Chapter Two
Pinecone Junction
A bead of sweat trickled down Maya Thompson’s back as she packed for the weekend away. Trying to stay as cool as possible
in the hot July weather, she’d pulled her long auburn hair back in a bun. Every January she was ready for warmer weather and
every July she was ready for fall. But this weekend, she and her boyfriend, Undersheriff Josh Colten, were headed for the
high country to camp and relax. The temperature should be lower up at the lake.
She couldn’t wait. The wildflowers at the campsite would be in full bloom, blanketing the meadow like a rainbow.
The lake would be cool and the nights would be almost chilly.
Warming up by sharing a sleeping bag with Josh would be really nice.
Maya needed this quick weekend getaway after the past few weeks with long days working as a US Forest Service law enforcement officer.
The Fourth of July holiday meant she was trying to patrol an entire national forest on her own.
For the most part, people were understanding when she talked to them about illegal campfires or not riding an ATV into a wilderness area.
But there was always someone who had to argue and make her job hard, which meant this weekend away was good timing to refresh before she finished out the summer and fall.
Based on the barking coming from the backyard, Maya’s K-9 Juniper, a Belgian Malinois, was not ready for a weekend off. A
chorus of barking ensued as Josh’s K-9 Finn, a yellow Lab, joined in with Juniper. Maya stopped her packing to head to the
back door and see what was getting the dogs riled up.
Josh was already heading out the back door as Maya came down the hall. She joined him in the backyard to see the two dogs
leaping up and down at the fence. There was a large ponderosa pine on the other side of the fence in the neighbor’s yard.
From that tree, the culprit that started the barking frenzy stared down at the two dogs.
“Do you think it’s making fun of Finn and Juniper?” Josh asked.
“Probably,” Maya said. “I’m sure it’s saying something nasty. Probably calling them narcs or something. We better go get our
dogs before something bad happens.”
“Yep, I’ll get Finn,” Josh said, handing Maya a leash he’d grabbed on his way out.
Maya trotted down the steps, eyeing the large black-and-white cat sitting up on a tree branch that hung slightly over the
yard fence. The cat’s tail twitched back and forth as it stared down the dogs. Maya had to chuckle at the cat’s audacity and
the way it knew the dogs couldn’t get it. Although she wouldn’t put it past Juniper to figure out a way to climb the tree.
Malinoises could be very creative.
“Juniper, come,” Maya said as she approached. Josh already had a leash on Finn and the Lab had an expression that said he knew he was busted. Juniper turned and stared at Maya, her golden eyes pleading to let her continue her job of cat patrol.
“Juniper, come.” This time Juniper let out a sigh. Her black pointy ears drooped slightly. She started in Maya’s direction,
gave one last peek at the cat over her shoulder and then came to Maya and sat. “Atta girl. I know. It’s hard when a cat makes
fun of you.”
Maya and Juniper headed back into the house. Josh had already put Finn away in his large kennel. The yellow Lab was still
staring at the back door and yard. Juniper peered at Maya, a hopeful look that said maybe she wouldn’t have to go in her pen.
Maybe Maya would change her mind and let Juniper go back outside to do her important work of Operation Cat Deterrent. Maya
stood her ground and Juniper let out a groan, going into her enclosure and sitting with her back turned to Maya. She picked
up her latest blanket and started to slowly rip it.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be going soon and you can run around our camping area and have fun,” Maya said. Juniper continued to ignore
her and shred the blanket. The Mal, realizing Maya wasn’t going to change her mind, spit the blanket out, sighed and lay down.
“You almost done packing?” Josh asked, running his fingers through his hair. He’d barely smiled and when he did, it seemed
forced. Along with that, he’d hardly spoken as they’d prepared to go.
He’s been nervous about this camping trip. I wonder why. It’s not like we haven’t been camping before.
“Yep, I’m almost ready,” Maya said.
“Okay, good. I’m all set. My stuff is packed. I’ll go double-check our tent and food supplies.”
Maya watched him head outside. He was definitely nervous and she didn’t know why. She’d talk to him once they were up at their
campsite enjoying the solitude and peace of the mountains. The door opened and Josh came back inside.
“There’s a wisp of smoke to the west,” he said, heading to his phone. “I’m going to call it in.”
“That’s not good.” Maya stepped outside and saw what Josh was talking about. The small smoke plume rose in the sky. She roughly
knew the area where it was burning. The good news was that it was probably near some wilderness areas where there weren’t
a lot of houses, although there were some campgrounds in the area. The bad news was thanks to a wet spring and then hot July,
there was a lot of tall, dry grass along with more pine beetle kill in the area—the perfect conditions to kick off a good
blaze.
Maya went over to their Jeep and pulled out the cooler and grabbed some other items. Their camping trip was canceled. She
knew they’d be called into work. Both of them would have to help with the fire response.
She went inside where Josh was on the phone, probably with her grandfather, Wayne Thompson.
He was the local Western River County Sheriff who Maya fondly called Pops.
Setting the items down, Maya quickly unloaded the food back into the refrigerator.
Josh was listening and then said goodbye and hung up.
“What’s the word?” Maya asked.
“Local fire crews are already heading out. So far all we know is that the fire is in a remote location. I’ll get changed and
head into the station to help with the response in case we need to evacuate anyone.”
“I thought it looked like a wilderness area, but there’s campgrounds not far from there. I’ll get changed and call Todd to
see what he needs from me,” Maya said, referring to Todd Davis, her patrol captain and boss.
“Do you think campers started it?” Josh asked.
“I don’t know.” Maya shrugged, knowing that this would be Josh’s first forest fire response. He’d moved to Colorado from Chicago
and had fallen in love with the mountains. But his time in Colorado hadn’t included a fire and Maya knew it would be a learning
curve for him. “It could have also been one of the dry thunderstorms we’ve had. All that lightning and very little rain along
with lots of dry fuel sets up the forests to burn. A lightning strike can start a small fire that smolders under pine needles
or other forest debris and then if the wind is just right, it can take off. I’m sure the wildland fire investigators will
figure it out eventually. Hopefully they can get control over this one quickly. We don’t need another Cameron Peak fire.”
Maya shuddered at the memory of Colorado’s largest fire in history, which burned over 200,000 acres. It was believed to be caused by humans and was still under investigation. The last thing the area needed was another large fire like that one.
They both went into their bedroom and started changing into their uniforms. Maya grabbed her duty belt and strapped it on.
Juniper, forgetting she was pouting, started yipping excitedly. Finn decided to join in and howl for the fun of it.
“How do you always know when I’m changing into my uniform?” Maya muttered.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Josh said with a laugh. “Guess we better bring them with.”
“Let’s take their food and our fire go-bag,” Maya said. “I have a bad feeling this fire might really get going and there’s
always a possibility that Pinecone Junction will be evacuated.”
“Okay,” Josh said, grabbing the bags they had sitting inside their closet with important papers, passports and other items
that couldn’t easily be replaced.
They organized everything and then headed outside to load up their patrol vehicles. The air already smelled a little like
a campfire and when Maya glanced to the west, her stomach churned. The small wisp of smoke had exploded into a giant plume.
The fire must have found some good fuel and had already doubled in size.
They had a battle ahead of them and Maya knew this opponent was unpredictable and ruthless.