Page 72 of Burnin' For You
The fire hissed in the trees behind her, an earth-shaking explosion as a tree torched. The heat pressed a hand to her back, and she rolled over to see a great cottonwood crowning above her.
She had a minute. Maybe.
Die on the cliff or fall to her death.
Oh, God, those couldn’t be the only two choices! Her heart turned to a fist, fighting to escape her chest.
The fact that she’d wanted to be a smokejumper seared through her. Laughable. What had possessed her toeverthink she could save her team? She was going to turn to ash, right here on the edge of the cliff, a wretched reminder that she was no more cut out to be a smokejumper than she was a baker.
In fact, if she hadn’t demanded to join Reuben on the hike out, everyone would probably be rescued right now.
Godison our side, Reuben.
Her words yesterday seemed caustic and stupid in the face of the inferno some twenty feet away.
I’m sorry, Reuben.
This would take him apart—knowing he couldn’t be here to save her. The regret would gnaw at him, consume him whole.
All because she’d demanded that she had to save everyone instead of realizing—embracing—the truth. She was trying way too hard to prove herself, just like Jared, her bomber copilot had said.
And now she was in her over her head.
Reuben’s words reverberated back to her.That’s why you’re always trying to act like you don’t need help, right? Because you’re afraid if you do, God won’t show up, because deep down inside you fear you’re not worthy of help.
Yeah, well, maybe she wasn’t.
A broken branch fell near her, blackened, sizzling, and she scooted back along the edge with a scream.
She needed to get off this cliff.
She scrabbled for the rope but fire had caught it, and it began to sizzle. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t use it.
Smoke thickened the air, sooted her eyes, and they watered, blinding her. Her nose ran, and she coughed as she kept scooting along the cliff, her hand running over the rocky edge, dragging herself as the fire licked out from the forest.
In seconds the inferno would simply explode out over the ravine.
And burn her alive. Already her skin felt charred, and she turned her face away as she scrabbled backwards along the cliffs edge.
Just stand, do your part, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.Right. Well, God, if you ever want to show up—
Suddenly, Gilly fell back, as if the rock had given way. For a second, she thought she’d scooted right over the edge.
But no—she whacked her spine, and only then did she realize she’d fallen into a rivulet in the cliff.
She pushed herself out, rolled over, felt the rock, and discovered not a rivulet, but a crack, about a foot wide, parting the rock wall.
She could fit into it. And maybe if it went far enough down... She flipped around, backed herself into the space, wedging herself into the opening, searching for footholds. Tongues of flame lapped at her hands, and she clenched her jaw.
She finally ducked down, scrubbing her back against one side, her good knee against the other side, pushing against her hands as she lowered herself into the cleft of the rock. Moss and roots layered the granite walls, the smell earthy, thick with the heavy breath of trapped moisture.
Three feet, then five, then ten. She inched down. The crevasse seemed to be widening, but she kept going, working her way into the darkness. She scrabbled for nooks and holds for her hands, her legs. As she descended, the trapped, cool air cleared her eyes, her throat.
Above her, the fire roared, roasting the forest. Her heart thundered, but she didn’t look up, feeding on the air from the creek bed, feeling the heat as it searched for her.
Twenty feet down, the crevasse opened up, and she wedged herself back onto a ledge, a lip of six inches, her mouth near the mossy, cool granite.
Only then did she look up. The fire had turned the sky a ghastly orange, cinders blowing in a tornado of wind, blaze, and fury. Embers blew down the crevasse, and she tucked herself back, letting them blow out to the river below. The water reflected the storm, glistening red and black, deep burnt orange.