“We all are, man,” Paul said. He looked up. “You think we could get one frickin’ cloud in the sky?”
“Go ahead and pray,” Jack suggested.
The general drove up to the bar and walked inside. The first thing he saw was Brie, her baby niece swaddled in a carrier around her front, setting up pitchers of water on the bar for firefighters. He heard the sound of a baby crying in the back, in Preacher’s quarters. He went behind the bar and dived right in. “I have an idea,” he said. “Why don’t you and Paige take the kids out to the ranch. It’s surrounded by flat land and river—no danger there. I’ll handle the bar.”
“Mel can’t leave and I have her nursing baby right here,” Brie said. “She’s been treating minor injuries with paramedics and has to be on hand for more.”
“The air here isn’t the best for these kids. I have someone I can call to help. You should get the little ones out of here.”
“Well… Let me ask her.”
Brie took the general’s suggestion to Mel and she thought about it for less than a minute, then nodded. “The kids will be safer there. Can you, Paige and Nikki load them up?”
“Sure. But I hate to take them away from you.”
“They should go, he’s right. You can set up a nursery there, with Vanni. We’ll be fine here with Walt’s help.”
Mel watched from the first-aid station while the women carried the children to Preacher’s and Jack’s trucks with Walt’s help, moving car seats around and tucking them in. Into the back went a playpen, port-a-crib, infant seats and baby swing, diaper bags and paraphernalia. Little Davie and Emma, Christopher and Dana Marie. Then they pulled slowly out of town.
Mel hoped it would occur to Paige or Vanni to nurse little Emma; Emma needed the breast. She was young and vulnerable and Mel wouldn’t hesitate to nurse a friend’s baby at a time like this. Mel felt a tear run down her cheek as they went. She wiped at it impatiently. This was an emergency; they’d have to make do. Vanni, Brie, Nikki and Paige would keep the babies and Christopher all safe. That was the most important thing.
Then Jack will be home and we’ll go get them, she told herself.
The morning flew by with trucks full of firefighters passing through, stopping for first aid or food and water. They’d be driven out and another crew would pass through. Sometimes the firefighters were new and wearing clean gear, sometimes they were dirty, exhausted, parched and hungry men. Most of them were inmates, felons trained in firefighting with plenty of law enforcement on hand, backing up Cal Fire. Mel had often wondered how many of them tried to run away while on this duty. But then, this program would likely come to an end if many did.
She took a break to walk into the bar. To her surprise, behind the bar she found the general and Muriel. The woman gave her a bright smile.
“Hey, girl,” Walt said. “What can I get you?”
“Ice water, thanks, if you still have ice. I’m so dry. I think it’s the smoke in the air. It’s not exactly thick, but it works on the nose and throat.”
“How are you, Mel?” Muriel asked.
“A little tense today. Thanks for coming to help.”
“It’s nothing,” she said with a shrug. “I’m glad to. You have quite the circus out there.”
Mel gratefully drank down half her water. “We do, at that,” she said.
“I’m going back to the kitchen. I’ve been making sandwiches, the only cooking I’m capable of. I just about have a big tray ready to bring out. Cal Fire has rations, but they’re running low and we can pitch in. How about if we set up on the porch, along with water?”
“Perfect,” Mel said. “Hang on to the bottled water till the well runs low—we might need it later. I’m going to call the ranch, see how the kids are doing.”
She went to the phone. While Vanni assured her everyone was fine, she could hear Emma crying in the background. Amazing, she thought, how you knew your baby’s cry. It almost made her cry. Worse than that, it made her milk let down and she had to make a dash for the bathroom, open her shirt and lean over the sink. Women’s bodies, she found herself thinking. It was a miracle, the way they worked. Come back, Jack, she thought. We have to get back to our children!
“Mel,” Muriel was calling, tapping at the door. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” she answered. “I’ll be right out.” When she opened the door, she found the older woman standing there, waiting, a concerned frown on her face.