Chelsea smiled at his heavy breathing, glad she wasn’t the only one overcome.She kissed the base of his neck.“I’d say we’ve both improved a little.”
His choked laugh sent love careening through her body, and she grinned.
***
The scent of wood smoke tickled Ethan’s nose, and he woke.It took him a second to realise he was in the spare bedroom and he held Chelsea in his arms.He smiled, snuggling in as the smell hit him again.He frowned.Definitely smoke.
At this time of year it shouldn’t be a bush fire, but the bush did border them on two sides.He slipped out of bed and padded naked to the window, pulling the blind aside to look out.
Bright orange flames greeted him, moving across the overgrown grass.Fuck.“Chelsea!”He dragged on his pants and slapped on a light to find his shirt.
“What?”She bolted upright in bed, blinking, her eyes blurry with sleep.
“The garden’s on fire.I need you to call the fire brigade.”He slid on his shoes as she nodded and threw back the sheets, grabbing her phone and glancing towards the window.She reached for her shirt.
“Fire brigade first,” he ordered.“Then come and grab a hose.”
He thundered down the stairs, struggling for a moment to unlock the back door, and then raced around the corner of the house to where the garden hose was kept.
It wasn’t there.
He swore, frantically looking around.He’d used it two days ago to water some of the garden beds he’d weeded, and there was no reason for Chelsea to have moved it.
The smoke was thicker here and heat already radiated from the flames.
But there was another hose closer to the fire, on the corner of the main house garden and the public area.He plunged through the tall grasses and found it in place.Quickly he turned the tap and to his relief, water poured out.He directed the spray on the grass in front of him, wetting it down as he moved towards the high, out of control flames.
Mother nature out of control.
Just like the tsunami.
His feet locked and his chest tightened as he struggled to move forward towards the danger.
There was no way to control the fire.
He was at its mercy.
A shout broke through the haze of panic.He turned his head.
Barry ran towards him.He’d forgotten about the lawnmower man.
“Where’s the ride-on mower?”Barry shouted.
The question shocked him out of his fear.If they could cut a fire break, it would slow the flames.The volunteer fire-fighters would take at least half an hour to get here.He thrust the hose at Barry.“I’ll get it.”
And start the sprinklers.No telling what condition they were in, but they might work.
He headed for the barn first, ignoring the relief filling him that he was running away from danger.He was helping here as well.As he ran he spotted Chelsea dragging another hose from the other side of the house.
Shit.He couldn’t let her close to the flames.He had to move fast.Get between her and the danger.
He pushed himself harder.
This was no accidental fire.They’d done nothing on that side of the garden today and as far as he knew, there was nothing over there that would spontaneously combust.
He should have kept watch again instead of falling asleep in Chelsea’s arms.
He unlocked the barn’s combination lock and ran to the reticulation panel.The first five stations were on the public side of the garden and he switched on the station between the fire and the house.It would then cycle to the station closest to the house.
