Red Hot (12 page)

‘Harvey, what is it?’

‘Look up there.’ He pointed across to the hill directly behind Dawn’s place. ‘There’s a light up there, look.’

‘Yes, I can see it. It looks like it’s moving!’

***

Upstairs, Mary was lying in bed. She couldn’t tell the family that she and Harvey usually had separate rooms. She wondered how they would go sleeping in the same bed. They hadn’t been intimate for years. Mary knew Harvey had been with other women; people talked and she got wind of his affairs years ago. It upset and infuriated her. She kept all this to herself, seeking solace in the church. She hadn’t missed the exchange of looks downstairs earlier, between him and Ellie. How was she going to spend the next few nights in here with him? He was probably downstairs now, putting off coming up until, hopefully, she was asleep.

Mary knew Harvey didn’t love her. What Harvey didn’t know was that Mary had loved him deeply at first, and she had been broken-hearted when she found out about his affairs. Despite this knowledge, she still cared for him, although not in the way she had when they were first married. They had discovered she could not have children. This broke her heart as well. Harvey never made advances to her for sex, hadn’t done so for many years. That part of their life just dwindled away. She never mentioned it to him, she had her pride. She also clung to the thought that no other woman would step into her shoes as long as she still lived. Her religion did not condone divorce and Mary could handle his affairs knowing no other woman would have the title of Mrs Winters! It also gave her a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that Harvey would never be free of her. She had this hold over him. He also financially depended on her and there was not anything he could do to change that. It was Mary’s revenge on him for his infidelity.

She also knew about him and Ellie all those years ago, and now here she was smack bang in the middle.
Well, this time she wouldn’t put up with his betrayal and let him humiliate her, not right in front of her face and not in the place they were intending on calling home.
She promised herself that.

Sighing deeply, she got up and crossed to the window. The view was lovely. Looking out across the orchards to the hills, Mary let her gaze sweep around.

‘Someone must have a
camp up there,’
she thought. A bright glow had formed in the hills. She turned away from the window then looked back again.
‘I’ll swear that light’s getting bigger and brighter. Oh, heck, the firebug thing! I’d better see if I can rouse someone to check on it.’

Downstairs, Harvey and Ellie watched the light grow brighter.

‘Flamin’hell! That’s no torch! It’s a bloody fire! Ellie, ring the fire brigade, hurry!
’
Harvey ran around to the other end of the veranda, calling out as he went. ‘Tell them to get there on the double! That’ll go up in no time!’

Harvey instantly thought of the firebug they had discussed earlier.

He spotted the cow bell that Dave and Emmie kept on the old wash-stand ready to be rung in emergencies. Grabbing it, he rang the bell as hard as he could!

The rest of the family, woken from their slumber by the clanging of the cowbell, dragged on dressing gowns and trousers. They stumbled down the stairs.

Mary was on her way to wake Dig and Win when she heard the bell. Now she joined the others downstairs.

‘Hell, Harv! What the blazes is goin’ on?’ Karl rubbed his hand across his tired eyes. As he did, he saw for himself what the reason for the din was!

‘Shit!
Ring the brigade, someone!’

‘Already have, Karl. They’re on their way.’

‘What’s the trouble down here?’ Dave asked. Emmie was tying the belt of her dressing gown along with Dave, still clad in his striped cotton pyjamas, as they descended the stairs.

No one bothered to answer because Dave and Emmie could see for themselves. Even as they spoke, the telephone jangled inside. Ellie answered it.

‘Sam’s on his way up the hill with Des and Eric. He said Des was up late and he saw the blaze start and woke them. They won’t wait for you and Dig, Karl. They have to get on it before it spreads. Try to stop it reaching Dawn’s. He said he rang Arthur and he’s jump-starting that water tanker he just bought from Roly Patterson. The battery went dead on it. As soon as he gets it going, he’s heading up with that.’

‘C’mon Dig, grab your boots and jacket, put ‘em on in the ute,’ Karl said, snatching his jacket from the hook and hurrying out the door.

‘See ya’s all later.’ Dig kissed Win and he and Karl jumped in the ute, spraying gravel as they sped off.

‘I can’t stay here and do nothin’. They’ll need everyone they can get up there.’ Harvey looked around at them.

‘Well, if you hurry you can catch Arthur as he goes past,’ Ellie said. ‘Jump in with him.’

‘Good, I’ll just race up and throw on some old things.’

‘Apparently Arthur’s worried about young Robert. He’s still not home, so Sam said,’ Ellie recalled.

‘We saw him earlier this afternoon,’ Tammi replied. ‘He should’ve been home hours ago.’

‘That young man is headed for trouble, mark my words,’ Emmie said.

Hazel and Ted appeared in their dressing gowns.

‘A bad un I reckon, Dave,’ Ted said, coming to stand beside him.

‘Yes, I think Frank left it a bit late to do that burn this year. It’s potentially a catastrophic combination up in those hills!’ Poor old Dave stood, watching helplessly.

‘Look… the fire’s breaking out closer to Aunty Dawn’s!’ Kathy yelled.

Sure enough, the flames had sprung further up the hill. As they watched, the whole hill seemed to ignite. Bright orange flames licked high into the night sky. They could hear the faint shouts of men’s voices mingled with chugging of water pumps as they discharged gallons of water onto the inferno.

‘A bloke feels bloody helpless just standin’ here watchin.’ Dave stood on the top step of the back veranda watching as the fire snaked its way up the hill. ‘That’s got a hell of a go on! They’ve got a battle on their hands with this one!’

‘You silly old fool, you know you can’t go fighting fires. I’m not losing you to this damn lunatic on top of everything else.’ Emmie took Dave’s cold hand in hers. ‘It’s no good upsetting yourself, come on, sit down. I’ll get Hazel to make us a cuppa.’

Francis went to his mother who was standing on the edge of the veranda watching the blaze.

‘Mum, Uncle Arthur’s just pulled up I’m going up with him and Harvey.’

‘Oh, Francis, if anything happened to you… Just be careful son!’

Francis gave her a quick hug and raced out to leap in the truck with Arthur and Harvey. The old water tanker heaved and groaned, then chugged off in a cloud of exhaust smoke.

‘Shit, Arthur, what’d you pay for this thing?’ Harvey asked, holding on to the dashboard for support as the truck bounced and shuddered along the road.

‘You sure we’ll make it up the hill in this thing?’ Francis added.

Arthur roared with laughter. ‘Never fear, we’ll make it alright, just hold on!’

***

‘Are there many properties backing onto that hill?’ Mary enquired.

‘Yes, about five, including Sam’s orchard and Dawn’s farm,’ Win told her.

‘They’ll all be out battlin’ this,’ Dave added. ‘The firebug’s targetin’ everyone in the valley this time! It’s not just us anymore. The whole valley will be in an uproar over this.’

***

Up in the hills, they frantically battled the raging beast. The huge flames were being fanned by a breeze, although it wasn’t a strong gusty wind, it was enough to make the situation so much worse.

Fire brigades from the main town of Albury and the nearby country village of Jindera arrived. All the local blokes, and some of the women, raced to help fight the inferno, all desperate to save their properties. If it got away from them and deeper into the scrub,
then things would indeed become catastrophic!

***

It had reached the boundary fence on Dawn’s back paddock.

Jeff Hickson was cursing as he desperately sprayed water onto the savage flames.

‘This fuckin’ bastard has to be stopped! We’ve gotta stop it reachin’ the hayshed. Dawn’s just had it built and there’s at least a thousand bales of hay in it! She can’t afford to lose it now.’

‘Curse this rotten bastard! He’ll hang for this… I’ll string ‘im up meself!’ Karl shouted back.

‘Look out, Karl!’ Frank Smith bellowed. ‘That gum tree’s about to fall.’ As he shouted, a huge branch broke loose and crashed to the ground inches from Karl. Flames jumped from it as it hit the ground and quickly caught on to grass and raced off to join the larger ones.

‘Bring more water up here. Get Arthur and his tanker. The fire’s gone through the fence and is headin’ straight for the hayshed!’ Eric shouted.

In the other direction, Sam, Digger and a number of other local men were trying hard to control flames that threatened Ivy Gelding’s hayshed. She wasn’t liked very much; she was a cranky old bitch, always running someone down behind their back and enjoyed idle gossip, but no one wanted to see her property destroyed.

They laboured on desperately. Smoke burnt their eyes and stung their nostrils. The radiating heat scorched skin that some of the locals hadn’t covered adequately in their rush to get up the hill and stop the fire spreading. Many hadn’t thought about protective clothing.

Francis and Des headed down the path to old Harry’s hut. If the fire turned, it would head straight for Harry’s and it would burn the old hut in seconds. They were soaking everything around it with their knapsacks.

‘Hell, Des, who the blazes would do a thing like this? Whoever it is
has
to be bloody insane!’

‘Yep, he’s made a great job of this one. I dunno how we’ll stop it without someone losing their property.’

Des straightened from his crouched position and rubbed his blackened hands across his face, leaving streaks of ash behind.

‘If Dawn’s new hayshed goes with all that hay, she’ll be up for a fortune.’ As he spoke, a sound from nearby made both young men pause and listen.

‘Did you hear that?’ Francis whispered.

‘Someone else’s here besides us.’ Des squinted into the darkness.

‘Maybe it’s a cow or horse that broke through a fence somewhere,’ Francis said.

Just then they spotted the silhouette of a man coming from the direction of Harry’s hut and who should appear on the path in front of them but
none other than the priest!

‘Father Damien!
What the friggin’ blazes… Haven’t you heard anythin’ Dad and the others have been tellin’ you? What’re you doin’ up here near old Harry’s?’ Des could hardly believe his eyes. The priest had appeared out of nowhere yet
again
!

‘I ran up from the seminary. I want to help!’ he said, breathless from running up the hill.

‘Well, if that’s the case, get your arse up there with the other blokes. They need every pair of hands they can get. We’re okay here so piss off.’ Des couldn’t contain his anger. This fool just popped up at every fire.

Watching him leave, Francis said, ‘He’s got a screw loose. What’s with the hat? It’s dark?’

‘Yeah, there’s something not right about him that’s for sure!’ Playing in the back of Des’ mind was something old Harry had said but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

‘C’mon, better see how Harry’s doin’ then get back up to the others.’

Old Harry was watching from his doorway. He
was
jittery here on his own. For nights now he had heard noises outside. Each night around two o’clock, he’d been woken by his old dog, Tom, growling at something outside.

Then earlier tonight he had heard those same noises again. He didn’t go outside to look but now he wondered if it had been the firebug. He didn’t like the thought that he had been inside his hut and some mongrel was out there most likely setting up this fire. It made him feel very uneasy indeed.

Relief flooded his face when he spotted Des and Francis. ‘Glad to see you’se blokes,’ he croaked as the young men approached. ‘How’s things up dere…? Looks real bad, it does!’

‘Damn right, Harry,’ Des agreed. ‘How about you go down to the house? Francis will take ya in the ute.’

‘Can’t leave me hut, son. Me life’s here with old Tom. Besides, it’s going up tha hill!’

‘Maybe so, Harry, but if it turns, you’re right in its path!’

‘Not only that, Harry, but what about ash? And look at those sparks shootin’ up from the trees; one of them could land on your roof. Also, we don’t know who’s lurkin’ around. The firebug could well be right outside here,’ Francis pointed out. ‘If he attacked you, you’re too old to defend yourself.’

‘I thank ya both for tha concern but I’m not leavin’ me hut ‘less I really have ta!’ Even though he was frightened, Harry refused to budge. ‘Besides, I might have somethin’ that’ll help ya’s too.’

Harry told them about the noises of the previous nights. They knew he could distinguish between animals lurking around his hut and other strange noises. They said they would pass the information on to the other blokes. Neither one liked to leave the old man but they couldn’t make him change his mind. They soaked his roof for him and said they would come back later and do it again.

Going back up the hill, they became separated as they searched for hot spots. They had prevented the fire from burning Ivy Gelding’s hayshed but there was still trouble in keeping it back from Dawn’s.

The phone rang at Kia-Ora.

‘I’ll get it. You stay here with Mum and Dad,’ Ellie told Win. Dave was extremely upset about the fire and they were worried the stress could trigger another asthma attack.

‘Hello? Ellie speaking.’ At first, all Ellie heard was the sound of breathing. She felt her heart miss a beat. ‘Who’s there?’ No response. ‘Who is this?’ she asked again. There was still no response, but then she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she heard a sinister cackle and the sound of heavy breathing at the other end of the line.

The blood drained from her face. Her knees went weak and she had to grab the back of a chair for support. ‘Who is this…?’ Her voice shook as she asked the question.