'Oh s.h.i.t! Tam... There's a d.a.m.n fire! Quick! We've gotta get help.' Kathy looked around. Who could they call on? Practically everyone had gone into Albury for the hearing.

'Maybe old Jack Pearce'll be home,' Tammi suggested in a panicky voice.

'Yes, he should be. He wouldn't have gone to court. C'mon hurry!' Kathy grabbed Tammi by the hand and pulled her in the direction where Jack Pearce lived in his caravan. They ran as fast as they could, calling his name. 'Mr Pearce! Mr Pearce! Help... Frank Smith's shed's on fire!'

Jack Pearce came stumbling through the door of his caravan. He had been asleep and the shouting startled him so much so that he had forgotten to pull on trousers.

He stood there, looking bewildered in a long singlet that hung like a potato sack almost to his knees. The old bloke presented a humorous sight but the girls were far too upset to notice his attire or lack thereof.

'Strike me pink, girlies! What's the trouble? Tha devil himself after you'se or somethin'?

'No, no! It's Frank Smith's place! There's a fire there. No one's home they're at court! The fire, it's close to the house. We have to hurry!' Kathy yelled urgently.

For a split second, he didn't seem to comprehend what she was saying but then it hit him. 'Holy s.h.i.t... Over there, missy,' he shouted to Tammi. 'Grab that bike and get to a phone box and ring the Albury Brigade.' His brain had clicked into gear and he could see the urgency of the matter clearly now.

He looked at Kathy. 'Ever ridden a horse?'

'Yeah, a few times. I'm not much of a rider, why?' she replied uncertainly, thinking that was a strange question to be asking right now.

'Stay here, I'll be back in a flash.' Jack took off around the corner of the shed near his van, running like the devil was after him.

He was as good as his word and back in no time. 'C'mon girly... Up 'ere with me...'

Kathy swung around to see Jack perched on the back of his big chestnut horse.

'We've gotta get over there and stop that fire spreadin' an' I don't have a car.'

Kathy looked at Jack sitting on his horse still in his singlet with his hand outstretched. She almost laughed!

She let him hoist her up on to his horse.

'Hold on now,' he said over his shoulder. He nudged the horse and took off, quickly breaking into a gallop. Kathy held on tight; she had never ridden at full gallop before.

As they got closer to Frank's, they could see the flames licking up through the roof of the shed. The smoke had become thick and black.

Jack leapt from the horse then quickly helped Kathy down. He then grabbed a hose that was connected to a nearby tap.

'Here, get this goin'. I'll go get the fire truck out here. Hope he left the keys in the b.l.o.o.d.y thing.'

Kathy aimed the hose at the flames. The water pressure wasn't very strong but she kept at it.

'Wet the other shed down too. If a spark gets in there, it'll go up as well!' Jack yelled at her from the window of the fire truck. He had to hot wire it to get it going; Frank hadn't left the keys. Now he drove around behind the burning shed and started the water pump in motion.

Tammi returned, puffed after riding so fast. Quickly, she found another hose and set about wetting down the walls of the shed as Kathy hosed the roof.

Eventually, the Albury Fire Brigade arrived but the three of them had controlled the fire themselves.

The firemen were full of praise for their quick action.

'This would have turned into a major disaster if you girls hadn't been so quick to act.'

Then they turned to Jack. 'Your quick thinking is also to be commended, Mr Pearce.' They looked slowly down to his blackened knees and back up again.

'Your attire could be commended as well!' They doubled over in gales of laughter.

Kathy and Tammi looked at Jack, then at each other and they too burst into laughter until tears streamed down their cheeks.

Jack realised too late, much too late, that he was still in his long singlet. He looked at them laughing, glanced down at himself and joined in with a loud guffaw!

Jack was a trifle embarra.s.sed but made light of the situation.

'Well, thank heavens it's a long singlet, eh!' he chuckled.

Thankful to have contained the fire, the firemen began packing up. Jack climbed back into Frank's truck and parked it away from the doused fire. Tammi bent to pick up the bike from where she'd dropped it. Kathy was left holding the horse.

'Well, Tam, how did this one start?'

'Yeah, that's right, Eric's in court. He can't be in two places at once, now can he?'

Jack came back to stand beside the girls and the firemen climbed back into their truck.

'See you chaps then, and thanks.' Jack saluted them as the big engine began to slowly trundle its way back down the dirt driveway. Suddenly, it came to a halt. Blasting the horn, the firemen began to reverse.

'What's up?' Jack shouted.

'Another b.l.o.o.d.y fire, over there...' a Fireman yelled out the window.

Looking in the direction the man was pointing, Jack and the girls were able to see flames leaping from Bill Angus' property. Bill was Frank's neighbour from about three blocks away. It looked as though his huge shed was well alight! Jack jumped on the horse and the girls hopped in the back of the fire brigade's truck.

When they arrived at Bill's place, the grader parked near the shed was also on fire.

's.h.i.t! What's goin' on around this place? These fires had to have been started deliberately. There's no question about it. Someone's done it!' the fire chief bellowed as he unwound the hose once again.

'I thought they had the bloke who's been doin' all this?' one of the other firemen remarked.

'No, that's just it! They have the wrong man. Eric's not responsible for these or any other fires,' Tammi snapped at him.

'Look at this! How could he do this and be in court at the same time?!' exclaimed Kathy.

They had a hard time controlling this fire. It had a good start before they were able to get to it. It was while they were fighting fiercely, trying to contain it, that Tammi noticed smoke coming from up past Kia-Ora. The dark smoke was billowing high into the air.

'No way... Look, another b.l.o.o.d.y fire!' she shouted.

'You're jokin', girl. Not another one?' The chief turned to see where she was pointing. 'We'll have to stay at this one. Jack, get on the radio and call in help!'

'Tam, let's get back home and phone the court house. They have to be told what's happening out here,' Kathy spoke quietly.

'Okay, let's go.' They informed the men of what they were going to do.

The girls were hot and dirty when they reached home.

Hazel and Ted were frantic when the girls quickly told them what had been going on and now to top it off, there was the fire up further!

'Strewth, this's b.l.o.o.d.y terrible.' Ted shook his head. 'b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, what're we gonna do? No one's 'ere!'

Hazel was looking out the window with despair on her face. She held her hand at her throat, her chin quivering.

'The smoke from the third fire was now rising in thick palls. 'Tam, that fire's coming from Aunty Dawn's!' Kathy said, watching out the window over Hazel's head.

Looking out herself, Tammi exclaimed. 'Kath, my G.o.d... That's a new one... The other one seems to be behind the seminary.' What are we going to do?

Ted looked toward Dawn's. 'You're right, there's somethin' on fire up at Dawn's! We've gotta get up there, the brigade'll be too long. Did you call them again, Tammi?'

'I will now. I've only just got through to the court house.'

'You know what, I'll go and get the old truck out, you get on to the brigade and tell 'em there's even more fires out here and where they are. I'll be as quick as I can. Hurry, Tammi!' Ted's voice was shaking.

Kathy went with Ted to start the old international truck that had certainly seen better days. Hazel and Tammi climbed in as well, and with a shudder and several backfires, they were finally on their way.

Ted drove the old truck as fast as it would go. That wasn't very fast and every second seemed like an eternity. The fire at Dawn's was in the huge wood heap. Perfect fuel for the fire and it was burning savagely.

'My glory be...!' Hazel exclaimed.

'Grab buckets girls, and I'll find a hose.' Ted took a quick look around and it wasn't long before he was dragging a hose across to the fire.

Flames were now leaping as high as fifteen feet in the air. 'How can we control all this? Four fires within minutes of each other...' Kathy ran her hands through her hair, visibly distraught.

'I know, and that one behind the seminary looks like it's spreading. The smoke's got thicker,' Tammi pointed out.

At Bill Angus' place, the firemen and Jack finally had that fire out. Sirens screamed as two brigades rocketed off Urana Road into Centaur Road, lights flashing as they roared past.

'Here Jack, you'd better put these on, mate.'

The fire chief handed Jack a pair of overalls. He couldn't prevent the grin from spreading across his face as he pulled the overalls up over his singlet.

Poor Jack, he'd really been caught with his pants down!

In the hushed courtroom, Father Damien was back in the witness box.

Mr Kurl was in the process of questioning him about his eyesight when an officer entered bearing a message. The court clerk received the message, who in turn handed it to Mr Walsh, the magistrate.

Mr Walsh read the message and called the barrister and prosecutor to approach the bench. After speaking quietly to them, he adjourned the court and ordered Eric to appear before him in two days' time.

Everyone was curious about the message and the reason for the abrupt adjournment.

'What is it? What's goin' on?' Eric asked as soon as Mr Kurl returned to his seat.

'There's fires everywhere out in the valley! Sounds very serious. The message was for everyone to get home quickly. Help is urgently needed!'

People came crowding to the front of the courtroom. 'What's wrong, Mr Kurl? What's going on?' Questions fired at him from all directions.

The prosecutor raised his hands and asked for silence. When it became quiet enough to be heard, he informed them about the happenings in the valley. He had barely finished speaking when everyone turned and rushed out, anxious to get home to protect their properties.

'You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.'

Eric Hoffer

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

The two brigades rumbled to a halt at Dawn's. The firemen leapt down, pulling hoses out to douse the fiercely burning wood stack. Having one fire after another like this, all in a matter of minutes, was something they had never endured before.

'The washing... Kath, Aunty Dawn's washing!' Tammi pointed to some washing hanging on the clothesline. The flames were almost licking the trousers swinging in the breeze. Without any further thought, she ran across and started pulling the clothes from the line. Kathy rushed to help her. The heat from the fire was extremely intense.

'Kath, be quick! I think my skin's scorching!'

The girls managed to get all the clothes from the line and headed for the house. Hazel moved some caged ferrets away from the heat. She noticed them just in time.

Kathy and Tammi dumped the washing on Dawn's kitchen table.

'My arms, Kath, look!' Tammi showed Kathy her arms. The hair was singed and red blotches were forming. Kathy inspected them, looking then at her own arms. She'd been lucky her arms were red but not as severely as Tammi's.

'Tam, you're gonna have to have your arms looked at, they look pretty bad to me.' Just as she was about to say something else, Father Damien walked into the kitchen, startling them both.

'Father Damien, what on earth are you doing in here?' Kathy asked shocked.

'My dear, the door was open. I thought I may be of some help, so I came straight here after returning from the court. I was actually in the witness box when the message was announced for everyone to get out here as fast as possible.' He spoke in his mealy tone. 'These fires, from what I've heard, have been one after the other. Most suspicious. Eric could be in worse trouble now!'

'Eric!' Kathy exploded. 'Eric has nothing whatsoever to do with any fires, least of all these ones!'

'Listen, Father Damien, you're mistaken in your a.s.sumption that Eric has had anything to do with any of these dreadful fires.' Tammi was also instantly angry with the priest.

'How could he be in court and out here lighting fires?' she added.

'My child, calm yourself. Remember, mosquito coils have been found at the scene of most of the previous fires, and these fires would have probably started with the same thing. My dear girl... delayed action!'

Father Damien went to pull out a chair.

Kathy placed her hand on the back of it, preventing him.

'So, you think Eric has run around the valley setting fires in between his court hearings?' Kathy narrowed her eyes at him. 'You know what? Your even weirder than I thought, you idiot!' Her voice demonstrated her fury.