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‘This is one hell of a road,’ Nicolas said as the SUV hit another pothole.
‘It’s not the best.’
‘Much farther?’
‘A couple more corners. Slow down. Their driveway is coming up on the left. There! Between those two gum trees.’
‘Hell on earth,’ Nicolas grumbled as he drove up the gravel road to the house that, though perched on a cleared rise, was virtually surrounded by trees. ‘These places are disasters waiting to happen. Why haven’t they cleared the trees farther back from the house?’
‘They’re not allowed to cut down any natives without permission from the local council. And getting permission is a minefield of red tape.’
‘Insanity!’
‘I agree. But Janine’s place is safer than most. Ken’s cleared out all the immediate scrub and undergrowth, which is where bushfires get their fuel. They also have sprinklers built into the roof and a fireproof cellar. Oh, look, there’s Janine on the verandah. She doesn’t look too happy. The girls can’t have come back yet.’
Nicolas pulled the vehicle to a rather ragged halt in front of the steps and they both jumped out. The heat and wind by then was atrocious, and the thick smell of smoke on the air very worrying. So was the big black cloud on the horizon above the treetops.
‘No sign of the girls yet?’ a worried Serina said as she hurried towards Janine.
‘Not yet. I…’
‘Mum—Mum!’
Both women turned in the direction of the girl’s voice. It was Kirsty, running like mad across the wide front lawn.
‘Where’s Felicity?’ Serina demanded to know immediately.
‘She’s still in there,’ Kirsty said, pointing back towards the forest. ‘We were on our way back when we heard this crying sound not far from the track. It was a fox who’d fallen down a rabbit hole and broken its leg. We tried to get it out but it was in a right panic and slipped farther down into the hole. I told Fliss to leave it. I could tell that the fire was getting closer. But she wouldn’t. You know what she’s like, Mrs Harmon.’
‘Yes,’ Serina said with a groan.
‘I didn’t know what to do, Mum,’ Kirsty said, a sob catching in her throat. ‘I…I couldn’t make her leave so I thought I’d come and get help.’
Nicolas looked at the way the fire was leaping from treetop to treetop on a nearby hilltop and realised there was no time to lose. ‘Can you show me where she is, Kirsty?’
‘My daughter’s not going back in there!’ Janine said, and hugged her child to her side.
‘We don’t expect her to,’ Nicolas said. ‘We just need to know which way to go.’
‘Please, Kirsty,’ Serina begged.
‘It’s all right, Mum,’ Kirsty said, getting control of herself. ‘I’ll show them. She’s not all that far in.’
‘In that case, I’m coming, too,’ Janine said.
They all ran towards the forest and the fire.
‘Along here,’ Kirsty said, and dived into the forest, with everyone in hot pursuit.
Despite following a well-trodden walking track, Nicolas was astonished at how quickly the forest seemed to close in around them, blocking out the light. Of course it didn’t help that the sky above was filling with black smoke. Get off this trail, however, and you’d be lost in seconds.
Lost and cooked.
Nicolas had not forgotten how it had felt, being burned. Yet he didn’t feel afraid for himself. His fear was all for his daughter.
‘She’s just in there,’ Kirsty said, stopping and pointing through some thick bush on her left. ‘Fliss, are you there?’ she yelled out.
‘Yeah,’ Felicity yelled back. ‘This bloody fox is stuck. Come and help me, will you?’
‘I’m going to kill her,’ Serina said, and was about to launch towards her daughter’s voice, when Nicolas grabbed her arm.
‘You go back to the house. I’ll get her.’
Serina set rebellious eyes upon him.
‘Take her back, Janine,’ Nicolas snapped before she could say a word. ‘Now!’
They all heard it then. The sound of the flames, roaring towards them.
‘No!’ Serina screamed, and wrenched out of Nicolas’s hold. ‘I won’t go back without Felicity. I won’t!’ And she plunged into the forest, calling out to her daughter.
‘You go back!’ Nicolas screamed to Janine and Kirsty as he raced after her. ‘I’ll get them. Don’t worry.’
And he would, he vowed. No way was his family going to die here today. No way!
He found them both quite quickly, Serina trying to pull her stubborn daughter away from the rabbit hole and the fox she was insanely intent on saving. Even in that short time, the intensity of the heat had grown. Nicolas couldn’t see the fire yet, but he could feel it coming.
