Fire on the Friscos
Margaret “Meg” Scott walked quickly down the long
pen-bordered drive. Turning, she looked back up at the big stone ranch house
that was the headquarters of the Arrow S horse farm. She was a pretty girl with
brown hair and eyes.
She entered a big pasture full of horses and caught a little
filly that was black as night.
“Come on, Black Magic.” She put a lead on the filly’s neck
and tugged it gently.They went back to the tack room. As she was saddling up, a
young boy of about fourteen came up leading a prancing bay colt with four white
feet.
“Boots and I are going riding too, Sis,” he said.
“Okay, Jack,” Meg replied.
They started off toward the towering peaks above the ranch,
following a narrow road that wound up the lower hills. “It surely looks clear
this morning, doesn’t it, Blackie? You could almost touch the old Friscos up
there.”
A few minutes more, they came to a gate. Just as she jumped
off to open it, a young man in a green Forest Ranger uniform stepped forward.
“I’m sorry but the forest is closed now because of the fire danger, miss.”
“Thank you, sir. I guess that means we have to turn around.
I’m Meg Scott from the Arrow S down the hill and this is my brother Jack. We ride up here a lot. Who are you?”
“I’m Ron Bradley, one of the district rangers. Thank you for
cooperating with the closure.”
After that they turned and rode back toward the ranch.
Later that afternoon two rough looking cowboys came down off
the hills past the ranch. Meg stopped them.
“Don’t you know the forest is closed? You didn’t go past the
fence, did you?”
“We don’t pay no attention to that kind of stuff. We can
ride wherever we want to,” one said. He tossed the butt of his cigarette close
to her feet as they spurred their horses and galloped off.
By late that evening, the smell of smoke was heavy at the
ranch. By the next morning, they could see the fire, burning fast and hot.
About eight thirty, Ron Bradley came down the road. He was
galloping his big bay horse. He reined in at the yard gate. Jack dashed out to see what he wanted.
“Get down and come in,” Jack offered. Ron shook his head.
“I don’t have time. I just needed to see if we can get water
here for the fire fighters.”
Mr. Scott had come out to hear what was going on. “You sure
can,” he said. “We’ll leave the gate open to the big tank. Help yourselves. The
kids told me about the guys who came by yesterday. We wonder if they might have
started the fire, dropping a cigarette or even on purpose.”
Right then it was more urgent to contain and put out the
fire than to worry about who had started it but Ron said they’d check back
later on that.
For a week and a half, the fire raged but they got it
contained and finally put out. It never threatened the Scotts but they worried
for a few days. They all helped as much as they could. Mrs. Scott cooked extra
food for the fire fighters, Mr. Scott loaned tools and horses and Meg and Jack
rode back and forth to carry messages since the phone at the ranch was the main
communication for the crews. They soon became good friends with Ron and some of
the others.
In the end almost 10,000 acres of beautiful forest was
destroyed, timber, brush and grass all burned to ash. The evening after the
fire was declared safely out, four men came to the ranch. They were Carl
Markham, the chief forester and Joe Anderson, chief of the firefighters, Ted
Lovell, the local sheriff and Ron Bradley. After they praised and thanked the
Scotts for their generous help. they announced the fire was definitely man-caused
and asked the family if they had any clues as to who might have done it.
Meg and Jack remembered the scruffy cowboys and their rude
attitude. They gave the rangers and
officers the best description they could remember. One had ridden a buckskin
horse and the other had called him Sam as they started off. That one had ridden
a gray with a brand from down the valley. Jack added that both men had been
smoking and Meg told how they were scoffing at the “forest closed” signs.
“We’ll be on the lookout for those guys,” the sheriff
assured before they left.
A week later the newspaper told how Jed Crowley and Sam
White had been arrested and would soon go on trial for arson, having either
accidentally or deliberately caused the fire. The Scott family went to witness
the trial but were soon more involved in it..
Much to her surprise, Meg was called as a witness. The
courtroom was silent as she took the oath and sat down. She told her story in a
clear voice and answered the lawyers’ questions calmly. Nothing could shake her
statement.
The jury did not take long to decide the two men were guilty
and both received harsh sentences.
That evening Ron came out to the ranch again. He and Meg
went for a walk. They reached a hilltop overlooking the valley and stopped to
enjoy the sunset.
“We need a smart girl like you in the Forest Service,” Ron
said.
“How do I go about getting hired?”
He laughed. “Just take this ring and I’ll get an application
and help you fill it out.” He sounded half serious and half in fun, but when
Meg held her hand out, he slipped a small gold band over her finger.
She drew a deep breath as she looked at the ring. “Isn’t
twenty-one too young to think about serious choices like a career and getting
engaged or married?”
“Twenty-one is a very good age to do that,” Ron replied, a
twinkle in his eye. “Especially if a person is very wise and mature for her
age.”
“What the Forest Service really needs is more good men like
Carl Markham and you,” Meg returned.
“But we went to get women involved too,” Ron said. Then he
kissed her.
Hand in hand, they turned and went back down to the ranch.
The Scott family was a little surprised but soon agreed that this was a good
step for everyone. Jack ran around delighted, yelling, “Wow, I’m going to be
the brother of a forest ranger. Wahoo!”
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