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Bindi quickened their pace, and within another fifteen minutes, she spotted the dry riverbed that heralded the outskirts of the mine site. They slowed, so the horses could more easily navigate the rocky bottom of the river.
Bindi swiveled in her saddle and peered back the way they’d come. “Do you smell smoke?” she asked, standing up in her stirrups to get a better look.
Mack reined in Picasso and turned a worried glance backward. “Look.” He pointed skyward, where a plume of smoke drifted just above the tree line. Even as they watched, the white wisp grew in size and became dark gray, expanding from a small finger of smoke to a larger cloud, to a billowing, angry mass. Sahara gave a nervous whicker, as she got wind of the flames.
“Holy shit,” Bindi could hardly believe her eyes. This was bad. Especially now, when the land was as dry as a chip. The dehydrated grass and underbrush would go up like a bonfire someone had thrown gasoline on. “We need to let Skylar know,” she said a little breathily. Her heart was beating fast, and it was almost as if she were hyperventilating. She tapped the button on the two-way, and said, “Bindi to lodge. Acknowledge. Over.” Then waited for someone to reply.
The main radio comms unit was in Daniella’s office, and neither she nor Steve were there. But a smaller unit was situated in the kitchen, where Skylar might hear it, in case of emergencies. The two-way radios had their limitations, and could only be used over smaller distances and only on flat ground, as they used line-of-sight frequencies. If any of the staff went to the other end of the station, or on a muster, then satellite phones were a must, but this close to the lodge, the radios should work. Skylar would know it was up to her to answer this call, and to Bindi’s relief, her voice crackled down the line a few seconds later. Mack moved in closer, so he could hear the conversation. Both horses shuffled nervously, ears twitching and eyes wide with alarm. They didn’t like the proximity of the fire any more than the humans did.
“Skylar here. Have you found them?”
“No. But you need to call the fire services. We’re at the perimeter of the mine, but we can see smoke behind us. There’s a fire between us and you, closer to the mine. Say around half a kilometer away.” As she said the words, it also dawned on her. They were now cut off from the lodge. The fire was directly in their path. Unless she wanted to cut across country, which she could do if pressed, but that fire seemed to be spreading quickly. She had been considering backtracking, to see if she and Mack might fight the fire themselves, but the amount of smoke now billowing around them put paid to that idea. And now she could see flames licking the tops of the taller trees. There was a slight breeze, but it was carrying the fire away from them, which was one small mercy. Until she remembered that if it were being blown away from them, it meant the fire was heading straight for the resort. Was this purely a coincidence? Or was there something more sinister going on here? Or should she say someone more sinister?
“Oh, shit. Not good. Not good at all.” Bindi could hear scuffling noises, as if Skylar were juggling the radio, then she heard her say something indistinct. “Julie’s on the phone to the fire brigade right now. I’ll round up Alek and Sasha, and we’ll grab the fire truck and jump on the ATVs. See if we can keep it from spreading any closer to the lodge. I’ll leave Aaron here to look after the guests.”
Stormcloud had a dedicated fire truck they kept on station for just such emergencies. It was an old four-wheel-drive truck that Steve had converted to house a large, stainless steel Furphy water tank on the rear bed. The engine drove a small pump, which allowed them to spray a strong stream of water from a long hose. It’d come in handy more than once over its lifetime, although Bindi had never encountered a fire in her time on the station.
Bindi could hear the worry in Skylar’s voice. The absolute last thing they needed right now was a wildfire threatening Stormcloud. Not while their cabins were full of people, and they had a wedding in two days. Bindi couldn’t even think about what might happen if this fire reached the lodge. Of course, they had an escape plan in place, and Bindi knew Skylar and Julie would make sure the guests were evacuated to safety, if need be.
“What about you? Are you safe?” Skylar demanded.
“Yes. We’re going to keep going to the mine site.” She glanced at Mack as she said this, and he nodded his consent. It was the only real option, anyway. And she was determined not to let some thieving asshole take Steve’s prized horses. Which reminded her, Skylar needed to be told the rest of the story. “The reason we haven’t found the horses yet is that we think they may have been stolen and taken to the mine site. Perhaps to be loaded onto a truck.” Should she tell her about Mack’s little revelation, as well? That not only had the horses been stolen, but he thought there might be a connection to someone who wanted him dead? Deciding that it wouldn’t make any difference to how Skylar responded to the emergency if she told her or not, she rushed on, not letting Skylar’s gasp of surprise deter her. “But if the fire gets any worse, we’ll ride north, we’ll come out on the main highway around the turnoff. We won’t put our lives at risk for the horses,” she consented.
“Good idea,” Skylar agreed. “Did you take a sat phone?” she asked suddenly.
“No.” They’d left the kitchen in such a hurry, she’d clean forgotten to take one. At the time, she hadn’t really thought they’d need it. But if the fire spread, and they had to keep going north, they might get out of range of the two-ways. It was a mistake, but there was no point in beating herself up about it now. “But like I said, we’ll head to the highway. Someone will pick us up there.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Skylar said brusquely, “Okay, we’ll have to deal with that eventuality, if it happens. Stay safe. Out.” The radio went quiet.
She and Mack stared at the mushrooming fire behind them. “We’d better get moving,” she said, at last.
“I just had a thought,” Mack said, as they reined their horses away from the rising flames. “This fire may not be a coincidence. It may be a diversion. To stop us looking for the horses.”
Again, he was thinking one step ahead of her. It was an interesting idea. One that held merit. Whoever was doing this had come up with a way to distract everyone at Stormcloud. As well as a way to cut her and Mack off from any rescue.
Bindi studied Mack for a few moments. Back when she’d first met him, she’d compared him to Wazza, and found him seriously wanting. She’d decided that he’d never be able to fill Wazza’s boots. But maybe she’d underestimated him back then. While Wazza would certainly have taken charge; known exactly what to do and been able to direct people in his calm, efficient way, Mack wasn’t backing down from this challenge. His face was deadly serious, and she recognized that look from the time he’d been about to mount the bull at the rodeo. Completely focused and deadly. There wasn’t a single sign of the cocky, flirty cowboy persona he usually projected. He may not have Wazza’s experience from many years of working at Stormcloud, but he was using his sharp wit and intelligence to guide them both. He had her back, and the glint in his eye told her he’d do whatever it took to get those horses back and get out of this predicament alive. If she had to face this frightening scenario with anyone, she was glad it was Mack by her side.
“We need to find Madonna,” she said, determination coloring her voice. “Then we need to get the hell out of here.” She clucked at Sahara, who required no urging to move away from the fire, and took off with a bound up the dry riverbank.
“Well, at least let me go in first,” Mack said grimly, spurring Picasso into a canter so that he was in front of her.
Blasted men and their blasted egos. Bindi urged Sahara to keep up with him.
