Page 106 of The Clifftop Cottage

She knelt.

The earth was colder than she expected, and for a moment she simply pressed her palm flat against the soil, as if feeling for a pulse.

Then she began to dig.

34

Gabriel watched as the fire took hold of the house.

Orange tongues climbed the walls, swallowing the windows, pushing through the eaves. It moved fast. Too fast. In all his years with the brigade, he’d rarely seen it turn that quickly.

Fire had a will of its own.

You didn’t control it. You read it. You worked with it. And when it shifted, you adjusted.

It was a semi-detached cottage along the river. Neighbours stood in dressing gowns, shouting over the roar, some clutching buckets as if that might make a difference.

“Keep back!” Gabriel barked, waving them away as the wind changed and the flames followed. Sparks lifted and scattered into the dark.

Inside, one of his crew was searching for the woman reported trapped, in her mid-thirties.

His gut tightened.

“Where’s Sinclair?”

“Rear entry!” someone shouted back.

Gabriel turned to the Watch Commander – Macrae, steady as granite even in the glare, bald head shining under the flashing lights. A man who’d spent more winters in Highland gear than most recruits had years on the earth.

“I’m going in,” Gabriel said.

A fraction of hesitation.

Then a nod.

That was enough.

He grabbed his helmet and mask, shouting instructions as he moved. “North side window! Get water up there – now!”

The hose team redirected. A blast hammered the upstairs frame, glass bursting outward in a spray. Heat rolled down the ladder as Gabriel climbed, thick and punishing.

Then—

“Gabriel!”

He turned.

Movement at the rear garden. Sinclair stumbled into view, coughing hard, arms locked around the woman’s body. They’d gone out the back. Smart.

Paramedics swarmed as soon as Sinclair cleared the doorway. Oxygen mask. Torches. Voices sharp and fast.

Gabriel stayed where he was a second longer, lungs burning inside his mask.

Then he started down.

His boots had barely touched the ground when⁠—

BOOM.