Tinderbox

She turned left and then left again. Ten minutes later, she was lost and a tree in front of her was on fire.

Margee was searching for Cooper when she ran into the boys. He’d been gone for nearly two months and everyone said it was time to stop looking. Her pockets were full of his favourite treats and her arms were so scratched she had to bathe them in salt water when she got home. Last week, she’d found a tick embedded in her calf and when she removed it using the plastic device she’d bought for Cooper, she cried for an hour. Not because of the tick, although that was bad enough, but because she missed him so badly.

The boys were in their early twenties, dressed in khaki shorts and hiking boots and Margee could tell from their bedrolls they were hiking the trail. She had walked it herself when she was younger, but it was cooler then. Already the temperature was approaching thirty and it would rise by ten degrees at least before nightfall.

‘Morning.’

They seemed surprised to see her. They hadn’t expected to bump into a dishevelled old woman in flowery overalls.

‘Hey,’ the taller of the two replied.

He had a wispy beard that didn’t sit comfortably on his babyish face.

‘You haven’t seen a dog, have you? Medium-sized, brown, with white around the muzzle?’

A lump formed in Margee’s throat. She still found it hard to talk about Cooper. Her daughter, Ava, said he would have died soon anyway, which was insensitive, but probably true. Cooper was eleven and would be twelve next week, which somehow made his absence worse.

The boy shook his head. Their gear was box-fresh, and she hoped they knew what they were doing. With no phone signal, you were on your own if you ran into a bear or twisted your ankle.

‘Nope. We saw a squirrel a while back, but that’s all. How long has he been gone?’

‘Two months, just about.’

‘Wow,’ the second boy said. ‘That’s a long time.’

They were thinking the same as Ava. Cooper wasn’t coming back.

‘Well, keep an eye out, just in case. Here.’ Margee reached into her pocket and took out a card. She had a box of them left from selling jewellery at the market. Silver bangles and rings with turquoise inlay. Now her fingers were too stiff to hold the soldering iron. ‘If you see him, call me.’

The boy glanced at the card.

‘Sure.’

He was humouring her.

***

The phone rang a few minutes after she got home.

‘Ma?’ Ava sounded tense, which wasn’t unusual. Her daughter’s life was exhausting. A high-pressure job, three kids at private school, an intense grooming regimen that cost more than Margee’s annual income, and a house with an infinity pool that still wasn’t big enough or fancy enough for Ava and her Ivy League husband. According to Ava, Margee’s nineteen thirties bungalow was a hovel. ‘Have you been listening to the news?’

Above Margee’s head, the fan rotated in lazy circles, barely displacing the stifling air, which had settled over the room like a shroud. Margee confessed she hadn’t, and Ava gave an exasperated sigh.

‘I’ve told you, Ma, you need to keep the radio on for your own safety.’ She paused and Margee heard a child’s voice in the background. She had two grandchildren and they might as well have been creatures from another planet; attached to their screens like limpets and speaking a language she didn’t understand. ‘There’s a fire, a big one. That forest around you is a tinderbox, Ma. You need to get out.’

Margee ended the call while Ava was still talking, and when the phone buzzed again, she switched it off. Ava was always nagging her to move to Dallas so she wouldn’t have to travel to what she called ‘outer nowhere’ to visit her. She came twice a year, the minimum her conscience would allow, and stayed for a week, making life miserable for them both. Last week she’d sent Margee a link for a one bedroomed apartment in a development for seniors. There was a fold out seat in the shower and a cord to pull if you fell over. It was the most depressing thing Margee had ever seen.

In the yard, the trees shivered. The wind was getting up, and a plume of smoke was visible in the distance, rising from the forest like a genie. Margee filled a bottle with water and pulled on her boots. She was thinking about Cooper, but also about the boys with their pasty city complexions and expensive gear. The trail followed the scenic route past the canyon, but there was a cut-through that sliced off a couple of miles and, if she hurried, she might make it in time to warn them.

She whistled for Cooper as she walked, and when something rustled in the undergrowth, her heart stopped and a bird flew out of a bush, squawking. It was always a bird. After that she turned right, but when the path forked again she hesitated. It looked different from how she remembered. Left? Right? She turned left and then left again. Ten minutes later, she was lost and a tree in front of her was on fire.

That was when she saw him. He was at the edge of the path and, at first, she thought she was hallucinating.

‘Baby?’ She closed her eyes, but when she opened them, he was still there. He looked well. Not like a dog that had been missing for two months. She held out her hand because if she touched him, she would know he was real, but he moved further away, luring her onto a path so narrow it looked as if an animal had made it. ‘What? You want me to follow you?’

A blast of wind sent embers skittering through the air like fireflies, igniting two more trees. If she didn’t go now, they would both be trapped.

Cooper loped ahead stopping every so often to let her catch up. It was hard going. The path was steep and, as they descended through the trees, Margee’s lungs were burning. Once she fell and Cooper stood patiently until she hauled herself up. They seemed to walk forever and when, at last, they rounded a corner and she saw the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles; she was on the verge of collapse. Seconds later, a firefighter was pressing an oxygen mask to her face, and the relief was so overwhelming she didn’t realise Cooper was missing until she’d taken several breaths. She pushed the mask aside.

‘Where’s my dog?’

‘Dog?’ The firefighter frowned. ‘I haven’t seen a dog, Mam.’

Margee looked around frantically, but there was no sign of Cooper amongst the firefighters and police officers.

‘He was in front of me. Medium-sized, brown.’

A female officer was coming towards them and the firefighter shouted across to her.

‘You haven’t seen a dog, have you, Alice? This lady says she had a dog.’

‘Afraid not. Although you’re not the first person to mention one.’ The officer smiled at Margee. ‘The two boys my colleague picked up half an hour ago said a dog showed them the way. Perhaps he’s gone to help someone else.’

***

It was a year before Margee could return to her house. Ignoring Ava’s protests, she bought an old RV and parked it in the yard so she could supervise the repairs, and when the contractor’s dog had puppies, she took the smallest. He was brown with oversized ears and she called him Malcolm for no other reason than she liked the name. Malcolm slept on her bed as Cooper had done, and sometimes, when they were out walking and the weather was clear, she would glimpse Cooper, tail wagging frantically, waiting for Malcolm to catch up.

Thank you for reading Tinderbox. If you enjoyed this story a share or a restack would be much appreciated and if you haven’t subscribed, I would be thrilled to have your company on my writing journey. I post two or three twisty short stories a month, so I promise I won’t overwhelm your inbox.

Last but not least, all my stories are free, but any donations made through the ‘Buy me a Coffee’ link below will go to Zante Strays. This lovely charity rescues and re-homes stray cats and dogs on the Greek island of Zante. Including our pup Smee pictured below on his favourite beach.