“She found Pokey. She found Pokey,” Kenny shouted to everyone.
All Shannon’s efforts to stay removed from everyone’s notice were wiped out in that happy moment. She felt horribly on display as Alice Gordon loudly thanked her over and over again, and other people, young and old, gathered around her, smiling broadly.
Laura Cozzins’s round face beamed at Shannon. “Bless you. That little tyke has been pining away for his dog. It’s a good deed you’ve done this day.”
“You don’t know what that good deed cost her. Maybe Shannon will tell you about it sometime,” Ward said. His smile wavered. “Then again, maybe she won’t. She’s a very private person,” he added, smarting a little at the way she had quickly dropped his hand.
Laura nodded in a knowing way. As a minister’s wife, she was obviously adept at reading emotions that lay beneath the surface. “How about a glass of lemonade and maybe a doughnut to refresh the two of you?” she suggested as if she were dedicated to feeding the body, as well as the soul at every opportunity.
“Thanks, but I’ve promised to deliver some supplies to the base camp,” Ward said, “I’m already late by a couple of hours.”
Shannon silently winced. They both knew it was her fault he’d been delayed. She quickly took her overnight bag from him and apologized, “I’m sorry I held you up. Thank you for…for everything.”
“Rescuing damsels in distress is one of my special talents,” he assured her solemnly as his eyes twinkled at her, and his mouth eased into a soft smile. “Call on me anytime.”
She wanted to say something lightly back, but she couldn’t. Her heart was too heavy.
“It’s going to be okay.” He gave her shoulder a light squeeze. Ward wanted to suggest that she join the others in prayer and meditation. Maybe, instead of shutting out God, she would gain assurance that she wasn’t ever alone, no matter what the circumstances. He’d come to his faith the hard way, and he knew Shannon was on the same kind of path. “I’ll try to come back this evening before I head to the ranch.”
She watched as his broad back and muscular body disappeared out the door. Laura had been watching the exchange between them. With a knowing smile, she slipped her arm through Shannon’s. “Come on, you can help me make some sandwiches for lunch.”
The day was long and trying, and only the hope that Ward would come back kept Shannon’s spirits from scraping bottom. The danger of firefighting became personal when Laura told her a story about a teenage Ward trying to handle a meadow fire all by himself and nearly getting trapped by the blaze before help got there.
Her heart contracted with a sudden jolt. Surely, Ward had enough sense to leave the fighting to the professionals. He was just delivering supplies, she reassured herself, but how well she knew that he wouldn’t think of his safety in a time of danger.
All afternoon and evening, she kept an eye out for him, but he didn’t show. It was Ted who came in late that evening and told her Ward had already gone to the ranch.
She wasn’t surprised. No doubt he’d had enough of her trauma and drama. Remembering the way she had gone into his arms and accepted his tender caresses, she chided herself for letting her emotions play her for a fool. As she lay stiffly on her sagging cot, she firmly resolved she wouldn’t make that mistake again. She knew better than to give her emotions free rein. There was always a price to pay for letting anyone too close. She had plenty of scars to prove it.
Chapter Three
Shannon slept very little that night. About two o’clock in the morning, fifty firefighters from a unit in Idaho arrived at the school. Since it was too late to make it to the base camp, they crowded into the gym with the rest of the refugees.
Shannon was up early and helped serve breakfast. Being in the midst of these brave young people who were willing to put their lives in danger was a startling revelation to her. Many times she had watched television coverage of California wildfires or heard about some fighter losing his or her life, but she had only been touched on a superficial level. Now that detachment disappeared, and her heart was filled with personal concern as she moved among these dedicated men who were going to battle a fierce, monstrous wildfire that was out of control.
When Reverend Cozzins said a prayer for their safety, Shannon bowed her head with everyone else and murmured a fervent amen. Even though she wanted to believe in some kind of heavenly protection, she knew it would take a faith stronger than hers to rely on any divine miracles.
The crew of firefighters left the school right after breakfast, leaving behind a mounting tension and anxiety in the crowded school. A briefing bulletin posted on the bulletin board later that morning was not encouraging. The prediction was for strong winds and high temperatures. Numerous infrared photos taken of the fire’s boundary showed an ever widening area of destruction.
“We have to do something to keep the children occupied,” declared Laura. In her usual energetic manner, she immediately started enlisting help to get some activities going. She organized several groups to play some outdoor games on the school grounds and sent some of the youngest children into the library to listen to stories.
Shannon had no intention of volunteering for anything or calling attention to herself in any way, but Kenny had different ideas. With childish pride, he pointed her out to all the kids.
“She’s the one who found Pokey. He was lost, and the fire almost got him. But she saved him, didn’t you, Shannon?”
The cluster of grinning children beamed at Shannon in a way that made her want to sink into the floor. What could she say without taking away Kenny’s moment in the limelight? “I didn’t exactly find him—he found me.”
Laura Cozzins suddenly appeared at Shannon’s side, saving her from having to say anything more about Kenny’s dog. “Well, now, I see you’ve already made friends with Kenny and his pals. Wonderful, Shannon.” She beamed. “Why don’t you take them into the art room and let them draw and color and make all kinds of wonderful things?” She smiled broadly as she elicited nodding approval from the kids. “Doesn’t that sound like fun, children?”
Shannon could have summoned a hundred reasons why she was the last person in the world to be put in charge of a bunch of kids, but she didn’t have a chance.
Kenny grabbed her hand. “You can be our teacher.”
The rest of children nodded and crowded around her with smiles and beaming faces, effectively eliminating any chance she had for refusal. As the children began to pull Shannon toward the classroom Laura completely ignored her frantic plea for help.
“You’ll have fun,” Laura promised with a chuckle, and quickly turned away to draft someone else for one of her projects.
How in the world did I get myself into this? Shannon would have rather faced a roomful of hostile executives than a roomful of squirrelly youngsters. Raised as an only child by parents who never stayed in one city very long, she had always been the new kid in school, and being around younger children had never been a part of her upbringing. She grew up in an adult world where achievement and success were the driving goals. As a result, Shannon was competitive, motivated and competent when it came to the business world, but it only took ten minutes in the art classroom with a cluster of scattering children to discover that her people-management skills were sadly lacking in the present situation.
“Everyone sit down,” she said in a normal voice, which had little impact in the noise level of excited kids darting about the room, handling everything that wasn’t tacked or glued down.
Boxes of donated supplies were on the tables. She knew that if she didn’t do something, impatient children would be diving into them, and the chaos would grow worse by the minute. It didn’t