rifle shots. Have you seen anyone?’
‘The road … cut off … nowhere to go … can’t get through …’ A shudder shook him.
‘It is?’ She looked up the track, expecting the blaze to appear any minute. The smoke was thick now, working its way across the ridge. Her alarm grew. ‘I must look for Father. Go down to the homestead, Douglas, please. Take the baby to Millie. Hurry!’ With a last glance back at him, Pippa urged Smokey into the filtering gloom.
Chapter Fifteen
Pippa rode until she coughed and her eyes smarted. The roar of the fire drowned all other sound. Smokey baulked at every movement as his terror mounted.
Pippa called for her father again and again. She
waited for a few minutes, willing him to burst through the dense smoke. When it became so thick she couldn’t breathe, she wheeled Smokey back the way they’d come. With every yard they took, her sense of unease grew. Then she saw it. A torn scrap of material caught on a branch. Wrenching it free, she studied it. It was the same brown colour as her father’s tweed jacket.
Scrambling off Smokey, Pippa screamed for her father to answer her. She ran into the scrub, stumbling in haste, pulling Smokey by the reins behind her. The horse, frightened, pulled back, throwing up his head and trying to pull the reins free from her grasp. ‘No, no! Smokey. Calm down!’ But the horse half reared, snatching the reins from her hands and once free bolted away.
Distraught at losing the horse, she turned in a circle, looking through the white gloom. ‘Father! Can you hear me? Where are you?’
She darted to the right, peering around large boulders and tree trunks before running to the left where the ground steeply sloped away. She skidded down a few yards, searching the landscape for any sign of him. Her foot dislodged a rock and she tripped, landing on her knees.
‘Father!’ For a moment she knelt on the ground, exhausted. Despair waited to claim her, but she refused to give up. With a frustrated sigh, she stood and wearily wiped a hand over her eyes. Where was he?
A flock of white cockatoos screeched above the trees. The sound of what seemed like thunder came again. Abruptly, a kangaroo bounded down the slope, nearly crashing into her before it jumped to the right and away. Then another came thumping over the top and down beside her, and then another. It hadn’t been thunder at all, but hundreds of kangaroos fleeing. An opossum scuttled by, followed by a large fat wombat and smaller kangaroos and wallabies. Lizards of varying sizes and the odd snake slithered past and Pippa stared in fear as a huge goanna charged its way over a boulder and skimmed past her skirts.
Pippa stared at the exodus of animals and birds all headed east. From the west she heard the splintering of wood, followed by a loud whooshing sound. The fine hair on the back of her neck rose.
The fire was close.
Rushing back to the track, she caught her skirts on a bush and paused to unhook them. The snap and crackle grew louder. Straightening, she tore her skirts free and reached the top only to stop and stare at the small circle of orange flames licking the dry grass a few feet from her. Ash and embers floated in the air like snow; where they landed, they started spot fires.
She looked for Smokey, only he had gone. Fear closed her throat.
Lifting her skirts high, she ran down the track, heading for the entrance down into the valley. Thick smoke blanketed the countryside and crept into her lungs, slowing her down and making her cough. The roar of the fire urged her to keep going. A stiff, hot wind thrashed at the treetops, swirling the ash and embers about her head. The air seemed sucked dry and, apart from the crackle of flames, the bush was eerily quiet.
Pippa ran, the sound of her laboured breathing noisy in her ears. Her eyes smarted and streamed, while her lungs felt as though every breath would be her last. She tried to ignore the encroaching danger and concentrate on getting into the valley. She had to outrun it.
‘Pippa!’
She spun around, heart pounding. A whoop of joy filled her as Gil galloped towards her. Never had she been so glad to see anyone in her life!
He reined in beside her, reached down to grab her arm, and hoisted her up behind him. Swivelling in the saddle, he cupped her face in his hand, his eyes searching her for injury. ‘Are you all right? We were out of our minds with worry! What a stupid, senseless thing to do. I could shake you until your teeth rattle!’
‘How did you know?’ She coughed and it felt like razors were cutting into her chest. ‘The … the road to Berrima is closed off,’ she wheezed. ‘How did you get through?’
‘I came into the valley from the other side. I nearly had a seizure when they told me you’d gone off. What a foolish thing to do!’
‘Father is out here. I cannot leave him. I found material on a branch. I know it is his jacket.’ Throat parched, she paused and leant her head against Gil’s shoulder. ‘We must find him.’
‘Come, my sweet girl.’ He kissed her forehead. ‘We’ve yet to get to safety. Hold on to me.’
‘But Father?’
He frowned, glancing over her head at the encroaching wall of flames. ‘Pippa, if we stay here, we will die.’
She jerked back. ‘No. We cannot leave now. He’s out here somewhere.’
‘I’ll take you back to the homestead and then return to search for him.’
‘That will waste time. No, Gil, I must go.’ She went to slide off the horse’s rump, but he grabbed her arm tight.
‘I said no!’
She struggled, spooking his horse so that it turned in circles, nearly unseating them both.
Gil wrenched the reins, growling between clenched teeth. ‘Hold on!’
He spurred the horse on, not giving her a chance to escape. With the last of her strength, she wrapped her arms around his waist as they began their descent. Above them, the ridge erupted into a fiery blaze. The fire chased them down the track, its angry, hungry roar deafening.
Without warning, a blur of brown fur leapt from the high side of the track and belted into the side of them.
Pippa had the sensation of falling and heard a cry and the horse’s grunt as they sailed over the edge of the track.
She landed with a wallop that stunned her and knocked the breath from her body. Then she was tumbling, rolling down the valley’s side until she banged into a tree that brought her to a jarring stop. She lay confused and shocked. As her mind cleared, she noticed Gil’s horse scrambling to its feet some ten yards away. Within a few seconds it was up and racing away.
‘Pippa!’ Gil crawled up from below her and she grabbed his hand, hugging him to her in a fierce grip.
‘Dear God, tell me you aren’t hurt?’ He panted. His cheek was cut and blood seeped from his hairline.
Pippa couldn’t feel any pain at all at that moment and put her fingers out to stem the blood flow on his cheek. ‘I think I’m fine, but you are not.’
He touched his face. ‘It’s but a scratch.’
She looked up the hillside at the fingers of orange-red spreading down to claim them. ‘We’ll never outrun it now.’
Gil used the tree as an aid to stand and then helped her up. ‘We must try.’
She shook her head, swamped with rising panic. ‘We cannot, Gil. Look!’
He ignored her pointing finger and instead hobbled down the slope, dragging her behind him. ‘If we can make it to the bottom and into the creek, we’ll be safe.’
A sudden pain in her side made Pippa want to retch or faint or both. She tripped and stumbled after him, hardly heeding Gil’s garbled instructions. With every step she tingled from fear that the flames would scorch her back at any second.
Gil, limping badly now, stumbled and fell to his knees. ‘Jesus wept!’ He swore again violently and then pushed her away. ‘Go on, Pip. Run! I’ll catch up.’
Horrified, she looked from him to the line of fire eating a circle around them. Every thought flashed through her mind at a rapid rate; her father, mother, Hilary, Millie, Davy, Robson, the men, the horses … They would all burn in this hateful bushfire. What had she done to deserve such punishment? A feral rage built in her chest, tearing at her mind. No! She wouldn’t have it!
Gil coughed, gasping. ‘Go, Pip. Now!’
She shook her head, anger giving her the strength of ten. ‘Get up!’ She heaved him to his feet, shoving her shoulder under his armpit, taking his weight. Together they staggered down a few feet through the filthy smoke. The intense heat drenched their bodies with sweat, making their clothes seem heavier with every step.
‘Here, look,’ Gil yelled, for the noise of the flames grew louder. He pointed to a large hole: the entry to a wombat’s burrow. He shuffled over to it and dropped to his knees, frantically scraping away the dirt at the entrance. ‘Get in! Quic
kly now. This will save us.’
She baulked even though a grass fire flared at her feet, lit by a floating ember. ‘In there? I won’t fit!’ Frightened beyond her senses, Pippa cried, the tears hot on her cheeks.
‘Yes, you will.’ Gil grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down. ‘This burrow is the biggest I’ve ever seen and we’ll not waste the opportunity. These things go a long way in. We can hide out the fire in there. Hurry now. Get on your stomach!’
Sobbing, and with visions of some mad creature coming out of the darkness to claw at her, Pippa squirmed backwards on her stomach into the black hole. The cool, damp mustiness of the earth was a relief from the heat, but the sheer blackness offered no comfort.
Gil squashed in after her, pushing her by the shoulders, all improprieties long gone for the sake of survival. Her toes tingled at the idea of being nibbled on by a wild beast. Pippa sniffed back her fear, keeping her gaze focused on the modest area of light beyond Gil’s crumpled body. They were just far enough in to be out of harm’s way, but they could still see and hear the fire around the burrow’s entry.
Gil searched for her hands and held them. ‘We’re safe, unless a wombat takes exception to us sharing his home.’
Through the darkness she sensed his smile. ‘I cannot believe you made me do this.’
‘Rant at me later.’ He squeezed her hands. ‘You’re all right?’
‘I think so.’ She sniffed again and wiped her nose with her sleeve. The smell of dank earth mixed with the scent of smoke on their clothes. ‘I feel as though I can’t breathe.’
‘Take deep, slow breaths.’
‘I’m frightened.’
‘I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.’ His face was so close that his breath brushed her cheeks.
‘Not about me, but about Father, my family, and the stud.’ Lying squashed inside an animal’s burrow further crushed her hope. She was useless to her family in here. She couldn’t fight the fire and save her home. Emotion closed her throat but she refused to cry again. I must be strong. But it was so hard to swallow the tears.
Where Rainbows End Page 18