37. Overpowered
Chapter thirty-seven
Overpowered
Paul
Goddamn fire!
One of the worst things a farmer deals with are fires caused by heat lightning on these dry lands. We haven’t had rain in weeks, we’re deep in draught, and it’s so damn dry that any little spark can set off a raging fire.
Stupid fire even started out on the other side of Kyle Gentry’s land where no one would see it, then feasted on dry hay bales until it grew out of control.
What we needed was a fucking rain storm.
Something torrential. But could we be that lucky?
And could we get it without another lightning strike hitting one of us volunteers?
Glancing up at the sky, I saw some darker clouds on the horizon, but when would they get here? Seemed windy enough, like it was whipping up a storm, but the dark clouds didn’t seem to be moving closer.
Whatever. We had work to do.
Now that fire trucks arrived from a few surrounding cities, I felt more hopeful. Extra hoses and manpower should make the difference to fight it.
I shuddered seeing how close the fire had come to the homestead on Kyle’s land.
Suzie ran in a while ago, returning several times with suitcases she loaded into her car.
It had to be so devastating to decide what to bring and what to leave behind.
It was a good thing her kids and dog were already with Kyle’s folks. At least they were safe.
A few of the older volunteers went in to help her grab anything else that was irreplaceable. Hopefully, we could stop it before it took the house but better safe than sorry. No one could guarantee the path of this damn fire.
When Maggie pulled me aside, I knew she thought she was helping.
She thought forcing me to take a break was what I needed, but I didn’t.
Able-bodied men had to be there to help hold the hose and stay focused on the task.
Since so many of the volunteers were older farmers, who did need breaks, I needed to keep working.
We could defeat this thing if we just kept the water concentrated on moving the fire back.
The problem was that now that I knew Maggie was here, I couldn’t stop glancing over my shoulder to make sure she was back far enough away from danger.
She was reckless enough that she would try to reach out to these guys on the front lines with protective equipment.
That was why I sent a few to go find her when they needed something.
My whole goal was to keep her out of harm’s way.
Once we all seemed to have the new gloves, bandanas tied right, and glasses, I felt better about her staying put, but I still checked on her and my brothers. How could I not? This fire was not going to claim her or anyone else I loved if I had anything to say about it.
It felt like hours without much success.
In reality, it wasn’t that long until a new firetruck came and we swapped the hoses, losing some of the ground we’d gained.
Maggie insisted a few of the older farmers took a break, donning the protective gear to come in for them.
I shouted at her over the roaring blaze to get back to safety, but she ignored me.
Earlier, when I was helping change a hose, a few of the firefighters from the county over talked about whether a helicopter was an option to drop the foam. I thought it was a good idea, but one from our area said it was too expensive. We just didn’t have the finances to pay for something like that.
Heat came off the fire in waves, signaling that it was getting closer.
Embers sailed in the wind, landing near the house, setting small fires in that direction.
Several women were ready with hoses, fire extinguishers, and buckets of water.
Eventually, they put them all out, but it showed how little control we had.
Even with all this water, it wasn’t enough to stop the fire from spreading.
We needed a miracle, and we needed it fast.
There was a strike of lightning not far from us, enough to raise the hair on my bare arms, then the sound of thunder rumbled in the distance. Maggie and I exchanged a glance. She was okay. I searched for my brothers only to find them whooping that we might finally get some damn rain.
But they shouldn’t be out in this.
Another flash brightened the eerily dark sky. Between the ash and the storm rolling our way, it almost looked like nighttime.
My chest ached with wanting to secure Maggie and my brothers somewhere away from the storm. Knowing it could be as fatal as the fire, I wanted to protect them. But they were all helping hold hoses now. As their determined eyes met mine, I knew none of them were going anywhere.
That was when I felt the first drop hit my protective glasses.
The men around me started hollering. “Rain! Did you feel it?”
Shouts rose up all around me. It didn’t mean we could give up, but it was the first bit of rain we’d seen in so long.
More thunder rolled in the distance, but it was getting closer.
We pressed forward, making some headway as more drops fell.
Our leader told us to focus on keeping everything steady as we focused on the fire closest to their home.
A volunteer came running up to us, screaming with her phone in the air. “The weather is turning. Says on the radar that a big storm is heading this way. Torrential downpours expected, guys. Just hang in there.”
Between the buckets of water to put out embers that drifted toward the house and our continued spray, we protected the house with all that we had.
Livestock and all animals had already been transferred to another holding barn, thanks to the Smiths, but fire now engulfed Kyle’s barn, the hay and feed fueling the fire that kept spreading our way.
When a few drops of rain fell faster, in bigger drops, and more lightning lit the sky, my stomach dropped. The loud clap of thunder told us the storm was getting closer.
And then I felt it. The change in pressure made my ears pop and my skin prickle. I wanted to force Maggie and my brothers to go home. They shouldn’t be out here with all this lightning. Glancing around frantically, I tried to keep track of them, but they were in all different places.
With my heart in my throat, I followed the orders of the lead firefighter as we pressed forward toward the barn.
If we could only get that fire out, maybe the rain could take care of the rest. We were almost at the barn when the patter of rain intensified.
The hurricane drops hurt as they pummeled our skin, and then the sky opened up as rain came down in torrents.
The men around me whooped and whistled. Maggie’s higher squeals of delight stood out from all the rest. Lightning continued to flash and thunder raged, scaring the ever-loving shit out of me. My breaths came harder, the world in front of me blurred, but I held fast to the hose.
Maggie, my brothers, and all the volunteers had to be okay. We couldn’t survive the fire but lose people to the storm, right?
I knew I was panicking, but there was nothing I could do. Keeping up with the others despite the tightness in my chest, I stood there paralyzed.
With the flash flood of rain, we were finally able to make the progress needed to beat down the flames.
The fire at the barn died down a little at a time until nothing but a few tendrils of smoke rose from it.
A few patches of dry grass still burned, so taking the hose to those areas, we doused patch after patch of fire until we didn’t see flames as far as the eye could see.
Cheers arose from the volunteers even as the deluge continued. Glancing back at the house, I saw Suzie throw herself into Kyle’s arms. Other couples did the same.
Scanning the crowd, I finally found Maggie.
Volunteers from all over town were taking turns giving her hugs.
She practically had a line formed to thank her for all she did to help.
And the praise was well-earned. She’d done an incredible job of raising the town alarm and getting the needed supplies.
I stood staring at the town’s reaction to her until a few of the volunteer firefighters approached me.
“Thanks for all you did today,” Merrill said, shaking my hand as he clamped a hand to my arm. “You Stratton boys did an incredible job.”
“Always here to help,” I said with a chin tip to Ronny.
Ronny and Buck shook my hand, too. They could be goofballs, but they were great under pressure.
“Heard Josh wants to consider joining our crew,” Ronny said.
“Sure would be glad to have him,” Buck agreed.
My pulse pounded in my ears so hard at that thought that I barely heard them say they were going to walk the property and make sure the fire was really out before they left the area.
I gave them a nod, then stumbled over to where my brothers stood, with a bottle of water in one hand and a sandwich in the other.
Josh gave me a silly grin when I saw him.
“What’s with you wanting to be a firefighter?” I asked immediately. “You never said anything about it before.”
He glanced around. “As I see it, I’d be here helping even if it wasn’t close to our place, so why not?”
“It’s too dangerous,” I said, the exhaustion of working so long starting to get to me.
“I kissed your girl,” Josh taunted, ignoring me. “She likes me better and said I was more handsome than you.”
I hooked my arm around his neck. “We both know you said those things, not her. And if you kissed her for real, I’ll deck you.”
He chuckled, slipping out of my grasp easily before standing in a mock-boxing stance. “Well, I kissed her hair, and damn, did she smell good. Even covered in ash.”
I punched his shoulder, not up to my usual strength, so he threw his head back laughing and whooping as the rain pummeled his face.