To Starve an Ember by Lisa Hatfield

Author:Lisa Hatfield [Hatfield, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: High Plains Wordsmith LLC

16

The clock said it was after midnight in Washington, D.C., but Jessie would want to know what was going on. And he really wanted to talk with her. He connected his phone to the wall charger and put it on speaker. She picked up on the third ring with a sleepy voice, but as soon as she recognized it was him, her voice became sharp with alarm.

“Oh Prentice! Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” It was gratifying, hearing her concern. “I’m home. Have you talked to your mom?”

“She’s at my apartment now. She’s got a key. Is her house in danger?”

“Not so far. As long as the wind keeps blowing from the west for the next few days, the fire ought to stay on the east side of the highway. But it’s a good thing she’s out of there. The smoke is bad; the roads are all blocked off. They had planes and helicopters flying overhead.”

“I’m so glad you called me. How are you, Prentice?”

“I’m…. well, I’m fried actually. You’ll never believe what happened this afternoon.”

“Besides a fire burning down a quarter of our town? And you rescuing some senior citizens from the jaws of death? I saw that on the national news this evening. You forgot to mention that when you texted me.”

“There was a lot going on. I just saw the story on our local news. It went national? How ‘bout that…” He felt an unaccustomed flare of pride that he quashed. It made him uncomfortable.

“So what else happened?” Jessie prompted.

“Well, you know the house fire? The one when I was little?”

She paused. “You mentioned it on our hike, but it didn’t seem like the right time to ask more.”

“Oh, man.” How could he say all this stuff over the phone?

She was still there. “What happened? Are you okay?”

He tried to pull himself together by taking a new tack. “One of the firefighters on the strike team I was working with this afternoon…”

“Hold on, are you saying you went back and fought the fire after you evacuated? I thought you were suspended.”

“I wanted to help out, and they gave me an assignment at the incident command.”

“Oh Prentice, you’re unbelievable. You’re always taking responsibility for other people.”

“I’m starting to see that. Well, something really strange happened. One firefighter turned out to be the babysitter that was with me and my brother the day our house burned. I didn’t recognize her at first, but she knew me even after all these years—”

“What are you talking about? What babysitter?”

Prentice said, more quietly, “Jessie, I’m sorry I woke you up. I just wanted to hear your voice. I should let you go back to sleep.”

“Just glad to know you’re okay. But this sounds important, Prentice. It’s okay. Really. I’m already awake, and I can listen. I want to. Let me grab my sweatshirt first, though. This hotel room is freezing.”

Prentice considered quietly ending the call, but he knew that would be worse.

“Okay, I’m back. Prentice? Are you there?” Jessie asked.

He gave her the gist of their reunion.

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