Chapter 11

Quinn

On the entire drive to the Ranger station, I couldn't get the argument with Elijah out of my head.

On one hand, it was horrible and I hated it. On the other, I was not about to have him tell me what I could and couldn’t do. Wasn’t that how it was with Steve? The constant “I know better than you” made me question everything about myself. Never again.

As I thought about the hurt look in Elijah’s eyes as I told him I was not going to listen to him, I didn’t know how I was going to fix this. I nodded to myself. Fixing things is what I’m good at and I would work this out. Somehow.

I thought of what life without Elijah would be like and all I could see was a vast landscape of empty. I so didn’t want that. But did he still want me with my faults, faults that can run deep? Did he want my anger, my temper, my love?

Love? I quirked my head. If this was what I felt, this joining of both of our souls when we’re together and the cold wasteland when we’re apart. I shook my head as I drove through the Hills.

About an half hour later of this back and forth in my head, I arrived at the Black Hills Ranger Station. Ranger Frank must have heard me coming because he stood out to on the front porch. The parking lot seemed pretty empty.

I got out of the truck and walked over to Frank. He was a smaller man with a voice that did not match his size and large hands. He shook my hand and guided me around back of the station.

“Thanks for coming, Doc.”

“Looks pretty quiet here. Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Fire call. The French Creek fire took a turn.” He waved in the air at how heavy the smoke had gotten.

I hadn’t even noticed it, being as consumed as I was with my own issues. The “fog” that had thickened while I drove up to the station wasn’t fog at all. The smell should have given it away. Had the fire changed direction like Elijah was worried about?

I didn’t have time for things that hadn’t happened and that I could do nothing about.

“Where’s the calf at?”

“We have a paddock for wildlife at back of the station.”

He walked into the enclosure and the sixty pound calf came out. She was limping a little bit and her lips were searching for the food that Frank had out for her. As he stroked her when she got within arm reach, she seemed to calm down as she nibbled on the corn. With his big hands and comforting voice, the calf settled. He waved me in. I ran my hands over her and down her legs. I could see the torn flesh where the trap had held her. She was really lucky. If she had jumped around or pulled away, the damage would have been massive and she would have had to be put down.

“How was she when she was found?”

“It couldn’t have been too long after it happened. She was just laying on the grass.”

“That’s good. She’s torn that leg up pretty well.”

I took out a shot of antibiotics.

“This should help with infection. I’ll leave some with you and instructions on how to use it. When your specialists come back, we can coordinate getting the girl to a rehab center and possibly to be released or rehomed.”

We went back to the ranger station and went inside. I gave him the bottles of antibiotics with what he needed to do until his crew came back. I thought at how gentle of a man he was with the elk and my thoughts strayed back to Elijah. How gentle he was with me. I’ve seen him handle horses, livestock, men and how he knows where to push and where to back up.

I missed him. I wanted him with me. I missed his hands on me and his soothing voice.

“Doc?”

I shook my head clear.

“So sorry, Frank. I must have drifted off there.”

“I’m sure you’re thinking of the trip home. If you stay to the main roads, you should be okay. It’s not here yet.”

“Excuse me.”

“You must have really been wool gathering there, Doc. The fire. It’s not near us yet, so if you leave now, you should just follow the main road out til you get to the highway.”

“Thanks, Frank. Can I have your cell phone if I get lost?”

We exchanged numbers.

“If the cell towers go down, we won’t have any reception clear up here. So just come back if you need to instead of pushing through. Smoke can get pretty tricky.”

“Thanks, Frank.”

I shook his hand and told him I would call him in a couple of days to see how the calf was doing.

I got into my truck, waved to him, and saw him turn into the station. I headed out of the parking lot toward town.

I had maybe gone about five, ten minutes, slowly due to all the washboards and turns, when I made another turn. The smoke had gotten thicker and seemed to be sinking lower as I drove further from the station. I heard a crash and looked to my right in time to see a huge lodgepole pine come crashing down, burning in front of me.

I slammed on the brakes and smashed my head into the steering wheel. I turned around to see if I was blocked in. I wasn’t. Thank God for the little things. I did a K turn and headed back toward the station. I stopped and pulled out my cell phone.

I dialed Elijah. No reception. Frank. Ditto. Shit.

I headed back towards the ranger station as if the hounds of hell were after me, at least it seemed that way, but with the smoke getting thicker it was hard to see if I had gone miles or inches.

When I reached the station, I noticed the wind had changed direction and I heard a sound I had never heard before, a kind of snapping rumble of a sound.

I honked my horn as I drove into the parking lot. Frank came outside for me.

“I tried to call you,” he said as I ran over to him.

“Same here.”

“Cell towers are compromised.”

“So what do we do?”

“I just heard from the towers before the cell reception cut out and the fire shifted direction.” He cocked his head. “You can hear it.”

“Where I was, the main road was cut off about five minutes away.”

“The interesting fact with fires isn’t the fire as much as they create their own weather system which includes really bad winds and blowdown. With all that, we can’t get chopper support, even if they weren’t fighting the fire. I’m going to give a call to town for some assistance.”

We walked into the station.

“Call? How? What assistance? Cell phones are out.”

Frank grinned. “City girl, huh? There are other ways to let people know what is happening.”

“Smoke signals?”

“I like a woman with humor.”

My mind raced. Who is going to come all the way up here in here in the middle of a forest fire to rescue my sorry ass because I did listen to my old man? So much for being independent. I’m about to be cooked Quinn.

We went to a door at the end of the hallway and Frank walked over to a short range radio.

“I’ll give a call over to Rapid and let them know what is happening. We have maybe a couple of hours before we’ll be over run so let’s see what solutions we can come up with. We have a couple of ATVs if needed.”

I must have looked concerned because Frank came over with his club-like hands and put them on my shoulders.

“We’ll figure something out.”

As he said that, a tree crashed in the parking lot, landing on my awesome truck.