“Perhaps he went fishing again,” Miss Pringle suggested, edging toward the kitchen. “It seemed to me he was headed toward that footbridge over the river.”
If he had gone to the Firehole River to fish, he was likely out of the way of the fire or at least partly protected from it by the water. Kate could only send up a prayer for his safety as she escorted her ladies to the kitchen.
The back door was open, and Kate could see Pansy already up in Mr. Boyne’s wagon. Caleb was busy helping the teamster put the horses in harness. Alberta was still in the kitchen, wrapping a pie in cloth.
“We’ll need it for dinner,” she protested as Kate went to shoo her toward the door. “And what about the ham?”
“You are more important than ham,” Kate insisted, making sure her cook descended the back steps. She didn’t have the heart to point out that there might not be a dinner, or a hotel, by the time the fire burned out. The very thought sent ice down her spine.
Lord, help us! She felt the desperation in the prayer. The National Hotel had been so impressive, but it was nothing to this little piece of Wonderland. Don’t let me lose my home!
Every moment it seemed harder to catch her breath, as if the smoke was crowding her lungs even now. Then, Will came in the door, steps brisk, head high. Just the sight of him draped a soft blanket around her, cocooning her against her fears. She drew in a breath, focused on the task at hand.
“Smith is headed to the Fire Hole to telephone the other stations,” he reported. “Lercher is taking the horses to camp. Waxworth has agreed to stay and watch the stock and chickens. If the fire gets too close, he’ll set them free to escape.”
Kate frowned. “What about Caleb? He’s devoted to the animals.”
“He’s more devoted to you and the Geyser Gateway,” Will assured her. “He told me he wanted to fight the fire with us.”
“He actually spoke to you?”
Will shrugged. “Let’s just say he made his wishes known, and I wasn’t about to refuse help.”
Kate nodded. “Your men fought a fire near Mammoth Hot Springs. The Army must have equipment—a water wagon, buckets.”
He shook his head. “Congress in its great wisdom did not appropriate funds for firefighting equipment, even though Captain Harris requested it. Best we can do is build a firebreak between the flames and the hotel, allow the fire to burn itself out at the river. I wish you would reconsider and leave with the others.”
She didn’t reconsider it a moment. “Do you know the best place to build a firebreak?” she countered. “Or the safest route to the fire from here?”
“Caleb could tell us,” he insisted.
Kate put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m impressed he was brave enough to speak to you and to come with us, but Caleb rarely sets foot off the hotel property. Face it, Will. You need me. Now, let’s collect Elijah, your remaining men, and what tools we can and head out before the fire gets any closer.”
The blaze was gobbling up the forest between the Grand Prismatic Spring and Lower Basin Lake when Kate, Will, Elijah, Caleb, and Privates Franklin and O’Reilly climbed the hill to the southwest of the hotel a short while later. Will had her ax, Elijah held a hatchet, and Caleb clutched a hoe. The privates carried shovels, and Kate held the handle of a bucket in each fist. As far as firefighting equipment went, it wasn’t much, but it was the best they could do.
The flames had already crested the hill on the other side of White Creek below them. Fanned by a fitful breeze, the fire jumped from tree to tree, soared up the pines, and raced across the needle-covered ground. It thundered with a voice that demanded more, always more.
Not her hotel.
“There,” Kate said, pointing to the thin ribbon of the creek in the draw between the two hills. “If we cut the brush back on either side, we might create enough of a break to stop the fire. Once it reaches this hill, the heat will push it up and over. We must prevent that.”
“Agreed.” Will shifted the ax to his shoulder. “Franklin and O’Reilly, cross the creek and clear that side. Elijah and Caleb, with me on this side. Kate, stay high where you can watch the fire’s movement. Keep us apprised of any changes.”
She didn’t like sending them any closer to the inferno, but he was right. The five of them stood a better chance of clearing the area than she did. Her riding skirt—truth be told, any of her dresses—made it nearly impossible to do the work they were about to do. She had to trust in him, in Elijah and Caleb, in Franklin and O’Reilly, to see this through. Once more her chest felt tight.
“Be careful,” she said, and he nodded before heading down the hill. Franklin and O’Reilly each took one of her buckets and followed.
It was humbling. Never before had her fate seemed so out of her hands. Fear had held her prisoner the night Toby had been killed, and she’d found a dozen ways to make herself feel more in control since then. This? These flames, this heat, the roar and the crackle—she could do nothing against them.
Except watch and pray.
So, she did both. Words trembling on her lips, she alternated between watching the flames speed closer and watching Will working. While Caleb pulled fallen timber away from the water’s edge, Will and Elijah cut down and removed a few pine saplings that had sprung up. Franklin and O’Reilly used their shovels to dig up saplings on the opposite bank. Slowly, a ten-foot swath grew along the creek even as the flames showed brighter behind Will and the others. The proximity to the warm water had
