Chapter 3
CHAPTER
The firefighters were scattered around the hall, mostly sitting on the floors and leaning against the wall.
Chairs were stacked against the wall, but none of the men and women who’d been fighting the fire had enough energy to lift one down.
Certainly Justin didn’t. He lowered himself to the floor and set his helmet down next to him.
He started to undo his jacket, but the effort was too much, so he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
He could sleep for a week. Not that he was expecting to.
It had taken three days, but the fire was under control.
A cool weather front had helped, but the ground was dry.
The grass had been baked to straw by the sun and there were storms about; lightning always brought the threat of bushfires.
They had beaten the beast back, but it was never really defeated.
There were other fires still burning. The only thing that was going to let him sleep was rain.
Lots and lots of cool, wet, fire-dousing rain.
‘Hey, big brother.’
Justin opened his eyes as someone slumped down next to him.
It was a bit like looking in a mirror. Ben looked as exhausted as he felt.
Justin was the older twin by fifteen minutes, although right now it felt like he was a hundred years old.
Every muscle in his body ached. His eyes were still stinging from the smoke.
‘Hungry?’ Ben put a plate of biscuits on the floor between them. He was also carrying two mugs of coffee. The rising steam teased at Justin’s nostrils and he reached for a mug.
‘Thanks.’
‘The weather guys say there’s a change coming. If we’re lucky, it’ll rain tonight.’
‘Not a moment too soon.’
The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the team’s leader. ‘Well, Turner, looks like you’re a hero. Famous to boot.’
‘Which one?’ Ben asked.
‘Which one of you is Justin?’ They’d only worked with this guy for a couple of weeks. Between their identical faces and standard protective gear, he hadn’t yet found a way to tell them apart.
‘That would be me,’ Justin said.
‘Here. The guys who were there tell me this is you.’ The man held his phone out.
Before Justin could move, Ben took it. He was by far the more tech savvy and never far from some sort of computer.
Not that Justin didn’t know how to use a smart phone, he just wasn’t interested in social media, and that was, he guessed, what this was all about.
Ben touched the screen. Justin could hear a voice but not the words. A grin crept over his brother’s face.
‘You made the news, big brother.’
Justin took the phone and played the video again.
He recognised the images. Somebody in one of those cars held at the fire line had put their phone to good use.
The screen showed the woman running into the fire and him helping her back again, koala and all.
The newsreader’s voice did not name either of them. Probably because no one knew.
‘What a stupid woman,’ Ben said. ‘She could have gotten herself trapped. Not to mention you. I feel sorry for the koala, but putting her own life at risk …’ His voice trailed off and he reached for another biscuit.
‘Thanks, mate.’ Justin handed the phone back and waited for the other firefighter to leave. He hadn’t wanted to raise this now, but if he left it any longer, Ben would probably take what he was about to hear even harder.
Justin reached for his mug to give himself a few more seconds to collect his thoughts. It was empty. So be it.
‘That woman,’ he said. ‘I knew her.’
‘Oh?’ Ben frowned. ‘Who was it?’
Justin braced himself for the explosion. ‘Our mother.’
‘What?’
A couple of heads turned in their direction.
‘Take it easy,’ Justin said calmly. ‘Yeah. It was our mother. Rescuing a koala. I didn’t expect it, but it’s probably not all that surprising. She’s been doing this sort of thing since we were kids.’
‘And don’t I know it.’ Even after all these years, the bitterness was still strong in Ben’s voice. ‘Does she live around here or something?’
‘I have no idea. You saw the video. There wasn’t exactly time to talk.’
Ben’s reply was a grunt.
‘She looked … small,’ Justin said thoughtfully. ‘And old. It’s a long time since we’ve seen her.’
Ben stared at the coffee in his hands, his mouth fixed in a firm, disapproving line.
Justin shook his head. ‘Well, aren’t you going to say anything?’
There was a pause. ‘What do you expect me to say? It has been a long time, and as far as I’m concerned, it could have been a lot longer.’
‘Come on, Ben. It’s been fifteen years. In all that time, haven’t you wondered how she is?’
‘No.’
Justin reached for another biscuit, to give himself time to think.
They hadn’t had a good mother, but with their father out of the picture, she’d been all they had.
Justin examined his own feelings. Time had eased his hurt.
He didn’t hate Carol the way Ben seemed to.
Ben had the most reason to hate her and time didn’t seem to have lessened that feeling.
It should have. They weren’t kids any more.
‘I called her a few times. Just after we left.’
‘What?’ Ben sounded shocked.
‘Don’t get like that. All I wanted was to assure myself she was okay. And let her know we were. I assumed the argument would blow over eventually.’
‘Why?’
Justin shrugged. He didn’t want to say it was because he’d expected Ben would grow up. In this moment, anything he said would only make matters worse.
‘She never loved us. And I certainly want nothing more to do with her.’
That was no surprise. ‘Are you sure? This is the first time in years we’ve had any idea where she is. Maybe it’s time to—’
‘Not me. But you go ahead if you want to.’
Justin knew that tone of voice. Knew that Ben meant exactly the opposite—he would see any attempt by Justin to contact their mother as a betrayal.
They never talked about her. His brother was easygoing in everything but this and Justin had learned long ago just to let it go, although he was surprised that, after all this time, Ben hadn’t softened. Not one bit.
Any further conversation was diverted by a buzz of noise and movement from the other end of the room.
The firefighters were getting to their feet as the smell of hot food wafted through the hall.
A trestle table was being set up and three people Justin assumed were locals were laying out big dishes of steaming food.
That was enough for him to realise he was far more hungry than could be solved by a simple biscuit.
This small town, Wagtail Ridge, had an RFS station that was usually unmanned and a tanker unit that had been swung into action this week.
The size of the fire had drawn Ben and Justin and their team from Tamworth, as well as volunteers from other nearby towns.
This hall had been serving as rest station, mess and, when they had the chance, sleeping quarters for them all.
The brothers left their spot against the wall to check out the bounty.
‘I’m Deb. From the pub,’ the older woman introduced herself. ‘And this is Lou. We want to thank you guys for everything. I hope you like lasagne and burgers.’
‘Right now, that sounds like a five-star meal. Thank you.’ Ben turned on the charm. ‘I don’t suppose there’s a beer to be had as well? Happy to pay for it.’
‘I just checked with your commander,’ Deb replied. ‘He says it’s okay. My husband, Shane, has gone back to get some. Give us a minute.’
‘You are a lifesaver!’ Ben took his plate with enthusiasm.
‘You’re welcome.’
Ben went in search of a seat for the two of them. As Justin waited for his food, he had an idea.
‘Excuse me,’ he said to Deb. ‘I wonder if you can help me. There was an incident yesterday. A woman and a koala—’
‘Were you that firefighter? You’re a bit of a hero,’ Deb said. ‘I’ll slide a bit more of this lasagne onto your plate.’
‘Thanks. I’m starving.’ Justin hesitated, but decided there was no harm in asking. ‘I don’t suppose you know the woman?’
‘The video was so bad, I couldn’t tell,’ Deb said as she handed over his plate. ‘But I assume it was one of the people from the wildlife rescue group. Probably Carol. It’s the sort of thing she would do. Anyway, you could ask there.’
‘How would I find the rescue people?’
‘Oh, forget that. What was I thinking? Anna Prentiss, our local vet. They always take injured animals to her. She’ll know who brought the koala in.’
‘Thanks.’
Justin made way for Deb’s next customer.
As he went to join his brother, he decided not to say anything about the conversation.
It was clear that Ben’s anger still ran deep.
If Justin decided to go and ask this vet about his mother, he’d do it alone.
If … He wasn’t sure he wanted to. Was it better to let sleeping dogs lie?
After all these years, there was nothing to be gained by opening old wounds.
As he slid into the chair next to his brother, the hall suddenly became silent. Heads were tilted and it seemed everyone was holding their breath. A few minutes later, a cheer went up, drowning the welcome sound of raindrops falling on the hall’s tin roof.