26. End of an Era

‘…And that’s all we’ve got time for on tonight’s Talky Sim. Can I have a final round of applause for El Tigre? Best of luck for the future, lads, and I hope this isn’t the end of the end! Join me next week when my guests will be…’

Will muted the television and stared at his new friend in disbelief. ‘So you’re telling me that you are the son of Ethan Blaine? Ethan Blaine’s your father?!’

Dylan nodded, trying to look nonchalant. ‘Yup, that’s right.’

‘But… What?! Why are you here then? Why aren’t you in some penthouse, fast tracked into being the chief or something? Why are you a water boy?!’

‘Well, you know. I want to prove myself,’ Dylan shrugged.

‘Fair enough,’ Will grinned. ‘You’re an idiot though! This training is going to be well tough!’

Dylan chuckled. ‘Oh, I know! I might be gone in a few days! I’ve got a feeling that Clara’s not exactly going to go easy on us!’

‘You’ll be in that fire engine driving straight to the HQ tomorrow morning after our first PT session!’ Will joked. Neither boy noticed the figure climbing the stairs and entering the landing, a stern expression on her face.

‘Now then, lads! Do we really feel it’s a good idea to be up late given how early we’ll be up tomorrow morning? I don’t expect to hear any grumbling from either of you boys when the lights go on at six am! We’ve got a lovely five mile jog planned for you, just to get you both warmed up!’ Clara smiled warmly at the bashful faces staring back at her, a steely glint in her eyes. Dylan had already worked out that she would be the nicest, most generous teacher he could have hoped to get to train him into being a professional firefighter, with one condition – he didn’t get on her bad side.

He hoped to gnomes he wasn’t going to get on her bad side!

‘Sorry, Clara. We were just heading to bed now,’ Will muttered, Dylan chiming in with his agreement. Clara beamed.

‘Good lads! You’re going to need all the sleep you can get! Oh and Will, do remember – fire appliance, not fire engine. You’re not a three year old playing with a toy set!’ Clara winked as Dylan and Will ran up the stairs to their dormitory before shaking her head. Bless them, they were so naive!

*

‘Come on, Dylan! How do you expect to fight fires when you can’t even lift that measly weight? You won’t even be able to hold the hose, let alone carry someone down a ladder! Put some effort in!’

‘I’m trying!’ Dylan could hardly speak as he focused on slowly pumping the weights up and down with his legs, trying not to stare enviously as Clara benchpressed twice what he was struggling to lift with complete ease.

Glancing over from her own bench, Clara noted the expression on her pupil’s face. ‘Be careful though, Dylan,’ she said gently. ‘Don’t push yourself too hard! If it starts to hurt take a break, okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ Dylan grunted, successfully bringing his legs right up. ‘I just didn’t realise how out of shape I was!’

‘To be fair, you’re doing better than Will! You okay there, Will?’ Clara called over as a yelp came from the other side of Dylan’s bench.

‘Yep, yep! Just need to find my stride!’ Will called back breathlessly, picking himself up. A little clumsy, Will was finding it hard to time his pace with the treadmill and had spent more time picking himself up than actually running.

‘Oh for goodness’ sake! Don’t let that thing beat you, son!’ Dylan and Will jumped as the muscular figure of Alan Bennett, the fire station chief, strolled out casually into the exercise yard. Dylan instantly laid back on his bench and began feverishly benchpressing, desperate to impress the man who would ultimately decide whether he had a future in the fire service. Alan nodded approvingly at Dylan before turning his attention to Will.

‘Right, you! Let’s get your feet working in time with the machine! At my count – one! Two! One! Two!’

Clara and Dylan shared a grin as Will tried his best to keep in time with the chief’s counting. ‘Come on Will, you can do it!’ Dylan called out in support.

‘That’s what we like to see here, a team looking out for one another! Your friend’s right, son, you can do it!’ Alan bellowed, and Dylan tried to suppress his delighted grin. He was going to like it here!

His first real fight with a fire came a couple of weeks later, after what felt like daily marathons of physical training. It was only a small fire a couple of streets away from the fire station, and Dylan had been thrilled when Clara had called him to assist her. While it had only been a small fire, caused by a candle being knocked from a holder onto a wooden floor, Dylan’s heart had raced as he ran into the panicking woman’s home brandishing his extinguisher.

Clara had stood back a little, letting Dylan fight the small blaze by himself to see how he coped as she comforted the shocked woman. Gritting his teeth, Dylan focused and began to put out the flames. Within five minutes he had fully extinguished the flames and breathlessly picked up the melted remains of the culprit candle, the adrenaline still pulsating through his veins.

‘Be a bit more careful with these in future, madam!’ he smiled gallantly as the woman gushed her thanks, enjoying the feeling that was slowly replacing the panic. Pride!

‘You did well today, kid,’ Clara said as she drove them back to the station. ‘Very impressive!’

‘Wow, thanks! I’m just glad I didn’t accidentally knock anything onto the fire and make it spread or anything,’ Dylan laughed, the smile still permanently etched on his face. ‘It’s such a rush, isn’t it?’

Clara nodded in agreement. ‘It never goes away. I’ve been in the service for seven years and my heart still races every time I hear the alarm go off!’

Arriving back at the station, Dylan hopped out of the fire appliance and changed back into his training slacks. Walking out of the garage, he was stopped in his tracks by a ginger cat that came bounding up to him.

‘Hello there! Who’re you?’ He grinned as he bent down a little, letting the cat sniff his hand. Running a hand through her short hair, Clara smiled as she saw the familar feline.

‘Fluffers! Dylan, meet the station cat. He turned up one day out of the blue and hasn’t really gone away since. We took him to a vet just in case he was lost but he didn’t have a microchip, and no-one replied to the posters we put up. After a couple of months we got him chipped and collared, and he’s stuck around ever since. Well, I say stuck around, you do like going for your wanders, don’t you Fluffers? Bit of a free spirit. See you inside, Dyl.’

As Clara headed into the station Dylan knelt down to stroke Fluffers properly. ‘So, you’re Fluffers, hey? I’m Dylan!’

Miaowing, Fluffers rubbed his head against Dylan’s hand. ‘Nice to meet you too!’ Dylan laughed.

As the weeks went by both Dylan and Will were entrusted with more and more tasks around the station; their training was progressing well and the two boys were on a fairly even kilt once Will had managed to control his own feet! Dylan’s proudest moment came not fighting a fire, oddly enough, but when he was asked to perform the basic maintenance on the station’s alarm system.

Dylan knew that this was one of the most important things he could have been asked to do – one slip and the whole system was down, they wouldn’t receive any calls to go anywhere and lives could be in danger! He knew exactly what he was doing and that he wasn’t making any mistakes, but Dylan’s heart was still in his mouth as he poked behind the bell with his screwdriver.

It just feels like all I’m doing is hitting the mechanics, I can’t believe this actually fixes anything, Dylan thought as he stood back from the alarm, calling Clara to come and check his work. Once it had been okayed and signed off on his training sheet, he walked back round to the garage to return his tools to the kit. Opening the door, he saw Alan fixing the appliance’s engine. He watched for a moment, thinking of the day he could just casually pop open the hatch on the side of the station’s most precious equipment and start work.

Noting Dylan’s presence, Alan looked over at the young apprentice. ‘How’d you get on with the alarm, son?’

‘Er… Yes! Fine! Clara said I’d done everything right, so hopefully it’s still working properly,’ Dylan laughed feebly. Alan nodded and turned back to the exposed engine.

‘Good to hear, good to hear. You and William are coming along nicely with your training. We had to let the last couple of trainees go, so it’s a nice change to have two hard working lads like you two. Good attitudes, you’ve got. I’ve already discussed this with William, but I’ll let you know now too – The next serious alarm, category B, we get, you’re both coming along to assist Clara and myself, initially to mostly shadow but obviously to get stuck in if you’re needed. How do you feel about that?’

Dylan nodded speechlessly, trying to find the words.

‘Well? Did you hear me lad? Oh!’ Alan gave Dylan a fatherly smile as turned to see his young charge’s expression. ‘Just you be ready, son. The call could come at any time!’

*

It finally did come three days later as Dylan and Will had been working out in the exercise yard. They’d both leapt out of their skin as the alarm sirens blasted throughout the station, the red lights flashing to let them know it was a category B scenario. Dylan and Will had exchanged tense glances before scrambling to get into their gear and into the appliance.

The call had come from the local hospital. A severe electrical fault had meant that some of the large lighting fixtures had suddenly exploded in two of the wards, causing severe blazes in the north building.

‘Right, I’ve got the information from the head of staff on duty… There are no patients trapped in the buildings, everyone is accounted for. This is not a rescue mission. Just get in, get the fires out, and get out. Will, you’re with me, we’re going to shut off the electrics at the main board and tackle the smaller blaze in Ward 2C. Dylan, you’re with Alan on the larger fire in Ward 2B, then joining us if you finish before we do. Understood?’

Will and Dylan nodded at Clara and the four ran into the building, hauling their equipment with them. Will and Clara split off as they raced to shut down the electrics, and Dylan followed Alan down a maze of corridors, noting the smoke getting thicker and thicker as they headed towards it’s source.

In spite of his protective clothing, Dylan nearly fainted as the heat of the fire hit him square in the chest walking into the room. Several beds were already on fire, and Alan yelled out a warning to Dylan to watch his head; the metal from the light fittings was melting, dropping molten metal everywhere. ‘Get your extinguishers out son, I need your help here!’ the fire chief shouted over the crackling of the fire.

Dylan went into auto-pilot as he began battling with the flames, his head swimming a little as he fought all his natural instincts to get out of the burning room. As soon as he got one section of the fire under control it seemed to spread to another area, and more than once Alan had to pull him back before he accidentally got himself surrounded by the blaze.

‘Watch your back son!’

Furiously, Dylan began spraying around the fire, penning it back so it couldn’t spread further. Alan roared his approval of Dylan’s tactics. ‘That’s the way to do it, lad! Let’s get this fire out!’

Together, the fire chief and the apprentice managed to slowly contain the raging blaze and eventually managed to get the fire out. As they completed their safety checks and ensured there was nothing left smouldering, Alan turned to Dylan.

‘Good work there, lad. Thinking outside the box, that’s what we like to see! You’ll make a fine firefighter, my lad. You’ve done well today. I’m proud of you!’

Dylan thought his heart would burst with happiness!

*

Back at the station after leaving the hospital, Alan went to sort out the paperwork and Clara and Will went to get cleaned up. Knowing he would have to wait to use the shower himself, Dylan wandered through to the exercise yard wondering whether he should call his parents or not, his thoughts turning to home. He knew that they’d only worry if he went into detail about the fire at the hospital but they’d like to know what the chief had said to him, surely?

As he passed his locker he decidedly opened it and pulled out his mobile. His Mum and Dad would like to know that the firechief was proud of their son, he was sure of it! He smiled as he thought of what their reactions would be to such glowing praise of their son, tingles running down his spine. They’d be so proud!

Starting to dial as he pushed the back door open, Dylan stopped dead. ‘No… Not you… Not here!’ he whispered.

Alerted by the sound of the door, Puzzle carefully put Fluffers back on the floor and waved madly at his friend. ‘Dylan! Hello! Puzzle found you! Puzzle found Dylan! Puzzle happy!’

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