THE TASTE OF SOOT

By Jo and Bridgid

It was a beautiful morning and Robert decided he would scout a bit further than usual. He circled far around the outskirts of the Glen, keeping as much as possible to thicker woodlands. He was surprised as he went at the nice homes nestled here and there, some of them quite separate from the town. Stopping at the edge of a particular section of woods, he smiled at the sight of an old mill by a pond. It looked entirely English and he stood there, admiring the structure.

A young woman drove up and parked so he faded just a bit more back into the shadows. Her arms were full of flowers and she called out to a young dog on a cable, "Hey, there, Merry! Let me put these inside and then I'll come get you."

Ahnna, arriving home from her visit with Joimus at the Greenery, figured Alistair would be in his office and as that had a separate door, she went there to show him her flowers. She opened the door and a thick, black smoke billowed out. Immediately she began coughing and dropped the flowers, screaming, "Alistair! ALISTAIR!!"

He had to be in there since his car was home and he'd never go off and leave Merry on the cable anyway, not unless he was right inside. She tried to take a step in the door, still screaming his name, as the smoke began to rise up and out into the blue sky.

Bridgid had just stabled Skipper when she noticed the smell. Smoke in the vicinity of a barn was bad news. She began checking around the Meridius barn and within moments ran into East who was doing the same.

They came through the front doors of the barn together and it was hard to miss. Black smoke billowed from behind the trees and they both knew it was the mill.

"Go get Joi, East! Tell her to call the fire department and have them bring my gear with them! I'm going right over there!"

He ran toward the house and she pulled Skipper from his stall. Mounting him bareback and bridled she brought him to a gallop toward the mill. The sound of sirens could be heard the moment she arrived on the scene.

As soon as the woman opened the door and he saw the smoke, Robert was sprinting across the yard toward the mill. He grabbed the young woman by her shoulders, pulling her away from the door. "My husband!" she moaned, out of her mind with fear. "My husband's in there!!"

Robert turned his head away from the door, sucking in a huge lungful of air, then lunged into the small room. In less than a second his eyes stung so terribly he could barely keep them open. The smoke filled the area and he could see nothing. He fell over a small table, landing hard on his knees. Where was the man? Where?? His hands found the footrest of the recliner and feeling up it, came to a pair of shoes. Quickly he stood, leaned over and grabbed the man up, slinging him over his shoulder. Robert was coughing hard, trying not to breathe, but the gas was starting to get to him and he felt dizzy, disoriented. He moved straight into the desk, almost fell again, then found the open doorway.

Bridgid had come up behind Ahnna, holding her back from trying to enter the room.

"Oh, Bridgid!" she cried, her voice cracking with hysteria. "Alistair’s in there! He’s IN there!" Her whole body was shaking. "Some…some man went in."

"Who?" Bridgid asked.

"I don’t know! I don’t know! I never saw him before. He…he just was…was…here, and…and he went in."

Ahnna watched, her hands clenched into tight fists, waiting for the man to come out with Alistair. It seemed to be taking forever. Then she became aware of the sounds of sirens getting closer. "Thank God," she moaned. "Oh, thank GOD!"

Just then Robert staggered out the door onto the small stone stoop. He swayed there a moment, then simply fell off to the left side, Alistair sliding from his shoulder and landing on his back in the phlox. Robert found himself on his hands and knees beside the man, coughing and vomiting over and over.

Ahnna ran up, flinging herself down beside Alistair just as the rescue truck screeched to a halt. "A...Alistair?" she murmured, touching his face. There was no response so she leaned closer. Oh, God...he was barely breathing. Was he breathing? She lost all awareness of Bridgid, of the man, of the medics running up. There was only Alistair, and sobbing, she put her mouth on his, frantically intending to start some sort of CPR but entirely forgetting in her desperation just what it was she was supposed to do. In the mere second before Bridgid pulled her back, she tasted the soot from his lips. That was all. Soot. Then someone was guiding her gently back and away from Alistair.

It was Tom and Steve's day off.

Two medics, Jerry and Angela who had been stationed at the Glen Fire Department arrived with the ambo and the fire engine. The firefighters went to work on the mill while the two medics took care of Alistair.

"He's in respiratory arrest, mate." Jerry said to his partner.

"Any burns in the airway?"

"Negative."

"Let's tube him then."

Angela handed the implements to Jerry. He inserted the laryngeal scope into Alistair's airway, placing the stylet and tube that would be used to fill his lungs right between his vocal cords. He got it in one shot, then he inflated the little cuff to keep the airway open. Angela listened to Alistair's lungs to make sure there was air going into them as Jerry squeezed the ambu-bag to force some air in. She nodded her head, indicating that he'd positioned things just right.

Jerry kept Alistair breathing while Angela started an IV to keep him hydrated. With the help of one of the volunteer firefighters they got Alistair into the ambulance and prepared to take him to the hospital in Coffs, letting Ahnna ride along in the front seat.

The rest of the team made quick work of the small but smoky fire which had been confined to Alistair’s office.

Bridgid had pulled the portable oxygen off the engine and attempted to give the stranger some help.

"You need to go to the hospital, too. I've called for another ambulance to transport you to Coffs," she said as she placed the non-rebreather over his face, helping him to a seat on a near-by stump. He seemed quite dazed and sat there, slumped, sucking in the oxygen, while Bridgid went briefly to check on the progress with the fire fighters.