Man of the Trees (17 page)

Gareth, Jill, Hugh and Ruth piled into one car.

‘But I thought they said it was a false alarm?’ Jill said as they drove along, her husband at the steering wheel.

‘Obviously this second one is in a different place,’ he answered. ‘And everything’s tinder-dry. Let’s hope a wind doesn’t spring up.’

But there was a light breeze even now, and Ruth knew how rapidly a forest fire could spread even in the lightest of breezes. In a mere quarter of an hour a fire could spread a whole mile, and all hands would be needed in the fire-fighting.

At the end of each ride in the Forest were beaters. Along with the others Ruth grabbed one from a stand and rushed to the scene. Great tongues of flame were licking up the tinder-dry undergrowth, the breeze—which seemed to be freshening—sending it roaring and crackling through the undergrowth and hollies. This was no false alarm. This was real—the most devastating thing and the most terrifying power that
could
be unleashed in the forest. It had not happened for years, certainly not in Ruth’s father’s time, and her heart went out to Ross that this should happen on his Beat.

The smoke and the heat were a nightmare, the crackle and roar of the flames horrifying. In the line of fire-beaters Ruth did not know whether it was tears or sweat or both which were running down her face. What was left of her long skirt had long since been tucked around her waist. She thought she heard Ross’s voice directing the men in the digging of a trench to halt the progress of the fire. But soon this had to be abandoned because of the heat and the direction of the wind.

Added now to the noise were the fire engines, but still it was necessary for the beaters to carry on. Ruth lost all count of time. Her arms ached intolerably and her throat felt painful and swollen with the intake of smoke. She paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and quite suddenly through the vivid colour of the flames she caught sight of something. She stared intently and then with a great lurch of her heart she recognised it

It was Ross’s pipe.

In a split second something clicked in her brain. Nobody else must see it. She must go and pick it up quickly. She worked furiously with her beater, intent on being able to make a dash for that incriminating pipe before anyone else saw it. Any time now the fire might be under control. One just kept on beating until either the fire was out or one was told to stop. But get that pipe she must. When the fire was out, the area would be searched thoroughly.

With a sudden dash she dropped her beater and virtually leapt through the scorching flames. She felt the fire lick her legs and almost screamed. There were shouts and several people called her name. She ignored them and went to the spot where she had felt sure she had seen the pipe. But now she couldn’t find it. Tears of pain and frustration ran down her face as she went on her knees and searched the ground frantically. Her lungs felt as though they would burst. Then at last her hand closed on it, but at the same time, overcome with the heat from the oncoming fire, she choked and felt her senses slipping away from her.

Then she knew nothing but blackness.

CHAPTER NINE

Ruth
was aroused by being lifted up in someone’s arms. At first she couldn’t think what was happening. The world was red, there was noise and voices all around.

‘For the love of heaven, Ruth, what made you do such a thing?’ a voice murmured in her ear.

She opened her eyes a fraction to see Ross’s face close to hers, and realised that it was he who was carrying her. The heat was still intense. Vaguely, she noticed that Ross’s hair and eyebrows were singed and fragments of charred material were clinging to the sweat on his face. Love and anxiety washed over her and her grasp tightened on the pipe, still clutched in her hand.

The fire brigade had cleared a way now. Ross strode with her to safety and laid her on the grass a little distance away from the fire. He peered anxiously into her face.

‘Are you all right, Ruth?’

She bit her lips to keep back tears she had no reason for, and just nodded.

He touched her cheek and searched her face. ‘You seem all right—more or less. But—’ He frowned and said again, ‘What on earth made you do such a thing, and what were you looking for?’

Her fist remained closed over the bowl of the pipe, and she kept the stem hidden from view.

‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘I—I can’t tell you what made me do it.’

Ross shook his head at her. He turned to Jill who was kneeling at her other side.

‘Take her home, Jill. And I mean home—not Mrs. Smith’s place. Look after her and put her to bed.’

‘O.K., Ross.’ He strode off back into the thick of the action. Jill’s glance took in Ruth’s appearance, her black and ruined blouse, her torn and charred skirt. ‘My goodness, you look a sight! But then I expect we all do. Can you walk?’

Ruth sat up. ‘Yes, of course. It—it was just the heat made me pass out, I expect.’ She coughed, still feeling as though her lungs were full of smoke. ‘What I could do with more than anything is a drink of water. But I can’t go home. They still need help here.’

Jill put out a hand to help her up. ‘You heard what Ross said. You’re to go home. They’re getting it under control now and there’s plenty of help. Come on.’

Reluctantly, Ruth allowed Jill to propel her to the car belonging to Hugh and herself. She would have given anything to have stayed there by Ross’s side, but comforted herself with the thought that at least she had the incriminating pipe.

Walking to the car, she found her legs were not a little weak and she was trembling. She certainly would not have been much good with a beater.

Jill called first at her own house and when Ruth enquired why, Jill said:

‘I’m going to get some of my sleeping tablets for you. I’m pretty sure you haven’t any, and you must get some sleep. If you don’t take something you’ll be having nightmares.’

Ruth felt her burns beginning to be painful. When they arrived home, Jill fussed over her, helped her out of her charred clothes, treated her burns.

‘What on earth are you clutching in your hand, girl?’ she asked inevitably.

‘Nothing.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. There is something. What is it?’

But Ruth clutched it ever more tightly. Nobody must see it, just nobody. Jill couldn’t keep a secret. Soon everyone in the Forest would know that Ross’s pipe had been found at the scene of the fire and he would be blamed for causing it.

When Jill had seen her into bed she went downstairs to get Ruth a drink. It was then that Ruth slipped the pipe under her pillow. Obediently she took the sleeping tablets Jill brought up to her and drank the hot milk, and it was not long before her eyes became heavy.

Jill bent over and kissed her forehead. ‘You’ll be asleep any minute now, so I’ll go. If I know anything they’ll soon have the fire under control now, and Hugh will be wanting the car. I’ll be around first thing in the morning to see how you are.’

Ruth thanked her, feeling her senses slipping away from her. Jill put out her light and as she went down the stairs Ruth’s hand slipped under her pillow and closed once more on Ross’s pipe.

The next time Ruth opened her eyes it was daylight and the house was silent. Her bedside clock pointed to eight-thirty, and she told herself she must get up. Obviously, Ross had been home and then gone out again this morning without her hearing him. He surely wouldn’t have been at the scene of the fire all night. Her hand closed once more on his pipe, and still drowsy, she fell asleep again. When next she opened her eyes it was to see Ross standing in the doorway. His face was taut and there were unmistakable lines of weariness around his eyes.

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.

Ruth wanted to put out her arms to him, but dared not. ‘I’m fine—fine,’ she told him.

‘The D.O. wants to see you. O.K. if he comes up?’

‘Of course.’

Ross called down the stairs, and the next moment both men came into the room. The D.O. held out his hand to her. Forgetting for the moment about the pipe—she had had it in her hand for so long—Ruth held out hers and the pipe dropped on to the bed-cover.

Immediately Ross pounced upon it. ‘Where the devil did you get that, and what are you doing with it?’ he demanded.

‘Is it yours?’ asked the D.O. in a shocked voice.

‘It is,’ answered Ross grimly. He looked at Ruth long and hard. ‘Is this what you made that mad dive through the flames to pick up?’ She tried to answer, but no words would coma. Ross’s eyes blazed. ‘Speechless for once, are you?’ he said angrily. ‘Don’t want to give a certain person away? Well, I’ll find out who took this pipe and put it where you found it if it’s the last thing I do!’

He stormed out. Ruth listened to his heavy tread as he hit each stair angrily, then the door slammed behind him and there was the furious sound of his car engine as he revved up and drove away. Ruth felt tears prick her eyelids, and if the D.O. had not been standing there she would have burst into tears.

The D.O. looked puzzled. ‘I don’t get this. Do you mean to say that you saw Ross’s pipe lying near the line of the fire and that you dashed through the flames to retrieve it?’

She nodded. ‘I—I didn’t want anyone else to find it. I—I thought if they did they might think Ross had dropped it carelessly while it was still alight and blame him for being the cause of the fire. A lot of things seem to have been going wrong in the Forest—at least on Ross’s Beat—lately, and—’

Suddenly she caught the expression on the D.O.’s face and clapped her hand to her mouth. What had she said?

‘I must go,’ he said. ‘I must get this business cleared up once and for all.’

He went out purposefully, leaving Ruth in an agony of uncertainty and anxiety. What on earth had made her say such things? She had simply put the idea into his head that Ross might have been guilty of carelessness which had caused the fire. He would never even have thought about it otherwise. What could she do about it?

Quite beside herself, she tossed aside the bedclothes. She couldn’t just be here doing nothing. Then she halted as other thoughts came rushing into her mind. Her one thought when she had dashed so frantically to retrieve Ross’s pipe had been to protect him. In that moment she
had
thought Ross had been smoking in the Inclosure and had dropped his pipe, still lit.

She put her hand to her aching head. What was it Ross had said before he had stormed out so angrily? Something about her not wanting to give ‘a certain person’ away. In a sudden deluge came back all the things Gareth had said about Ross, his criticisms of him, his declaring that one of these days he would trip himself us. Gareth had many times openly said he would like to see Ross go from here. She put her hand to her mouth and her eyes widened with horror and disbelief. Could it possibly be Gareth who had been doing all those things—leaving gates open, making holes in fences, mixing vaporising oil with white spirit, going around after Ross and marking wrong trees for felling? Then this final unforgivable act. She couldn’t believe it of Gareth. She simply couldn’t. And yet who else wanted to discredit Ross so badly? Gareth had been a frequent visitor to the house even after Ross had moved in. He had had every opportunity to take Ross’s pipe.

Ruth groaned aloud. Oh, please God, let it not be Gareth, she prayed frantically. She was not in love with him, but he was her friend. Surely his jealousy and resentment of Ross would not go so far? As to the idea that Ross had been guilty of such carelessness, that was even more unthinkable.

Feeling as though she were going out of her mind, she put on a kimono and went downstairs. Perhaps she could ring Jill and find out if she knew anything. But even as the idea crossed her mind Jill arrived.

‘My dear girl, what are you doing out of bed? Go back immediately and I’ll make you some breakfast.’

As she spoke she filled the kettle and plugged it in. But Ruth made no move. Jill eyed her keenly.

‘You look terrible,’ she said. ‘Come on, back to bed with you and I’ll bring you up a cup of tea just as soon as it’s made.’

She virtually pushed Ruth up the stairs and made her get back into bed again. Feeling mentally exhausted both with worry and as a result of the previous evening, Ruth lay back on her pillow and closed her eyes. What was happening? she wondered. Where was Ross, what was he doing, and what was the D.O. doing? Perhaps Jill could give her some up-to-date news.

It was not long before Jill came up with a tray of tea and toast and marmalade.

‘What—what happened last night after I’d gone and you went back?’ Ruth asked her.

Jill poured out two cups of tea. ‘Well, what with all the fire brigades and practically the whole of the residents and work force of the Forest out, the fire was finally put out around three a.m., and people began to crawl back home. I must say Ross was marvellous. He was still there when we all of us staggered home. A few stayed on for the rest of the night, of course, just to make sure that it didn’t flare up again. I think Ross was one of them. Gareth came home with Hugh and me. Have you seen Ross this morning?’

Ruth nodded. ‘And the D.O.’

‘Had they any theories as to how the fire started?’ asked Jill, then added, ‘There seems to be some suspicion that it was started deliberately, and that the other false alarm was a ruse, a diversion to get the work force in that area while starting the other.’

Ruth frowned. ‘But for what reason, unless—’ She broke off as she remembered that Ross had left the club with Linda well before the first fire siren had started. Tears filled her eyes and she felt in danger of bursting out crying.

She put down her cup hurriedly. Jill looked at her face and put out a hand to her.

‘Ruth, what on earth’s the matter?’

‘It—it’s the D.O. He—thinks Ross started it, I’m sure he does, and—and it was I who put the idea into his head.’

Jill looked at her in astonishment. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

‘I—I told him. I—I said I’d seen Ross’s pipe—that’s what I—I had in my hand last night. I saw it lying there and went to get it. Gareth’s been saying that all kinds of things have been going wrong on the Beat, and—and he’s been blaming Ross. He hates Ross. Ross got the job over his head. He—he’s been against Ross ever since he came. He’s wanted him to leave. He said he’d do anything. I hated him too at first, but now—’

Ruth’s wild outburst ended in a storm of tears which shook her from head to foot.

‘Oh, my goodness, Ruth, what on earth—’ Jill comforted her as best she could. ‘Come on now, you’re overwrought after last night, that’s what it is. Last night’s fire must have been an accident. Some tripper—you know what happens. They throw a cigarette down that isn’t out properly—’

‘But—but there was Ross’s pipe, and when Ross found I’d got it he thought I was shielding Gareth,’ Ruth gulped.

Jill frowned and shook her head. ‘But Gareth wouldn’t do a thing like that. He was disappointed about not getting the job, I know, and under those circumstances you could hardly expect him to take an instant liking to Ross Hamilton, but—but he wouldn’t go to those lengths to get him kicked out. You didn’t like him yourself at one time.’ Her frown deepened. ‘What were you saying just now? About Ross, I mean. You weren’t trying to say you’d fallen for him?’

Ruth nodded tearfully. ‘Oh, Jill, what am I going to do?’

Jill took a deep breath. ‘I thought it was a bit odd that you appeared to dislike him so much. Well, what you’re going to do right now is drink that cup of tea and eat some breakfast I don’t believe for a moment that either Ross or Gareth were responsible for that fire, and I’m sure the D.O. doesn’t, either. It’ll turn out to be an accident, you’ll see. As to Ross and you, if you ask me anything, that’ll turn out all right, too.’

It was the kind of thing all friends said when they were trying to comfort another, Ruth was convinced. But she drank a cup of tea, and at Jill’s insistence, ate a piece of toast. When Jill had taken the tray downstairs Ruth went along to the bathroom and had a wash and brushed her hair and was returning to her room when Jill called upstairs that she had a visitor. Her heart lurching painfully, Ruth hurriedly slipped on her kimono and got back into bed as she heard footsteps on the stairs.

But it was Gareth, come to see if she was all right, and demanding to know what on earth had made her dash through the fire as she had.

‘Scared everybody half to death,’ he said. ‘Are you all right now?’

Ruth nodded, hoping he wouldn’t press her to tell him why she had done what she did.

‘Have—have you seen Ross?’ she asked him.