Inferno Part 4

~77~ Burning Fence

Ellie's POV

The fire has completely engulfed Katie's white vinyl fence, and it's starting to take out a few of her seven-foot trees she has along it.

If the flames hit that pine, her whole house will be gone.

"Shit! Dad, grab that hose!" Taylor hisses as he points to a second hose we have on the garage. Taylor gets the hose that's attached to the house and turns the water on, trying to unkink it in the process.

"Ellie, get the kids out! If the wind shifts, our house will get hit too!" He yells over his shoulder as he gets the hose over to the fence, with flames higher than our roof.

I rush inside and all three kids are watching from the window. "Outside," I say quickly as they follow after me.

"Taylor, you're too close. Get back!" Rick yells as he gets his hose over to the fence too.

"Dad, this is my damn job. Just put water on that tree!"

"MY YARD!!!!!!!" Katie screams. As the fence literally melts away, I can see her with her hands on her face, watching in complete horror.

Taylor gets one tree out, completely charred and smoking. As Rick is working on the second tree, Taylor focuses on the fence that's getting worse by the second.

Once Rick has his tree out, he helps Taylor tackle the fence, and together they get it out as sirens come down the road.

"TAYLOR!" I hear Wes yell as he runs into the backyard in full firefighter gear.

"Wes?" Taylor asks, still in complete shock and not quite processing why Wes is working right now.

"Picked up an extra shift. What the hell happened?" Wes asks as he takes the hose from Taylor and continues to douse the area with more water.

"I have no idea," Taylor gets out as he tries to calm his breathing and runs his hands through his hair.

"MY HOT TUB!" Katie cries. When we all look, the heat from the fire was so intense that it burned her cover and scorched all of the side panelings, making water leak out from the bottom of the spa.

As the police show up and talk to Katie, Taylor turns to Luke.

"Did you start this?" He asks in a shaking voice, barely holding onto his composure.

"Yes sir," Luke nods as he looks down at the ground.

An officer comes up to Taylor, and Taylor motions for me and Luke to join them.

"Tell him what happened," Taylor demands in a still shaken voice as he looks between the officer and his son.

"I—I found a lighter in the garage......"

"Look at him," Taylor barks, making the officer's back stiffen.

Luke sighs as he looks at the cop, his eyes filling with tears. "I didn't mean to...Please don't make me go to jail!"

Taylor's face softens slightly and the officer gives Luke an understanding smile. "Nobody's going to jail, I just need to know what happened for my report."

Luke nods and takes a big breath. "I lit the grass against the fence, to try and see if it would kill an ant hill. I didn't know it would catch the fence on fire!"

"You didn't know fire would catch something on fire?" Taylor deadpans darkly.

When Luke scoots closer to me, I rub his arm gently. Taylor talks to the officer, talks to Katie, and talks to all of the firefighters for a little bit. When everything gets settled and all the pictures get taken, they all leave.