Chapter 15

The fire roared on, and the wind blew stronger.  Much to his amazement the road behind them was on fire with fallen trees and shrubs that they had chopped down just hours earlier.

Jim swore he could see it in the distance. His worst fear right now that negated all the work they had done earlier.  It happened so quick but he couldn’t do a thing to stop this one little spark that had been carried in the air.  It landed in the brush, but even from this distance, it had a sound.  His ears heard it.  Burn.

Within a couple minutes smoke was rising from that pile on his side of the highway and he knew the fire had spread. This would be a hungry monster within a few minutes, especially near the meadow where their rescue crew would be landing. He could hear it creeping closer in the air, and signaled for a hard run to the boys, who dropped everything and headed for the plane landing, looking behind them to see what the renewed urgency was all about.  What had Jim seen? They sensed his elevated panic and rode it.