She nodded, her expression serious. “OK.”
There was far too much smoke on the haystack to see the damage. He kept the water focused on the middle.
Only a quarter tank to go.
The water pressure decreased and the water came in fits and starts. Shit.
“Dad, the fire’s out.” Lara tugged on his arm and he blinked.
He shut off the hose, ready to turn it back on at any sign of flames. The scent of wet hay and smoke wafted towards him.
“Are we out?” Brandon called from the top of the stack.
He moved closer, heart racing, and prodded the bales. “Looks like it.” But now the hay was soaking wet and would go mouldy if it wasn’t dried. They would have to move the whole lot.
More work. More risk of damage.
Brandon jumped down, while Amy thanked all of those who’d come over to help. “What started it?”
“No idea.” It could have been a stray cigarette butt. He called to the guests still congregated. “Did anyone see anything?”
They all shook their heads.
There was a real possibility it could have spontaneously combusted, and wouldn’t that just be their luck? Exhaustion whispered to him to give up, give in, to stop fighting what was inevitable.
Lara slipped her hand into his. “What do we need to do now, Dad?”
Her simple question and the absolute confidence on her face that he would know what to do almost scuttled him. But he would not let her down. Drawing on a strength he didn’t know he had, he straightened. “We need to sort the bales, pumpkin. Make sure the wet ones dry.” Only a few puffy white clouds deigned to mark the blue sky today, but rain was due mid-week. They needed to get the bales dry and covered again before then.
“How about over there?” Brandon pointed to a flat piece of land only a few metres away but it would be far enough should the stack start burning again before they finished the transfer.
Darcy nodded.
“Right.” Lara marched over to a bale and struggled to lift it.
She killed him with her kindness. “Pumpkin, they’re a little heavy for you.”
She jutted her chin as if she was about to argue.
“But it would be a huge help if you filled our water cooler with water and ice, and brought some plastic cups out so everyone has something to drink. Maybe bring some biscuits too.”
“Yep, I’m on it.” She ran towards the house.
He kept thinking he couldn’t love her more than he did, but she kept proving him wrong. “Bran, can you go fill the tanker?”
He nodded.
In the end, about a dozen guests help shift the stack, leaving the bales which were soaked to one side so they would dry in the sun. The fire truck arrived and investigated the point of ignition.
“Darcy!” Jeff, the officer in charge, waved him over.
“What’s up?”
He crouched and showed Darcy a blackened section of bale separate from the rest of the stack, and then another one. “There are multiple ignition points.” He glanced up, his expression serious. “This wasn’t a case of spontaneous combustion.”
Fury stormed into him. Son of a bitch. “How long for the fire to take hold?”
Jeff shrugged. “No more than five minutes.”
