The Firefighter

Chapter 3 - When Charlotte met Oliver

Charlotte felt a sense of relief, but she wasn't safe yet as the fire continued to burn closer to her house. The sound of water gushing out of hoses was heard near the road and soon a small fire truck came through the smoke on to the wet, sandy road. It wasn't the large fire engine she had expected to see but only a small fire truck. The only person on board the fire truck was the driver and he was a firefighter, wearing his sunglasses and grimacing from the effort of focusing the hose at the base of the fires. She shouted out to him.

"Where are the rest of the firefighters?" He stopped and jumped out of the fire truck and ran over to her.

"I'm the only one here. I am one of the volunteer firefighters. What the hell are you doing still back here, you were meant to evacuate!" he shouted at her. Then he took off the sunglasses and she noticed the black marks of sweat on his face, as well as the hauntingly beautiful blue eyes that seemed to bore into her soul. She recognised him as Oliver, from the Calendar.

"Oliver, thank goodness you are here!"

"How do you know my name?"

"From the Calendar. The month of March. Do you remember posing for that?" she asked with a chuckle. He looked down with a sheepish look on his face and then up again with a serious and worried look.

"I need to get you out of here immediately."

They turned to look around and the fire was blazing on either side of the road again. The RFS hadn't burnt fire breaks in this area for many years and the dry climate was making the natural bush burn like kindling. They could hope and pray for rain but that wasn't going to happen right now, and their lives were in perilous danger.

Oliver turned towards Charlotte and asked her whether they had a dam or a lake on the farm.

"Yes, we do have a small dam. It's over there by the sheep pens."

"Good, let's go." He said, taking off at a run.

"Wait!" she called out to him, "I need some help with this photo album."

"No, just leave everything behind and I will save your life."

"No, I need these memories, Oliver!" They stood staring at each other. It felt like a Mexican standoff, both stood there staring at each other, both unwilling to give in to the other.

Finally, Oliver blinked and took her photo album and hid it in the jacket of his fire suit.

"Fine, now let's get to the dam. We will need to climb in and remain partially underwater until the fire burns past us." They ran as fast as their legs could carry them to the dam and waded in until they were up their waists and sufficiently far from the grassy banks, to avoid the fire burning them. Some of the embers blowing on the breeze, landed in the water of the dam and were put out by the water. None of the embers landed on them or their heads. Oliver was careful to keep the photo album out of the water and away from the nearby flames.

As they waited silently together, tears ran down Charlotte's face as she noticed the flames reach her house. The watered walls delayed the inevitable for a few seconds and then the heat of the flames started to burn the walls. Sobs escaped her. Oliver came over to her and put his arms around her to comfort her.

"Don't look at your house anymore. There is nothing that we can do about it right now."

Charlotte closed her eyes and lent her head on his chest. She could feel his heart pumping fast, as was hers, and she smelt the faint scent of his cologne through the smell of burnt plants and homes. She stopped crying and rested in his arms.