Red Hot by Cheryl Alldis, Leonie Alldis Page B

hose and was already drenching the flames by the time Karl and Digger ran outside.
    ‘Grab that other hose, Dig, quick mate!’
    Frantically, the three men doused water on the fire. This had to be contained quickly. It was dangerously close to the hayshed and the cottage!
    Across the road, Walter Hansen had also woken and seen the flames. He quickly pulled on some overalls and rushed outside to grab his knapsack.
    Standing on the back veranda, Dave, Emmie and the others were all watching.
    ‘Looks like we’ve got some strife in the valley. Someone’s up ta no good,’ Dave muttered gruffly. ‘That old toilet sure as hell didn’t light itself… just like those other fires didn’t light themselves,’ he added.
    ‘You’re right, Dave. It’s been done deliberately,’ Emmie replied softly. ‘Look, Hazel’s coming up the path.’ Emmie pointed to the stooped figure of Hazel coming towards them.
    ‘Well, another mysterious fire!’ she called when she got closer.
    ‘You and Ted both ok?’ Dave asked.
    ‘Oh, we’re fine, Mr Dave. Ted got a bit of a start when he heard the crackling. He flew outta bed and it actually flared up right in front of us,’ she said, coming to stand beside him. ‘I don’t like the thought that someone’s sneaking around lighting fires. Glory be, what can they be thinking? Everything’s so dry. Haven’t they got any sense at all?’
    Dave put his arm around her shoulders. ‘Don’t work yourself up, Hazel. The blighters won’t get away with it. This is serious an’ they’ll be caught and dealt with!’
    Just at that moment, Father Damien appeared from the side of the house
.
    ‘Father Damien! You scared us half to death!’ Win and Ellie exclaimed together.
    ‘Father, what the devil are you thinkin’, sneakin’ up like this?’ Dave asked him, annoyance in his voice.
    Privately, Dave didn’t like the priest and he didn’t like him just showing up like he did. For all they knew he could have been standing out of sight at the side of the veranda listening to what they had been saying. They would not have known he was there. Dave frowned, thinking about his dislike for him.
    ‘I’m sorry if I startled you all,’ he apologized. ‘I was out on my nightly stroll again and, of course, I saw the fire, so I came down to see that you were all safe. I can hardly believe we have another one!’
    ‘Well, thank you Father, we do appreciate your concern,’ Ellie thanked him. ‘But you did give us a fright. We didn’t hear you coming.’
    ‘No, we never do!’ grumbled Dave
    Emmie put her hand over Dave’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. Then, to be polite, she invited the priest to sit down.
    ‘Thank you Emmie, but I won’t stay. I can see you are all safe, that is, all except Francis. Surely he’s not still in bed with all the excitement going on?’
    ‘No, Father,’ Ellie answered. ‘He’s at a friend’s place.’
    ‘Good, good. Well, the firemen will be here soon and have the fire out in no time. So I will be off and head back to the seminary. I will call in again tomorrow and see how things are with you all. Bless you all.’ He left as quietly as he had arrived.
    Dave glared around at his family. ‘
I don’t like that bloke!’
    ***
    Moments later, they heard the fire siren and the flashing red light appeared over the hill. A few seconds later, the fire brigade roared up the driveway.
    Frank leaped from the cabin of the truck and quickly surveyed the fire. His crew went into action, connecting the fire hose to the hydrant at the front of the property. Before long, the fire was under control.
    Only a pile of rubble was all that was left of the old outside dunny!
    Leaving his crew to roll the hoses back onto the truck, Frank went to talk to the men.
    ‘Looks like we’ve got trouble; this’s the third suspicious fire!’
    ‘Yep, and we’re bloody lucky. If sparks’d got in the roof of the cottage, or the hayshed, it would’a all gone up!’ Digger