Page 94 of Second Start: Family
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Fire moved like a fast-flowing river, only it had no banks, followed no channel.
But it did have habits.
Fuel and wind came together, interacted so there could be a wide, lazy spill of fire, right alongside a current moving fast and hard.
And one of the few rules you could pin on it was most times it moved fast up draws, slower downhill.
Hall climbed the first ridge behind the house at a run with a shovel in each hand, using them like a skier digging in poles to get uphill faster.
At the crest he stopped to assess.
Fire had topped the second ridgeline.
Dan stood two-thirds of the way up the slope to it, just above where a draw cut a crevice into the hillside. He was beating at the line spilling down the hillside heading toward the house and barns. The fire advanced on Dan’s left, but to his right, the line already was well down the slope, impeded by Dan’s efforts.
Dan needed to pull back.
Hall shouted, but there was no way to be heard against the sounds and the wind.
He charged down this slope, started up the next.
He strained to see.
The thicker haze here distorted distances, perspective thrown off by dense clouds in front of his eyes that gave way abruptly to clear patches before threading out to a mist of gray.
Flames, until this instant hidden in the depths of the draw, leaped into view.
The fire was between them, encircling Dan. Cutting off his escape.
He had to get Dan out of there. He had to go in and get him out— Think. Don’t react — Think.Think!
Bringing two of them out of that narrowing noose was against the odds. He needed to be here, outside the fire to help his son.
“Dan! Behind you!”
Through the smoke and flame he saw the boy spin around, seeing the danger all around him. He screamed something, but Hall couldn’t tell what it was. He was already moving, reacting.
“Dan! Listen! Just listen.” He clambered straight up, through a narrow channel, embers burning at his hand when he set it down for balance.
“You’re going to run through it. As fast as you can. Stay low, but fast —fast!” Desperately, Hall gauged the width and speed of the fire line, looking for a spot that would cut Dan’s exposure … Damn it! Why wasn’t there someplace where the fire had sputtered out, where Dan could cross safely?
But he had no more time to wait. The circle of fire tightened around his son.
He chose a spot, because he had to.
“Here. Dan, run to me here. Run like hell!”
He saw the boy swing his head from one side to the other — gauging the flames advancing on him? Or a slow-motion denial of his father’s order? Dan backed up almost to the opposite side of the fire ring.
Oh, God, don’t let Dan panic. If he froze—
Certainty rose up in Hall, bringing a kind of calm.
If Dan didn’t run, he would go in and get him. The hell with the odds.
“Danny! Now!” His boy was moving. Gathering himself, gaining speed. “Run here! Now! Go! Go! Go!”
