Crush

Fifteen

By the time they'd made it back to the house, the cane field that had been saved for the festival was well alight. There were people everywhere trying to get it under control and when Tess went to see if she could help, Will stopped her. "It's gone, Tess."

Tess knew he was right. She slumped against him for a moment and then together, they trudged up the stairs to stand on the veranda next to Gran, Maddie and Lizzie. Tess watched in horror as the fire roared through the cane and over the noise, she heard Pop yell, "Let it go. It's gone." Gran sighed and turned and walked inside.

"That was pretty spectacular," Maddie said.

"Yeah," was all Tess could manage to say in reply.

"That's what was supposed to happen on the weekend?" Maddie asked.

"Yep," Tess said. She wasn't sure what they'd do now. With no big-name bands and hardly any stall holders, the cane fire was the last big thing they had to draw in crowds to the festival.

Maddie curled her fingers into Tess's and squeezed. "I'm so sorry, Tess."

"I'm going to see if Gran needs a hand inside," Lizzie said.

"I'll go and see if Pop needs anything," Will said. He gave Tess's shoulder a squeeze as he walked past and headed down stairs. Tess watched him as he climbed over the fence and walked over to where Pop and a few of the other locals had gathered in a group. She tried desperately not to cry.

Maddie leaned into Tess's shoulder and they watched as Pop, Will and the others mopped up and put out the small grass fires around the block. One by one, they walked up the driveway and onto the veranda, kicked off their blackened boots and went inside.

Pop and Will were the last ones to come up. Pop, exhausted and his face covered in black soot, patted Tess on the arm and said, "Come inside and get something to eat."

"In a minute," Tess said.

Pop gave her a tired smile and said, "Don't be too long."

"I won't."

Pop trudged inside after Will. Normally, the conversation from inside after a fire was loud and raucous. Normally, it was exhilarating and exciting, but not this time. This time, it was quiet.

"We should get inside," Maddie said.

"You don't have to stay," Tess said. "We'll all just be down in the dumps anyway."

"That's okay," Maddie said. Her phone rang and when she pulled it out of her pocket, she said to Tess, "It's Jo." Tess nodded. "Hi Jo," Maddie said. "I'm at Tess's, why?" She sighed. "No, I'm fine. It was the cane near the house... Well, what time will you be home?" She pulled a face at Tess, and Tess smiled. Maddie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'm staying with Tess for a bit and then I'll be home... I'll get something to eat here so don't worry about me... Okay. Sure... Yes. Okay, okay, I won't be late. Bye." She hung up and said to Tess, "She heard about the fire in town. Does news always travel that fast around here?"

Tess nodded and said, "Yep. You have no idea." She took Maddie's hand and led her inside.

∞

Though Gran had piled the dining table high with food, not much of it was getting eaten. Even Pete's nephew didn't seem to be hungry tonight. Tess wasn't hungry either, but she nibbled on a ham sandwich, because there wasn't anything else she felt she could do. Finally, Lonny broke the silence. "Looks like it started down the bottom corner," he said.

Pop grunted in reply.

"Any idea what started it?" Will asked. He poured himself a glass of water and had a long drink.