Burn Season novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: A Roster Is a Promise

"I'll be right out," I said through the door.

My voice sounded like someone else's.

I dressed in the dark, with my back to the bed and my braid half undone.

Walker was already pulling on his shirt.

He didn't say a word.

When I opened the door, the sun was a hard white line over the ridge.

Kasey stood on the step with the base manager beside her.

Her eyes went past my shoulder to Walker, and then back to me.

"Oh," she said softly. "I didn't realize."

"What's the vote?" I asked.

"The senior spotter has to leave for another fire by noon," the manager said. "So we do it now. Come on."

The crew was already sitting around the fire ring.

I took the empty place next to Bea, and she pressed her knee against mine without looking at me.

The three committee members sat at the head of the circle.

The manager.

The senior spotter, a gray-haired man who hadn't said ten words to me in five years.

And Kasey, with a clipboard on her lap and her ponytail neat.

The manager read the list of names for next year's squads.

When he got to mine, he stopped and looked up.

"MacLaren, the committee has no objection. Two good calls in nine days, and the north flank is on the record."

He nodded to me.

"I'd like to put you on the first squad."

"Thank you, sir."

"Any concerns?" he asked, and glanced down the row.

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