Page 17 of Almost There
7
Tessa
“Move over,” Emily groaned as she stretched out her legs, kicking Mason to the floorboard on top of Moose before Tessa could reach out to slow the fall. The dog stopped panting to grunt as he suffered in the stifling heat and now from the kid on his ribs.
Robin scooped Mason back up onto the seat and moved towards the door to give them more room. Sweat was beading on her forehead and making her hair damp as it clung to her face.
“That hurt,” Mason cried, only half awake as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glared at his sister.
“Mommy, it’s hot,” Emily whined as she flung herself backwards with her arms wide, kneeing Mason in the stomach again. A coughing fit racked her chest as she inhaled the smoky air.
“Can you get them some water?” Tessa motioned to the bottles on the floorboard as she tried to make sure the vents for the busted air conditioning were closed as tightly as possible. It was useless. Nothing had stopped the smoke from creeping its way into the truck through every possible gap.
“Where’s the map?” Mason asked, suddenly alert.
“I’ve got it, buddy. Don’t worry.” Tessa focused on the white fog line through the heavy smoke and fallout from the mountain fires that blanketed the desert with ash and turned the sun a hellish shade of red. The entire range was on fire to their right. If you’d have gone north…She was glad she hadn’t. They would have had to go straight through those mountains instead of skirting dangerously close to the back side.
“Why is it so hot?” Emily cried.
Robin pulled out the water bottle and forced it into Emily’s hand. The girl gulped in big drinks, letting water spill down her face, and then handed the bottle to Mason. He offered it to Robin first and reached over to grab the map instead.
Emily wiped her lips and turned to Tessa. “Are we there yet?”
“Not yet.” Tessa swallowed dryly.
“Are those the San Bernadino Mountains?” Mason looked to the raging inferno that had claimed the rural homes up ahead as he checked the roads on the atlas. Tessa nodded, focusing on the fog line as the sky turned black around them. You should have gone even further south.
“About fifteen more miles and they’ll be behind us,” Mason said as he squinted at the lines.
Tessa’s chest swelled with pride and she wanted to turn to smile at him, congratulate him on this new achievement, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off the road. The smoke was growing thicker. But he’d actually read the map! Her little boy was a genius. So what if he couldn’t ride his bike yet?
“Could you hurry, Mom? I need to pee.” Mason sighed as he fell back against the seat.
Tessa nodded, the smoke burning her eyes and hot tears adding to the sting. Black clouds rolled over the road, foreboding and dangerous, and she turned on the wipers to clear the ash that fell on the windshield.
It's not too late to turn around and find another way. The gas gauge clicked another mark toward empty. She pushed her foot down hard on the pedal and willed Old Blue to move faster. Once they cleared the worst of the brush, the desert should be wide open with nothing to burn.
“It looks like snow.” Emily pulled her knees to her chest. The shine of sweat glistened on her bright red cheeks. Tessa couldn’t respond. The fear and smoke choked out her voice and her only thought was faster as she turned on the headlights. It was almost too dark to see.
“Let’s pretend it’s snow.” Mason glanced to Tessa and Robin, but both women were transfixed on the road that disappeared every few feet. He put his arm over his sister’s shoulder. “Remember when we went sledding with Dad before we moved to California?”
Don’t think. Just drive. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes and she blinked them away.
“No.” Emily shook her head as she stared at the wipers fighting against the fake snow and dug deep through her short expanse of memories. “Oh! We built a snowman with my princess crown and Mommy’s scarf.”
Tessa licked her dry lips. “That’s right. And you ate the nose.”
“But it melted the next day!” Emily screamed as she buried her face against Mason’s side, tensing as flames appeared to the left of the road that licked the sagebrush and sent embers dancing in the smoke. “Mommy, I don’t want to get burned.”
“We’ll be okay.” Tessa stood from the seat, pressing all her bodyweight on the gas pedal.
“Watch out!” Robin cried as the crack of ancient bark splitting rang like a gunshot through the air and a pine tree up ahead swayed in the inferno, crashing behind them as they passed. Mason pulled Emily closer to him, both kids squeezing their eyes closed, as the air somehow grew hotter making it that much harder to breathe.
“There are t-shirts in the backpacks,” Tessa’s voice was hoarse as she focused on the road. “Dig them out and soak them with water. Then wrap them around their mouths.”
“We could go back,” Robin stuttered, zippers moving as she dug through the packs.
“Go back to what?” It’s too late now anyway. Tessa stayed on the gas and forced herself to focus on nothing but the road ahead. The only way now was forward. Through Hell.