Forged with Flames Read Free Page B

in my subconscious I realised it was Mum, and pulled away from her.
    My world exploded. For long seconds I was oblivious to anything but pain. A fireball had hit me: a rolling, roaring monster outpacing the fire front and the one-hundred-plus kilometre-per-hour wind, causing everything in its path to combust. Moments before, I’d been praying to stay alive, now all I could do was scream and plead, ‘Oh God, please let me die, please let me die’. Anything to end the terrible pain.
    Alan grabbed Rachel and started taking her to the car. I hesitated for what felt like an eternity. Do I stay or do I follow my sister? I chose to follow my sister. I can’t remember seeing Mum burn, but I must have seen or sensed something dangerous or I would never have left her. I recall with great clarity, as I followed Alan and Rachel, that I couldn’t see the steps to climb them. It was dark and I told myself, ‘Why are you looking for the steps? We’re in the middle of a bushfire. I’m sure no one will mind if you climb up the rocks.’ So I climbed the rocks. I ran after Alan and Rachel, stubbing my toe twice on the way. Alan put us in the car, giving us instructions that I made sure we carried out, then disappeared. He came back a couple of times to check on us as we waited. Once he moved the car out onto the road opposite our house. I remember telling Rachel not to touch the windows as they were very hot, and telling her not to fall asleep.
    Alan lifted me into the pool, burning his arms and hands as he did. This man, this act, undoubtedly saved my life. I stood in the waist-high water. Carol was splashing water over me which amazingly eased the pain.
    â€˜Are you burned?’ I asked Carol.
    â€˜No,’ she replied, quiet.
    â€˜I think I must be,’ I added, ‘because all my skin is floating on the water.’
    The fire was still raging around us. Carol told Janet to push me under the water each time the flames came close, while she worked to keep the pool free of falling debris. I wouldn’t realise for years what Janet had done for me. For an adult to do what she did in such terrifying circumstances would have been remarkable; for a girl of only twelve, it was truly magnificent.
    Carol, Janet and I stayed in the pool for what seemed like forever; in reality it was less than fifteen minutes. Shock set in. I turned my head to look at the girls but they weren’t in the pool. I couldn’t see my children. My mouth opened and closed like a goldfish but no words came out. Where were my girls? I was pushed under water again, confused. I hadn’t seen Alan take the girls away from the sight of their burning mother. As far as I was aware, we had three missing children.
    We were in the car parked in front of our house for a long time. I thought a lot. I remember seeing our house alight. I could see a bright light in Mum and Dad’s bedroom and I thought, ‘Mum’s left the light on in her bedroom; maybe I should turn it off’, but I knew in the pit of my stomach that if I went to the house I would die. I really knew what had happened and I knew what would happen if I left the car. I sat in the back seat with Rachel, believing that I wasn’t going to see Mum again, that she was dead. I tried to get this idea out of my head. No one wants to lose their parents and I was young enough to think that somehow it might still be alright. But deep down, I felt sick with an overwhelming dread.
    The worst of the fire had moved on but branches were still falling from trees. Somewhere above us I heard a creaking, groaning sound, then a sharp crack as a large limb cleaved from a tree and crashed to the ground, sending up a spray of sparks. Burning leaves swirled and lifted in thermals. As the minutes dragged on in the pool, my legs became weak. I panicked, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to stand up for much longer. I couldn’t let myself sit down, I’d drown. I was