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Spending the next half hour becoming one with the fire hose was a lesson Geri would never forget. She got slapped in the face by it more than once.
“Hold it like this,” Jake said, coming behind her and showing her where to grab on. “You’ll be able to control it this way.”
When she wasn’t needed at the pumper, the crew chief came looking for her again.
“Grab a pickax and shovel and follow me,” Sean said. “You’ll get to dig trenches.”
They climbed the hillside in the dark, only the light from the fire illuminating the way, and joined a line of men digging a firebreak. Within minutes, her shoulders and biceps were screaming.
“Nothing matches this work, no rowing machine or weight lifting,” Sean shouted.
“You’ll feel it tomorrow for sure,” someone else said.
The sweat dripped off her nose, but in spite of the pain and the discomfort, soon the rhythm of the work alongside the other firefighters brought some relief, and the pain leveled off. The numbing work segued from minutes to hours.
Red sunlight peeked up over the mountaintops.
“We’re in good shape here,” Sean called out. “Engine four is going back to the station. Number six will stay here and mop up.”
When the sun was overhead, the incident commander on scene called one hundred percent contained. Exhausted, the crew gathered their equipment and began the long descent to the truck.
“You did good, Angel,” Rick Jackson said.
“She did great,” someone else called out. “Now let’s just hope we don’t get another call right away.”
Dead on her feet was how she’d describe the feeling to her father on the phone later that day.
“I get it,” he said. “You just walk around like a zombie and pray no one throws a lit cigarette out a car window.”
As the rookie, it was her job to clean up both the truck and the engine, so while the rest of the crew went to eat and rest until the next call, she continued to work alone, but not for long.
“I brought you a sandwich.”
Filling a bucket with hot water, she looked over her shoulder at Jake Saint holding a plate out with food.
“Oh, thank you,” she said, straightening up, not hungry but not going to refuse it, either.
“It’s egg and sausage. I made it. I hope you like rye bread. Someone donated ten loaves.”
“Yikes, I’ll make corned beef on rye for dinner tonight. I saw corned beef in the refrigerator.”
“Wow, you cook! That’s great. My brother usually cooks, but he’s off today. I was dreading finding out who would take his place.”
“I figured I’d cook since I’m new.” She took a bite of the sandwich. “This is good. Tasty.”
Remembering after digging a trench for four hours, she probably had a dirty face, she put the plate down and looked in the metal paper towel dispenser above the sink.
“Oh my God, how embarrassing,” she said, turning the water on to wash up.
He hovered close by as she used the harsh hand soap out of the dispenser to scrub, chuckling. “I think you’re cute. You came right back to the station and got to work and didn’t look in the mirror. It’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re a rookie. Everyone’s talking about it upstairs.”
Drying off with paper toweling, she realized how ridiculous she must look with her hair sticking straight up and no makeup, not even any lipstick. “They are? I’d better do it right, then.”
“I’ll help you,” Jake said. “But eat up first.”
She did as he said and finished eating, and then they got to work, cleaning and polishing the rigs. Squatting down, she polished the chrome rims until they shone, and it wasn’t until she stood up that she realized how sore her legs were.
“Take a break, rookie,” Sean called out.
