Read Firestorm-pigeon 4 for Free Online Page A

guessed one of the two had been careless. Negligence on the fireline was not taken lightly. There was too much at stake. She glanced up at Nims. His face was crimped into defensive lines. Mentally he was digging foxholes, falling back. Newt was either unaware he could fault anyone but God or too wrapped up in his pain to worry about placing blame.

Anna's fingers found the posterial tibial pulse behind Hamlin's ankle. It was strong and his skin was warm to the touch. "Good job," she said to LeFleur and Short. "Let's leave it like it is and haul him out."

Lindstrom had the litter down, the straps laid out to the sides. "Did you get tired of working and fake a fall just to get a free ride out?" he asked Hamlin.

"How'd you know?" the boy said with a ghost of a smile.

Stephen said: "Me and John will lift Newt. Anna, you and Jen move his leg. On three."

In one smooth motion they slid the kid onto the litter. A barking cry escaped the press of his lips.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lindstrom said. "Trying to get sympathy from the women. Some guys'll do anything to get laid."

"You got me figured out," Newt managed.

"John, take the head. I got the foot," Lindstrom said. "Anna, Jen, take a side as long as we've got the room. Len, get the tools. When Howard gets back we'll switch out every few minutes. On three."

"I'm sorry I'm so big," Newt said as they heaved up the litter.

The apology brought a lump to Anna's throat that annoyed her. "Not a problem," she said. "We can field amputate that leg right here. What do you figure that'd save us, Stephen?"

"Seventy-five pounds easy. Cut it off high."

"Go ahead," Newt said. "I don't think it could hurt any worse. Just leave the family jewels."

"Sure," Stephen agreed. "They couldn't weigh more than a gnat's Adam's apple anyway. Little enough I bet even old man Nims could carry them up the hill without breaking a sweat."

Even with the joint immobilized it was clear every jolting step they took was causing Hamlin pain. It was equally clear the boy would staple his lips shut before he'd let on.

"He's big as a horse," Anna said to Jennifer. "And his leg is broken. Think anybody'd care if we just shot him?"

A gust eddied up the trail, a vortex of ash and dirt whirling in a tiny tornado. Dust devils, Molly and Anna called them when they were children. They moved like sentient creatures, the tails tracing patterns in the earth that could be tracked only to see the creature that made them disassociate, dissolve into nothing but air.

This devil stopped a yard or two in front of them, its tail twitching restlessly in the dust. For a few seconds it hovered as if deciding whether or not to tell them something. Apparently the answer was no. The wind veered and the devil disintegrated into the grasping arms of a manzanita bush hacked out of the ground and lying close to the fireline.

The wall of clouds that had been on the horizon when Anna and Stephen started down was on the horizon still but now the horizon was scarcely a mile above them. Anna was getting a bad feeling.

LeFleur jerked his radio out of his belt. The litter rocked as he held it with just one hand and a tiny squawk escaped Newt's control. Anna pretended not to hear but she moved her hand slightly on the litter so it touched Hamlin's wrist, hoping the contact would give him some little comfort.

"Black Elk, LeFleur." The crew boss was shouting into the radio. His adrenaline level was rising too, Anna guessed.

"Black Elk," came back with a hiss of static.

"Status?"

"Everybody's bumped up. They're halfway up the hill by now. Me and Hayhurst are coming back for you."

"There's enough of us for the job. Head on up. Keep those guys moving. The wind's getting squirrely. No sense anybody getting hurt on this one. Clear 'em out.

"Hang onto your hat, Newt," LeFleur addressed the boy in the litter. "We're going to head up the hill."

"Sorry I don't have a bullet for you to bite on," Anna said as they started up the incline and Hamlin's