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She pulled the truck to a stop and got out. Another torn piece of material tird to an old bolt about a kilometer down from where she had found the first. She smiled and bent to make another pile of stones. Way to go, Ryan! She thought.

Janet reached for the phone and had the receiver to her ear before the first ring had finished. "Hi. I found another one. Ryan is leaving a trail alright!" came Robbie's voice, sounding confident and proud.

The voice spread like a cooling lotion over Janet's stress. "Jean said she was wearing a blue and gold stripped bib," reported Janet. "The fire is out of control, Robbie. They managed to save the buildings at Bartlett by pumping water directly out of the lake and onto the buildings but the woods around is gone. It's spreading in a long finger along the shore heading north. I can smell the smoke here."

"Are you safe?" asked Robbie in worry.

"Yes, as long as the wind doesn't shift. If it does I'll leave a message on our house phone with our cell number in case the kidnapper phones and head into Barlett. George Droullard is organizing the Lions Club in case they have to evacuate Barlett," explained Janet.

"Don't stay there too long if you need to get out," ordered Robbie.

"I won't," promised Janet.

The trail led Robbie back to Long Lake Road. The son of a bitch had the nerve to take the road right past their house! Robbie cursed and followed along the lane, her eyes beating back and forth looking for scraps of material. At the fork, Robbie found one of Ryan's socks. The truck had turned left away from the long driveway leading to their cabin and heading down past the lodge towards the end of Long Lake. The lane, Robbie knew, would join the Lakefront Road where Larry and Flo Butler lived and right in the path of the advancing fire!

"Janet, I'm near you, love. It looks like the bastard took them down Long Lake Road and then cut west. I think he must have headed up towards Lakefront Road. I just found one of Ryan's socks. She must have run out of bib."

"Robbie, That area is on fire!"

"Yeah, well our kids are up there. I'll keep reporting back to you," stated Robbie, and snapped the phone shut. She was not going to let Ryan down again if she had to go to hell and back for the kid!

Robbie could see the orange glow of the fire to her left as she turned right onto the Lakefront Road. She came to a stop and got out into air misty with blue smoke. Sitting on the road was the other sock. Robbie set her jaw and got back in the truck and headed off again. Close now, she thought, she could feel it!

***

Ryan hit the truck bed with a thud that knocked the wind out of her. Curling into a ball, she huddled under the back window so that she would not make an easy target and tried to get air back into her lungs. Funny it seems so easy when I see people in Mom's movie's do that! she mused, rubbing her bruised knees. She licked her dry lips and fought back the fear that flooded through her body on an adrenalin rush.

What would Mom do? She'd leave signals. Ryan ducked her head out of her sports bib and with shaking hands tore it into bits. I sure hope the school is going to be reasonable about this! she thought. Wrecking or losing sports equipment was almost a capitol offense at Bartlett. She could almost hear Bissell going on now about the three R's of the equipment room: RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, and RETURN.

With a shrug of resignation, Ryan tied the first piece of cloth to a rusty old bolt that she had picked from a soggy cardboard box in the flatbed. She tossed the first marker over the side of the truck hoping that the driver would not notice. She looked up. Through the cab's back window, big blue worried eyes looked down at her. Ryan managed a smile and waved at Reb. She could see her sister mouth her name but the roar of the old truck drowned out any sound.

The driver turned and swore, grabbing Reb by the arm and pulling her out of sight but not before Ryan had seen the pain in her little sister's face and saw the tears spring to Reb's eyes. Anger boiled inside Ryan's guts. No! Stay calm! Reason! She ordered herself, That's what Mom would do. She prepared another marker and threw it over the side. You are not going to win, you bastard!

Ryan had gone through her pieces of bib and had thrown out both socks as they bumped along. She could smell the fire now and as she threw her last sock over the side she thought she could see heavier smoke snaking through the trees to the south. Oh shit! This is not good! she thought.

Instead of tossing the last sock over the side as she had done the other markers, she balled the fabric up and tossed it off the back so that it lay on the road and not the shoulders. If the fire did come this way, maybe the fire wouldn't burn the marker if it was laying on the road. For the first time, her fear grew from the realization that she and Reb were in very deep trouble with no one to help them out.

Ryan swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Stay calm! Stay focused! What should I throw next? Not my shoes, I might need them if we get a chance to run. Not my clothes if I can avoid it, that would be asking for trouble with a jerk like this. Okay, first the watch, then I'll rip the pocket and collar off my shirt, Ryan planned.

She grabbed on to the side of the truck with one hand as they bounced off Lakefront Road and onto a rutted track through the bush. Quickly, Ryan threw her watch over the back of the truck. Hoping that someone would see the entrance to the trail. Okay, Ryan, you must be getting close to the place where this guy is taking you. No one is here to help you and Reb so think of what to do next. Her green serious eyes surveyed the dirty truck bed and its contents. In a partly, broken quart basket, she saw a handful of rusty tools.

Ryan crawled over and searched through awkwardly as she bounced around in the back of the truck over the trail. Her hand closed around a long, heavy iron wrench. She knew she could not over power the man once he was out of the truck. The only time he was going to be vulnerable was when he opened the truck door and led with his head as he got out. She had to be ready to hit him then. No hesitating, no checking the swing, just hit him! she coached herself. Her hand ached from the tension in her muscles as she held the wrench tightly. She could smell the rancid stench of her own fear as the sweat trickled down her back.

The truck slowed and backfired. It turned slightly and came to a jerky stop in front of a run- down old trailer. For a second, there was silence. Ryan braced herself. The door of the truck creaked open and Ryan saw an unkept mat of greying hair. She hesitated, then brought the iron wrench down on the man's head with a glancing blow.

The man gave a cry of pain and lashed out at her. The blow caught Ryan on the bridge of the nose and filled her eyes with tears. "You fucking bitch!" the man yelled, grabbing Ryan by the hair and pulling her over the side of the truck. She landed with a thud on the ground and the wind was knocked from her lungs.

"You get out of the truck." She heard the man order and heard Reb crying as she was dragged from the floor of the cab. Ryan forced herself to her knees and Reb squirmed from the man's grasp and fell crying into her big sister's arms.

"Shhhh, it will be okay, Reb. You'll see. Our Mom's will find us. I know they will," she tried to reassure the small terrified child. Ryan didn't think she had ever been so scared. Her hand shook as she stroked Reb's dark locks. She looked up to see the angry man towering over them rubbing his ear.

"You're going to get yours before this is over, you bitch," the man vowed, as he grabbed Ryan roughly by the arm and pulled her to her feet. He half dragged, half carried them to the trailer and pushed them inside.

Ryan's heart was now pounding in her chest. She realized that by leaping on the truck, she could very well have put herself in a situation were she could be raped and murdered. Her eyes searched the small shabby interior for a weapon and she tried to think past her fear to what she should do next.

"Mommy! I want my Mommy!" sobbed Reb.

"You take that brat and get in the washroom. You make her stop crying, you here, or I'm going to make her stop. You got me?" snarled the kidnapper.

Ryan nodded and wrapped Reb closer as she backed towards the closet sized washroom. She stepped in and closed the door not sure if she should be relieved or more concerned that she was now trapped with no escape. She could hear the man wedging something against the door. For the time being anyway, they were safe.

She sat down on the cracked toilet seat and tried to think what to do next. "Hush, Reb, you've got to be quiet so we don't back the bad man mad. Hush," she whispered. Reb stifled her tears slowly and clung to Ryan as tightly as she could.

When Reb was calmer, Ryan took stock of her surroundings. The small space barely had room for a toilet and a small sink with a storage area below it. There was a yellowed window but it was too small for Ryan to squeeze through. She might be able to push Reb through, but then what would the small child do? She could smash through the aluminium wall but the man would hear her and, no doubt, would stop her in a way that she would regret. She bent around Reb's small body and looked under the sink. A piece of dried, cracked soap, a balled up stiff piece of rag and a rusted can of insect spray was all that was there.

Reb whimpered a protest as Ryan reached to grab the can. "Shhh, it's okay, Reb. I think we've got a way out of here." She shook the can and sprayed into the sink. Her heart pounded with relief as she realized that the can still had lots of pressure and repellant in it. It wasn't exactly pepper spray, but it would buy them some time.

They sat there the whole night, cramped, hungry, and miserable. The reek of the toilet was nauseating and there wasn't even water in the tap. The smell of frying bacon and eggs that evening added to their misery. Dressed only in her light gym outfit, Ryan was shivering with cold and fear by the time the sun started to rise. Several times the evening before, she had heard the man's angry voice. She couldn't make out the words but it sounded like he was arguing with someone on a phone. That meant he might not be working alone. Ryan knew, now that it was light again, that she was going to have to act quickly before any others arrived.

"Hey! My sister is sick! Hey! Come on! You've got to do something!" Ryan yelled. She held the can of insect spray in her hand and winked at Reb who sat wide eyed with fear on top of the sink cabinet where Ryan had put her.

Ryan heard the barrier being removed and the man, looking angry and rumpled with sleep, opened the door. Ryan stretched out her arm and sprayed the insect repellant directly into the guy's eyes. Then she kicked him aside with her foot and wiggled past him. She looked around madly, saw the cast iron frying pan still sitting dirty on the cold propane burner and grabbed it. No hesitation, this time, she slammed the kneeling man as hard as she could over the head. He didn't even moan. He just dropped to the floor.

Stepping over him, she scooped Reb from her perch in the cramped bathroom and made for the door. She ran to the truck and slipped a startled Reb along the seat. "Don't worry, Reb! We're out of here!" Ryan smiled, and reached for the ignition. No keys! Oh shit!

"Hang on, Reb! I just have to see to something," Ryan smiled, and forced herself to step back out of the safety of the truck. Her nerves were at a breaking point as she silently, stepped up into the trailer once again. She expected that at any minute the angry man would pounce on her. She stood in the doorway and surveyed the space. No keys. She couldn't see him putting them away in a drawer and since it was clear he had slept in his clothes it was likely that he had the keys in his pocket. Ryan edged forward and looked over the small counter.

The man lay on his belly on the floor of the trailer, his head to one side and his mouth partly open. Drool dribbled down the prickily facial hair on his chin. What if he grabs me? Ryan wondered, as she slowly knelt beside the man. Her heart was pounding in her chest. If he moves I'm going to have a heart attack and die right here!

She felt his pocket. The keys were a hard lump beneath the material. I wonder if I killed him. Oh my God! I'm a murderer and now I'm robbing a corpse! Swallowing her disgust, she wiggled her hand into the pocket and pulled out the keys. Then, quick as a jack rabbit, she hopped out of the trailer and ran for the truck again. Shaking with fear, she slammed the door shut and put the keys in the ignition, turning the key with trembling fingers. The engine turned over and died.

Oh God! I'm going to wet myself! Ryan moaned silently, as the sweat ran down her neck. Calm. Don't panic or you'll flood the engine, she commanded herself. She pressed down on the gas and turned the key. This time the engine caught! Crying with relief, Ryan turned the truck around and headed back down the trail leaving the still body of their kidnapper on the floor of the old trailer.

***

Robbie turned back, fighting the panic that was growing in her heart. Somehow she had lost the Ryan's trail. By now, she should have found another marker! Either she had missed it or Ryan was no longer able to leave a trail. That thought made her heart convulse in fear. With the back of her hand, she wiped the sweat from her upper lip. Christ! This was a thousand times worse than being in prison.

Now ahead of her, she could see the head of the fire. Blue-black smoke billowed into the sky and fire blazed behind. While she stared, a tree caught and a ribbon of flame raced up the trunk and set the branches into a blaze of fire. How far away? Maybe a few miles. Time was running out! Then she saw it! A narrow over grown trail to her left. She stopped her truck in the middle of the road and got out. Yes, a vehicle had gone down there recently. The weeds and grass were flattened into two tracks from the tires. A flash caught her eyes and bending, she picked up Ryan's watch from a clump of tall grass.

Setting her jaw, Robbie turned and ran back to the truck. She slammed the vehicle in gear and turned into the brush path bouncing along as fast as she dared. Coming around the corner, she came bumper to bumper with a beat up old chevy. She was out of her truck in a split second and was pulling the driver from the truck in a near blind anger. Then realized that she had hold of her daughter. "Ryan! Love! Are you alright? Did he hurt you? Reb?"

"No, I'm okay. Reb's in there. She's okay too but scared," Ryan sighed, from the safety of her mother's arms. Robbie pushed Ryan gently away. "We're in trouble. Get Reb out and into our truck. Where does this road go?"

"It's a dead end. It goes to an old trailer," Ryan said, as she fished Reb out from the floor of the truck. Reb slid from Ryan's arms into Robbie's.

"Obby! I want to go home. I want my mommy!" the little girl wailed.

"It's okay, Reb. We're all going home," soothed Robbie, as she listened to the phone in her hand connect. It was answered right away.

"Robbie?!"

"Yeah."

"Where are you? What have you been doing? I've been so worried. You've got to get out of there!"

"I've got them, Janet. Both of them," cut in the director, half crying with relief. She held up the phone to Reb's ear.

"Mommy! Mommy! You come get me, mommy. I want to go home!" cried Reb.

Robbie pulled the phone away from the upset child. She could here Janet crying and trying to sooth her daughter at the other end. "Listen, Janet, we are in a real fix here. The fire is only about two miles behind us. There is no going back. I'm on a track off to the east of Lakefront Road. Ryan said it comes to a dead end and there is an old trailer down there. Do you know the spot?"

Janet fought to get herself under control. Her voice, when she spoke, was surprisingly calm and controlled. "Yes, I know it. Lakefront dead ends about ten kilometers farther on and the fire is likely to catch up to you. It seems to be fingering along the shore line pushed by a wind out of the south. So far it has only spread about a kilometer inland. They are evacuating Bartlett though. Listen Robbie, go back to the trailer and head due east. Follow the ravine. It will lead you to Beaver Creek. I will meet you there with the canoe and we'll paddle back down to Long Lake. Go quickly, Robbie! There is very little time!" Janet finished, the panic cracking through into her voice.

"We're on our way. Don't worry, Janet. We'll met you at the creek," responded Robbie, snapping the phone shut and swinging into action. "You two get in our truck," commanded Robbie, as she got into the old grey vehicle and reversed it into the bush. She jumped out and ran to their truck and hopped in, putting the truck in forward and moving off.

"He's down there. I...I hit him on the head with a cast iron frying pan. I...I think I killed him, Mom," confessed Ryan in a shaky voice, as she buried her face into Reb's neck and hugged her little sister close.

Robbie couldn't take her eyes away from the rough path, but she nodded, reached out and squeezed Ryan's knee. "You did what you had to do to save Reb and yourself, I'm proud of you. Don't worry," reassured her mother.

Ryan nodded but said nothing. They broke clear of the trail and came out into an overgrown clearing in which sat a small run down trailer. "He's in there!" Ryan exclaimed, "He was lying on the floor!"

Robbie nodded again but said nothing. She saw the ravine sloping down behind a crooked outhouse and headed straight for it. The truck smashed through the flimsy structure and went head first down a steep embankment into an empty flood gorge. Robbie wheeled the truck around on the opposite bank and dropped it down onto the dry river bed. Popping the truck into low gear, she moved forward steadily. Smashing through fallen branches and thumping over rocks. Ryan held on tight to Reb and tried to protect her head as they swung about violently inside the cab.

"Shit, Mom, the owner of this truck is going to be pissed," Ryan observed dryly, as branches scraped the paint off the sides and they left their muffler behind on a rock.

"Don't swear. And the owner is good and pissed, believe me!" responded Robbie, with a playful growl.

They traveled on for several kilometers until the truck stuck fast in mud. "Out!" ordered Robbie, and Ryan did as she was told as quickly as possible with Reb clinging in silent fear to her. Robbie ran to the back of the truck and slipped into her fire gear. She dumped a knapsack of supplies and used her jackknife to cut the corners out of the bottom. "Here turn around," she said to Ryan and slipped the knapsack on her daughter's back. Then she lifted the now screaming baby from Ryan's arms and stuffed the stiff child non too gently into the make shift baby carrier.

Robbie rubbed Reb's head and looked into her little daughter's eyes. "Reb, I know this is scary but it is okay, we are going to find your Mommy now. You be good for Obbie, okay?"

Reb looked up with big, fearful eyes brimming with tears but she nodded silently. Robbie smiled and dropped another kiss on the child's head. "Ryan, I'll carry the gear. You follow with Reb. The wind is coming around to the east. We are in big trouble. Let's move!"

Ryan did not need any more encouragement. She followed her Mom at a quick pace down the dry, rugged ravine.

***

Janet phoned Milka to let her know what was going on. Then she got the first aid kit, some other needed equipment and ran for the canoe. Using powerful strokes, she cut the canoe swiftly through the water along the east side of Long Lake, turned into Moose swamp and steered through the lily pads until she got to where Beaver Creek drained into the bog. Thank God the creek was fairly deep and slow moving, she thought, as she pushed on. Even with the dry weather, the creek still was about four meters wide and one deep. Hang on Robbie, I'm coming! Janet thought, and gritting her teeth, she gave it everything she had to move that canoe upstream.

The sweat dripped steadily down Janet's face and the muscles in her arms burned with effort. How far had she come? Maybe four or five kilometers. The smoke had turned the world around her misty and it felt heavy on her lungs. Stopping, she took out one of the towels she had brought, wet it in the creek and wrapped it around her lower face. A wind stirred around her and

the woods ahead cracked and snapped like a bonfire.

Janet looked up in horror as the tops of the trees, visible beneath the rising smoke, flashed into flame one after the other. My God, the trees are crowning! It's a firestorm! The wind was blowing furiously now and the air she sucked in was oven hot. A few kilometers ahead of her, where she knew her family waited, was a solid wall of fire. She watched, mesmerized by the sheer power of the natural force unleached ahead of her. Oh God, what have I led them into!

The fire roared and swirled in licking tongues of orange and red, devouring trees and sucking in the air from the defenseless forest around. Animals charged in panic. Natural foes forgotten, as they fled from one of nature's greatest enemies. Skags, trees and branches on fire, crashed down spreading a carpet of fiery death that flooded out across the bush. It was hypnotic and terrifying, powerful and mad. Only a few kilometers in front of Janet, the world had become a scene from hell and within it her family.

Ten minutes later, the worst was over. Ahead of her, were less than half an hour before there had been a green forest, there now burned slowly the blackened sentries of hundreds of years of growth. Janet felt numb. Her mind refused to deal with the enormity of what she had just witnessed and the consequences to her family if they had been caught in there.

Like a robot, she picked up her paddle again and moved the craft forward towards the devastated wasteland. Her arms smarted as she stroked and looking at her hands with disinterested eyes, she registered that her skin was red and scorched. The message did not cause any reaction but remained a disconnected observation. Her shock at what had just happened was too great. With stubborn determination, she did the only thing that she could think to do and that was go on.

Sometime later, she was in the burnt-out path of the fire. Around her, through the veil of smoke, fires still burned in patches and trees smoldered, cracked and twisted in the heat. Her world had been reduced to black and white like a fussy old t.v. Painfully, she tore another towel in strips and wetting them in the blackened water, she wrapped her blistered hands awkwardly. Then she picked up her paddle and moved on. Not far now. The ravine would be less than half a mile ahead.

It was slow going, burnt and burning branches and tree trunks had fallen across the creek. Some, she slid under, others, she was forced to pull the canoe over. More burns, more delay, tears now stained her sooty face. She still moved on.

It was after one such portage, that she looked up and her heart simple ceased to beat. A low agonizing groan escaped from her open mouth. There laying on the bank of the river, one arm outstretched over the water, was the blackened fire eaten remains of a human. Janet stared in horror at the charred bones, the raw meat and black cavities. Someone tall. Robbie! With staggering steps, she forced herself forward, leaving the canoe wedged against the ashy shore.

Her whole body shook with cold shock. She made herself look. A belt buckle, remains of shoes. Men's shoes! It wasn't Robbie. Janet's lungs sucked in air through the damp, dirty towel. I'm sorry, whoever you are, but thank you, God. Thank you! It isn't Robbie! She stumbled back to the canoe through the knee high water and grabbing the gunnels, she half pulled, half floated the craft passed the burnt remains and continued on her way.

She knew now what she was likely to find. But still she went on. They were her family.

***

Robbie and Ryan hurried on. They had only stopped long enough for Robbie to tear her shirt to bits and wrap the strips around their nose and mouth. Reb had gone quiet and didn't look very well. Robbie was very worried. When she looked back, she could see the orange glow of flames now off in the distance. Then ahead, she saw the trees thinning. They must be close now to Beaver Creek.

The attack came from her right sending her crashing into the embankment. She looked up just in time to see a man swinging a heavy stick at her head. She ducked and took the blow on her shoulder. Her heavy Bunker jacket was just enough padding to prevent a broken collar bone but the pain still brought Robbie to her knees.

By now, Ryan had managed to slip out of the knapsack that she was using to carry Reb and place her sister on the ground. Then she made a flying tackle at the man's legs who had already stuck her mother once. He came down with a curse and Robbie was up in a second and helping Ryan pin the kidnaper to the ground.

It was the wind suddenly switching direction that warned Robbie. The fire behind them was sucking in the air building towards a firestorm. The air was heating rapidly. "Run! Run for the creek!" she screamed, pulling Ryan up and pushing her forward. She grabbed up Reb into her arms and ran after her teen daughter.

They broke into the open at the bank of the creek. Maybe three meters wide and half a meter deep. Not much but their only chance, Robbie evaluated. She pulled a package from her pocket and ripped it open to pull out a fire tent. She didn't need to say anything to Ryan and Reb. They had practiced with her many times both at the station and in their own livingroom.

Ryan splashed into the water and tucked her feet under the elastic edging of the aluminium foil fire shield. She dropped into the water and pulled the thin protection over her, holding the elastic edging down with her hands. It formed a small pocket of air until she would have to duck under the water completely. Robbie knelt down and tucked Reb underneath. Trusting Ryan to do what was needed to try and protect her little sister.

In the half minute that had past, the smoke had thickened quickly, nearly blinding Robbie. The air had become super heated and before she took a deep breath and ducked under the water, she had reacted in surprise as the torn bag that was still in her hand burst into flame! It was hard to stay under the shallow water. Even with her eyes closed, she was aware that the swampy water

around her glowed orange, reflecting the savage fire rolling over them. Her back and legs stung

as they caught the impact of the blast-furnace heat.

She struggled to get deeper in the now soot filled water. Her lungs ached. She held her nose and breathed in, as she had been trained to do, forcing the oxygen that remained in her mouth and throat down into her lungs, then released her nose and exhaled just a little bit to get some of the built up of carbon dioxide out of her system. She was in terrible pain now and she could feel herself close to blacking out. Please God, let Ryan and Reb live!

Ryan pulled Reb under her as she had been taught and Reb dutifully clung to her big sister's neck. "When I tell you, Reb. Take a deep breath and don't ever let go no matter how much you want to!" Ryan instructed earnestly. "This is for real, Reb. You do just as I say. It's important.

Now! Big breath!" ordered Ryan. The air that Ryan sucked in, not a second later, felt like fire in her lungs. She crouched in the water with Reb clinging under her and the fire tent stretched over her back. When she couldn't stand the heat any longer, she sank lower, pulling the struggling Reb with her. She jammed he elbow on the edge of the fire tent to keep the corner from blowing up with the fire-wind and used her freed hand to clamp her hand over Reb's nose and mouth as she held the two of them close to the bottom of the bog.

The water warmed until it felt like a hot bath, Reb's little body stopped struggling and went limp.

Ryan count off the seconds. Two minutes! She broke the surface with a gasp but made sure the fire tent still formed a protective dome around them. Pulling Reb up, she shook her gently in the darkness. No reaction. Ryan's heart lurched. Oh God! I've downed Reb! She took a breath of the sweltering, oxygen depleted air and breathed it into Reb's mouth. Once, twice, three times...

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16