Wildfire by Deb Loughead

Author:Deb Loughead
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459818125
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2018-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Mom took her regular shortcut along a bumpy road that ran parallel to the lake. It wasn’t far from the spot where Monica and I had pulled the rowboat up onto the rock slab the day before.

We were only halfway to Monica’s place when I spotted plumes of smoke above the treetops near the shoreline.

“Slow down, Mom,” I told her and pointed.

There was no way I would ever forget what Stanley had said that morning. The whole “crispy critters” thing. And he and Nicole had both made it clear—no fires right now in this area. For any reason whatsoever. But, like they say, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

“Oh no,” Mom murmured as she pulled her car onto the gravel shoulder. “Not another brush fire. I’d better call 9-1-1.”

“I’m going over to see what’s happening,” I told her. By then I was already out of the car.

“Wait, Dylan,” she said as I slammed the door. “It might be dangerous.”

In another second I was charging through the woods. I heard her car door slamming and her footsteps pounding on the trail behind me. I just kept on running, then stopped dead in my tracks. Mom caught up to me. We were standing about a hundred meters from a rundown little clapboard cottage. Flames danced out the windows. And there was an old lady on the ground. Old Mrs. Winston. Someone was leaning over her doing CPR. He had flaming red hair.

My mom gasped. “Jeb Wilder?” she whispered. “Wildfire.”

“Jeb Wilder?” I had no idea who he was. All I knew was that this dude doing CPR was the same guy who’d spit at me the week before. The same guy whose grimy ballcap I’d seen on the floor at Eliot’s place. The homeless dude who slept out in the woods. And if this fire didn’t get put out fast, Mom was right. There really would be a wildfire.

This guy Jeb heard the sirens the same instant we did and looked up. And spotted us. Then sprang to his feet and vanished into the forest. Just left the old lady lying on the ground.

I ran straight over. No hesitation at all. I’d finally taken a first-aid course, which had made Monica very happy too. I started chest compressions with “Stayin’ Alive” playing on a soundtrack in my brain. My mom was still frozen to the spot.

In my pocket my phone was vibrating. But I just kept pumping hard on Mrs. Winston’s sternum. I didn’t want this old lady to be dead. Except that her jaw was all slack and her face was gray. And her eyes were rolled back in her head. Only the white parts were showing. It wasn’t looking good at all. I had no idea if Mom was beside me or behind me. I just kept up my pumping until the paramedics came crashing through the bushes with all their equipment, followed by a fire crew and Nicole and Stanley.

There were tears in my eyes the whole time. Even when they pushed me aside and took over.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.