“No, Rowena brought that. Evidently it’s Dan’s favourite. He told me he liked cheesecake so I made one of those but I think I’ll leave it in the fridge for now.” Before everyone else had arrived Rowena had made a great fuss about putting the cake on the right plate and adding the candles. She’d told Paula how fiddly the icing was but she made it every year for Dan’s birthday.

“Cheesecakes keep longer.” Dara leaned in closer. “I’m sure she doesn’t mean to be insensitive.”

“I did ask her to bring sweets,” Paula said.

Ted’s phone rang. “Steady on, Bridget, say that again.” The concern in his voice stopped the conversation in the room. All eyes were on his frowning face as he covered one ear and pressed his mobile to the other.

“We’ll be right there.” Ted’s hand dropped to his side, his eyes wide.

“What’s the matter?” Heather asked.

“Our hayshed’s on fire.”

“Bloody hell.” Bruce lowered Andrew from his lap as he stood up.

Paula’s heart skipped a beat. Fires frightened her. She and Dan had organised their emergency plan but she hoped they’d never have to implement it.

“Bridget’s called the CFS.” Ted leaped to his feet. “I’ve got to get there.”

Dan was beside him immediately. “I’ll drive you. We’ll take the water truck.”

Chris and Tom were heading for the door.

“I’ll leave the car here for Jane,” Bruce said. “Tom, you drive me to my place and we’ll take my fire cart.”

“I’ll take our car.” Heather’s look of terror sent a shiver through Paula.

“I’ll drive you.” Chris said.

Andrew pulled on Bruce’s hand, wanting to go too. Jane hurried after him and picked up the struggling child. Paula took two steps towards Dan. She felt as if she was watching a television drama.

“Don’t know how long we’ll be,” he called before he followed the others through the door. Suddenly, the kitchen was quiet, except for Andrew’s complaints about being left behind. Overhead, rain drummed more insistently on the roof. The women were motionless, standing or sitting around the room like discarded chess pieces.

“Well.” Rowena was the first to break the silence. “We may as well do these dishes and put the kettle on. It could be a long night.”

Chapter 21

CHAPTER

21

“There was nothing we could do.” Dan sat at the kitchen table with his head in his hands. The sandwiches and cup of tea that Paula had put in front of him remained untouched. “Even though we tried to soak the other bales it was useless. The CFS arrived just after us and they couldn’t stop it either. All we could do was prevent it from spreading to anything else.”

Paula pulled up a chair and sat beside him.