Up In Smoke

Chapter 1: October Part 1

Up In Smoke

Chapter 1: October Part 1


Connie Taylor drew a deep breath as she hopped off the school bus. She had one more day of school, and then she was free for the weekend. The weather forecasters had been predicting clear, warm days, and she planned to spend them out on the moors. Not even the mile long walk between the town and her parent’s farm could spoil her good mood, or the pile of homework that awaited her.


As she passed the police station she decided to see if her father was working. He’d gotten a part time job on the reception desk through a friend. The friend was one of the local police officers, and had known Connie’s father since college.


“Hey, Carl.”


The friend was sitting behind the reception desk.


“Hi, Connie. You all right?”


“I’m fine, thanks.”


“You looking for your dad?”


“Yeah, you seen him?”


“He headed home about an hour ago. Something about a cowshed.” Carl Jennings grinned.


“Thanks, Carl.” Connie decided to leave him with his work.


Her father had been meaning to pull down the old cowshed for years. They’d never used it for anything. It just stood in the corner of the yard, falling apart.


As she reached the bottom of the lane leading to the farm Connie thought that her father might finally be doing what he’d been promising to do all year. A thick plume of smoke was rising high into the air from beyond the trees. She grinned and took another deep breath of fresh air as she began to walk up the hill.


Connie had lived on the farm with her parents her entire life, but they weren’t farmers. Her mother wrote stories and articles for a local magazine, and her father painted the local area, as well as taking a few photographs. His pictures and photos were popular among the tourists. While they’d never had a lot of money, they’d spent many happy hours together as a family. Her smile grew as she thought of her parents. She loved them with all her heart, and couldn’t imagine life without them. They were always prepared to help her with something, just as she would help them out with any jobs or errands that needed doing.





Just before she reached the edge of the yard, Connie turned back to face the way she had come. The sun cast long shadows on the ground as it sank towards the horizon. She admired the lighting on the trees in the valley, and the way the light glistened on the river and cast pretty shadows on the buildings. About a mile outside of the town the sandstone walls of the old Manor House gleamed. She’d grown up with this, and still she never grew tired of it. She turned again to open the gate leading to the yard. The smell of the smoke hung heavily in the fresh, autumnal air. Now she was closer to home, the column of smoke looked too big for a bonfire. The heat was strong, even from across the yard, and the flames crackled menacingly. She caught sight of them through the trees. The position was completely wrong. The cowshed was in the far corner, behind her. She swung the 5-bar metal gate open and rounded the edge of the woods. The sight before her made her stop in her tracks. Instead of the farmhouse and adjoining barn surrounded by potted plants and small trees, fire licked at the wooden frame, destroying the house and eating the barn.

* * *

A group of ten men were sitting around a small table on mismatched sofas and chairs. They each wore a navy polo shirt, navy cotton shorts and black shoes. A variety of magazines littered the table, while polystyrene cups littered the floor where they had been knock off the arm of a seat or thrown at the bin when the inhabitants of the room had finished with them, but not wanted to get up. In a neighbouring room, another three men sat at computers. One had a telephone and a map on his desk. One was checking the weather forecast; the other was updating a database. They sat in silence. These people too wore the polo shirt and shorts. Suddenly a shrill ring sounded from the telephone. Automatically the man beside it reached out and picked it up.


“Andire Mill Fire Station,” He spoke clearly, “Right – where is this? – Oh yeah, I know the place. We’ll be there in about ten minutes.”


He put the phone down and turned to the map, speaking to his colleagues as he did so.


“We’re needed, gentlemen.”


“Where are we going this time?” One of them reached behind him and pressed a button on the wall.


“Wood Farm. It’s north of the town, about half a mile up Old Farm Lane.” He traced the route they would take to the farm as the men next door jumped into action. “We’d better take two engines.”


Each man pulled a two-piece suit from his locker as he made his way to the vehicles. As they checked their kit the man who had answered the telephone gave them a quick briefing.


“A couple of walkers out on the moors spotted a fire at a place called Wood Farm. They haven’t seen anyone, but the switchboard has contacted Thereton Ambulance Station, just to be on the safe side. Apparently there’s a young girl just arrived recently. She was saying something about her parents. We’ll have to proceed with care, we can’t risk their lives anymore than necessary.”


“Ok, Nik.” The database man showed they had heard him.





They sped across the small town, pulling into the farmyard seven minutes after the call, closely followed by an ambulance. The farm buildings were set out in an L shape across the yard. It looked like the house and barn were joined together. A rickety old cowshed stood in one corner, also wooden, and rotting. The firemen jumped out of their vehicles and began to unravel their hoses. The paramedics behind followed suit, but they pulled out various medical equipment. The two walkers were in a field to one side of the site with the young girl. Nik guessed she might be twelve or thirteen. She was clearly upset. He walked over to them as the other firemen began dousing the flames with water.


“What happened?”


“I don’t really know.” The man was the first to speak. “We were up on the moors. We could smell smoke but at that time it just looked like someone was having a bonfire. We saw the flames when we came down on the path over there. We came across to see if there was anything we could do. It was clear we couldn’t so we phoned you guys.”


“Thanks. Do you know if there’s anyone in there?”


“I doubt it.” This time the lady spoke. “If that old cowshed – ”


“My parents.” The girl interrupted. “Please, you’ve got to find them.”


Nik placed a hand on her shoulder. “What’s your name?”


“Connie.”


“Well, Connie, if your mum and dad are in there, we’ll get them out, I promise. I don’t know if we’ll be able to save your home, but we’ll do everything we can. Just stay over here, ok? I don’t want you to get hurt.”


Connie nodded, feeling a little calmer now.


“Good girl.” Nik smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. He turned and headed back to the engines as four of the men prepared to go into the inferno.

* * *

“You see anything, Rob?”


“Nothing, just smoke.”


“Let’s take it further back.”


The two men crept forwards, looking carefully through the thick, swirling smoke. The intense heat coming from the kitchen held them back. Rob peered through the doorway. Flames licked at every surface, melting the wall plaster with their heat. He turned back with his friend, this time heading for the lounge. Suddenly Rob stopped. He looked at the ceiling. He moved away from the flames towards the bottom of the stairs.


“You seen something, Rob?”


”No. I think I heard something.”


“You sure?”


“Not entirely. Cover me, Patrick, I’m going up.”


“Rob, no! It’s too dangerous!”


Rob crawled up the stairs on his belly. At the top the smoke seemed even thicker. He could barely see a metre in front of him. He lay flat and inched his way to the left, towards where he’d sensed the movement. Suddenly an urgent message came over his radio.


“Get out of there you two. It’s not looking safe. The roof could cave in any minute. Get out of there!”


Outside Nik had seen the roof beginning to sag a little. He didn’t want his men to end up needing the ambulance. Patrick emerged into the light, stumbling slightly as he threw himself away from the flames. Nik’s relief was short lived.


“Where’s Rob?” He spoke into the radio again.


“He went upstairs.” Patrick’s voice came over clearly.


“I heard your message.” Rob’s voice crackled over the radio in Nik’s hand. “I’m coming out now.” He sounded scared.


Moments later Nik spotted a man leave the building and hurry over to the vehicles, pulling off his facemask as he did so. From what Nik could make out of his expression through the haze, he looked desperate.


“I think there might be someone in there. In one of the upstairs rooms.”


“Hell.” Nik muttered. “Why didn’t you get them out?”


As he spoke an ominous creaking sound came from the building, then a crash accompanied by a lot of a dust. They would be lucky to get anyone out alive now. Nik surveyed the scene. The roof of the house had caved in. The barn was still standing, but only just. The flames seemed to be dying down. Nik looked at his watch. It was almost an hour since the call. He had no idea how long the fire had been going before the couple had phoned the fire brigade, but he was very glad they had.


Three men suddenly came stumbling out of the barn. The two on either side were clearly firemen, but it was the third man, the one in the middle…Connie held her breath. She couldn’t tell if it was her father or not from the distance and through the thick smoke, but something told her it would be him. She watched the two paramedics running towards him, longing to follow, but something held her back.