“I did,” Janette replied firmly. “I’ll fill up some bottles of water to take as well, and that should tie them over for a bit.”
Raven saw the stern look on Janette’s face and didn’t dare argue with her. “I’ll drive, you tell me where to go.”
“Okay, let’s get going, then.”
It took two trips each to get the containers of sandwiches and bottles of water in the back of Raven’s car.
Her knuckles whitened from the tight grip she had on the steering wheel as she drove along the driveway to the public road.
“Turn right here,” instructed Janette. “It’s not hard to get to Brumbies.”
“Is that where they’ll be?”
“I’m not sure, but we’ll soon find out.”
“Should you ring Ben first and see exactly where they are?”
“No.”
Raven couldn’t help thinking that there was something else going on here for Janette. Maybe she wanted to make sure Ben was safe and sound too. She kept driving, slowly along the dirt road, her belly fluttering with nerves knowing she was driving toward the fire.
They sat in silence. The smoke billowing into the sky gradually came closer. Raven felt herself holding her breath, and she had to force herself to exhale, then inhale. She crouched forward over the steering wheel.
“Are those flames up ahead?” She squinted, trying to work out if she were now seeing the fire or not. Despite the heat, her skin prickled. She wanted to see Ben, make sure he was fine, but at the same time, the urge to turn around to flee was increasing.
“Oh my,” gasped Janette.
The land flattened out, giving them both a full view of the fire and the damage it had done. Flames flickered in the distance, but for Raven, it felt way too close.
“You sure I should keep going?”
Janette didn’t answer. She sat, hand on her mouth, eyes wide, staring out at the scene in front of them. Tears fell down her cheeks. Flames licked their way up the trunks of the trees either side of the road, the crop that had proudly been standing in its golden glory was now burned to nothing, ash heavy on the ground.
To her right, Raven saw a CFS unit, hoses pulled from the back of the truck, men and women holding them and putting out spot fires, trying to stop it from spreading.
Then she saw Ben.
She stopped the car.
Ben was covered in black soot. Even though he was over a hundred feet away, she could see the worried look on his face. He held the hose tightly, water spurting out, barely smothering the flames.
Raven turned her gaze to where he was facing. Right then, the wind whipped around them shaking the car.
“Fuck.”
The strength of the wind created a fire twister. Flames snaked up in a rope-like fashion from the ground up into the sky. Its tip danced on the ground for seconds, moving along to the right, it’s beauty and terrifying nature captivating Raven. It sparked something inside of her. Seeing the fire twister in all its distressing flames, burned through her doubt. All the thoughts that had been tumbling around in her head wanting answers collided, and she finally knew.
There were two directions she could take—go back to city life or stay. But there was onlyoneanswer.
Fear swept through her seeing the monstrous fire out of control. The answer still remained clear. Here, seeing the snake of fire rising from the ground, she knew the answer in her bones. She was staying. Life out here in the country wasn’t what she was used to, but she knew she could adjust. To live here and be happy as long as Ben was with her. Right now, she was choosing farm life, and one way or another, she would deal with the loneliness because her home was here now. She felt her roots go down. She was not just with Ben, they would be together with their own family in the future. And that’s what she wanted.
Raven’s realization didn’t stop there. Her stomach fluttered with excitement. Realization flooded through her. She would give the club idea a go. Hell, she might even cook a cake in Janette’s kitchen by herself to sell on a fundraising table. It wasn’t so much she had to, but she wanted to. Because of Ben. It wasn’t as if she were changing for him, only adapting. One thing was becoming clear for her, and that was she owed it to him, to herself, for them both, and for the sake of the future children they would have.
With the decision of how she wanted her future with Ben, here in the country, her mind snapped back to reality.
“Shit, we need to get out of here.” She put the car in reverse. Looked back at Ben as he turned to face them. His face was a mix of surprise and then anger. He mouthed ‘go.’
Raven didn’t need him to repeat it. She should’ve argued with Janette, stood up to her, but things had been going so well between them, they were bonding, getting to know each other, that she hadn’t wanted to do anything that might upset that delicate balance.
