tailgate of a nearby pickup, cradling sleepy, eighteen-month-old Megan. Elderly Miss Violet Hanford, another member of both the fire department auxiliary and Serenity Chapel, rocked and soothed five-year-old Paul inside the cab of the same vehicle.
Timmy was most likely in shock rather than ill, Jill kept assuring herself. Nevertheless, as soon as one of the EMTs was available she intended to ask for professional advice.
In the meantime, there was nothing to do but keep an eye—and a hand—on him to make sure he didn’t bolt. She figured she could have caught him if he’d tried to run under normal circumstances, but as emotionally overwrought as he was tonight, she wasn’t sure he wouldn’t be able to elude her if he wanted to.
Suddenly, his brown eyes widened. She felt his thin fingers tighten around hers. There was so much smoke in the air she wasn’t sure if she was seeing tears of sorrow or if his eyes were watering because of the constant irritation.
She returned the squeeze and chanced a smile. “What is it, honey? Would you like to go sit in the truck with your brother? I’m sure it’s much warmer in there.”
Tim moved his head back and forth so rapidly his shaggy, uncombed brown hair swung like her little lapdog Mugsy’s fur did when he shook himself after a bath.
Concerned, Jill leaned closer. “What’s wrong? Tell me how I can help you.”
Instead of answering, the boy tore his hand from hers and threw the coarse blanket off his shoulders. For an instant she was afraid he intended to flee. Then, he launched himself at her and wrapped both arms around her neck. The force of the unexpected tackle knocked her onto her back pockets in the dirt.
Timmy immediately scrambled aside, grabbed her wrist with both hands and tried to haul her to her feet. Although he wasn’t speaking, she could hear whining, shuddery noises coming from deep in his small chest.
“It’s okay,” Jill said. “You didn’t hurt me. I’m fine.” She got up and began to dust off her jeans with her free hand. “See? No problem.”
Still, the little boy wasn’t pacified. Instead of continuing to face her, however, he ducked behind her legs. That was what finally made her realize someone else was approaching. She recognized the puffy-eyed, disheveled woman as the one who had attacked Mitch earlier in the evening and braced herself to counter the same kind of irrational behavior.
It was the lost expression on the woman’s tear-streaked face that softened Jill’s attitude and caused her to offer proper condolences. “I’m so sorry. You’re Natalie Stevens, aren’t you? I’m Jill. We met in church. Your sister introduced us.”
“What have they told you?” Natalie rasped. “They won’t let me go closer to see for myself and they won’t look for Ellen either. I’ve been all over the airport. Nobody’s seen any sign of her.”
“I don’t think it’s wise to discuss things like that in front of the children, do you?” Jill continued to soothe Timmy by slowly, gently stroking his hair.
“What? Oh. No, I suppose not.” She began to pace and rub her hands together, never straying far before turning and repeating the tight circuit. “I can’t understand what happened. Ellen almost never set foot in the office at all, and she certainly wouldn’t think of working on a weekend. She can’t have been in the office when it caught fire. She simply can’t have.”
“All I know is that they found the children in the main part of the house,” Jill said. “The firemen got them out safely before that started burning, too.”
Although the other woman didn’t seem to be paying attention, Jill continued, “Don’t you worry. We’ll take good care of your niece and nephews until the proper authorities get here.”
“Fine, fine.” Natalie sent a distracted glance toward the pile of bent, scorched tin and ashes that had been the Pearson Products business office and began mumbling to herself as she wandered away. “Ellen can’t be dead. I won’t believe it. It’s a mistake, that’s all. A big mistake.”
Timmy was still clinging to Jill’s knees and trembling. She bent and wrapped him again for warmth before lifting and balancing his light weight on one hip.
Hugging her neck, he took a shuddering breath, buried his face in the folds of the blanket lying against her shoulder and began to weep.
Tears were a good sign, Jill realized, because that meant he was probably moving beyond his initial anger and shock. Instead of trying to get him to stop crying, she held him close and let him grieve, praying for the right words to eventually help soothe his pain and the wisdom to know when to speak.
She ached for this little one. For all of them. At times like this, when her heart was open and most empathetic, she was even better at relating to emotionally needy children.
Jill knew for a fact that Ellen Pearson had been a sweet person, a loving wife, a dedicated mother. Assuming everyone’s sad assumptions were correct, Ellen had not meant to leave her dear ones. She had merely been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Jill’s own mother, however, had made a conscious choice. Mama had turned her back on her only child and had walked away—forever—without so much as a wave goodbye.
By the time several hours had passed, Mitch was mentally and physically exhausted. The engine crews had managed to preserve most of the factory and all of the separate warehouse but had lost the fight to save the home and business office. That was considered a good result under such difficult circumstances. As far as Mitch was concerned though, they had failed.
He’d grown close to the Pearsons when they’d moved to town a few years back and had started attending Serenity Chapel. He’d coached Timmy and Paul on the church T-ball team and had often envied the family’s closeness.
Standing at the edge of the ruins, he was wiping his sweaty, gritty brow and remembering happier times when a hand clapped him firmly on the shoulder.
“We did all we could,” Chief Longstreet said. “Even with the extra units from all over the county and everything we had in town, it was a tough fight.”
“There’s no chance Rob and Ellen managed to get out?” Mitch asked, unwilling to let himself believe his friends were really gone.
“Don’t think so. Looks like the initial explosion blocked the office exit. If they were in there, they probably never knew what hit ‘em.”
“When we first got the call, I thought a plane had crashed. It’s clear that didn’t happen. So, did a gas leak start all this?”
“Could be. I’ve asked for investigators from Little Rock to come and look things over, just in case.”
Shivers shot up Mitch’s spine. “In case of what?”
Jim Longstreet gestured at the ground in the distance. “You’ve probably been too busy to notice but I spotted a few odd things. See the way some of the rubble is fanned way out from a central area? That doesn’t look right to me.”
“We all heard a blast.”
The chief nodded. “True. And if this turns out to be an accident, I’ll be happy to put that in my report. But until we can pin down a cause I’m going to keep needling the sheriff and anybody else who can give us some answers.”
He
