Angelie watches with a frown as he pushes it open, her brow furrowed. “Why does he have to wear the gloves for that?”
“The heat from the fire spreads pretty fast,” I reply, flexing my fingers on the wheel. “Could have reached the metal of that gate and he’d get a nasty burn off of it if he didn’t take precautions.”
She draws in a sharp breath, as though it hasn’t crossed her mind till now just how serious this is. I roll down the window and stick my head out to lead the van past the gate, and I can smell the bite of smoke in the air.
“How far is it to your parents’ place from here?”
“Maybe a few hundred yards?”
“You think you can point us there?” I ask. “I don’t want to bring the van too much closer—this fire spreads fast, we need a quick getaway…”
“No, but I can take you there,” she offers, and I grit my teeth. I don’t want her there at our side, racing into the fire, even if she so clearly thinks she’ll be able to handle anything and everything that’s thrown in her direction.
Dylan strides to the van, leaning in the window. “Get the water tank,” he tells me. “I can see some flames at the edge of aproperty through the trees—looks like the fire diverted from down near the marsh and found its way up here, instead.”
The blood drains from Angelie’s face. “That’s my parents’ place,” she breathes. “I have to come with you. Please, let me?—”
“You’re staying right here,” Dylan insists.
“No, the hell I am not!” she exclaims. “Trust me, they’re not going to leave unless I can convince them to. My mother, she’ll want to stay in the house as long as she can, but?—”
“We don’t have time to argue,” Dylan snaps back, running a hand through his hair. “Carlisle—is she coming or not?”
She locks eyes with me, and I can tell at a glance that she’s going to follow us whether I allow her to come or not. Better that I know where she is than leave her running around the woods by herself, and besides, she’ll have a better handle of the landscape than we do.
“Fine,” I mutter, climbing out of the cabin and unhooking the water tank from where it sits on the side. “Dylan, take the hose. Angelie, grab a couple of fire extinguishers. If you’re going to come with us, then the least you can do is make yourself useful.”
She does as she’s told at once, hefting a couple of the fire extinguishers into her arms and cradling them like they’re infant children.
I brush aside the thoughts that image draws to my mind, and gesture out through the woods. “Quickest way to the property?”
“To the left and then follow the path to the gates,” she replies, taking off before I can say another word. “As the crow flies, we’ll hit some rocky ground, and you don’t want to drop the tank…”
Dylan and I exchange a glance as she takes off ahead of us, and we race behind her to catch up before she can put any distance between us. Sure enough, as we move through the trees, the branches snagging at my face, I can smell the smoke growing thicker in the air and eventually hear the sound of the crackling fire as it cuts through the trees. Dylan is right—it must have caught between the branches of the tightly packed trees and made its way here when the marsh stymied its progress toward the town. As far as I know, everyone has been evacuated from these houses and it’s just Angelie’s damn stubborn family who have decided to make life more difficult for us than it needs to be.
“There, the gate!” Angelie calls out, stabbing her finger through a clearing and toward a mottled old wooden gate that hangs half off its hinge where it sits at the far end of the house. All of a sudden, a loud crack rings through the forest, and a tree branch crashes down onto the gate, bringing with it a flood of flames that immediately have the gate exploding with fire before us.
“Angelie, get back!” I roar.
Dylan aims the hose and hits the gate with a heavy blast that takes it entirely off its hinges. It sprawls to the side as Angelie leaps backward, her hand on her chest, the jacket protecting her from the worst of the heat.
We don’t have much time.
“This your parents’ place?” I ask, closing the distance between us. She nods. “You go in,” I tell her. “Dylan and I will deal with the fire out here, make sure it doesn’t get any closer. You find your parents in there, you say whatever it takes to get them the hell out, you understand?”
Her eyes still seem a little hazy from how close she came to being taken out by that branch, but I grab her shoulder, forcing her back into the moment. “Angelie, tell me you understand.”
“I—I understand,” she replies, gripping one of the extinguishers tighter to her chest.
“Be back here in five minutes,” I tell her, slipping off my watch and sliding it onto her wrist. Tapping the time, I raise my eyebrows at her. “Any later than that, and we’re going to come in after you, understand?”
She nods again.
“Good. Go!” I gesture for her to head inside and she does as she’s told, taking off toward the old farmhouse that looks as though it’s been standing for as long as the town has. I can’t help but feel a twist of panic, seeing her running toward the house. What if the flames have already reached it from the other side, and we’re sending her into the lion’s den? Should we check it out before we let her get close to it?
“Carlisle.” Dylan’s curt voice cuts through my reverie.
I blink and turn to face him. “Yeah?”
