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Authors: Mary Tate Engels

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BOOK: Speak to the Wind
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"But
I-"

A new voice interrupted them. "Hey, Maria! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

She wheeled around, recognizing
the sound
of his voice
. "Joe
,
w
hat a surprise to see you here!" Maria felt an
instant rush of warmth and grat
ification at the sight of him.

Joe jogged across the yard to where she stood w
ith the Banks
. "I thought you might have gone hiking in those woods."

"I dr
o
ve to the post for some groceries." She felt school
-
girlish thinking how she had inquired about him
from Mrs. Berg
.

He gestured behind them.
"There's supposed to be a roadblock at the highway."

"
There is.
At first the man
on guard
wasn't about to budge. Not until I explained where I lived. I'm glad you're here, Joe."

Maria remembered her n
eighbors and introduced them. "J
oe Quintero, Mr. and Mrs. Banks. They have the cabin next door."

Joe shook hands with the older couple.

"Do you know more about this situation than we do, sir?"
Ted
asked.

"I've just been up to the
front line," Joe answered some
what breathlessly. "The fire's not close yet. Still a good mile or more away through
those woods. But they're antic
ipating what might happen if it gets closer. That's why you were alerted. They want everyone out of the cabins."

"Oh, this sounds serious
!
"
Betty
wailed.

"Well, it's serious, but not desperate yet. There's a line of volunteers digging a trench and fire departments from all neighboring towns have been called. Also, I think someone said helicopters were on the way from Phoenix. We

ll wet down the cabins just in case."

"Ohhh, I'm so afraid!"
Betty
was near tears.

"Now, now, Betty..."
Ted
Banks murmured.


Tell you what," Joe said with an air of authority. "What I want you to do is to wait at my cousi
n's house until this is over. There
's nothing you can do here, anyway. It's under control."

"I think that's an excellent idea,"
Ted
responded firmly and nodded at Joe.

"You, too, Maria. Go with them." Joe took her arm. "Please."

"No. I'm staying here." She pulled away and gave him a determined look. "
I
t's nice of you to offer
, but I’m staying
.
I might just start packing up, in case I need to evacuate the house.
" She turned to her neighbors. "And I think it's probably a good idea for you to go until this is over. I'm sure it won't be long."

Within minutes Joe was ushering the couple toward a dark blue pickup. Maria recognized the driver as the woman who had brought the little boy and the gift from Joe a few days before.

He returned and propped his hands on his hips. "You know you have no business here, either, Maria." He looked bold and powerful in a
dark
blue shirt with his jacket open down the front. "It's too risky."

"Joe, I couldn't possibly leave. Don't you understand? I have to do something
.
Maybe I s
hould start unloading the cabin
.
"

"I don't think that would be a good idea now, Maria."

"What then? I couldn't—"
She clutched his arm with fran
tic fingers. "Joe, I couldn't stand it if something happened to that cabin! It just can't burn down! Please don't let it go up in smoke!" Maria halted and bit her lip. She was
sounding frantic,
losing control
of logic
. Then he certainly would insist that she leave.
“It’s my families’, all I have left of my father. He built it – ” 

Joe's voice was calming. "It's going to be all right, Maria. We're doing everything we can."

"That isn't enough! I want—I have to do something!" She took a deep, shaky breath. "Oh
my God, Joe. W
hat if..." She lifted pleading eyes to him.

"It won't. We won't let it." He gestured toward a group of people.

Tell you what. Let's see if there is something safe you can do."

She went willingly, e
ager to be doing something, any
thing.

He set her to work spraying down the cabin. "Now, Maria, listen to me. I'm going back to join the workers digging along the tree line, but if that fire jumps the trench, you have to leave. We all do. Please don't do anything dangerous like
running into the cabin to rescue your stuff. Just let it go and leave. Do you understand?"

She nodded, knowing in her heart that there was no way she could do what he was asking.

His brown eyes were serious. "We'll all have to get the hell outta here. I... we don't want any heroics that'll risk your being injured."

She nodded again, jaw clenched.

For a moment longer he held her with his gaze.
“What?”

"Okay."

H
e turned quickly and left her to battle alone. The next two hours were a blur of activity. The air was peppered with shouts, the revving of motors as trucks came and went, and the constant wail of sirens from fire engines and police cars and a couple of ambulances there on standby.

When Joe found her again, Maria was supplying drinking water to a group of fire fighters. She handed him a cupful and noticed he'd removed his jacket and tied it around his waist.

He gulped the content
s of the cup and reached for another, then halted. "Listen,
t
he choppers are coming
. I hear th
em!"

She looked up, a choking sensation tightening her throat.

They waited in anticipation until the loud, wonderful whir of helicopters reverberated overhead. Happy shouts from the weary fire fighters filled the air as twin helicopters swooped in like giant bumblebees and dropped a thousand pounds of water on the wildly roaring forest fire. The blasts echoed off the surrounding mountains, and more cheers went up.

Someone yelled, "
Bulls eye
!”

And other shouts. “Right on target! Blast!
It's out!"

Tears coursed down Maria's cheeks as she turned to give Joe a spontaneous bear hug. She suspected the fire wasn't over, but at least it seemed to be under control again. They watched the helicopters dump another load of water, then go
back to the lake for more. She felt weak-kneed and dizzy and wildly relieved. And extremely grateful.

"Tell me it's really out," she implored in a low, tremulous voice.

"The worst is over, but they'll
hang around
for several hours
, watching every flame
. We've done just about all we can. They're in charge now."

She issued a tired sigh. Together they walked around the cabin, assessing the damage a dozen trucks and several dozen volunteer fire fighters had done to the yard. Maria sank down on a step leading to the
front porch. She pushed a wind-
whipped strand of blond hair behind one ear with shaky, dirty hands that left a smudge on her cheek.

"Want me to get your car?"

She lifted her weary head and met Joe's sympathetic brown eyes and nodded. "Would you, please? It's the blue Honda down the road a little way. Keys are still in the ignition."

He nod
ded, then halted in mid
-
step. "
Are y
o
u all right, Maria?"

She licked her dry lips. "I just might cry
a little. But
,
I’ll be all right
."

"Everything's okay
, you know
. Cabin's safe. The fire's pretty well out." He looked down, suddenly drawn to the smudge on her cheek. He wanted to wipe it off but held himself back. "You can cry if you want to."

"Thanks. Is that p
ermission?" She laughed, a high
pitched, hysterical sound. Suddenly the false laughter turned to tears, and she hid her face with those dirty hands. "Oh, God... it almost... burned."

Joe sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her heaving shoulders. Gen
tl
y he pulled her to him, to the strength of his body, and murmured soft, soothing words.

Maria released her emotions and bu
ried her face against his sweat
stained shirt and sobbed. Fears of losing all those
years of love and memories wrapped up in the cabin spilled over Joe.

He held her against him while sobs racked her slender frame. To him she felt thin and extremely vulnerable, and Joe's protective instincts
surfaced. But other stronger in
stincts drove him to want to caress her blond hair with his soot-blackened hands. As they clung together, he realized that only in a weak moment like this would Maria lower her guard with a relative stranger
. If he'd met her in normal cir
cumstances, it might take months for her to let him see her true self with her emotions so exposed. Secretly he thought that perhaps this crisis was a small blessing in disguise.
T
hey were closer than four days ago, strangers making phone calls.
Now they were friends fighting the same battle.

Sniffling, she lifted her tear-streaked face and wiped her nose on the tail of her jacket. Childlike, she drew her cuffs over her eyes and smeared soot on her nose and cheeks in the process.

Joe gazed at her, thinking she was absolutely beautiful, red eyes, dirty cheeks and all. This time he succumbed and wiped a smudge from her face with his thumb. Her skin felt like silk.

"I was so scared," she murmured.


It's practically over now."

"Everybody was great. They all pitched in and worked so hard, even though it wasn't their place."

"They're neighbors. And it's their forest, too."

"I appreciate their efforts. And yours. Thanks for coming, Joe."

"If you're okay now, I'll g
et your car." He shifted and re
luctantly moved away from her.

"
I

ll fix
us a
cup of coffee."

He looked back
at her
, an unasked question on his face.

"I'm fine now.
A good cry is cleansing.
I promise not to break down again." She stood and forced a faint smile. "Coffee is the least I can do to show my appreciation."

"You don't have to do a thing.
I’m just glad we were both here
." He checked his watch. "
Okay,
I’ll take time for a
quick cup." He jogged away.

Maria was brewing coffee when he knocked lightly and stepped inside the front door. Her tears were gone, as were the soot streaks, but her
cheeks were blotchy from
crying.

Even so, he thought she was beautiful. Joe was aware that he'd seen her in a rare and unusual situation. This wasn't the same woman who taught people how to act in public, how to keep their cool, how to speak clearly and distinctly. This one had cried helplessly on his shoulder and, for a brief time, needed him.

"Your yard's a mess."

"I know. It’ll
take some work, but at least it isn't charred like the woods." Maria ind
icated the scene beyond the win
dow where blackened, stark trees were visible in the distant forest.

He looked around. "Ugh, it even smells like smoke in here. And everything's covered with soot."

"It's everywhere. I have my work cut out for me in here, don't I? But I don't care about the mess. I'm just glad
everything
was saved. To me
,
that's al
l that matters." She looked emo
tionally drained.

It's been quite a day, hasn't it, Joe?"

"
Can I help you
?"

"No,
thanks
."

He
carri
ed
bags
from her car
into the kitchen. "Your groceries."

Quickly she wiped the kitchen counter. "Put them here." As he lifted the bag, she noticed that his shirt was torn. "
Y
our sleeve's ripped."

BOOK: Speak to the Wind
8.39Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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