“But if he’s going to write about this station again, I’d rather he did it after seeing the work than after collecting quotes from people at the end of a lane.”
I know that is reasonable.
I resent it.
I pick up my bag, then set it down again.
“What does he actually do?”
“He learns,” Josh says. “He observes, but he also gets put through the safe version of the things we can put him through. Checks, kit familiarisation, hose work, ladders if he isn't too clumsy, prevention work, station routine, the lot. If there’s a call, he comes out with the crew as an observer, but he stays exactly where he’s told and he doesn’t get anywhere near anything operationally live.”
I stare at him. “So not just watching.”
“No. Watching would be too easy.”
For the first time since this conversation began, something almost pleasant moves through me.
Not joy.
I’m not unwell.
But the idea of Anthony Hodgson discovering that firefighting involves more than dramatic quotes and standing at the edge of fields with a notebook has definite appeal.
I narrow my eyes. “How safe is safe?”
“Very.”
“How uncomfortable is safe?”
Josh pauses.
I know that pause.
That is a pause full of possibilities.
He smirks at me. “Depends who’s supervising him.” Josh leans back, and now the mentor has quietly put on the face of a man dangling a biscuit in front of a dog he knows will pretend not to want it. “You know, if you supervise him, you set the structure of the day.”
I give him a flat look. “I know what supervision is.”
“Exactly. Which means if the appliance bay needs sweeping, he can understand station standards.”
I say nothing.
“If the hoses need washing, he can gain valuable insight into equipment maintenance.”
Still nothing.
“If someone needs to restock the kit room, wipe down surfaces, check equipment stores, carry things from one side of the yard to the other and then carry them back because Kev put them in the wrong place…”
I hold up a hand.
Josh stops.
I stare at him.
He waits, looking innocent in a way that would not hold up in court.
“That is manipulative.”
