“Don’t . . .” Her voice broke. “Hearing you say that just scares me.”
Shouts were coming from down the line. Beau ended the call, dropped the phone in his pocket, and ran in that direction. Fifty yards down he saw what he’d dreaded most. A shower of sparks, blown by the wind, had crossed the firebreak and ignited the dried grass stubble on the near side. The men were shoveling dirt on the fire. It had worked with smaller flare-ups, but this time it wasn’t enough. The fresh blaze roared to life, racing over the ground in a widening pool of flame.
“It’s moving too fast!” Beau shouted. “Go! Get out of here now!”
Hearing his order, the men grabbed their tools and fled back toward the ranch yard. Beau watched them go. He’d done the right thing, he told himself. The fire had become too dangerous. He couldn’t risk losing even one of their lives.
He pressed the talk button on the two-way radio. “We’re done here, Will,” he said. “Fire’s jumped the break. I’m sending the crew in. I’ll be along shortly. Over and out.”
Beau knew he didn’t have much tim
e. But there was one chance left, and he had to take it. The tanker truck stood a hundred yards back, ready to be brought in if needed. The tank was meant for small blazes and didn’t hold much more water than a horse trough, but if he moved fast, there might be enough to douse the fire on this side of the break.
He dove in the truck and drove it as close to the fire as he dared, jumped out, and unwound the hose. While he had two legs to stand on, no fire was going to burn the ranch his family had worked so hard to build—the ranch that meant so much to the people who lived and worked on this land, his land and his children’s land.
With the pressure on full force, the hose was hard to handle alone, but he directed the stream at the fire and held it steady. He should have known better than to try. Within ten minutes the tank was empty, the fire still spreading. And now the flames were racing toward the tanker truck. With no time to get to the vehicle and move it, Beau could only back away and watch as the truck began to blaze.
Only then, as the gas tank went up in a whoosh of flame, did he realize the trouble he was in. By now the fire had jumped the break in other spots and was roaring toward him. For a short distance he might be able to outrun it. But he couldn’t run forever and he had nowhere to escape.
Natalie’s face flashed through his mind. He had to get away, had to be there for her and their child. Beau’s legs sprang into action. In high school he’d been all-state in track, but that had been decades ago, and now his lungs were burning from the smoke. The fire was already gaining on him. With each stride, he felt his legs getting weaker. This was the race of his life, and he was losing.
“Beau!” The familiar shout reached his ears. Will’s bulky form, running toward him, materialized through the smoke. “You damn fool!” Will’s strong arms caught him, pulled him toward the pickup that waited ahead. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
“Trying to . . . save your ranch. But I couldn’t . . .” Beau was out of breath. His feet stumbled as Will dragged him the last few yards and piled him into the pickup.
“Our ranch, you knucklehead,” Will growled. “We can talk about that later. Right now let’s get us both out of here.”
Seconds later they were rocketing back toward the ranch yard with a wall of smoke and fire towering behind them.
From outside the barn, Sky watched the fire sweep closer. The last of the trailers had vanished up the road, the men from Beau’s fire crew riding along in the trucks. But there was still no sign of Beau, or of Will, who’d gone looking for him.
The blaze was a monster now—an unstoppable juggernaut, burning everything in its path. It was time to get out of its way. But he couldn’t leave without knowing what had happened to Will and Beau.
Relief swept over him as Will’s pickup burst through the smoke with two men in the front seat. The ranch might burn, but at least his brothers were alive and safe.
Will swung the pickup close to where Sky stood, hit the brake, and rolled down the window. His smoke-reddened eyes were like burning coals in his soot-black face. “Jump in. Let’s get out of here,” he said.
“Go on,” Sky said. “I want to check the place one last time. I’ll follow you in my truck.”
“Fine. Don’t take long.” Will gunned the engine and disappeared up the road to the caprock.
Sky raced through the barns, checking each stall to make sure no animals were left inside. Jasper’s ATV was in the shed behind their duplex. Sky would have liked to save it for the old man, but he didn’t have the key and the fire was roaring close now. There’d be no time to rig the ramp and push the ATV into his pickup. There were some valuable saddles in the tack room but no time to take them and load them in the truck. Flames were shooting up beyond the bunkhouse and the commissary. Soon the sparks would ignite the barn and the wooden roof of the house. He could smell the acrid smoke, taste it. His stinging eyes burned with it. He had to get out—now.
His silver-blue truck was parked in the open. Sky grabbed the key ring out of his pocket. Flinging himself into the driver’s seat, he thrust the key into the ignition, touched the gas pedal, and gave the key a turn.
There was a faint click, then silence.
He pumped the gas pedal, jiggled the key, and tried again.
Nothing.
CHAPTER 20
Lauren’s babyhood home was gone. From the shelter of the brick and metal syndicate office, she’d watched the flames in the house shoot up higher than the tall poplars. Then the trees themselves had caught fire, blazing like candles around an altar.
Losing the house saddened her. But it was Sky’s safety that had her frantic. She’d tried again and again to reach his phone but had gotten nothing but his answering message.
Finally, after several desperate tries, she managed to call Tori on the caprock. “Everybody else made it out ahead of the fire,” Tori told her. “But we’re still waiting for Sky. He wanted to check the barns before he left.”