There was amiable conversation after another one of Taniki’s wonderful dinners, then it was time for the cats to get some sleep before another day of work in the Magic Valley.
The fire in the pit outside the cookhouse had died down to embers. As the last cat turned to leave, a gust of wind blew through the village. It made the embers glow brighter and caused a single, glowing ember to rise in the air. Within seconds, the ember dropped onto the thatched roof of the cookhouse where it lay smoldering.
~~~
“I’ll never get used to these early mornings,” Kyron thought, adjusting his hunting gear.
“Interesting,” he thought, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen mist in the village like this.”
And then, realization! “Fire!”
Running toward the cookhouse, he saw smoke rising from the thatched roof.
Instead of stopping to beat out an alarm on the drum hanging on the outer wall, he let out a shrill, screeching war cry and ran into the smoke.
“Taniki!” he yelled, running for her family’s living quarters.
“Taniki!” he yelled again, bursting through the door.
The room was filled with smoke. He coughed and dropped down on all fours to get below the smoke.
“Taniki!” but no answer.
He found the two tiny kittens, Pounce and Rowdy. He grabbed one by the nape in his teeth and the other under one arm and ran on three legs out of the smoke-filled room. He dropped them in the grass, clear of the smoke. He saw Isis and Cisco run toward him from their cabin across the clearing. He pointed to the kittens and turned to run back into the house.
He didn’t bother calling out again, just dropped back down on all fours. Mostly by touch, he found Dev and Kali. He carried them out one at a time, leaving them with Isis.
“Jen?” he asked breathlessly.
“She’s with Star at the cave,” Isis answered.
The thatched roof was now in full flame.
“I’m coming for you, Taniki!” he yelled, running through the communal area of the cookhouse.
Burning thatch rained down on him as he ran, diving through the doorway into the living quarters, his fur smoking where embers had burned into it.
Crawling across the floor, he was almost to the far wall before he found Taniki lying motionless on her sleeping pad.
Scooping her up, he turned back for the door. “Damn, damn, damn!” ran through his mind as he saw the burning roof had collapsed across the doorway. “Damn!”
He realized there was only one chance of escape. The cats built their houses with panels near the roof that could be tied open to let in fresh air.
“Okay, here we go!”
With Taniki held tightly under one arm and with claws fully extended, Kyron climbed the wall to the opening.
Without hesitation, he rolled sideways through the opening, hitting the ground rolling.
Instantly up and running. “The stream! Get to the stream!” was all he could think of.
Still holding Taniki, Kyron ran for the stream, smoke trailing from his burning fur.
Not stopping, he dove into the water, the cold making him gasp as he broke the surface.
Taniki came up out of the water, gasping, her eyes wide from the shock. She sputtered as Kyron carried her to the bank, where other cats were waiting.
Dropping to the ground, coughing and wheezing, he looked around frantically.
“It’s okay,” Baxter said. “Isis is with the kids, and Cassy is right here, helping Taniki. You just lie still. I think you’re going to need a little help too.”
Kyron lay back on the grass and breathed deeply, with an occasional cough. He’d done everything he could.
The entire village was awake now. Jax and Piper were in the center of it all.
“You cats, grab buckets and form a line to the stream!” Jax yelled above the noise.
Piper looked around and grabbed Zelli’s arm. “Take another cat with you and keep an eye on all the other buildings. We don’t want this fire to spread.”
“I can do that,” Zelli replied. “There’s Kikki, I’ll get her to help.”
“Jax, I know you need all the cats for hauling water,” Cassy told him, “but we need to get Taniki, Kyron, and the kids up to the waterfall. The smoke has damaged their lungs, and the cool mist will stop it from getting worse.”
“Right… Baxter, Juni, Breezy… to me!” Jax shouted.
Calling to Piper, he said, “I’m going with Cassy, you handle things here. I’ll be back as soon as I can. And be sure that Benji doesn’t screw up his knee, just have him stand in the line and pass buckets of water.”
“I’ve got it,” Piper said, scanning the frantic actions around her. “Go do what you need to.”
Jax hurried over to where six cats were lying on the bank of the stream, coughing and hacking, trying to draw a clear breath. When Baxter, Juni, and Breezy joined him, he handed out assignments. “Baxter, you carry Kyron, I’ll take Taniki, and you two take Kali and Dev. Cisco, you get the kittens. Cassy says we need to get them to the waterfall up by the cliffs as soon as possible. Any questions; she can answer on the way.”
“Load up, let’s go!” he said, carefully lifting Taniki, heading upstream.
None of the coughing cats offered any resistance as they were being carried.
“Pay attention to their breathing,” Cassy told them. “Shout if you need help, I’ll be right behind you.”
While the rest of the cats continued to throw water on the burning cookhouse, Jax and his group hurried along the trail leading to the waterfall.
Approaching the plunge pool at the base of the waterfall, Cassy said, “Find a comfortable place to lay them out so they’re breathing in the mist.”
“We don’t want them to get cold, though, they might go into shock. I brought blankets. If possible, prop them up to help with their breathing.”
As they were getting the injured cats situated, they heard a voice coming from up on the cliff.
“What’s going on?” Star called down from the cave entrance.
“There’s been a fire,” Cassy called back. “These cats breathed in too much smoke.”
“Who do you have with you?” Jax asked, already knowing the answer.
“Gabby, Jen, and Star,” Star replied. “We decided to work together on the night shift.”
“Finish what you’re doing and come on down,” He called back. “We can use your help.”
“We’ll be down in a few minutes,” Star said, retreating back into the cave.
Seeing her family laid out around the pool, Jen’s knees nearly gave out. Star was there to support her.
“There was a fire at the cookhouse, they breathed too much smoke,” Cassy explained. “Kyron saved them, but he also got too much smoke. He also has burns where embers burned through his fur.”
“The cool mist will help prevent swelling of their windpipes and should help them cough up the soot they breathed in.”
“For now, just keep an eye on their breathing and make sure they’re comfortable. I’ll get busy treating Kyron’s burns.”
“I think you have things handled here,” Jax said, “Keep who you want to stay, the rest of us need to get back to the village.”
“I’ll stay,” Baxter said. “Leave us Jen and Star, we should be okay.”
“I’ll be back when things settle down,” Jax said. “And Cassy… take care of those kittens, okay?”
Back at the village, things had settled down. Many of the cats were covered in soot. The cookhouse was a smoking mess. The log walls had survived the fire surprisingly intact. The thatch roof, of course, was burned to ash. The tables and benches in the communal area were beyond salvage, and everything in the living area was a total loss.
Isis moved through the cats, checking for burns or breathing problems.
Piper found Zelli up on the roof of one of the guest cabins. “What have you got?” she called up.
“I saw an ember land here,” Zelli said as she poured the bucket of water she was carrying into the space she’d dug into the thatch. “We’re going to have to keep a watch out for the next few hours.”
Holding the ladder, Kikki called up, “Do you need another bucket?”
“No, that’s got it,” Zelli replied. “I’m coming down.”
“How many like this have you found?” Piper asked, looking around the rest of the village.
“We’ve only found three so far,” Kikki said. “But those embers can be sneaky little buggers.”
“Okay, keep it up,” Piper said, turning back to the village center.
Standing near the smoking cookhouse, she called out, “Okay, everyone. Give me your attention.”
“The fire’s out, and Taniki and her kids, and Kyron are all being taken care of.”
“You’ve done well,” she said. “It’s time to take a break. Get something to drink. Sit down and catch your breath.”
“And thanks, everyone,” she said, looking at each one of the cats.
Jax and the three cats left the forest at the edge of the village. The smoke from the fire had changed from angry black to a soft, billowing white, and even that was dissipating.
“It looks like the fun’s over,” Jax said, watching the village cats start to head back to their cabins.
“How are the patients?” Isis asked, joining them.
“They’re all breathing the cool mist by the waterfall,” Cisco told her. “Cassy said that would help with any damage to their lungs. She says they should all be okay after a few days of rest.”
“What about Kyron? He was burned.” Isis said.
“Cassy said the burns would blister, but there was no deep tissue damage,” Jax said. “He’s going to hurt, but he’ll heal, and his fur will grow back.”
“That’s good news,” Piper said, having overheard. “We were lucky, but I have to say I’m not happy about the thatched roofs on our cabins.”
“I agree,” Cisco said. “It’s not like we need the insulation. Down here in the valley, it never gets all that cold.”
“Well, if we want to get fancy,” Jax said, “we could have roofs made of clay tiles, like some tribes do. That would take a lot of work or a lot of trade goods to hire it done.”
“Let me give it some thought,” Cisco said. “I’m starting to get an idea.”
“Well, until we come up with a solution,” Piper stated, “I think we should set up a late-night patrol to walk through the village at least once a night.”
“At least that would let everyone sleep a little easier.”
“Okay then,” Jax said. “Once everybody gets cleaned up and gets some breakfast, we can start getting this mess cleaned up.”
“Then we can decide what to do about replacing the cookhouse.”