Crush

One

People who've never experienced a cane fire wonder what all the fuss is about, and then they see one, and they know. A cane fire starts off slow, burning around the edges, the fire creeping into the lower part of the cane, and then it roars up into the tops of the stalks making the night glow orange. Suddenly, just as quickly as it roars to life, it's gone, and all that's left is the black snow - the burned cane trash - falling silently back to the ground. It was the sweetest smell Tess had ever known, like Gran's kitchen after she'd made toffee, and it was her favourite part of summer.

Tonight's fire was the last one for the season, except for the small block she and Pop had grown for the Crush Festival, and Tess's job was to keep an eye on any big embers coming down still alight, just in case they dropped into the festival block and set it off. With everyone concentrating on the block they were burning, if the festival block caught, there'd be no putting it out. Especially with the dry heat and westerlies they'd had today.

Tess was sitting on the tail gate of Pop's ute, her spray pack full of water beside her, watching as Lonny and Pete and some of the other farmers from around Chesterfield lit up the block. In the initial stages, it was quiet as Lonny and Pete walked in opposite directions with their drip torches lighting up the bottom of the cane. A couple of other farmers would be doing the same thing from the other side.

Pop was standing on the eastern corner closest to where the ute was parked, talking to Gary Evans from up the road. Probably about the lack of rain and most likely about the council elections coming up next year. Gary never missed an opportunity to put in a good word for his wife, who'd been a councillor in Chesterfield for close to fifteen years.

Lonny and Pete were about half way around the block when the fire crackled to life. Orange flames crept toward the centre of the cane and licked their way up the tall cane stalks singeing the loose leaves as it went. Gary Evans uncrossed his arms, picked up his fire rake and walked with Pop to the edge of the cane. Pop nodded at Tess as he passed and Pete's brother rode past on his bike, Pete's nephew riding up behind him, heading for the far side. They were always the last to arrive at a fire, and the last to leave after the beer and sandwiches that Gran put on were gone, but they worked hard so no-one seemed to care. Pete's nephew saluted Tess as he hurtled past and then stood up on the footrests, whooping as he fish-tailed around the corner and out of sight.

Tess jumped off the ute, heaved the spray pack onto her back and, adjusting her cap on her head, walked over to the track between the burning block and the festival block and turned her eyes to the sky.

The block was dry, so within minutes, the fire was roaring up into the centre, throwing flames high into the air and spewing black smoke. A few big pieces of trash pin wheeled down and Tess kept a careful eye on them as they fell, but they were out before they hit the ground.

Although it wasn't quite dark yet, the fire was still pretty spectacular, and it had drawn a few people from around the place to come and have a look. There were a couple of cars parked on the side of the road, faces pushed against the windows, watching in awe. Tess smiled. She used to do the same thing when she was little, sitting in Pop's ute watching from the comfort of the driver's seat.

As she was looking at the parked cars, she caught a glimpse of the McGregor house just up the road. There were lights on in the house which made Tess a little curious. There hadn't been anyone in the McGregor house for years, except for a few holidayers every now and then. No-one willingly holidayed in Chesterfield unless they were visiting family, and even then, they'd normally stay at one of the motels in town.

"Tess!" She jerked her head around and saw Lonny waving madly at her. "Spot over," he yelled. Tess followed where he was pointing. An ember had fallen into the grass beside the festival block not far from where she was standing and had caught alight. She ran as fast as she could, pumping the handle on the spray pack as she went to build up pressure in the tank.

When she reached the spot over, she sprayed around the fire instead of directly onto it so she didn't flick up any more embers. Gary Evans had heard Lonny as well and had run over with his fire rake to pull away the grass to make a dirt break around it so it didn't spread. They managed to put it out without too much effort.

"Nearly," Gary said. He smiled and leaned on his fire rake.

"Yeah," Tess replied. She looked back over to Lonny, who shook his head, but she thought she saw a smile on his face.

"Bet you're excited to be done with school," Gary said. He scratched at the orange stubble on his chin and sniffed.

"I guess," Tess said.

Gary nodded. "Jay couldn't wait to get to that big party down on the Gold Coast. Left the day after the formal. You kids heading down there?"

"I'm staying back to help out with the festival. Lizzie and Will are away in Brisbane until the middle of the week but they're coming back for the festival too. Dad said if I didn't go to Schoolies he'd buy me a car next year, so you know, it was an easy decision."

Gary smiled and nodded. "How are your folks anyway? Enjoying Europe?"

"Dad's not happy about the cold but Mum's loving it. She saw snow for the first time on Tuesday after they flew in to London."

"Have you heard from them since they got there?"

"They rang when they got in, but it's been emails since then. The time zones are hard to work out," Tess said.

"I hear ya," Gary said. "It's hard enough to work out when to ring Matty when he's on shift in WA. And that's only two hours difference. I think." He scratched his cheek. "Any plans for next year?"

"Uni, if I get in," Tess replied.

"When do you find out?"

"A couple more weeks."

"Nervous?"

"A bit. I think I'll get into the business course I want to, but I've picked arts for my second choice just in case."

"Back in my day, we finished school and went off to work the next morning. None of this partying stuff until we were twenty-one," Gary said. "Unless you knew the barman at the local. Then you might get a few drinks before then. You kids don't know how lucky you've got it nowadays," he said. "Only waiting 'til eighteen to drink." He shook his head. "Of course, you only went to uni when you wanted to be a doctor or lawyer or something fancy like that. You need a bloody degree to turn on a TV these days."

"Spot over!" Lonny called again, saving Tess from the rest of Gary's lecture.

"That's us again," Gary said as he raced over with Tess to the end of the track and put out another small fire.

Because the block was a small one, it wasn't long before the fire had burned itself out. Though the flames were gone, black cane trash still floated down from the sky as Gary and Tess headed back over to the ute. As she took off her spray pack, she glanced up at the McGregor house. The lights were still on but she couldn't see any movement.

Pop tossed a fire rake into the back of the ute and opened the driver's side door. "You coming down the sheds with me?" he asked.

"I'll go up and help Gran out," Tess said. "Who's up at the McGregor's?"

Pop glanced across the cane paddock and shrugged. "Renters," he said and closed the door. Tess lifted the tailgate and clicked it shut. She banged on the side to let Pop know he could get going and headed back to the house. She'd ask Gran about the McGregor place.