Free Red Hot by Cheryl Alldis, Leonie Alldis Page B

rotary hoe to a safe distance from the inferno.
    ‘No hope of savin’ anythin’. It’s just end to end. The bastards really made a job of this one!’
    Karl watched the shed collapsing in front of him. He stood helplessly listening to the sound of tin falling and glass popping.
    Sam, Eric and Des arrived, breathless from running.
    ‘Bloody hell… We thought the house was on fire!’ Sam squatted down on his haunches to get his breath back and to slow the rapid pace of his heart. He’d been woken by Des, shouting that there was a huge fire down at Kia-Ora. He thought it was the house.
    Fearing for the family, Sam had also shouted to Eric to wake up, and rushed off down the road.
    ‘Thank God it isn’t the house!’ Eric sat on a log of wood to get his breath back.
    ‘What can we do? Garden hoses won’t put that out.’
    ‘There’s nothin’ we can do!
’
Des looked on helplessly.
    ‘We’ve gotta keep the grass around here wet so it doesn’t spread, and keep a hose ready near the house too, just in case a spark gets into somethin. Betta start soakin’ the roof, just to be sure. The brigade should be here any minute.’ Digger felt helpless but there wasn’t anything they could do to save the shed, let alone save anything in it.
    ‘Yeah, get over there and soak down the roof of the cottage and the other sheds too!’ Karl said urgently to Des and Eric.
    The shrill wail of sirens could be heard gradually growing louder. Frank Smith arrived in the fire truck. The smaller water tanker followed.
    Jumping from the truck and grabbing the hoses, he shouted orders to his crew. ‘We’ll need the big Albury tanker here. Get on the radio and tell ‘em we need ‘em! Tell ‘em to hurry! Get that water pumpin’ on this, quick as ya can!’ He turned to Digger. ‘What’d you have in there, mate?’
    ‘Hell, a lot of stuff : bits of furniture, buildin’ materials, tools, a few bits and pieces Em, Win and Ellie were keepin’.’ Digger replied.
    ‘Well, ya still thinkin’ this was done by them kids? Coz if ya ask me I reckon ya just might be barkin’ up the wrong tree. This ain’t done by kids, it’s been done by some bastard that knows what they’re doin and doesn’t seem to like people ‘round here, ‘specially you Masons!’ said Frank.
    ‘Well, Win was sittin’ on the veranda up there tonight when she got a feelin’ somethin’ wasn’t right. She came and woke us. Towser sensed somethin’ but he didn’t bark or take off down here. We took a look ‘round but couldn’t see anythin’ out of the ordinary!’ Dig rubbed his hand over his face in frustration. ‘We thought it must’ve been a possum. Some bloody possum. For fucks sake, what’s a bloke gotta do to stop this bastard?’
    ‘You’re right, it’s gone way too bloody far. This ain’t done by them kids, no way. We got ourselves a mad man runnin’ ‘round the valley!’ Sam said.
    Woken by the sirens and realizing there was a fire at Kia-Ora, Arthur rushed straight up through the paddocks. He was climbing over the wire fence further over near the wood heap. The glow from the fire didn’t cast enough light in this direction for any person to be properly distinguished.
    ‘Fuck me!’ Nat Willis shouted. Who, with his brother and several other farmers, had also rushed to Kia-Ora to help. ‘There’s the arsehole… get him!
’
He thundered across the yard and crash-tackled Arthur, knocking him flat on his back. Nat landed on top of him, pinning him to the ground.
    The other blokes dashed after him.
    ‘Get the fuck off me, ya moron!’ Arthur struggled to get Nat off.
    At the same time, Karl shouted, ‘Nat, ya fool, that’s bloody Arthur!’
    Nat, realizing his mistake, rolled off poor old Arthur and sheepishly offered his hand to help him up.
    ‘Shit, I’m sorry mate, truly I am. When I saw ya climbin’ the fence I thought ya was the idiot that did this!’ He jerked his head to the fire.
    ‘Well, if ya do come across the