Free Wildfire by Chris Ryan Page B

that was feeling exceedingly sick.
    The microlight dropped 20 feet. Ben was lifted out of his seat: the seat belt cut into his legs and his head bashed against the window frame.
    Kelly screamed and the sound drilled into his ear drums. She must have banged her hands – she kept doing that. Judging by the level of discomfort, she probably had some second-degree burns. Those would need medical attention soon.
    As suddenly as the plane had dropped, Ben found that they were flying smoothly along again.
    He glanced at Kelly. The map was on her knee. She was leaning over it, holding it down with her elbows. Her hands were clasped out of the way so they wouldn’t touch anything inadvertently. She was also very quiet.
    Ben kept expecting the plane to start plummeting again but for now they seemed to have escaped the turbulence. He peered out of the window. Below wasan unbroken mass of smoke. He couldn’t tell if they were over vineyards or suburbs – or even the outback. There were isolated patches where the wind had cleared the smoke and he could see bright fires burning below. He got his mobile out of his flying suit. ‘Is it safe to use this here? My mum’s down there some-where and I want to see if she’s all right.’
    Kelly nodded towards a slot on the dashboard, like a hands-free set in a car. ‘Put it in there.’
    Ben set up the phone, then pressed a speed dial.
    A recorded voice came through on their headsets: ‘ Lines are busy. Please try again later .’
    ‘Could you try my dad?’ Kelly was pointing at the zip pocket on her trousers. ‘My cell phone’s in here. Increase height by about fifty feet before you do.’
    Ben opened the throttle a little, then fished her phone out and slotted it into the dashboard cradle.
    ‘He’s on speed dial, under “Dad”.’
    Ben pressed the navigation key. The picture of Kelly dangling from the power chute glowed briefly, then was replaced by her speed dial menu. He cursored down and dialled.
    The response was the same: ‘ Lines are busy … ’ Ben cut the call.
    Kelly checked over the instruments. ‘Bit more left rudder,’ she said.
    Ben obliged – though he could see that her mind was elsewhere.
    She voiced what they were both thinking. ‘Your mom and my dad were in the same place, so I suppose it makes sense that neither of them was contactable. We’ll try again in a while, huh?’ She winced as she talked.
    ‘We’d better get you to a doctor,’ said Ben.
    Kelly looked down at the map. She had been leaning on it while the plane was throwing them around and now it was creased like a well-used cushion. She tried to smooth it down, having to use her elbows.
    ‘For sure. I just need to find somewhere we can land.’
    Rikki stood at the window. She always liked to watch the racehorses from her tenth-storey apartment. That was why the block had appealed to her and her husband so much. Now the afternoon’s racing waspart of her daily routine with her three-month-old son Josh. As usual, she fed him, changed him and walked around the living room with him on her hip, jogging him to sleep while she watched the 1.45 yearlings race.
    But today she looked out of the window and got the shock of her life.
    The stand was engulfed in a ball of flame. Black smoke boiled into the sky. The horses had started running before the gates had opened. They had dragged the entire structure out of the ground and were galloping caged inside it.
    Right in their path were the people who had fled from the flames. They had no chance of getting away. The charging horses knocked them down like a monstrous war machine.
    She couldn’t look any more and turned away. The baby picked up on her shock and started to cry.
    Rikki had friends on the other side of the racecourse: Molly and Dan. Molly had a daughter the same age as Josh and usually tried to get her off to sleep by the 1.45 race. Could she see this too? Rikki sat down on the sofa, being careful to support Josh’shead properly, picked up