She looked at Richard. His face was stone as he shook his head slowly. When her eyes met his, he took a step back.
‘I’m sorry …’ he mumbled and turned and fled the room.
Anna didn’t blame him. Rich was a good guy. He would come back, but things would never be the same between them again. He would drift away and find someone he could look at without flinching. And after him? What man would fall for a face like hers?
Anna closed her eyes again, to hide the sight of her parents’ anguish. As she did, pain washed over her. This was not physical pain. Compared to this, the pain of her injuries was nothing. This new agony was in knowing that her life was irrevocably changed. So many dreams lost. She would never know the joy of love. Of a family. Never walk down the aisle on her father’s arm. Never even walk down the street without watching people turn away in pity or embarrassment.
Her life was changed, but it wasn’t over. She was strong. She would not slide into despair. She was only twenty-three years old. She would focus on being a vet and helping injured creatures.
But first, she would find some place to hide.
CHAPTER
1
The fire was a monster. For days it had been prowling around the gullies, devouring the dry brown grass and glowing red as it ate into fallen timber baked white by the sun. Now, driven by the wind, it had come out of hiding and was roaring across the landscape. Bright orange and red flames soared into and above the treetops and sprinted through the dry grass. The fire created its own winds, spirals of flame that danced like devils. The air was thick with whirling smoke, blinding and choking, and the heat was a furnace. Justin Turner blinked the grit and sweat out of his eyes and tried to judge the monster’s speed. It would reach the road in minutes. Another firefighter was holding a long line of cars on the side of the road, uncertain which way to send them.
Justin’s radio crackled.
‘It’s at the road here. It’s gonna jump it.’ His twin brother Ben was leading the firefighters trying to contain the blaze a couple of kilometres further down the road. ‘Turn them all back.’
‘Already on it. Be safe.’
‘You too, brother.’
Justin had to get those cars out of here before they were trapped between two arms of the fire. He signalled the firefighter on the road, waving a hand to indicate it was time to get the cars moving, then pointing back the way they had come. The smoke was so thick he wasn’t sure if he’d been seen. A flash of heat and fire almost knocked him off his feet as, behind him, the uppermost branches of a tree exploded in flames. He started running awkwardly in his heavy boots and protective gear.
‘Turn them around and get them out of here,’ he shouted over the roar of the fire.
The other firefighter must have heard, or seen the danger and understood. He raised an arm to acknowledge Justin’s instruction and darted towards the cars at the back of the line, signalling for them to turn and go back the way they had come. Justin did the same to those cars at the head of the line, closest to the flames.
About halfway along the line, a woman was desperately trying to start her car. The engine coughed and kicked and failed. She tried again. And again. Tears were streaming down her face as Justin reached her and her hands were shaking so badly she could barely grip the steering wheel.
‘Leave it,’ he commanded as he pulled her door open. ‘Come with me.’
The woman didn’t move. She sat staring with wild eyes at the leaping flames drawing closer with every second. Justin reached into the car and grabbed her arm. As quickly as he could, he pulled her from behind the wheel. The frozen terror on her face remained, but she followed his directions as he urged her towards the next vehicle, which was starting to pull away.
He flagged the car down and opened a rear door. ‘Take her and get out of here as fast as you can.’
‘Right.’ The man in the driver’s seat barely waited for the woman to get in before hitting the accelerator. The car leaped forward and vanished into the smoke, others following close behind.
The rest of the vehicles were all turning to leave—except for one. An ageing red station wagon was pulled off the side of the road. As Justin watched, the driver leaped out, paused to grab something out of the back of the car, then ran towards the fire.
‘What the—’ For a second, Justin was too shocked to move.
The woman zigzagged through the patches of burning grass and Justin lost sight of her in the thick smoke. Was the woman mad? Why would anyone risk their life running into a bushfire like that? He ran after her.
A few metres into the fire, he spotted her again. She was trying to lift something wrapped in a blanket. The creature inside was struggling. It gave an agonised wail that sounded almost like a child’s scream. She wasn’t a large woman and she was struggling with the weight. Just as Justin reached her, she heaved the bundle into her arms, lost her balance and staggered. He grabbed her with both hands to stop her falling. The blanket fell open, and he saw a koala. Its fur was black and singed and the blanket was already marked with dark red blood.
‘You’ve got to get out of here.’ Justin put his arms around the woman’s shoulders to help her.
She looked up at him and they both froze.
‘Mum?’
‘Justin …’ His mother was the only person in the world who’d never confused Justin and Ben. She’d always known which twin was which.
‘How … What—’ His words were cut off by a firm voice tinged with panic coming from the radio attached to his jacket.
