Wildfire Smokejumper Trilogy

Chapter 8-3

“Hey Johnny Akbar the Great.” Laura was so happy to hear his voice. She could definitely taste the smoke on the air now, though the sky that she could see straight above was still clear of smoke. But it wasn’t all that much blue through the narrow slice of trees.

“Where are you, Laura?”

“Almost directly below Paradise Park, down in Zigzag Canyon. At the moment we’re heading back for the Lodge. We’re fine. We’re watering the horses at the stream along the Pacific Crest Trail.” Watering them to keep them calm, she didn’t add because she didn’t want her group of tourists to hear that. The horses were getting twitchy and the cool spring water serve as only a momentary distraction. She wasn’t sure if they could get out of this canyon without the horses bolting and their riders were definitely not skilled enough to deal with that.

There was a long silence. She began counting her own heartbeats and passed twenty so quickly that she stopped counting.

“We’re trying to find you,” Johnny called back. “Could you do me a favor? Transmit a count to thirty nice and slow. Start now.”

His request didn’t make a lot of sense, but she did as he asked. While she was counting aloud, she assessed the group. The tourists were still thinking this was all a part of a good story for them to tell at home. None of them were aware of how uneasy their mounts were becoming. The horses’ nostrils and ears were working hard, but it also meant that the horses weren’t trying to grab every passing berry bush so their inexperienced riders were actually having an easier time of it.

Then she heard it. A small engine circling overhead. She tried to catch a glimpse of it. It sounded like a small and quiet lawnmower, not a helicopter. Through a gap in the trees she spotted a flicker of a black shape against the sky.

Laura knew it instantly. It was the same type of drone her father built up in Hood River. She’d forgotten about that first meal with Johnny and her parents. He’d called over a couple who then talked to her father about using drones on wildfires. MHA had one of her father’s special drones. It must be homing in on her radio signal.

Near the end of her count, it flashed by close above her. It might have even waggled its wings before disappearing from view behind a tree.