Red Hot Part 10

'Where's Karl?' Digger shouted to Win, looking around for him.

'I'll get him. He was with Gloria,' Arthur said. 'You get Win home to Mum and Dad. We dunno what's happenin' up there!'

The crowd was rapidly thinning as locals hurriedly vacated the hall.

Most of the local men would go to the Mason's to help fight the fire. That was how it was in the valley: if one person was in trouble, everyone rallied to help.

The flas.h.i.+ng red lights of the fire brigade were visible as they turned into Centaur Road.

'My G.o.d...' Win cried, a note of panic in her voice. 'Mum and Dad... Hurry, Dig...'

'Francis, you bring the girls with you. They can help you grab your music and stuff. I'll take Ellie with us,' Digger yelled, hurrying out the door.

'You okay to drive?' Win asked. Digger had knocked back quite a few beers during the night.

'Yeah, just get in. I'm fine!' The shock of this news had sobered him up very quickly.

Most of the men had got stuck into the booze during the evening. Several of the women had enjoyed a few as well!

Within half an hour, the hall was empty. The night was ruined.

Francis pressed the accelerator flat to the floor and shot the Volkswagen along Centaur Road flat out. When they came over the crest of the hill before Kia-Ora, they could see the glow of the fire. It was huge!

Kathy felt her heart miss a beat. 'My G.o.d... please, not the house!' Her voice held real fear as she prayed it wasn't Kia-Ora.

As they drew closer, Francis let out the breath he had been holding. 'No, Cuz, it's not the house. It's the packing shed near the orchard, by the looks of things!'

Kathy breathed a sigh of relief.

'Yes, Kath, it's the shed. I can see!' Tammi reached over and patted her shoulder.

Francis stopped the car in the driveway and they all got out and bolted around the back. Their grandparents were out on the back veranda.

Poor old Dave was sitting in his cane chair. He saw the girls come around the corner. 'What an end to a lovely evening, eh poppets?' he said unsteadily.

'Grandad, are you alright?' Tammie asked, concerned.

'I'm alright, loves. Really, we're getting' used to this aren't we?' They stood watching the fire, listening to the continuous sounds of the water pumps and shouted instructions of the firefighters.

The packing boxes were fuel for the fire and the shed was well alight. It wouldn't have taken much for the firebug to get this one going.

The men were stricken, once again fearing a spark might reach the other sheds, cottage or house. Digger and Karl left the blaze to the capable hands of the firemen, grabbed two garden hoses and began to soak the other sheds, hoping to save them.

'b.a.s.t.a.r.d's done it again!' Karl yelled to Digger.

'Yeah, it's someone who knows us, that's for sure. The a.r.s.ehole knows our every b.l.o.o.d.y move! How else can he get in, light the friggin' fires, and get out again without us seein' him?'

'The cops'll be out to this one just like the rest, but I'll bet me boots they'll still have nothin' to go on!' muttered Karl.

'Curse the b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I say!' He snarled, his face red from exertion.

'What's this vindictive mongrel want from us, to suck the life out of us or what?' Digger was seething, fury etched on his face.

There were no words for it, none. Their fate seemed to lie in the hands of a crazed arsonist and no one had any idea why.

Eventually, the men had the fire under control. As with the other shed, there was nothing worth salvaging. The packing shed was reduced to a pile of ashes.

Wearily, the men stood, cursing the person who obviously wanted some kind of revenge. Nothing or no one could stop him. Swearing at their frustration at not being able to identify him or get any kind of clue, it was plain to see they were at their wits' end. Most of them were still in the suits they had worn to the dance and they were now filthy.

Up at the house, instead of the usual hype everyone used to feel after the dance, it was replaced with a feeling of despair.

'Who saw it first?' Ellie asked.

'Em spotted it,' said Dave. 'She had a nasty headache and got up to get a bex powder. That's when she noticed it. Real brave she was, didn't panic a bit. Calm as you, she rang the brigade, then came and told me.' He took Emmie's hand and smiled up at her lovingly.

By now, most of the people had gone home. Those remaining gathered on the veranda. As they stood around discussing the night, a figure emerged from the shadows of the walnut tree. The man stood hesitantly for a minute then walked up to the group on the veranda. Karl saw him first.

'Father Damien, we shoulda known! Once again you've left it mighty late to come out,' Karl said, startled by the unexpected appearance of the priest.

Father Damien looked around the group in front of him.

'I feel so sorry for you all. Dreadful situation, isn't it?'

He was in his usual attire of shorts and sneakers, his slouch hat pushed to the back of his head.

'Well, Father, what can I say? We've told ya there's a firebug runnin' 'round the valley. We've told ya not to roam 'round late at night, and yet here ya are! Ya want someone to mistake ya for him? h.e.l.l, Father, can't ya listen to us, just for once!' Karl shook his head, his voice high-pitched in frustration. 'You're a flamin' idiot!'

Father Damien stood looking at Karl with a blank expression. This added to Karl's frustration as it was clear that he wasn't getting through to the odd priest who simply turned and walked away.

'If I didn't know better, I'd say that freak gets off on watchin' these fires!' Karl virtually said to himself as he watched the retreating figure of the little priest.

'Well the way he's sprung up at each b.l.o.o.d.y fire only makes the bloke look suspicious. Priest or no b.l.o.o.d.y priest, we should keep our eye on him. The cops need ta be told about him too,' Digger answered.

Eric and Des joined the group on the veranda.

'Nothin' left down there, mate,' Des said to Karl.

'You'll have to order more packing cases first thing Monday.'

'Yeah, and there's insurance to take care of as well, don't forget,' Karl reminded them. 'Two b.l.o.o.d.y sheds to rebuild! f.u.c.k, I'd like ta get me hands on this p.r.i.c.k!' Karl's hands formed fists and his face turned almost purple with rage.

Sam was still turning over the events of the evening in his mind.

'Who left the dance early tonight?' he asked.

They all thought for a minute.

'Chancellor didn't show his face after I saw him outside with Dot McLaron when I was takin' Mum home,' Karl told them.

'That's right, he never came back in,' Sam said.

Kathy overheard the talk and bristled. 'Des was out for a while too and Robert just vanished,' she said, trying not to sound too defensive.

The men stopped talking and looked at her.

'Robert's not responsible for this, Kath,' Arthur told her.

'I didn't light the b.l.o.o.d.y thing, that's for sure!' Des defended himself.

'Well, you can't blame Eddie Chancellor just because you don't like him!' she protested.

'Well, whenever there's trouble in the valley, he's not far away!' Dave said wearily.

'That priest's gotta be questioned,' Digger said and then added, 'He's turned up at each fire now an' each time he's arrived or just appeared after the fires are out. He always has an excuse for not showin' his face earlier an' he's always in those clothes and sneakers. I mean, what sort of priest is he? I have me opinion and it's not pretty, I can tell ya.'

'Hmm, he's a queer'un right enough, but surely he wouldn't stoop to somethin' like this. After all, he's a man of G.o.d!' Arthur remarked.

'Just because he's a church-fairin' bloke it doesn't make him less suspicious, Arthur,' Karl told him. 'He's a b.l.o.o.d.y oddball.'

'I'll stack me odds on Chancellor,' Sam declared.

'Well it's obvious; whoever it is seems to know us quite well, whether we like to face that fact or not. To be able to get in an' light these b.l.o.o.d.y fires right under our noses without us any the wiser... Think about it fellas really think about it!' Sam said tensely.

'Look, we can stand around and speculate all we like. The fact is we dunno who the h.e.l.l it is! Yes, it's obvious the firebug's watchin' us; he knows our routines. We gotta make some changes!' Digger had been sitting on the top step of the veranda, his arms resting on his knees. Now he hoisted himself up and faced the group. 'We gotta change our plan and come up with a new strategy!'

'Well, my strategy right now is for us all to get ourselves to bed. It's been another horrible upset and we're all tired and fed up,' Emmie said, getting out of her chair. 'You boys get some sleep; you can't think straight while you're all exhausted.'

They said goodnight and made their way to bed. It must have only been an hour, maybe two, when Win was dragged from her slumber by the sound of fire sirens growing louder.

She rolled onto her back and rubbed at her sleep-ridden eyes. She tapped Digger on his shoulder. 'Dig... Dig, can you hear that...? It sounds like a siren...' she mumbled groggily.

Digger rolled over and mumbled, 'It's a dream... Go... sleep.' He exhaled a loud, rumbling snore.

'No Dig.' Win sat up. She could distinctly hear the sirens rapidly drawing closer. She shook him roughly. 'Wake up! There must be another fire somewhere.'

Dig almost fell out of the bed. He wasn't fully awake as he grappled for his trousers, gave up on finding them in the dark and stumbled to the door. Win reached to turn the lamp on but Digger was already heading down the hallway to Karl's room.

He staggered bleary-eyed into Karl's room and shook him hard. 'There's another friggin' fire somewhere mate. Get up, we're gonna have ta help.'

Karl fought his way out of a deep sleep. 'Whatcha talkin' 'bout... Fire's out.'

'Wake up, mate, ya can hear the b.l.o.o.d.y sirens. Sounds like a coupla fire trucks comin'. C'mon, we'll have a look outside.' Digger shook him again.

Karl dragged himself to a sitting position. 'Dig, the fires out.' Then he heard the sirens. 'f.u.c.k!' He leapt out of bed and pushed past Digger in his haste to see where the fire was.

Win dragged Ellie out of bed and they rushed downstairs, not waiting for the men.

Karl and Digger came hurrying out to where they were on the back veranda. 'Where is it...? Where's the b.l.o.o.d.y fire?' they both asked, but didn't need to be told.

's.h.i.+t! It's Rex's b.l.o.o.d.y packin' shed...!' Karl swore. From the veranda they could easily see across the paddocks to where Rex had his orchard. They could clearly see the packing shed was on fire. They could hear the crackling and popping as everything was devoured by the flames.

'C'mon, we gotta get our trousers on an' go help the poor b.u.g.g.e.r,' Digger said. 'Flamin' b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Two fires in one night...'

'Yep... We got a real crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d on our hands, Dig!'

Sunday morning should have been full of talk about the dance, but this Sunday morning was all about the fires.

The women were the only ones in the house. The men had gone down to sift through the remains of the shed.

'You know,' Emmie confided to Ellie and Win. 'I don't know how much more of this Dave can take. Last night, when I told him about the fire, his face was ashen. He was so grey. I was quite frightened.'

'Yes, I noticed his face, Mum,' Ellie said. 'I was worried too. Dad said he was alright, but he wasn't, I could see that.' Ellie squeezed Emmie's hand gently. 'It's virtually impossible to keep him calm like the doctor suggested, what with all this going on.'

'Did it ever occur to you that the machinery shed might be next on his list?' Emmie looked from one to the other.

'We'd be ruined if we lost all the equipment we've got in there!' exclaimed Ellie. 'It seems whoever this lunatic is, they're out to ruin us, but why? What have we done?'

'Yes, and now poor Rex Willis has lost that huge shed of his. The men will have to come up with a d.a.m.n good plan. This sort of thing can't go on. We can't be living in fear all the time, we just can't,' Win said adamantly.

'You know,' Kathy interrupted. 'Dad and the rest of them reckon Eddie Chancellor could be the one doing this.'

Win looked a trifle surprised. 'Well, they might be right. I heard you defending him last night Kathy. Why...? You know his reputation as well as we do.'

'I know he's been in trouble; it doesn't mean he's capable of something as horrid as this. I just don't believe for one minute that he's to blame for all these fires.'

'Really...? Well, he was missing for the last half of the night,' Ellie stated.

'Robert was too. Des was gone for ages as well. He says he was outside having a cigarette but Robert just disappeared and didn't come back at all!'

'Des and Robert wouldn't do such a dreadful thing! They're family, remember! What would possess you to even entertain such an idea?' Win a.s.sessed her face carefully, quite shocked at her daughter's defence of Eddie.

'Des probably had enough of the dance and went outside to be on his own for a while. He's not one to socialise very much either. He'd prefer to be home with his nose stuck in one of his Phantom comics than out dancing,' Ellie added. 'And Robert more than likely went home and stuck his head back under the bonnet of that old bomb he bought!'

Tammi had been listening to the conversation and was surprised at her sister's att.i.tude as well. She decided to interrupt and get Kathy out of the room before she ended up having an all-out argument with her mother.

'Okay, who knows what nut is doing this. Dad and the blokes'll get him. He won't get away with it. Come on, let's go and find Laura, Kath,' she urged.

Kathy was angry that everyone was so eager to pin the blame on Eddie but she knew she had to curb her defence of him.

'Just because he's had a few fights and his Mum's not wealthy...' she thought angrily, wanting to say that to them all.

'Okay, Tam, let's go. Bye, we'll be back later.' She kissed her mother, turned and walked outside, still p.r.i.c.kling with anger.

Nat and Rex had come across to see Karl and Digger. Dave, Sam and Arthur had arrived as well. Apart from Dave, the rest of them had been up since Rex's shed had gone up. Nat, Rex and a few of the neighbours had looked through the rubble that used to be Rex's packing shed but had found no clues. The shed would have been an easy target, just like the one at Kia-Ora: the boxes would have provided good fuel for the fire.