28

^‘How long does it take to fill that thing?’ asked Holly. She paced back and forth along the edge of the dam as the pump puttered rhythmically. All around, the air felt thick and stultifying.

‘At least ten minutes,’ said Kaydon, staring across the valley towards the Glenvale homestead. It was so choked with smoke that it was hard to make out anything. ‘I can’t make it pump any faster.’

‘I just wish it would rain.’ Holly kept pacing. ‘Jake’s down there somewhere.’

‘It’s okay, we’ll find him,’ Kaydon assured her. Out of the blur, he saw the silhouette of a quad bike. On it was a tall, pencil-thin boy in short shorts, big boots and a floppy hat. ‘Dan!’ he called.

‘I heard you on the two-way,’ Dan said, cutting the engine. ‘You got another tank somewhere?’

Kaydon stared at his friend’s stick-insect legs and roper boots. Then, cautiously, he looked higher. ‘Why are you wearing Superman boxers?’

‘It was an emergency, okay. Forgot to put my trousers on.’

Kaydon was speechless. ‘This is the only tanker on the whole place,’ he finally said. ‘Reckon we’ve got Buckley’s of stopping it. We’re just gonna try to keep it contained until the fireys get here.’

‘My brother’s missing,’ said Holly. ‘Did you see him at the house?’

‘Jake?’ Dan’s mouth tightened and he looked annoyed. ‘He’s running along the eastern fenceline. I offered him a ride on the quaddie, but . . .’ He rolled his eyes. ‘He’s not talking to me.’

‘Yeah, funny that,’ muttered Kaydon.

‘Is he okay?’ asked Holly.

‘Seemed all right.’

Kaydon switched the pump off. ‘Let’s go.’ He swung onto the back of the ute and turned to Holly. ‘You drive, I’ll hose.’

Holly froze.

‘What?’ he said.

Holly held both hands out helplessly. ‘I can’t drive.’

Kaydon pulled a face. ‘What do they teach you on the coast?’

‘I’m only fifteen!’

‘I’ve been driving since I was Eva’s age!’

‘I’ll drive,’ said Eva, her eyes lighting up.

‘No you won’t!’ He stared at Holly. ‘Get behind the wheel. If you can shoot a pig, you can drive a ute.’

‘What if I crash it?’ She looked frantically at the line of fire, and back to the ute. ‘Why doesn’t Dan drive?’

Dan shrugged. ‘If you take my quaddy. ’

‘I want to drive,’ said Eva.

‘No,’ Kaydon said firmly, and she subsided. He turned to Holly. ‘Just get in, you can do this, easy.’ She’d be safer driving the ute than Dan’s dodgy quad bike with no brakes.

Eva suddenly pointed to a stand of bluegums. ‘The fire is going to burn the koalas!’

Holly looked across the paddock and gasped.

‘That’s where we saw the koala poo, remember?’ said Eva.

‘Okay, okay.’ Holly dived into the driver’s seat, banging her head on the way in. ‘How do I drive this thing? What if I crash it and we can’t get water over there . . .’

Kaydon leaned in the window. ‘Holly, breathe!’

She gasped in a lungful of smoky air and then exploded into a coughing fit.

‘She’s having a freakout,’ said Eva. She started pulling at the strap behind her. ‘I’m putting my seatbelt on if she’s driving!’

‘Holly, it’s easy.’ Kaydon spoke slowly. ‘There are four gears. Park. Reverse. Neutral. Drive. It’s self-explanatory – see those letters on the gearstick? Put your foot on the brake and drop the stick to Drive.’

He stared at the back of Holly’s head while she grappled with the gearstick. ‘It won’t move,’ she said, pulling and pushing at it. The engine revved suddenly but the ute went nowhere.

‘Push the button in with your thumb.’

The ute lurched forward without warning. Holly screamed. Eva screamed even louder. Kaydon was nearly thrown out the back of the ute. He grabbed the rollbar with two hands while it cavorted across the paddock. ‘Put your foot on the brake!’ he yelled.

The ute lurched forward even faster.

‘No, the other brake! The pedal on the left!’

The ute stopped so hard Kaydon thought the tank would fly over the top of the cabin. After he pulled himself off the back window, he leaned forward. ‘I forgot to tell you about the pedals.’

Holly clung white-knuckled to the steering wheel, breathing fast.

‘I’m getting out,’ said Eva, opening the door. ‘You’re scaring me.’

‘Hop on the quaddy, kid,’ said Dan. ‘We’ll go check on your bro. See if he’s gotten over himself yet.’

Eva’s face lit up and she wasted no time scrambling onto the back of the quad. Dan buzzed off across the paddock with Eva squealing gleefully on the back.

‘Now, about those pedals.’ Kaydon leaned in through the window again. ‘The one on the left is for stopping. The one to the right is for going. Only use your right foot, push one pedal at a time, gently.’

Holly stared down at her feet.

‘Okay, so slowly . . . take your foot off the stop . . . and put it on the go,’ Kaydon, said, remembering how his mum had taught him in this very vehicle when he could barely reach the pedals. He gripped the rollbar with both hands and held on tight. One thing was for certain; Holly was gonna put more dents on the ute than a feral scrubber.

They took off more slowly and Holly wrestled with the steering wheel as it bumped along an old track. Apart from a few random jolts and jerky takeoffs, Kaydon managed to hang on with one hand and hold the fire hose with the other.

‘Cut across the hillside,’ he said, pointing to where the fire flared along a wide open stretch of grass towards the bluegums.

As the ute jolted along the edge of the fire, Kaydon directed jets of water to the biggest flames. The ground hissed with steam. Smoke tore at his throat and scratched at his eyes.

When he was certain the bluegums were saved, he pointed Holly towards the homestead. She paused, gazing out the window at the trees. ‘I still can’t see them. Why are they so hard to spot?’

‘Holly.’ Kaydon spoke clearly but firmly. ‘If we manage to save the homestead and no one gets killed by this fire, I promise I will bring you back and personally show you how to spot a koala, okay? But right now, there is a fire headed straight for the shack.’

She dumped the ute into gear again, making the cogs groan in protest, and lurched off towards the homestead. Kaydon leaned in the window. ‘We’re nearly empty again. Let’s get back to the dam.’

Holly pointed out the window. ‘There’s Jake!’ she said excitedly.

Her brother marched through the paddock with his arms folded, looking cranky. Dan and Eva bumped along behind him on the quad bike.

‘I hope they play nice,’ said Kaydon. The last thing they needed was Jake and Dan brawling again.

‘Hope they don’t kill each other,’ said Holly.

‘Keep driving along the fireline. We have to make sure we stay between them and the flames.’

Down at the homestead there was a series of explosions. The smoke changed to a thicker black.

Suddenly Jake was on the quad bike, in front of Dan. Eva clung on behind and they raced towards the ute.

Kaydon pulled the front door open and leaned across Holly to the two-way, tuning it in to the Rockleigh homestead.

‘Copy, Jerry?’ Click.

There was a long pause before Jerry answered. ‘Yeah, Kaydon.’ Click.

‘I’m at Glenvale. How far away are the fireys?’

There was a long pause before Jerry answered. ‘No idea, mate. What’s the situation out there?’

‘Bad, Jerry. I think the grain shed’s on fire.’

In the brief pause, a new voice flooded through the cabin of the ute. ‘Kaydon, this is Ken Harvey. I heard you on the two-way when I was driving to the station. Are Holly and Eva with you?’

‘Yes. I got Eva and Holly, and Jake’s with us too. We’re all safe.’

‘Where’s Brandon?’

That was a good question. ‘He’s riding around on a horse.’

There was a pause. ‘Mel’s train’s just coming in now. We’ll be home as soon as we can.’

‘Dad!’ squealed Eva. She leaped off the back of the quad and climbed into the ute.

Kaydon passed her the receiver. ‘Push the button to talk,’ he said.

‘Holly shot a pig and then she drove the ute. We got stuck up a tree and now a shed is on fire.’ Eva looked at the receiver for a few moments and then shook it. ‘Why isn’t he answering me?’

‘You need to let go of the button,’ said Kaydon.

Holly spoke up. ‘Can we go save the shack now, Captain Hero? My guitar’s in there.’

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘We need to clear around the house. Can you use a chainsaw?’

Her face went green.

He looked at her wide-eyed. ‘What could possibly go wrong?’

Her mouth gaped a few times but no words came out.

He grinned. ‘Okay, well how about a whippersnipper?’

‘I could give that a go.’

‘That’s my girl.’ Did he just call her his girl? He did. And she didn’t seem to mind. Something about Holly was making him want to leap tall haysheds in a single bound. Damn, he wished he had the guts to just kiss her. Maybe after he’d saved her guitar.

Captain Hero to the rescue!

He hoisted himself onto the back tray of the ute. ‘Let’s go get some more water!’

‘Brandon’s probably headed back for the homestead,’ said Holly.

‘We’ll go help him,’ said Jake. ‘Eva, you stay here with Holly.’ With that, Jake and Dan buzzed off back down the track.