A broad smile lit Rose’s face. ‘And we’d love to have you. Normally it’s every second Saturday afternoon and we should be having one this Saturday, but as it’s the town dance that night, we’ve delayed it for another week. I hope you can come. Everyone would love to see you.’
Anna nodded. Her current clinic opening times included Saturday afternoon, but she’d set those times when she’d first arrived in town and didn’t know anyone. That session was very sparsely attended, even to the point of not bothering with a nurse. She could easily cancel that clinic every second week. Or even permanently. She deserved a bit of time off. To have some fun. And, to her surprise, knitting really was fun.
‘That sounds great. I’ll be there. I still have that kit I started last time I was here. I’ll get it out again and see if I can get a bit more done before then.’
‘And if you need any help, don’t hesitate to drop by. Any time.’
‘Thanks.’
‘And I guess I’ll see you at the dance.’
‘I guess you will.’
CHAPTER
30
The hands on his watch were moving far too slowly for Justin. The day was never going to end. The minute hand staggered forward another space. A quarter to five. He’d already changed out of his uniform and was ready to go as soon as the next shift arrived. It would take him more than an hour and a half to get to Anna’s and he’d told her he would pick her up at seven.
‘Justin.’ A head appeared around the corner. ‘Have you seen the latest from the Castle Rock fire?’
His heart sank. The fire had started a couple of days ago, probably sparked by a lightning strike during the storm. It was centred south-west of Wagtail Ridge, closer to Muswellbrook, and fire teams from that area had been working on it. But it was close enough that his team was on standby, just in case it got away.
‘No. What’s happening?’
‘The wind has lifted and shifted. It’s on the move.’
‘Damn!’ Justin put down his coffee and followed his colleague into the incident tracking room. A big map covered one wall, pins showing where fires were burning. At this time of year, there were always some. Most of the pins were yellow, which meant the fires were under control. There was a small, closely grouped selection of yellow pins that was the Castle Rock fire. That fire wasn’t one blaze, but smaller outbreaks that hopefully would never merge into one.
Ted Carter, the commander, was finishing a phone call. ‘It’s burning on three fronts. And it’s going to get worse overnight.’
‘Do they need us?’ Justin tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice. But if he was needed, he had to go.
‘They haven’t asked yet. But we need to be on standby.’
Justin sighed.
‘Not you,’ the commander said. ‘You’re off shift in five minutes. Go home. Get some sleep. You may need it.’
Ben entered the room, shaking his head. ‘He won’t be going home. He’s off to Wagtail Ridge. He’s got a date.’
Justin frowned. Ben and his big mouth. ‘I can cancel.’
Ted thought for a few seconds. ‘That’s a good idea.’
‘What is?’
‘You going to Wagtail Ridge. Take a support vehicle and the keys to the station. Spend the night there. If this thing gets away, you’ll be closer than we are. We might have to call in those volunteers the two of you trained.’
Justin bit back a curse. That wasn’t how he’d imagined this evening.
‘Do you want me to go too?’ Ben asked.
‘No. You stay here. We’ll need to send a team from here as well, and I could use you.’
That was a small relief, thought Justin as he collected the Wagtail Ridge Station keys from the office drawer.
‘I want you to take the single cab four by four. Then we know we have that on standby down there,’ Carter said. ‘You got your go-bag? You may as well leave now.’
