“What are you talking about?” Katherine asked dazedly, but a premonition of disaster was creeping up her spine and she shivered. Memories of the night Peter and Mary died flashed through her mind like a slide show.
“Dear, didn’t you even hear the fire trucks?”
“Yes, but—”
“It’s the oil well, Katherine. There was an explosion.”
“My God!” Katherine screamed, then hurriedly covered her mouth in an effort to stem the hysterical screams she could feel bubbling into her throat.
“Now, we don’t know all the details—”
“Can you keep Allison?” Katherine was already hurrying toward the bedroom to grab her purse and shove her feet into a pair of loafers.
“Katherine, you can’t be thinking of going out there! Why it’s still dangerous. The radio is begging people to stay away.”
“I’m going. Are you going to take care of Allison or will I need to make other arrangements?” Katherine hated to be so horrid to her friend, but she could brook no arguments now. She had to see about Jace. What if—? Oh, God, no! It just couldn’t be.
“Katherine, you know I’ll stay with the baby. I’ll take her to my house and she’ll be there in good health when you pick her up, no matter when it is.” Happy sounded offended, and Katherine stopped long enough to hug her quickly. Then she abruptly clasped Happy to her, desperate for Happy to imbue her with strength.
“Thank you, Happy, for—Oh, Happy! Jim?” She only now remembered that Happy’s son could be in danger too.
“Today’s his day off. Thank the Lord. He went to Dallas.” She gave Katherine a shove. “Well, if you’re going, go. Call me when you find out anything. Nothing has happened to Jace. I just know it.” The landlady’s eyes were strangely moist.
Tears glittered in Katherine’s own eyes as she said, “I hope you’re right. I couldn’t stand it if—” She didn’t even allow herself to vocalize what she was thinking. She ran down the stairs and out to the parked station wagon.
* * *
It became impossible to negotiate the bumpy road and, at the same time, try to tune the car’s radio to a station that was giving reports on the fire. Katherine gave up in desperation. Perhaps it was better if she didn’t know.
She wept and prayed and cursed herself. Jace had to be alive! Even if he were disfigured or burned or whatever, he must be alive. Such thoughts made her nauseated, and she swallowed the bile that filled her mouth.
She prayed, “God, if he hates me, that’s all right. If he wants Allison, I’ll give her up. Just don’t let him be dead. I love him. If he must die, let me tell him that I love him first. Don’t let him be in pain. Burned. Oh, God, I can’t bear it.”
He hadn’t even planned on going to work today. He had said he wanted to stay at home. Her ugly accusations had driven him out of the house. It was her fault he was at the oil well today.
The landscape was blurred and watery through her tears. She followed the column of black smoke that boiled up over the pine forest like Moses followed the pillar of fire in the wilderness. It could be seen for miles. It was surely a grim harbinger preparing her for the devastation she would find when she reached the drilling site. She saw several news helicopters buzzing toward the fire like vultures to a carcass. She resented and cursed them. Night after night, she watched the news reports on television with graphic pictures of train wrecks and car accidents and fires. Did the families of those victims resent such invasions of their privacy? Katherine hadn’t realized until now that their suffering was real. Those stories weren’t for the television viewer’s entertainment. They were personal, human tragedies.
She was surprised to see the top of the derrick. It wasn’t the well that had exploded then. There were cars and pick-up trucks and fire-fighting vehicles parked in a semi-circle around the drilling site. She braked the station wagon and jumped to the ground, running pell mell toward the fire which she could now see was isolated to an area near—the trailer!
“Hey, lady!” Strong arms grabbed her around the waist, and she fought like a wildcat to be released. “You can’t go over there. You’re liable to get hurt.” The fireman in the bright yellow slicker cursed expansively when she bit the hand that was restraining her across the chest.
“I think you’ll find she’s hard to convince.” The calm, deep voice penetrated Katherine’s frantic mind and she suddenly collapsed in the startled fireman’s arms. He would have dropped her if another pair of arms hadn’t helped him support her.
“Jace,” she whispered disbelievingly as she looked up into his blackened face. “Oh!” she exclaimed, alarmed by his appearance.
“No, I’m not charred, just dirty,” he assured her.
“Oh, darling, darling,” she buried her face in his shirt and hugged him tight around the waist. “I was so worried. I thought…” Emotion clogged her throat and she clutched him even tighter.
“Come over here and I’ll explain what happened.” Jace extricated himself from her pythonlike embrace. As he steered her away from the scene, she caught sight of the fireman, still nursing his injured hand.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I thought my husband was hurt and I was acting crazy. I truly am sorry.”
He smiled crookedly and said grudgingly, “That’s all right.”
Jace led her toward her abandoned car with a firm hand under her elbow. When they reached it, Katherine looked up at him with tearful, green eyes and asked, “What happened?”
Jace wiped his forehead with his shirt sleeve. “It looks a lot worse than it is. All the trucks are here because of the surrounding forests. They’re really here for prevention more than anything. But,” he added grimly, “we should be thankful we weren’t all blown to smithereens.”