by Ellis, Tara
Gary shrugged. “I’m sure at the time it wasn’t seen as a high priority. The material has been there for almost a hundred years without any problems.”
“I read that a mosquito landing on it can set it off,” Paul said, his eyes wide.
“That’s a special derivative of nitroglycerin,” Bishop corrected. “These old sticks are just straight-forward powdered nitroglycerin. If they’ve crystalized, then yeah, they’ll go boom pretty easily, but it’ll take more like a hammer strike than a mosquito,” he added with a wink. “I’ve worked with it before on some of my jobs, so I’m sure we can safely remove it. We’ll get to work on it as soon as we’re back from the…ride.”
“We’ll need to slaughter the cow for the next barbeque in a couple of days,” Patty said, trying to move the meeting along. “We learned last time that it takes longer than we expected. Tom has graciously agreed to continue to supply the town with the meat at our weekly dinners.”
“If I’m not back by then, I’ve instructed Ethan on where to pull one from,” Tom said. Pausing, he took a moment to look at everyone seated at the large table, as well Russell, who was leaning against the back wall again. “I want to make it clear that Miller Ranch will do everything in its power to help feed everyone in Mercy, but only if we’re all in agreement that we can never force participation in the food exchange. And I’ll never withhold food from someone who needs it, even if they haven’t contributed.”
Patty wished then that Sandy had come to the meeting. She would have been so proud of her son as everyone smiled at him in approval. However, Tom had explained that she, Chloe, and Ethan were busy working in the field cutting hay. He and Bishop needed to leave as soon as possible to get back and join them.
“Excuse me,” Russell said, clearing his throat. “Mayor Patty asked me to attend so I could update you all on Father White’s memorial service. It will be tomorrow evening, after dinner. I’m sorry that some of you will be gone and unable to attend,” he said, looking pointedly at Tom, Bishop, and Sheriff Waters. “I’ve collected some lovely eulogies, though I imagined I would have more than three by now.”
Patty wiggled guiltily in her seat. “I’m sorry, Father. I’ll get mine to you this afternoon. Thank you for organizing it.”
“Oh, you’ll have to thank Madeline,” Russell retorted, drawing some chuckles. “I’m simply doing her bidding at this point.”
“We’re running low on antibiotics again,” Melissa said, when Patty motioned for her to talk. “The loss of our riders and the medicine they’d found for us was a huge blow. Hopefully we don’t have any serious illnesses come up. Please remember that if you or anyone you know or see has obvious signs of something contagious, to take the proper precautions and let me know right away.”
Gary chose that particular moment to cough and all eyes turned on him. Blushing, he wiped at his nose and then sat up defiantly in his seat. “It’s a simple head cold,” he argued. “And I wouldn’t even have any symptoms if I’d been able to get some cold medicine,” he directed accusingly at Patty.
“And that’s somehow my fault?” she asked, finding his tone almost humorous.
“If it were only the medicine from Mr. Sullivan’s that was taken, I wouldn’t have such an issue with it,” Gary retorted.
“Really, Gary?” Chief Martinez said, rolling his eyes. “We made a group decision in the beginning to protect anything valuable in the store. I think any sort of medication qualifies.”
“Perhaps,” Gary agreed, his voice low. “How about the whole town?”
“What?” Betty asked, confused. “What do you mean by that?”
Patty exchanged a nervous look with Caleb. She’d been wondering how long Gary was going to sit on his suspicions and it looked like the time had come. She sighed, resigned to the situation. It didn’t really matter anymore.
“Haven’t any of you wondered,” Gary was saying, “why, after three weeks, and with someone communicating with the outside world via a ham radio, we haven’t had any direct contact with the military?”
“I think they’re a little busy right now.” Bishop’s voice sounded dangerous and Patty knew she needed to preempt Gary and diffuse the situation.
Standing slowly, Patty took a step back from the table. “What Gary is trying to accuse me of, in a rather roundabout way, is that I made the decision to intentionally mislead the military into thinking we’re still in a voluntary quarantine.”
Patty raised her hands to silence the buzz of conversation as several people tried to ask her questions all at once. “It’s true,” she shouted, already feeling the weight lifting from her chest. “And while it turned out that I wasn’t wrong, I could have been, and for that I am sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Gary yelled, also rising. “You made the unilateral decision to cut us off from help when we need it most, and you’re sorry?”
Caleb started to get out of his chair, but Patty stopped him with a light touch on his back. When he looked up at her, she simply smiled and shook her head once. She turned back to Gary. “Sit down.”
The councilman stared at her, mouth open, and hesitated. When he looked over at Paul for support, his friend remained silent. His face red, Gary made a show of slamming his hands on the table before doing as he was told and dropping back into his seat.
“You all know how much Mercy and the people in it mean to me,” Patty said as she moved to the front of the room, next to the whiteboard. “We’ve all watched the numbers drop these past three weeks. Today, the only reason I’m not forced to change it again is because Tom and his friends came home.”
Patty took a slow breath before stepping up behind Tom and setting her hands on his shoulders. “I’ll stay on as a councilwoman and be the same pain in the butt I’ve always been, but things have changed. The world has changed, and Mercy needs a different kind of leader. Effective immediately, I’m stepping down as mayor and I’m naming Thomas Miller the Interim Mayor of Mercy in my place.”
Chapter 18
DANNY
Mercy Fire Station, Mercy, Montana
Danny stood holding the fire helmet Chief Martinez handed her, fingering the dial in the back that adjusted the size. It was a habit she’d picked up during her initial training and never broke herself of. Most of the helmets were too big for her head, no matter how far down she dialed the inner meshing.
“I’ve got some gear that’ll fit you,” Chief Martinez was saying, continuing his recruitment attempt. It had been going for over an hour, ever since Danny arrived at the station. “Obviously not mine,” he joked, in reference to his short stature.
Danny was a couple of inches taller than him, though he was built like a tank. “One of our volunteers was out of town when it went sideways and hasn’t returned. He was tall and lanky,” he added, gesturing to one of the open lockers where all the gear was stored. Danny picked up a jacket with the name Johnson stenciled on the back and tried it on.
“You’re right, Chief,” she said evenly. “It fits.”
“Call me Carlos,” the older man scoffed. “We’re not formal around here.”
Standing there in the bunker gear, surrounded by the tools she was familiar with and the smell of damp fire that always seemed to permeate every fire hall she’d been in, Danny felt at ease. Less than a month before she’d been desperate to get out, to run away from the responsibilities and weight of the memories. Something had changed during the four hundred miles of soul-searching. Danny wasn’t sure if it was due to what was happening in the world around her, or if it was internal—it really didn’t matter. “You can stop trying so hard,” she laughed when Carlos approached her with a new pair of extrication gloves.
“Does that mean you’ll join us?” he asked hopefully, eyebrows raised. Between his bushy mustache and wild brows, there wasn’t much left of his face to see, though he was clearly smiling.
“It’s in my blood,” Danny said simply, knowing the career fireman would understand.
Nodding, Chief Martinez handed her t
he gloves and then walked to the open bay door. The early morning light offered a clear view of the interior, which housed two useless firetrucks. Some of the tools had been removed and were stacked on the floor around them for easy access. Danny’s understanding was that they were still attempting to respond to emergencies from the building, and took turns keeping the station manned with at least two firefighters in addition to the chief, who was living there.
Grace was having a grand time, racing from item to item and sniffing it with intense interest. The chief didn’t seem to mind and Danny imagined he’d be fine with making the retriever their mascot if it meant getting her on board. They were desperate for help and with Martinez being the only emergency medical technician, having a paramedic as part of the team was extremely appealing.
“We’ve got six volunteers,” Martinez explained, turning from the sunlight to look at Danny. “Two of them are new since the flashpoint, so you can imagine how rough around the edges they still are.”
Danny picked up one of the air packs and confirmed it was still working. She knew there wasn’t anything electrical in them. It was all pressurized, including the regulator and gauge.
“The PASS device and low air alarms don’t work, of course, but they’re otherwise good as new,” Carlos said, watching her examine the gear.
The PASS was a personal alert safety system that was normally tripped if there wasn’t any movement for thirty seconds, or it could also be triggered manually by the firefighter if they were in danger. The thought of entering a fire without either alarm was disconcerting, although without a working firetruck or ability to charge a line, there really wouldn’t be much need for the packs.
“I’ve been researching some of the old ways of fighting fires,” Chief Martinez said, following her train of thought. “I’ve got some ideas I’d really like to run by you, when you have some time.”
Danny set the pack down and then reached out to pet Grace when she ran up and slammed into her legs. “I’ve got some time commitments for the next few days, but I’ll be back,” she promised. “Meanwhile, how do we even know when there’s an emergency?”
Unclipping a radio from his belt, Carlos handed it to Danny. “With only seven of these working right now, we’re very limited. The mayor has one, Sheriff Waters, and Bishop for up at Miller Ranch. Then there’s one at the clinic, the two checkpoints, and here at the station. So, most of the time it’s still word-of-mouth. For that reason, we typically only respond to major incidents.”
“For example?” Danny asked, curious.
“Well, like the wagon accident. They needed both our tools and manpower, as well as help to safely transport the survivors. Any accident where there’s a substantial injury that requires boarding and properly securing the patient. Like the other day, we had a gentleman fall from a tree. Thankfully, Doc doesn’t think he broke anything more than a bone in his foot, but we had some concern for his neck at first. I might not have the personnel right now for much more than basic first aid, other than myself, but I still have all the gear. I’ve been working on teaching everyone more basic life support, and even some ALS.”
Advanced life support was usually reserved for paramedics and other health professionals, like nurses and doctors, but Danny could understand the need to extend the training to whoever was willing and able.
“We’ve been fortunate to have only had a couple of fires, after the initial ones were extinguished,” the chief continued. “Obviously, any fires require all hands on deck plus anyone else we can recruit to carry water. We can still gear up and get in a lot closer than anyone else to try and extinguish it, but we’re literally forming water brigades. That’s something else I’ve been brainstorming on and would appreciate input from a seasoned firefighter.”
“I heard church bells before when I was up at Miller Ranch,” Danny said while thoughtfully tapping at her chin. “Could you use something like that instead of the klaxon? I imagine that blew out just like everything else.” The alarm was often used in larger communities for rare occurrences like tornado warnings or tsunamis. Small communities still used them to call the volunteer firefighters to the station, instead of pagers.
“Yeah, its internal wiring basically melted into a blob,” Carlos confirmed. “There was no salvaging it. The church bell isn’t feasible because it’s on the opposite end of town and up a few flights of steps. In a major incident it might make sense, but not for daily stuff.”
Danny pivoted to study the vehicles behind them. One was an ancient tanker that had certainly seen better days, but the other was surprisingly newer-looking and appeared to be a decent rig. “How old is that?” she asked, pointing at the fire engine.
Carlos beamed, proud of his accomplishment even though it currently didn’t work. “After 9/11 the federal government was handing out grants like candy. Mercy was still sitting on theirs when I got hired, so I completed the process and was able to pick up this almost-new engine.”
Danny approached the bumper and confirmed her suspicions. Tapping the chrome device attached to it, she grinned at Chief Martinez. “Isn’t this pneumatic?”
The chief tugged at his mustache for a moment as he thought about it until the implication sank in. Snapping his fingers, he immediately went to grab a toolbox. “Of course! I mean, it’s hardwired into the truck, but I’m sure with a little work I can figure out how to manually activate it.”
Danny chuckled as she watched the man begin to dismantle the alarm, and was tempted to stay and help him. Except she promised she wouldn’t be gone for more than an hour. Without a watch she couldn’t be sure, but by the time she rode back to the spring, Danny guessed it was going to be closer to two hours. Their goal was to finish the shelter by the end of the day and she was committed to seeing it through. “I really need to get going, Chief,” she called out, unable to bring herself to call him by his first name. The man had been fire chief in Mercy for five years and had fifteen more years in the fire service in Spokane, Washington. It felt disrespectful not to recognize his position.
Tipping his hand in a mock salute while holding a wrench, Martinez gave her a wink. “Understood. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you around here next week, then. Meanwhile, you’ve already been a great help!”
Patting her thigh to call Grace, Danny headed out the bay doors. Squinting against the bright sunlight, she was surprised at how fast the day was heating up. It hadn’t been that warm for a while and she hoped it was a good sign for the weather. Going to where her horse was tethered, she stopped when she recognized a white horse coming up the road. “Tom!” she called out, waving a hand at him.
Tom shifted in his saddle and smiled warmly when he saw her. Urging Lilly into a trot, they kicked up dust as they came towards her. Grace barked once and then began to wiggle in excitement. Danny wasn’t sure if it was because of Tom or Lilly; the dog loved them both.
“Howdy, Mayor,” Danny teased when he got close enough so she didn’t have to shout.
Removing his cowboy hat, Tom chuckled while looking at her humbly. “How do you already know? It was news to me up until about an hour ago.”
“Chief Martinez told me,” Danny explained, tipping her head toward the fire station. “The title suits you,” she added.
Tom dismounted in one fluid motion, landing just a few feet from her. Danny was instantly aware of his closeness and found herself drawn to him. Normally, she would have stepped back, but looking up at his sparkling green eyes and overgrown mop of black hair, she had to restrain herself from reaching out to touch his face.
“I’m not so sure about the title,” Tom said, his voice softer than usual. “I tend to be a little impulsive. It might not be the best characteristic for a mayor.”
“Don’t worry,” Danny offered, holding his gaze. “I’ll be here to keep you in line.”
Tom’s eyes dropped momentarily to her lips and Danny’s breath caught as he took a step towards her.
“Hey, Mr. Mayor!”
Tom’s he
ad jerked up as he sought out the source of the voice, and he lifted his hat to wave at a man riding by. “Hello, Eric!” he called back.
Danny tried to hide her disappointment as the spell, or whatever it was, broke and Tom moved closer to Lilly. He looked flustered and began tugging at the tack while attempting to make small talk. “You thinking of joining the fire department? Does that mean you’ll be staying in Mercy?”
Feeling bold, Danny decided to continue with her apparent quest that day of taking leaps. Moving up next to Lilly, she reached up and put her hand on Tom’s to stop his movements. “Yes, to both. And I’m glad I saw you, because I need to tell you that I won’t be going tomorrow.”
A rein still in his hand, Tom frowned at her. “Why not?” He must have realized how it sounded, because he rushed to cover up his initial response. “I mean, I’m relieved you’ve decided to stay. I’m just surprised because you were so…enthusiastic about it.”
Danny laughed and moved to her own horse, thinking over how to respond. She’d rehearsed her speech countless times the night before, but now it seemed like it would be best to keep it simple and straight to the point. “As much as I want to see those guys stopped up close and personal, my place is here with my dad.”
Danny was having a hard time gauging Tom’s reaction. He didn’t answer right away and his suddenly stoic demeanor reminded her of when they first met. The comparison was disturbing. Maybe she’d been wrong and his only interest in her was as a companion on the road or in a fight.
“I’m sorry,” he said earnestly.
Danny had dropped her gaze to stare at Grace’s ears while she rubbed them, and she looked up then, thrown off by both the words and his tone. Tom was staring at her intently. “Sorry for what?”
“For being selfish,” he said. “With both you and Ethan. He’s staying too, at the farm, which is where he should be. Just like you’re right to stay with your dad. It’s just that…I thought I’d have to force both of you to listen to reason. I don’t know why my first reaction is to feel abandoned or something, because that doesn’t even make any sense. I want you to stay here where you’re safe.”