Part Three
Roy was standing outside the med tent. The winds were not currently blowing the smoke in their direction and he was hoping the night air would clear his head a little. He was beginning to feel like a zombie. Morton had suggested he call it a day but he was kind of waiting for Chet to return.
"Hello, Roy," a voice said behind him.
Roy jumped and spun around to look into Captain Stanley's weary looking face. "Hi, Cap."
"I just wanted to see how you and Chet were holding up."
The cap's face was caked with soot and grime. He looked too tired to put one foot in front of the other and yet he walked all the way over here to check on his men. Roy hoped that if he ever made Captain he could be half the man Captain Stanley was.
"Well, Chet's awake. I guess he's dealing with it as well as can be expected. He's pretty torn up. Despite outward appearances I think he and Cassie were pretty close," Roy told him.
"I think so too. How about you? How are you doing?" The cap was concerned.
"Tell you the truth, Cap. I'm not sure. I still find it hard to believe. Guess I'm mostly just trying to stay busy. I'm not in denial I just would rather deal with in in my own way and my own time. Right now, we're four paramedics short and I want to stay focused on the job."
"Four paramedics short?"
"Yeah. Craig Brice was injured in a fall and had to be flown into Rampart for immediate eye surgery. KJ went in with him."
"Eye surgery?" the cap asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I guess his glasses broke in the fall."
"God! I hope he's alright," the cap worried.
"They called from Rampart. He came through the surgery fine and things look real promising."
"I'm really glad to hear that. ‘Bout time we got a little good news in this fire. Well, I have to go find the rest of the guys and tell them that tomorrow we've been assigned to Cutler Ridge to protect some houses. They will be happy to get off the fire break. Lopez just literally fell asleep in his stew," the cap laughed.
"I wanna go with you tomorrow, Cap."
They turned around to see Chet standing there.
"I won't do anything stupid. I just want to do something," he insisted.
"Chet, they relieved you," the Cap said kindly.
"I don't want to be relieved! I want to be busy. Come on, Cap. I can wet down houses as well as anybody."
The Cap sighed. "Tell you what, Chet. You stay here tonight and if Morton okays it in the morning we'll pick you up on the way to Cutler Ridge. Look, I have to get back. Try to get some rest, both of you," he said with concern, then headed back to where he'd left Stoker and Lopez.
"You sure you're ready, Chet?" Roy asked.
"Yeah. I'm sure. Besides, if Marco is that much of a zombie, he's gonna need me on that hose with him to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Chet went into the med tent and Roy followed him. He felt like he could sleep now. He was ready to have this all go away, at least for a few hours.
***
KJ found that the bunks in the dorm at Station 18 were far more conducive to a good night's sleep than the cots or the ground at the fire camp. She actually felt fairly rested when the wake-up tones sounded. The women of Station 18 were fairly subdued as the shifts changed. B and C shifts were taking turns working every other day as were the B and C shifts of many other stations. Once C-shift was officially on duty, the squad went 10-8 to Rampart to pick up supplies and to return KJ.
The three women in the were fairly quiet for a while till Katya finally said, "I gotta tell you, KJ, I am awfully glad that neither Andy or I are assigned to this fire. Just seeing it on TV is enough to give me the willies." She shuddered as she remembered the shots she'd seen of the fire.
"I'm right glad you're not there too, Wildcat," Fiddler remarked. "All those single men floating around up there -- Saint's Alive! -- you'd have me lined up for a date with each one of ‘um! Lord deliver me!" Fiddler drawled in mock complaint.
"Would you like to walk the rest of the way to Rampart?" Katya threatened.
KJ just smiled. Light hearted banter was generally the order of the day at Station 18, but they each knew it was forced now. Losing one of their own was not something any of them had experienced with the Department before. They each knew that such a thing was possible and that such a fate might befall any of them. They accepted that. What was totally unfair was that the public did not accept it and public outrage might put an end to everything they had been trying to accomplish.
The rest of the drive was taken in silence. They couldn't change the past that had taken a friend or the future that might mean the end of their jobs. All they could do was deal with the present. KJ with the fire and the other two with the good citizens of LA County who never seemed to feel a woman could not do the job when it was Station 18 that responded to a desperate cry for help. To a victim in trouble they were the Fire Department and the Fire Department helped people.
Once they walked into the ER C-shift made their way to Supply and KJ went to find Dixie to see if there had been any arrangements made to get her back to the fire. Dixie was talking to a very well appointed woman in an expensive business suit. KJ hung back to wait until she was finished but Dixie spotted her.
"KJ, come here there is someone I'd like you to meet." Dixie motioned her over.
The next few minutes went by too fast for KJ to sort out. The woman looked oddly familiar and Dixie introduced her as an old friend of hers who now worked in Network News. The next thing KJ knew, she was in Dr Brackett's office with this woman, Dixie and a camera crew being interviewed about the fire, the job and how important it was to her and the other women who were doing it. And about how important it had been to Cassie and how ending the program would be the worst thing that could be done and that it would totally dishonor her memory. This reporter had done her homework and had known that Cassie's father had also been a firefighter who had died in the line of duty, something that was news to both Dixie and KJ.
If KJ had known, when she got up that morning, that she was going to be doing a TV interview she would have been a bundle of nerves. As it was, she was delighted to have spent the night at the station and gotten a shower, a good night's sleep and a clean uniform.
"Is this going to really be on TV?" she asked.
"Karen, this is what we call a back up interview. It will only be used if the Department starts making moves to disband the program," the reporter explained. "Public opinion is a very powerful thing but luckily, it can be swayed in more than one direction. The public has a right to hear both sides of the issue. Whether the world thinks it's ready for it or not, women are making inroads into previously all-male professions. I know, I did in in broadcast journalism," she laughed "It must be even more difficult in your line of work. I have to admit that I really admire you and the other women of Station 18. Well, Dixie I have to get this tape back to the studio. We want it edited and ready to go on the evening news if it needs to."
"Barbara, I really want to thank you for flying all the way out here from New York and pulling the strings to get this done," Dixie said.
"Anything I can do to help, Dixie. You know I'm a big champion of this cause. Only next time you give me a call, Dixie, try and remember the time difference on the East Coast," she teased and turned to leave. The camera crew trailed along behind her.
Once they had left KJ turned to Dixie. "I've seen her on TV. I never thought -- Dixie, how did you manage --"
"We're old friends. I figure a big name Network Correspondent would carry more weight with the viewers than a local reporter, don't you? You know what they say, KJ, fight fire with fire."
***
Johnny yelped when a large hand suddenly grabbed and shook his shoulder. He came instantly awake but the darkness of the cave prevented him from seeing a thing.
"Easy, Gage," Watson said.
"What the ----" Johnny asked sleepily
"I hate to break anything up here," Watson teased and switched the flashlight back on that he had used to check out his surroundings. He shined it on the still sleeping Cassie, then back to Johnny.
"Now just a damn minute here, Watson --- Hey, what are you doing up and around? You had a concussion. We had to carry you down the mountain."
A puzzled look came over Watson's face. "There's quite a bit about yesterday I can't quite remember," he admitted.
"I don't wonder." Johnny took the flashlight away from him and examined Watson's face and head. "Jeez, you're a fast healer. I can't understand it."
"It's because they had a red sun on his planet and when he came here our yellow sun inbued him with superpowers," Cassie's muffled voice came from under the blanket.
Johnny just blinked in disbelief but Watson said, in all seriousness, "I guess my secret is out."
"You people are nuts," Johnny finally muttered in disbelief. He got up and went over to the cave opening. He pushed back the blanket far enough to look outside.
The air was heavy with smoke and the smell of wood burning but there were no flames close by. From his elevated vantage point he tried to size up the situation. It didn't look like the fire had completely cut them off yet but it was definitely a lot closer to them than it had been last night. "We'd better get moving," he told them.
Although it made for a few minutes delay they did each eat something as they gathered up some supplies. Blankets were tied to field packs. Watson grabbed the third pack and within fifteen minutes they were leaving the relative safety of the cave and heading out into the fire. Once they had left the cave they could hear the fire.
"Okay," Johnny raised his voice to be heard. "Follow me but stick together. We don't have time for any arguments, Watson."
"Whose arguing? You're the Indian. This is your turf. Lead on."
Johnny was pretty sure there was some kind of sarcasm in Watson's remark but he couldn't let it get it him. He had agreed to lead them out of here and he intended to do it, but what he usually took as a pleasant day's hike was now going to be a race against fire. Johnny knew that in such a race fire most often won. No, fire always won.
The hot winds drove the smoke into their faces but Johnny led them back to the stream and they began following it. They had walked for a little over an hour when the stream's path brought them closer to the fire. Again it was dark. The smoke was so thick that Cassie realized that she now knew what the color black tasted like. They still could not see the flames but they could hear the roar and crackling of the fire and feel its intense heat. It was obvious that the fire was approaching from their right. They walked on the left side of the creek but it was not wide enough to serve as a firebreak.
***
Chet Kelly was up before dawn. He felt like he was a bundle of nerves. He was so wired he was afraid that they wouldn't let him go back on the fire line. He didn't really want to leave the decision up to Dr Morton and Captain Stanley. He'd overheard Morton talking with Pidge and he was feeling guilty over what happened. That might keep him from signing off on putting another Kelly in potential danger. Captain Stanley would agree. He'd already lost one man, he wouldn't want to face losing two. They just didn't understand how Kellys ticked. More than anything on Earth he had to get a few licks in at this fire. He'd never be able to live with this otherwise. Chet had one trump card. He'd never played it. He'd never intended to play it, but the time had come to do just that. He'd never drawn any attention to the fact that one of the big heroes whose picture hung at headquarters was his father. He didn't want to live in that shadow. He was sure none of the guys he worked with had ever made the connection. But there were a few people in the department who knew it very well and two of them were right here at this fire.
There was a camp light on in the Incident Commander's tent. As he approached it he heard voices. He recognized them as McConikee and Wilson who were the highest ranking officers on the scene. The fire had begun in McConikee's district and Wilson was the man representing headquarters at the fire. He was the Incident Commander.
Chet hadn't meant to hang back and eavesdrop but when he caught the gist of the conversation he stood riveted to the spot in shock. They were discussing a topic that was apparently the buzz of headquarters. The death of a member of Station 18 was bringing public opinion, and that of some of the high ranking members of the Department, down on the side of the argument that fire fighting was too dangerous for women. There was serious talk of abandoning the idea and disbanding Station 18.
Chet couldn't let them do that. He had not approved of Cassie doing the job. Not because she was a woman but because she was who she was. She had never had enough brains to be afraid of anything. A little fear was a healthy thing in this line of work. Still, it was nothing that she had done wrong that had caused her death. She was not to blame any more than anyone else who died as a passenger in an aircraft crash was to blame. It was an accident and she was a victim. Now the program that she believed in and fought for was to be scrapped because of it. Not in this lifetime, you bastards!
He'd play his trump card alright. Not to get himself back on the line but for something even more important. He bulled his way into the tent. "You gotta be kidding!" he stated forcefully, with his eyes narrowed in anger.
"Excuse me, Kelly?" McConikee asked in a commanding voice.
"You can't scrap Station 18! Those women are doing a great job. Ask any guy that has worked with them. They pull their own weight. What the hell is the deal?!" Chet demanded.
"I'm afraid the County is taking some flack about putting women in danger ---" Wilson explained, although he was far from used to explaining things to firemen.
"Fires are inherently dangerous. The danger has nothing to do with them being women!" Chet argued.
"Well, son, I'm afraid it 's none of your --"
"None of my business? I'd say it sure as hell was my business!"
"Kelly's sister was the paramedic that was killed," McConikee told Wilson.
Wilson's demeanor softened slightly. He had not recognized him earlier. "I'm sorry, Kelly, but this is really not my call ---"
"But you can make it your call you have a lot of pull with the Department. Both of you do. If you spoke up on this you'd be listened to."
"Listen, Kelly ----" McConikee cautioned.
"No -- you listen. My sister gave her life for the Department and they reward that by ending the program. That just plain sucks!!"
"It might seem to you that it would dishonor the memory of you sister but the taxpayers are paying all our salaries and if they want ----" Wilson began.
"Dishonor the memory of my sister?! That's only the half of it. It would also be dishonoring the memory of my father who gave his life so that three of his men would make it out of the fire. Two of those men were named Wilson and McConikee. He had the guts to die for you but if you knuckle under on this issue you weren't worth his sacrifice!!"
After Chet finished yelling there was silence in the tent. McConikee and Wilson looked at each other. Chet looked from one to the other only partially trying to rein in his anger.
"I think we should let him in on it, Mac. If worse comes to terrible we'll have him repeat that speech to the Board." Wilson had a half-smile on his face.
"What are you saying?" Chet was still suspicious.
"Chet, we've been discussing the mood at HQ and trying to to figure a way to turn it. I agreed to have the woman's fire station in my battalion because I believe in the program. I want to see it work. We both do. Not everyone feels that way in the Department and the ones that don't are jumping on this with both feet. Unfortunately, there's a lot of politics involved in any large organization but I think you may have just given us the ammo we need to fire back at these people."
"We can stop this?" Chet wanted to be sure that he was understanding correctly.
"I think so, Chet," McConikee sighed wearily."But first we have to stop this damn fire."
"I want to go back on the line," Chet blurted out.
"You really feel up to it? You won't be endangering the rest of your crew?"
"I can do the job," Chet stated firmly.
"Okay. Report back to Stanley and tell him I reinstated you. I don't think he'll argue with that." A smile played at the corners of McConikee's mouth. Sometimes not taking revenge was a lot more satisfying than taking it.
Chet left the tent. He was a little stunned. He wasn't really sure what he'd said in his fit of anger but he now felt strangely at peace. He now had a sense of purpose unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He spotted his crew on line at the mess tent and walked over to join them.
***
By the time they walked on another two hours the choking smoke was causing them to walk bent over to get beneath it. They were all coughing a lot. Swirling showers of sparks known as firebrands were also blown at them. On Johnny's advice they had each wet a blanket and had it around them. It offered a little protection from the hot embers.
Johnny kept looking nervously in the direction of the fire. An orange glow was now visible in the distance. He also seemed to be checking the depth of the shallow stream quite often.
"What are you doing?" Cassie asked as she coughed.
"Look," he finally said miserably.
"We ain't gonna make it," Watson surmised.
"We're still miles from safety. We can't make much time in this," he hollered to be heard above the constant roar of the fire.
"It's going to flash over?" Cassie really didn't want the answer to that. She had been thinking about that possibility for the last hour. Somehow she felt safe as long as they were moving.
This monster fire was raging its way toward them, it was consuming everything in its path and there was nothing that was going to stop it. They had absolutely nothing to protect themselves with or to shelter in.
"This creek is usually deeper but the drought has dried it up a lot. If it were deeper ----"
"Why don't we dam it up?" Watson asked
"What? How --"
"When I was a kid in Georgia we used to dam up creeks all the time to make little ponds. Damming it up would make the water deeper, but why do you want the water deeper?" Watson hollered to be heard also.
"Old Indian Trick," Johnny yelled back. "Come on, let's get this damn dam built."
Neither Johnny nor Cassie had ever built a damn before but they followed Watson's lead and began dragging twigs and branches over to the side of the creek. Watson began construction. First he laid the branches across the creek. Then he used rocks and mud from the creekbed to hold the barricade in place. It was only minimally successful. The water in this creek was running faster than the ones he was used to.
"We need something really heavy like a tree," Watson yelled.
"Pick one," Johnny said sarcastically waving his arm at the forest. To his surprise Watson walked up to a small tree. He positioned himself behind in and with a loud grunt pushed it over. It fell across the creek. "He is Superman," Johnny gasped.
They went to work reinforcing the tree trunk dam and before long the water level had risen from ½ a foot to a foot and ½. The fire was now visible and it was bearing down on them.
Cassie felt her panic rise. She had the urge to run. "It's coming," she choked. Black smoke was whirling around them as it heralded the arrival of the flames.
Johnny pulled out the roll of IV tubing that was still in his pocket. With a pair of sturdy scissors he cut off three twelve inch lengths of tubing. He handed one to each of them. "Into the water. lay on your backs. Breathe through these." He had to yell to be heard over the raging inferno that was barrelling down on them. In case they hadn't heard him he demonstrated. The air was searing hot now and the water was a welcome relief.
Cassie wanted to close her eyes as she lay on her back on the bottom of the creek, but she found that she just had to watch. The sound was distorted but she could still hear the fire's approach. At first it was only darkness above them as the black smoke billowed overhead. Then the flames themselves were visible as they leapt across the steam. Sparks ignited the tree they had pushed over the creek. The dry needles and the pine sap went up with a whoosh that they could even hear under the water. Each of them knew that if the dam was destroyed and the water level was lowered that they would be exposed to the deadly flames.
They lost all sense of time. It could have been minutes that they lay in the creek. It could have been hours. Finally Johnny could stand it no longer. Cautiously he sat up. Although he had worked forest fires since he was a teenager back in Montana and he'd been through a few on the job, he was not prepared for what the saw.
What had been lush forest when they went into the creek now looked like a warzone. The trees that were still standing were blackened sticks without any branches. The bark looked like it was coated with thick hunks of charcoal. Ghostly looking wisps of smoke rose from what was left standing. Although the fire could still be heard far off to their left, there was an unearthly stillness in the burned over area of the forest. It looked empty and dead. He heard the water splashing as the others sat up also.
"Oh
my God," Cassie said softly.
Watson just shook his head for a minute then got up and started to walk around stomping his feet in attempts to both dry off and get the kinks out of his body that the rocks at the bottom of the creek had given him.
Cassie felt tired all of a sudden and did not refuse the handup Johnny offered her. They each felt a little water logged as they walked up onto the bank of the creek. Cassie spotted the remains of the back packs they had left on the bank while they built the dam. They were unrecognizable piles of soot except for their buckles which had been melted into bizarre shapes by the intense heat of the fire. Cassie reached into her pocket and closed her hand around her lucky headband. She was glad she had shoved it into her pocket instead of putting it back where it belonged.
"Damn good old Indian Trick," Watson commented. "Just follow the creek now?"
"Yeah," Johnny panted. There was still lingering smoke in the air and they had all breathed in quite a bit of it lately. He let Watson take the lead. Somehow he no longer felt the need to prove anything that had been driving him since he first laid eyes on Watson. Things just seemed to be in a different prospective now. He started to follow and Cassie walked next to him.
"That was a damn good old Indian trick," she said.
"Wanna know a secret?"
"Yeah."
"I learned it on the Wide World of Disney."
She threw her head back and laughed. After a while he joined her. They had just lived through a firestrom they had every reason in the world to be giddy.
Watson had gotten quite a ways ahead of them by now. He stopped and called to them. "Come on, Lois. Come on, Jimmy."
"Go to hell, Watson!" they called back in unison.
***
Joanne DeSoto sighed as she put the last load of laundry into the dryer. She had been pushing herself to keep busy. She had cleaned out all the closets and bundled up all the clothes that the kids had outgrown. It wasn't like Chris would tolerate a hand-me-down from a girl. She thought that a t-shirt was a t-shirt but since Roy had had an older sister he was squarely in Chris' corner on this issue. Roy claimed his mother had once sent him to school in a Barbie t-shirt and he'd gotten beaten up by the other boys. He might have fooled the kids, but she knew that Barbie t-shirts were not even around when they were kids. Once this load was done she'd get a big donation ready for Goodwill.
She headed for the kitchen stepping over the pile of black fur and muddy paws that passed for a dog. He was, as usual, sleeping in the doorway of the kitchen. She didn't intend to be stepping over this fool all day. She reached down and grabbed the dog's collar. "Come on, Fonzie, out you go." She opened the back door and nudged the dog outside. The dog went out and laid back down on the deck. She wasn't sure he had actually awakened at all. He hardly lived up to his namesake. Chris had been very taken with the TV character as a toddler and when Roy brought the stray mutt home, Chris had called him Fonzie and the name stuck. Roy had said the dog was for their protection on nights he had to work. About the only protection that Fonzie offered was the very strong possibility that an intruder would trip over him and break a leg.
She walked into the kitchen to start the batch of cookies she had promised to make for Craig Brice. She knew him by reputation only. Roy had worked with him occasion and she had heard a lot of tales from the other wives. Still she always made cookies for the firemen she knew when they were injured and she would make them for Brice as well. She suddenly remembered that it was not cookies but Brownies she always made for Johnny. He absolutely went bonkers for them. She had sent a batch to work with Roy for his birthday once and he must have called her twenty times to thank her. Roy had said that he was on such a sugar high all day that he even got along with Chet. So the brownies became a birthday tradition. She also made them for him whenever he was sick or injured, which with Johnny was quite often, she smiled. She opened up her recipe box and came across the brownie recipe. Suddenly her eyes teared up and she grabbed the recipe card and tore it up and threw it away. She'd never make "Johnny's Brownies" again. She wanted to break down and cry but she refused to. Chris sat there at the kitchen table coloring. She had to keep it together.
The kids were unusually quiet today. Instead of fighting, as they generally did on Saturday morning, the two played quietly. Chris was coloring Joy was in the living room playing with her Barbie dolls.
"Mommy, will Mr Brice be Daddy's new partner?" Chris asked suddenly.
Joanne's voice caught in her throat. She had certainly not given that any thought at all. "I don't know, Honey. I guess that will be up to the Department."
"Would it be alright if I made a picture for Mr Brice?"
"Well, that would be very nice, Honey," she had trouble saying. She wasn't sure how Brice would feel about the picture and she knew that he would not be able to look at it for a while anyway. Still it was a nice thought and one that made her proud of her son.
She got out her favorite mixing bowl. "I'll bring it up to him this afternoon when I bring up the cookies." Her neighbor had agreed to take all the kids to the movies this afternoon. They had a really nice group of neighbors. Everyone pitched in and helped everyone else out. All the kids had stayed at each of the houses at some time or other.
She got to work on the cookies. As always she made a double batch. She'd send a bunch to the movies along with the kids. Concessions were just too expensive for six kids and they always sneaked food in whenever they brought the kids as a group to the movies. Moms had to be practical whenever they could.
"Mommy, how do you spell ‘get well, Mr Brice'?"
Joanne ran her hands under the faucet, then picked up a towel and dried them off . She walked over to see his picture. There was one figure in a bed. Glasses had been drawn on this figure. Another figure stood near the bed. He was clad in a blue shirt and black pants. She was used to Chris' drawings and could interpret them fairly well. The word ‘daddy" was scrawled under the figure standing next to the bed. He spelled out the words as she told him how. She could figure out everything in the picture except some light brown fuzz that seemed to be scattered around Roy's feet. "What's this, Honey?"
"That's Daddy's hair. He says Mr Brice is going to make him pull it all out."
She looked up quickly so that she didn't laugh. She did now notice that Roy was totally bald in the picture. Kids picked up on everything. As soon as she could, she told him it was a very nice picture. She wasn't sure how good a sense of humor Brice had but she knew that Johnny would have loved it.
Once she got the cookies put into the oven she went to check on Joy. She stood in the doorway and watched her for a while. She had her Barbie in one hand and her Ken in the other. She and Roy had searched every Toy R Us in Southern California to find the dark haired Ken doll she had asked for for Christmas last year. Roy had been completely perplexed by the whole hair color issue but Joanne suspected that it reflected Joy's crush on Johnny.
Suddenly Joy started to viciously hit the Ken doll with the Barbie doll. "How dare you die? How dare you? You don't care about me and the kids. All you care about is your job. Your damn, stupid job!!" She threw the Ken doll across the room.
Joanne ran to her and scooped her into arms and let her cry. She knew she had had those kinds of feelings a few times but she had never ever voiced them in front of the kids. Still, Joy might have heard them elsewhere. Two of their close neighbors were police officers and one was a pilot. Every wife had had those same feelings on many occasions. She has hoped it would be years before Joy would ever have feelings like that. Roy had been a fireman since she was a baby. She'd never known him to do anything else. But now she'd lost her innocence.
Joy sobbed for a while but finally she said, "Mommy, why am I mad at Uncle Johnny?"
"You're probably not really mad at Uncle Johnny. You are probably just mad that the accident happened. It's a very natural feeling. It's okay to feel mad about that. It's okay to be sad too and it's okay to be scared. Things like this make us all have a lot of feelings. Sometimes we can even have more than one feeling at a time. It's hard to understand why these things happen. It's sad for the people they happen to and it's hard for all the people that loved them."
"Are you sad too, Mommy?"
"Yes, Honey, I am."
"It doesn't seem right that we are going on and doing everything we used to do and Uncle Johnny is.....is...."
"I think Uncle Johnny would want us to go on and do the things we usually do. He knows that we love him and we will never forget him. I don't think he'd want us to be too sad. I think he would want you to try and be happy and have fun."
"Like going to the movies with our friends?"
"Yes, I think Johnny would want you to go and have fun. Do you feel better now?"
"A little bit."
"Well, how about if you go wash your face and pick up your toys. Then it'll be time to take the cookies out of the oven and you know I need you and Chris to taste them for me and see if I got the mix just right."
"You always get it right, Mommy," Joy smiled.
"Oh, you don't want to be an official taster any more?"
"I do too!"
"Okay, let's move then!" Joanne stood up and pulled her daughter up with her. As Joy headed for the bathroom Joanne cursed the fact that her little girl had to go through this. She too, was angry about the whole situation.
***
Station 51 had spent the morning dousing property on Cutler Ridge. They seemed to be finally getting a break in the weather. The Santa Anas were dying down and the fire in that area was finally contained. By noon they were reassigned to one of the canyons. This was a large area and Station 18 was also assigned here. The old "loaner" engines that they had been assigned predated anything that Tinker had been trained on but Mike Stoker had given her a crash course as they set the engines up at opposite ends of the hilly street.
Captain Stanley was astounded to see a man on a roof wetting it down with a garden hose. There had been a mandatory evacuation ordered for this area as the fire was fairly close and definitely posed a danger to civilian lives.
"Is that guy crazy?! What the hell is he still doing here?" he yelled angrily.
A little too angrily, Marco thought and he exchanged a worried glance with Chet as they picked up hose that the engine had dropped off the engine and pulled it over to the hydrant.
Captain Stanley stormed into the guys yard. "Hey you! Come down from there. What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to save my house from this fire. This is the first I've seen of you guys. There's no way I'm letting this stupid fire have my investment."
"Well, you might as well be spitting on the roof as what you're doing. Now get out of the way and let us do our job."
"Your job," the man scoffed. "If you were doing your damn job this fire would have been out three days ago!"
"Look, Mister. We have been working this fire non-stop since it started. This isn't the only neighborhood in danger, you know!" Captain Stanley was uncharacteristically surly with this guy.
The man was now on the ground. A nervous woman came out of the house. "The Fire Department is here now, Ed. Everything will be fine."
"No ma'am. Everything will not necessarily be fine. You people were told to evacuate. What in hell are you still doing here?"
"You think I'm just going to walk away on my investment give anyone who happens along a chance to steal what's mine!" He looked accusingly at the firemen.
"Oh for ---Are your belongings worth more than you life?! Than your wife's life?"
"You can't scare us off. It won't come to that," the guy jeered.
"Why the hell not? This fire has already taken lives --- the lives of some damn good people. What makes you think it will spare yours?!" the Cap's voice rose so much that Mike and Marco moved in closer to him.
"Cut it out. You're scaring my wife."
"She should be sacred," Marco said so the Cap would know he was there. "You people really should leave."
The wife looked expectantly at her husband.
"So the place can be looted by undesirables?" The man stared at Marco's hispanic features meaningfully.
The cap would have exploded on the spot but Marco put a restraining hand on his arm "He's not worth it, Cap," Marco said quietly.
The cap took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "Look, there is a mandatory evacuation order in place. I strongly suggest you obey it."
"Yeah? Well, I ain't leaving. I know my rights!"
"In that case," the cap said through clenched teeth, "could you give us the name and address of you next of kin so we can notify them of your deaths?!"
Captain Tacy had come over when she heard the yelling. She took in the scene within seconds. One exhausted, emotionally depleted fire captain was locking horns with a complete asshole. She'd never seen Hank Stanley in this condition but she understood what he was going through. She noticed that two frightened looking children were peeking out behind the curtains in the picture window. These people needed to get out of here and they needed to go now.
"It's our lives. We can do whatever we want with them!" the man declared belligerently
"You're right, sir," she said. "But you have no right to risk the lives of your children. I'm going to call for a deputy to come and put them in protective custody."
"You can't take the children away from me!!" The woman was frantic.
"No, ma'am, I can't, but the sheriff's department can. These children are endangered. They can and will act to protect them." Tacy knew she was pushing exactly the right buttons.
"That's enough, Ed. I'm leaving and taking the kids. This stuff is all insured, for godsake!!!" the woman gasped.
Reluctantly Ed left with his family but flipped the Captain a bird as he drove by.
"Dumb cocksucker," Captain Tacy muttered.
Stanley remembered the memo that had been circulated shortly before Station 18 came on line instructing the captains to remind their men to keep a civil tongue in their mouths around the ladies. It struck him funny and he laughed.
"You okay, Hank?"
"Yeah, Maggie. I am now. I damn near lost it with that guy, though," he admitted nervously.
"Well, damn near doesn't count," she told him.
The guys from 51s had witnessed the whole thing. They had never seen the Cap this raw and close to the edge. It scared them. The Cap was always a rock. They each silently cursed the fire and went back to work.
***
Watson continued to press on ahead. There was too many questions he didn't have the answers to and he didn't like it. He did remember the crash and a steadily growing headache. He knew he had told them that they should stay with the chopper. Then he woke up in that cave in that stokes basket. He knew that they had to have carried him out and surely they would not have been stupid enough to do that unless they had orders or the fire threatened. The radio had been crushed so how could they have received any orders? It must have been the fire. He had caught a glimpse of the place where he judged the chopper to have landed. He actually did land the bird as much as was possible to control his descent. The whole area was charred over. Gage had been right. It would have been suicide to stay there. He remembered Gage arguing but there were still a lot of big holes in his memory. He could fill in enough blanks to know that those hose jockeys had saved his bacon. It was an oddly uncomfortable feeling. The sooner they all got out of harms' way the better he'd like it. There was would be a mountain of paperwork waiting for him when he got back. The Fire Department got so testy over crashed helicopters. They were almost as bad as the Army.
Johnny and Cassie lagged behind. With no fire chasing them they felt they could go at an easier pace.
"Man," Cassie commented. "This looks like a like the end of the world. Everything is so......dead."
"No, it isn't. Fire is the forest's way of renewing itself. There will be new growth here in no time," Johnny told her. "We have fires like this every year where I'm from. It's the way of nature. The old makes way for the new." He inadvertantly drew a circle in the air. His people did not think in a linear fashion as the white man did. Life was like a sacred hoop, one thing leading into the other and all things being connected. For the first time he did not feel ashamed of those beliefs or the people who had taught them to him.
Life on the reservation had been hard. All he saw there was poverty and hopelessness. He did not buy into the idea that this one piece of land was where he belonged. He felt that he had the right to live anywhere he wanted, the same as any white man. He chose to leave the reservation. He chose a different life than the one he'd known. The good life was supposed to be in California. He'd come here and he was doing just fine. Still, there was an emptiness in his soul. There was a deep nagging feeling that he had deserted or betrayed his people. He wanted to keep the life he had made for himself but there was a piece of his soul that had never left the reservation. He now felt that he could begin to put the two pieces of his soul together.
When that fire was baring down on him he had prayed to be spared. He had not prayed to the Christian God that he had been taught about in school. He prayed to the Creator his grandfather had told him about and he prayed to his grandfather. And he had been answered. He was alive and he owed that to his true beliefs. He would no longer deny them. A confusion had plagued him for years. Then he had ignored it for years as he strove to fit in in the whiteman's world. But the confusion had been burned and blacked by the fire and in its place he could feel the shoots of new growth. The shoots would be strong and so would he. He was no longer confused. He had finally come to accept who he was and who he was not. He could clearly picture his grandfather's face and he was smiling. He could also clearly hear his grandfather's voice inside his head. It said "‘Bout time, you damn fool." He smiled too. That stoic Indian stereotype was a lot of hogwash.
"Hey," Watson called back to them. "Looks like we found a fire road."
They hurried to catch up with him. The creek continued on through a culvert under the road but the road would be a lot easier to walk on.
"Which way?" Cassie asked. The road was sliced out of the forest and would have been just a muddy track in the rainy season. It was the width of the bulldozer than had cut it and didn't look like it led anywhere.
"Follow the fire," Johnny said. "Our people will be fighting it so we'll run into someone eventually."
"That sounds promising," Cassie was sarcastic. First the fire was chasing them. Now they were chasing it. She was hungry and thirsty and her feet were sore. Her clothes and shoes were soggy, which she hated. To say nothing of the fact that she'd never get the smell of smoke out of her hair.
"You know if I didn't know better I'd swear you were a city girl," Johnny teased.
"There's a lot to be said for cities -- like civilization," she started to say more but a sudden coughing fit cut her off.
"Take it easy," Johnny said with concern.
She had trouble getting her breath. He had been the only one smart enough to take a canteen into the creek with him so he still had his. He handed it to her and she eagerly took a drink.
Watson rejoined them. "Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine. She just breathed in a little too much smoke. We all did," Johnny told him.
"Well, she looks beat. I can carry her," he offered.
"Why don't you just pick us both up and fly us back," she snarled in a raspy voice.
"Well, I'd do just that, Darlin', but I left my cape in my other suit," Watson grinned.
"Ha ha," Johnny muttered.
"Hey, you're the one that stated this whole Superman thing, remember," Watson pointed out to Johnny.
"Well, nobody likes anyone who can do everything," Johnny told him.
"I can't do everything," Watson admitted seriously. "I never could get the hang of whistling."
Johnny started to laugh. Whistling! Every kid with his second teeth could whistle!
"Come on," Cassie slide her arm through each of theirs. "Let's go find the Emerald City. I want a word with that damn Wizard."
Watson shot Johnny a quizzical look.
"Don't worry, this is normal behavior for her," he explained.
***
"You gotta eat," Roy said firmly.
KJ looked up from the supplies she was sorting. She had brought them with her from Rampart. There had been some turbulence and things had gotten shifted around and mixed up.
"I know but----"
"But nothing, " Roy said in his best Dad voice. He took her arm and dragged her over to the long table. He put the plate he'd brought down and pointed to the chair nearest it.
"Roy," she started to object.
"Look, I've been watching you. You've been flitting around here for hours but you haven't left this tent. You need to eat. I think this stuff is chili, at least it looks like chili but I can tell it has never met Marco. Whatever it is, it is filling and some of that unidentifiable stuff must be nutritious."
She smiled. She was grateful that he was concerned. She knew he thought that she was in denial about what had happened but that was not really the case. It was just that so much had happened lately. So much could still happen that would affect her life. What if they did decide to end the program? It seemed like the whole world was caving in and she didn't know how to stop it. What had happened to Johnny and Cassie was bad enough. She knew that Roy was playing the noble gentleman and looking out for everyone. She also knew he was torn apart inside. He'd lost his partner and his best friend but no one was threatening to take away his job. She felt her anger coming back. She wanted to scream at someone.
Bob Bellingham came lumbering into the tent like some big, dumb dog. "Hey," he said enthusiastically, "Guess what?"
"They've just broken out the desserts in the mess tent," she said snidely. She regretted it the minute she said it.
"They have?!" Bob was astounded and seemingly overjoyed.
"No--I -- I'm sorry," KJ stammered.
"What's the news, Bob?" Roy tried not to smile.
"The IC just announced that the fire is contained on all perimeters."
There was a lot of whooping and joyful back slapping going on all of a sudden. Morton looked from one to the other in confusion. "I take it that's good news."
"It sure as hell is. It means this damn thing is almost over and we'll be going home soon," Roy explained with a grin. The grin was only on the outside though, because he knew all too well that they wouldn't all be going home.
***
They'd been on the fire road for less than an hour when they came upon a sight that made their hearts skip a beat. They rounded a bend and there about twenty feet in front of them was a burned out hulk. The paint had blackened and and bubbled. All the tires were flattened. All the rubber and plastic on the vehicle had melted and all the windows had shattered due to the intense heat. It was obvious that it had been caught in the flash over too. It was also obvious that, at one time, this had been a fire engine. Had some hapless crew been caught in it? They had been trained to seek refuge in or under the engine as a last resort. That would not have served the crew well in this fire. They approached cautiously each one sickened by the idea than men might have lost their lives in this engine.
When they got close enough Johnny and Watson forced themselves to investigate. Cassie hung back, she'd seen charred bodies before. She'd smelled burned flesh also. She did not smell it now but she knew that her system was so full of smoke that she could not trust it. If there were victims here they were beyond help and she just could not look at burned firemen -- not that they would be recognizable. She could not prevent herself from shuddering.
They looked into and under what was left of the engine. "Nobody here," Johnny called out thankfully. "I see some turnout gear and I think we could use it since we may encounter more firebrands."
"Great," Cassie muttered quietly. This fire had really ceased to be any fun at all.
Johnny picked up a rock and broke out the remaining shards so glass in one of the windows then he climbed in to retrieve the protective clothing. It was still hot in there so he was very careful not to touch anything metal. He handed the gear out to Watson then climbed back out.
There was an 84 on the helmets. The gear was not the type worn by LA County. These were some guys that came in from someplace else to help work the fire.
"I don't think these guys were anywhere around when the truck burned," Watson commented.
"Engine," both Johnny and Cassie corrected him in unison.
"Whatever." Watson was looking under the vehicle. "They were stuck. Looks like the undercarriage is hung up on a big rock.
"They may have been lost. An engine is way too heavy to use this road," Johnny remarked. "They were probably picked up or they hiked their way out."
"Johnny!" Cassie gasped, grabbing his arm. "What if they were caught out in the open on this road during the burnover?!" Evidence of the fire's passing was on both sides of this road as far as the eye could see.
"Don't worry, they were long gone before that happened," Johnny said confidently.
"How the hell do you know that, Tonto?!" Watson couldn't believe such a bold faced lie.
"Elementary, my dear Watson. When I was in there I saw the incident report on a clipboard in the cap's seat. It was dated yesterday morning," Johnny said smugly. He was dealing with Watson on his own terms now. He no longer felt the slightest bit intimidated by him.
Watson tipped the unfamiliar helmet to Johnny. "You sure you can make it, Li -- Kelly?"
"I'll make it," she answered in a raspy voice. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. She knew it and so did they. If these two men are going to walk out of this place then I sure as hell am going to walk out with them! She made up her mind. Sheer determination made her put one foot in front of the other.
They had walked for a little over an hour. Cassie didn't notice that both Watson and Johnny had slowed their pace to match hers. She didn't notice anything, she just kept walking.
"Hey, I hear something," Watson called.
Johnny stopped to listen. Then he heard it too. A vehicle was approaching from behind them. Cassie never heard it or saw it. Johnny took her arm and guided her to the side of the road. Finally a large truck came into view. It looked almost like a farm truck of some kind. Wooden slats that looked like they were designed for livestock caged in the open area behind the cap.
The truck stopped when it got to them. "You guys need a lift?" the guy in the passenger side asked pleasantly. It was obvious this was a fire crew. The crew was covered with dirt and sweat and soot the same as they were.
"We sure do," Johnny grinned.
"84?" the guy asked, consulting his list. "Thought all you guys got out of this area yesterday."
"The gear is 'on loan'. We're with LA County, Station 51," Johnny explained from force of habit.
Again the guy checked the list. "51? Oh I see. They aren't far. Looks like they are working the canyons. Hop on. We'll drop you off there."
"Great. Thanks a million!" Johnny was overjoyed as he led Cassie and Watson to the back of the truck. He climbed on and reached down to give Cassie a hand but Watson lifted her up into the truck bed. She did not object. Johnny thought that was odd but he felt so good that he wasn't going to let it bother him.
The three of them made their way to the front of the truckbed and sat down leaning against the back of the cap. The motion of the vehicle soon lulled Cassie to sleep. Johnny felt so relaxed that he soon nodded off too. Watson just shook his head and let them sleep. He also glared appropriately when some of the fire crew noticed that one of them was not a guy. They backed off immediately knowing instinctively that they'd never get by him.
The truck ground to a halt at the end of the canyon road that 51's and 18's were working. "This is where your guys are reported to be," the guy from the cab called.
Watson shook Johnny's shoulder. Johnny was startled that he'd dozed off. He'd slept just long enough to be aware of his stiff joints when he woke up. The next thing he was aware of was that the truck had stopped.
"Looks like this is our stop," Watson told him.
"Spoken like a true bus driver," Cassie mumbled.
"Come on, Gravel Gertie," Watson teased her about her voice and pulled her to her feet. They followed Johnny to the back of the truck.
Once they were on the ground they waved at the driver who then pulled away. It looked like it had been raining so much water had been poured on these houses to protect them. They could see firefighters manning hoses. They couldn't see them clearly due to the mist that had arisen when the water met the overheated air. Still, there was something familiar about them and that made Johnny, Cassie and Watson hurry to walk up the hill to the spot where they could see the engine.
Mike Stoker took a minute to rub his sore knee. Damn, that Chet had a hard head. Captain Stanley had wanted him to stop by the medical tent, but he knew that he was one of the few engineers on the fire who had been with the department long enough to know how to operate the dinosaurs they had pulled out of the mothballs to work the fire. The newer engines had a lot of improvements but he still had a soft spot for these old ladies. The engineer from 147, where he'd been a boot, had instilled a love for these classy machines in him. He couldn't rest for long, regulating the pressure for the guys working the hoses required him to constantly be checking gauges and making any necessary adjustments.
His mind was on his job, he wasn't sure what made him look up. At first the thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Three figures almost seemed to be materializing from the mist. It wasn't unheard of, in a fire like this that actual couriers were used to send messages from one company to another. They liked to keep the radio waves as free as possible of unnecessary chatter. There were also many places in these canyons that were dead zones where the signals just did not carry. Almost every man had been issued a handy talkie. Once he found out what these guys wanted he'd pass the word onto the cap via his HT. They probably just wanted them to head to another residential area. He went back to working the engine. The water pressure was dropping again and his responsibility was to the guys working the hoses.
Once Johnny recognized Mike he felt a sudden burst of energy and began to outdistance Cassie and Watson as he made his way up the hilly canyon road. The engine Mike worked was parked on the first available flat area. He put his hand on Mike's shoulder to get his attention. He was not at all prepared for the reaction he got.
Mike looked up into the soot-covered face of a firemen he didn't know. A heartbeat later the identity of the unknown fireman was all too clear. He had seen three figures appear in a mist. He had seen too many movies where the dead came back to claim the living. He was too exhausted to really think straight. His eyes shot wide and all color drained from his face. "Holy Shit! God-damn-son-of-a-bitch!" he screamed and dove for the handy talkie that was sitting on the running board. He fumbled with it as his hand shook "Get the fuck away from me! Help, Cap! Cap!!!!" He lost his balance and fell on his can on the pavement but he kept crabwalking away from the apparitions. He tossed the handy talkie and the approaching ghost of Johnny Gage.
The cap had his HT open so he could be reached by any of his men or by Station 18. They were parked farther up the hill. If Incident Command radioed they'd be more apt to hear it than Mike would. He heard Mike's frantic cry for help. He was immediately convinced that he must have slipped on the wet pavement and further injured his knee. I knew I should have had that looked at, the Cap chastised himself. He had been shouldering the the hose so that it would clear a low fence. Chet and Marco where on the flat roof of a garage and were wetting down everything within range of their hose.
"Lopez!" he hollered into his handy-talkie.
It took a minute before Marco looked his way. Stanley drew his hand across his throat signalling Marco to turn off the nozzle.
"What's up, Cap?" Chet hollered back.
"Sounds like Stoker is in some kind of trouble!" Stanley put the hose down and ran back to the engine.
"Mike, what the hell --- I don't believe it!" Stanley gaped open-mouthed at the sight before him.
Stoker was sitting on the ground and Gage was standing over him.
"See we're real," he laughed, "Jeez, Mike, I didn't know you could talk like that."
"I didn't know he could talk at all," Cassie teased him.
Her voice sounded real rough but she sure as hell was alive. The three casualties of this fire were standing right there in front of him. He couldn't think of what to do so he did something without thinking. He ran up and threw his arm around Gage's shoulder. "God damnit, Gage, I swear you're part cat! You are sure a sight for sore eyes!"
Chet and Marco had come down off the roof to see if they could help.
"Madre de Dios!" Marco blessed himself and grew visibly paler.
Chet didn't say a word he just roughly shoved his captain aside and grabbed his sister up in a hug bear hug and swung her around as he had done when they were kids.
"God damn, you stupid son-of-a-bitch ! Put me the fuck down!" Cassie was furious and intended to scream at her bonehead brother but not much sound came out and then it was followed by a coughing fit.
Watson was the closest to them. He grabbed each of Chet's wrists and forced his arms to open so Cassie could be free of the smothering hug.
"Watson!" Chet screamed with a fury of his own. Everyone had been careful to keep the identity of the pilot from Chet. "You! You tried to kill my baby sister?!!!"
Cassie grabbed Chet by the front of his turnout out. "Shut up, Chet. Don't make me hurt you!"
"Oh, yeah right. I forgot. You know 63 ways to kill somebody and not even leave a mark," he scoffed. He didn't go for any of this martial arts crap himself. He'd been given lessons as a kid too but he had dropped out. He was sure that Cassie had continued the lessons just to bug him.
"You'd better watch it, Chet. I know she knows at least one," Johnny said seriously. He took Cassie by the elbow and walked her over to the engine and sat her on the running board. He grabbed an O2 tank. He turned it on and held the mask up to her face.
"What the hell are you doing?" she turned her anger on Johnny.
"Ut ut ut," he corrected her with mock seriousness. "You said I was in charge, remember?"
"Not anymore. There's a fucking captain right there!" she argued with what little voice she had left and pushed his hand and the mask aside.
"Well, the fucking captain is telling you to take some oxygen," the cap said without thinking. He had to walk away for a minute. He knew if he started to laugh his men would follow and there would be no ordering that girl to do anything.
He walked around to the other side of the engine to see the women of Station 18 approaching their location.
"We just go the best news in the world, Hank, " Tacy told him. "Just got word that the fire is contained and we're being called back to the fire camp, hopefully to be told to stand down."
"No, Maggie that's the second best news in the world. The best news is over on the other side of that engine," Hank grinned and followed them around it.
All four stared at the survivors in disbelief. Finally Crenshaw complained. "See that, Cap. It never fails. We're busting our asses on a fire and that goddamn Kelly is off somewhere with a couple of firemen. It's just ain't fair!"
Before Cassie could make a comeback, normally sweet, even tempered Barbara Yates landed a blow on Crenshaw's jaw that knocked her on her keister. "Shut the hell up!" she yelled till her senses suddenly returned. She looked in horror at Captain Tacy.
"Well said, Yates," Tacy laughed then turned her attention to Cassie. "Kelly, you all look like something the cat dragged in that the dog wouldn't eat. Let's get you back to the med tent. They were looking pretty bored last time I looked."
"Cap, I---" Cassie began but her captain's glare silenced her and she and the other two victims gave in to the inevitable. The most harrowing part of their adventure was yet to come.
***
Roy had been looking so forlorn that Morton and Dixie had arranged to have Joanne at the base station so they could talk for a few minutes. Joanne was at Rampart delivering the cookies to Brice. Dixie showed her how to use the mic and Morton innocently called called Roy over to the radio on pretenses Rampart of needing some information.
Roy thought it odd that Morton and the other paramedics left the tent. He decided they were taking a break since the fire had been called.
"Rampart, this is Roy DeSoto."
"Hello, Roy DeSoto. It is so good to hear your voice."
"Joanne?" He wasn't sure he was hearing correctly. "What in the world...."
"I was up here dropping off some cookies for Craig Brice --"
"You made cookies for Brice?"
"Yes. He was most appreciative too. He has agreed to come over and help organize the garage once his eyes heal a little," she told Roy enthusiastically.
Roy felt his stomach drop to his toes. Sure, he had been promising Joanne for years that he would organize the garage but he never actually intended to do it. The garage was his sanctuary. The place he went to escape when the house and the kids got to be too much. Now his sanctuary was to be invaded by Brice, of all people. Part of him wanted to be mad but most of him was just so glad to hear her voice that he didn't really care.
"And maybe we'll actually be able to get the cars in it, for the first time in years," Joanne went on enthusiastically.
***
Dixie stood in the lounge and watched the TV. The LA County Fire Chief was having a press conference. She was delighted to hear him announce that the county was not considering canceling the program that was introducing women into the Department. She smiled. She had pulled many strings. She had friends from fifteen surrounding city and county fire departments notify LA that, should they end the program, there would be other departments who would be happy to take advantage of all the expensive training LA had invested in the women firefighters and hire them. She had no proof that anything she had done had turned the tide but she was happy that it had been turned. She decided to go out to the base station and pass the word to Station 18 via the paramedics.
***
KJ, Pidge and Morton sat on some grass near the medtent. Bellingham had gone over to the mess tent in search of a snack. The entire fire camp was set up in what, at one time, had been a field. KJ stretched out on her back and stared up at the sky. For once it was blue with fluffy white clouds at a high altitude. She just stared at them and tried not to think of anything at all. Pidge and Morton pretended to be all business but, like Roy, she had her suspicions.
KJ heard a group approaching. Crenshaw's voice carried ahead of the crowd. She figured that 18's must have been relieved. They had begun relieving companies and the first in would be the first to be stood down. The companies that had been assigned later in the fire would be the ones assigned to do overhaul. This fire had been going on for so long it was hard to believe it was finally over. Now that the adrenalin rush of battling a monster fire was over, KJ was feeling decidedly lazy. She didn't even bother to look up until she heard something she thought she'd never hear again. Chet and Cassie arguing.
She was sure her ears were playing tricks on her. She sat bolt upright. Both Pidge and Morton were staring in the direction of the approaching fire companies. She was sure her mouth was gaping open in disbelief just like theirs were.
"I'm telling you, Watson, it was a crash!" Johnny's unmistakable voice argued.
"It was a landing, Gage," another man disagreed.
"Watson, when the aircraft is in more than one piece -- it's a crash!"
"Will you two knock it off!!" Captain Stanley ordered. "It's bad enough we have to put up with Donny and Marie here."
Both Pidge and KJ were on their feet and throwing themselves into the group. Both Johnny and Cassie were nearly knocked off their feet by their exuberance.
After a few moments of chaos Johnny asked where Roy was.
"He's in the tent talking to Joanne on the radio," Morton reported mischievously. "Why don't you just saunter on in and see what he does."
"I don't think his reaction could hold a candle to Stoker's" Johnny teased the still embaressed engineer.
Everyone followed Johnny to the tent flap so they could watch. Johnny flashed them a grin and continued on into the tent. Roy's back was to the tent flap. Johnny walked up behind him.
"Using Fire Department equipment for personal calls. I'm surprised at you, Roy."
Roy spun around. He dropped the mic so fast it knocked the whole radio over. He seemed unaware of the fact. He just gaped at Johnny. Neither of them said a word for a minute. Then Roy bounded up to him and threw his arms around Johnny as it he'd just won the big game.
"Roy. Roy!" Johnny gasped. His singed lungs were also protesting being crushed.
***
Dixie walked up to the base station. She thought it odd that Joanne was not talking to Roy. "Is something wrong with the equipment?"
"I don't know. There was the sound of a crash and now I can't raise him."
Dixie took the mic and began calling Roy's name.
***
"Roy," Johnny choked trying once again to get his partner's attention. "You just dropped Joanne."
"Joanne!" Roy gulped and ran back to the radio. He picked the radio and the mic back up. "Honey, you're not going to believe this!! Johnny is here! He's okay. He's okay!!!"
"I don't normally approve of that type of familiarity, Roy, but under the circumstances, I'll let it go this once. Are you sure?" Dixie asked.
"Oh, Dix, I'm sorry but --yes, yes," Roy didn't care that tears were rolling down his cheeks. "He's alright. They all are," he said as he noticed everyone else filing into the tent. "God! I can't believe this!"
"This definitely calls for a celebration," Dixie was also silently weeping. She looked at Joanne who was also crying. Dixie got a hold of herself. "Alright, Roy. Snap out of it. You're still on duty. Let's get those victims in here and get them checked out. Back to work here."
***
Within the hour one of the busses that had been used to shuttle volunteer workers from out of the area to the fire camp pulled up outside of Rampart and the entire crews of Station 18 and Station 51 piled out leading three protesting victims into the ER.
Word had spread throughout the hospital and there was quite a reception committee in the ER. Six nurses kissed Johnny and welcomed him back. One of them he didn't even know! Unfortunately he lost her in the crowd before he could get her number.
Brackett whisked Johnny and Watson into room 3 while Joe Early took his chances herding Cassie into room 5.
"I'm sorry, Chet you're going to have to wait out here," Early told him firmly
Cassie thumbed her nose at Chet as Early closed the door on him. Captain Tacy had come into the room with them and she cocked a disapproving eyebrow at Cassie.
"Alright, Cassie," Joe finally said. "I'm dying of curiosity. How in the world did you people survive a helicopter crash into that fire?"
"That was the easy part," she said but talking caused her to cough.
Pidge came into the room carrying a can of orange juice and a can of grapefruit. "You need to drink. OJ is good for you but knowing your sour self I figured you'd go for this stuff." She offered her both cans.
"Thanks, Mom," Cassie rasped, choosing the grapefruit juice. She opened it and took a drink.
"Eeuuueeww, how can you drink that stuff? I can't. Can you, Cap?" Pidge was nervous and chattered more than she usually did.
"Not without a liberal dose of vodka," Captain Tacy agreed.
"It's good," Cassie's voice was fading fast.
"How could it be easy to survive a helicopter crash in a fire?" Joe's curiosity was killing him.
"It wasn't so much a crash as an ‘unscheduled landing'," Cassie remembered the terminology her brother used.
"I'll say," Tacy scoffed. "What about the fire?"
"We landed in an area that had been sprayed with flame retardant. It bought us enough time to hike out before we got cut off by the fire." Again, talking led to a coughing fit.
"Look, Doctor, she can tell her tale later, right now I think we should do something about those lungs," Pidge said nervously.
"This isn't the doctor you can boss around," Cassie told her. The remark earned her a smack on the shoulder from her partner.
"She's right, though," Dr Early agreed. "We need to get this exam done and those lungs treated. You guys can fight - er talk later when she's all squared away in a room."
"A room?!!!"
"Standard procedure for everyone who returns from the dead," Joe said solemnly.
"Doc, whoever told you you were funny was lying," Cassie challenged.
"Kelly, you just do what the man says, and for all of our sake's, including yours -- shut up!" Captain Tacy said in a no-nonsense tone.
In Room 5 Brackett and Dixie had their hands full with Johnny and Watson as they argued their way though the events since the helicopter crash.
"Alright! Alright!" Dixie said firmly. "Whether it was a crash or a landing doesn't make any difference!"
"Sure, it does, Beautiful. If that bird had crashed there wouldn't have been enough left of us to put in a soda pop bottle. I encountered engine trouble and I landed in a safe area."
"Landed?!" Johnny was also sipping on some juice. "Roy, you're a pilot ---"
"Not quite, Junior. I had clocked some hours but I never got my license."
"Let me know if you ever want to. I could------"
"You!!! You could teach him! That's a laugh and a half. You haven't learned how to stay in the air yourself yet!" Johnny laughed.
Johnny and Watson were arguing the same as always but somehow there was a tad but less hostility in the jabs than usual. It was almost like they were putting on a show of some sort.
"Let's get some vitals on these two while they argue," Brackett nodded at Roy and Dixie. He was pretending to be his usual gruff and business-like self.
"Then what happened, after you got on the ground?" Roy asked as he wrapped a BP cuff around Johnny's arm.
"Well, the fire was threatening to cut us off so I wanted to leave, but Sky King here, said we should wait with the aircraft for a rescue party. Course, with everybody a little on the busy side with the fire I knew that they couldn't spare anyone for a rescue party," Johnny looked at Watson not really sure how much to tell. Was there such a thing as paramedic/patient confidentiality? He decided he'd better tell Brackett the whole truth so that they could check Watson for a possible head injury.
"Anyway, we argued. Cassie and I decided to strike out on our own if he wouldn't come. That's when ol' Superman flipped out on us. He started flashing back to Viet Nam. He was seeing Viet Cong in every tree. So we had to subdue him. We carried him out as far as we could get in one day. But due to his alien physiology and all, he seemed back to normal by the next day so then we just had to race the fire down the mountain."
"Johnny, you can't outrun a fire!!" Roy said in disbelief.
"No but old Tonto there outfoxed it. He had us get into a creek while it burned over us." Watson filled in. This part he remembered perfectly well.
"You guys were in a burnover!!" Roy dropped his stethescope.
"Well, that wasn't exactly part of my original plan, " Johnny admitted.
"A burnover," Roy muttered in disbelief.
"Look, Doc, you suppose all this could wait until we got something to eat. I gotta admit it. I'm really starved," Johnny said.
"That sounds like the Johnny we all know and love," Dixie laughed. "How about this idea? You guys get yourselves checked over and I'll arrange for the three of you to have a meal in the Doctor's Lounge before you go upstairs. That way, you can all tell your stories to everyone at the same time and you won't have to repeat it 100 times."
"Meal? You mean like hospital meal or like real food because Tony's Steakhouse is right down the street and I know for a fact that they deliver ----"
"Don't push your luck, Gage," Dixie growled.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Johnny grinned. "Oh but, Dix, Cassie doesn't eat meat, don't forget."
"Anything else, Your Highness?" Dix pretended to be annoyed.
"Yeah," Johnny said quietly, "she's real particular about peanut butter too."
"Maybe you'd better check him for a head injury too," Dix suggested.
***
An hour later there was quite a crowd in the doctor's lounge. The crews from 51 and 18 that had been working the fire and as much of the ER staff that could slip in did so. They let Johnny tell the tale with occasional interruptions. The part about the gun and the disarming of Watson never figured into the story but both Watson and Cassie praised Johnny's ingenuity and tracking skills. They both credited him with saving them. Johnny was momentarily speechless over that.
No one noticed Deputy Chief Wilson and Chief McConikee come into the room. They both congratulated Johnny, also. The also came to officially inform Station 18 that the Department had no plans to disband the station. It would have been wiser of them to not have mentioned this in front of Cassie. She was tired and cranky and laced into both of them when she heard that her reported death could have been the cause of such a move. Though several people tried, no one could shut her up as she raged at the two officials.
"... When are you people gonna ever get it through your heads that the only time a man would be more qualified to put out a fire than a woman was if they had to pee it out!!!" She concluded. Early had given her something to ease her coughing and she was able to finish her tirade.
She was still angry but everyone else in the room sat in shocked silence at what she had said. Chat put his hand over his eyes. All that fighting everyone had done on behalf of the women's station and now she had probably just gotten herself fired!
Wilson and McConikee stepped out of the room and were safely in the hallway before they gave into the laughter they'd been hiding in the lounge.
Marco was the first one in the room to lose it and his laughter was infectious. Soon Cassie was the only one not laughing. She had been deadly serious. She decided that they were all either exhausted or just plain nuts. Probably the later.
"So, Kelly," Crenshaw asked when she was able. "While these guys were busy playing the big heroes what were you doing?"
"She pulled her own weight, don't worry," Johnny said to Crenshaw in a surly voice. He was really beginning to dislike that girl. He narrowed his eyes at her as he took a sip of coffee.
"I had an important job," Cassie said. "I had to teach Johnny about peanut butter sex."
Johnny sprayed the coffee almost three feet. He spun his head to look at her in utter disbelief. She had an innocent look on her face but he was sure she knew exactly what she had implied. Captain Stanley and Marco suddenly grabbed Chet who reminded Johnny of a bull at the moment.
Probably the only thing that really prevented Chet from killing Johnny was Joanne DeSoto and the kids coming into the room. The kids exploded into Roy's arms and he made no move to put them down.
Joanne kissed Roy's cheek then handed Johnny a tupperware container filled with his favorite brownies. She didn't tell him she had to pick through the garbage for the recipe.
"Joanne! My brownies!! How in the world did you --- You're just amazing that's all there is to it."
Joanne gave him a quick kiss on the cheek too.
"Oh!" Johnny suddenly remembered "Roy, in all the excitement I forgot to give you the message. My note got a little soggy but I'm sure I can remember it all. Let's see, Joy won the spelling bee, Chris lost his tooth and you have to clean out the spare room to make room for the girl scout cookies."
"I'll put Brice on it right after he gets the garage organized," Roy said sourly.
"You forgot the part about the washing machine," Cassie prompted.
"I am not speaking to you," Johnny shook his finger at her. "And I'm not sharing my brownies with you either!"
Cassie looked into the container he was teasing her with.
"I don't want any," she answered his tease in kind. "Those are boy brownies."
"Boy brownies?" Joanne asked.
"Yeah, Mom," Chris and Joy said in unison "They got nuts!"
Joanne looked shocked while a few guarded snickers made their way around the room.
"Yeah, Jo," Roy agreed, hoping the kids did not get the double meaning here. "Everybody knows that."
"Not everybody," Cassie said under her breath.
Johnny glared at her but did not quite dare accuse her of being just like Chet.
"Well, it's time this little party broke up," Dixie stepped in. "These patients need to get up to their rooms before the press is all over this place and the rest of you look like zombies so -- everybody out. Once everybody gets a clean bill of health, and I might add, once everyone has had a chance to shower, we'll have a real party!"
The fire was contained, Station 18 was in no danger of being put out of commission and best of all the friends they'd thought they'd lost had turned up safe and relatively sound. Not a bad day's work, Dixie thought with a smile. The first genuine smile she'd smiled in days. A real celebration was definitely in order. Maybe she should call Smokey and have him stock up. This was one party she planned to attend with bells on!
Author's note: I know, I hate multi-parters too. I never dreamed when I started this that it would turn into a mini-series. Thanks to Aline Kloeppel, Heather Stern and Margaret-Anne park for the use of KJ, Watson the girls from C-Shift. It should also be noted that writing while watching The View can have some strange results. Many years ago, some friends and I were convinved by some devious Forest Service guys that it would be fun to volunteer to go work a fire in Montana. Naturally they did not let a bunch of "greenhorns" do anything with the actual fire. We were working the fire break which is far more like power gardening and is no fun at all, to be prefectly honest. The terminology used here was that used by the Forest Service and may not be the exact same as that which is used in LA County.
