Chapter 14

6 years later - 1981

"Sam! Will you please stop being so silly, and come down from here, now!" mum shouted at me from the safety of the open skylight. I was sitting on the ridgepole of the roof, refusing to come down. I'd been up here for twenty minutes already, but I wasn't scared. I often came up here on hot summer nights when I couldn't sleep. If I could climb up onto the roof in the dark, I could do it during the day. For some strange reason, mum didn't seem to understand that.

I was fourteen-years-old now, and in grade ten at the Newtown Grammar School. Since the fire, we now lived in a townhouse in Pontypandy, two streets behind the fire station. It wasn't quite the same as living in a detached house on the outskirts of town, but I knew it could've been a lot worse.

"Sam, come down from the roof now!" dad ordered from the footpath across the street. A crowd had started to gather, but I wasn't planning to come down anytime soon.

"Not until mum says I don't have to do it!" I shouted down at dad.

"Oh, this is ridiculous! It wasn't even my idea in the first place," I heard mum grumble to granddad, who had come home from Cardiff for Charlie's wedding tomorrow. "Charlie wanted Sam to be the groomsman. He's only doing this because he doesn't want to wear a suit in the middle of summer!"

"I don't want to wear a suit at any time, mum!" I retorted. "I look awful."

Mum sighed heavily. "Sam, if you don't come back inside within the next thirty seconds, I'll cut off your allowance for a year!"

Daro, mum! Why does she have to make threats like that? She knows I really want to see that new movie with my friends next month. Sighing heavily in defeat, I stood up to return to the skylight. I took one step towards it, but then a shingle broke under my foot.

"Argh!" I yelped as I felt myself sliding down the roof.

"Sam!" mum screamed.

Miraculously, as I slid off the roof, I managed to catch hold of the gutter with my fingertips.

"Oh, goodness! Someone, call the fire brigade!" I heard someone in the crowd shout.

No! I won't have them rescue me again! I thought as I desperately tried to pull myself back up. I managed to get my feet up higher, and I planted them firmly on the wall. Now, I was really glad I'd had my first growth spurt, because I was just tall enough to walk up the wall until I was high enough to change my grip on the gutter.

Straining hard, I managed to pull myself back onto the roof. Once I was sure I was safe, I paused to catch my breath. Just then, I heard Jupiter's sirens approaching.

"Ah, daro!" I muttered crossly. Then, I scrambled up the roof and over to the skylight. As soon as I'd climbed back inside the house, mum smothered me in a tight embrace, and she planted a kiss on my forehead.

"Oh, Sam! Whatever were you thinking? You could've been killed."

"I've been up there hundreds of times, mum," I retorted. "One of the shingles broke."

Mum gave me a hard slap on my shoulder.

"Ow!"

"That's for nearly giving me a heart attack! Now, let's get downstairs. You've got some explaining to do, young man."

We found granddad waiting downstairs along with Station Officer Boyce and Fireman Steele.

"Ah! There you are, Nurse Jones," Station Officer Boyce said. He glared sternly at me. "So, this is the third time in two months that we've been called out to rescue your son, and each time, when we arrive, we find that he's managed to rescue himself."

You're too slow, that's why. "I'm fine, Station Officer Boyce," I said. "I don't know who called you out, but I didn't need you."

"They said you were about to fall off the roof."

"I slipped, but I climbed back up."

"I don't know how you did it!" mum exclaimed. "You were hanging onto the gutter by your fingertips."

"Show me your hands, Sam," Fireman Steele instructed. I complied. They were rather red where I'd been hanging onto the edge of the gutter, but other than that, they were fine. "Hmm… With hands as strong as that, why don't we take him off your hands for a few hours, Nurse Jones? I'm sure he must be getting in your way with the wedding tomorrow and everything?"

"Actually, it'd be great if you could find a way to keep him occupied!" mum readily agreed. "I'm sure you'll be able to find something useful for him to do. That's if you're happy to look after him, Station Officer Boyce?"

"Erm, well… I suppose we could… Just for a few hours."

Fireman Steele stepped behind me, and he placed his hands firmly on my shoulders. "Don't worry, sir. I'll look after him. I know how to handle bored, energetic teenagers."

I gulped nervously. What on earth does he have in mind for me?

"Come along, young Sam," Fireman Steele instructed. "We're going to take you for a little ride in Jupiter."

"And then what?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll see."

…

I did see. As soon as we'd arrived back at the fire station, Fireman Steele set me to work washing Jupiter. I didn't complain. It was something for me to do, and far better than watching TV or helping with the wedding plans. It also gave me time to think.

Things sure are going to be different with Charlie moving out of home. I'm really going to miss him. Why did it have to be Bronwyn though? I know she's nice and all, but I hate the way she bosses me around. And Gwen too. She used to be so shy and quiet. I guess puberty really changes some girls. Now, she won't leave me alone!

"Ahem!"

I looked up to see Fireman Steele standing behind me.

"Are you nearly finished?"

"I think so, Fireman Steele."

Fireman Steele walked all around Jupiter, inspecting her closely. "Not bad. You can use the fire hose to wash the soap suds off now. Would you like to help set it up?"

I nodded. Then I watched as Fireman Steele slid open one of Jupiter's lockers. He took out a couple of big red fire hoses that had been rolled up together, and he handed the coil over to me. Surprised by the weight, I nearly dropped them.

"Sorry. I should've warned you that they're heavy. Now, carry those out into the yard there, and see if you can unroll them neatly."

I did a Fireman Steele instructed. I placed the coil down on its shortest side, with the brass nozzles facing me. I'd seen the firemen unrolling the hoses before, so I didn't think it'd be too difficult. I gave the coil a big push. To my dismay, the hoses unrolled a short distance before the coil fell over and stopped unwinding. I heard Fireman Steele snigger behind me.

"What did I do wrong?" I asked quietly.

"You tried too hard, for starters. You had the right wrist action though, which is good, because most people can't even get that. You need to use the weight of the hoses to unroll themselves. Don't give it too much force, or they'll just tip over. The aim is to unroll them quickly and as straight as possible. Why don't you roll them back up and try again?"

I did so. This time, I didn't push hard enough, and the hoses barely unrolled again, but at least they didn't tip over this time. Fireman Steele placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Keep practicing. You'll eventually get it. It takes time to learn how to master hose unrolling."

While I kept trying to unroll the hoses, Fireman Steele expertly unrolled a single hose, which he then connected to a hydrant near the training tower.

"When you're ready, you can hose off Jupiter," he said.

Reluctantly, I left the coil of hoses, and I picked up the single hose. I was about to turn it one, when Fireman Steele grabbed hold of the hose behind me. "Just in case. These hoses have enough power in them to knock you out," he explained. "I'm not sure I want to be the one trying to explain that to your mother. Right…water on."

He turned the tap handle. I felt the hose fill up with water, so I turned the nozzle. A tremendous jet of water shot out through the nozzle, catching me off-guard. Luckily, Fireman Steele managed to steady me, and I aimed the water at Jupiter's side.

"Good work, Sam," Fireman Steele praised. "Now, let's slowly move around to the front. Try not to trip over the hose."

Twenty minutes later, Jupiter had been thoroughly washed and dried. I'd even cleaned the water residue off the windows using an extra-long squeegee.

"Now what?" I asked Fireman Steele eagerly.

He seemed a bit surprised that I was now asking him for more work. "Hmm… Well, there's a few old piles of ash inside the smoke room that need to be cleaned out. I'll show you where to dispose of the ash. Be careful with it though. You don't want to get it all over yourself."

The buckets of ash weren't as heavy as the hoses had been, so I was able to complete that job quickly. Then, Fireman Steele got me to sweep out the garage and the training tower. That took a while, and by the time I'd finished, it was almost dark.

"You've done a great job today, Sam," Fireman Steele praised. "Why don't you come inside the kitchen for a cup of hot chocolate before I take you home?"

"Thanks," I replied tiredly.

…

"Here you go, Nurse Jones," Fireman Steele said to mum when he returned me home about half an hour later. "One son, safely returned."

"Thank you for looking after him, Norris," mum said as I entered the house. "I hope he wasn't any bother?"

"Oh, no. He just needed something to keep him occupied, that's all. Goodnight."

"'Night. Oh, will you be at the ceremony tomorrow?"

"Of course! I wouldn't miss it."

I was already heading for the stairs when mum closed the front door. "Dinner's almost ready, Sam."

"Okay. Is Charlie home?"

"Yes. He's in his room."

A moment later, I knocked on the door to Charlie's bedroom.

"Come in." I entered the room to find Charlie carefully laying out his wedding suit on his bed. "Oh, hi Sam. Sorry I've been ignoring you these past few days. I just wanted to ensure that everything goes smoothly tomorrow."

"It's okay. I understand. Are you nervous?"

"A bit," Charlie admitted. "But I won't be once the ceremony is over. I'm glad granddad was able to make it here in time."

"Yeah." I dropped my gaze.

Charlie sensed that something was wrong. "What's up, Sam? I thought you'd be happy for me."

"I am! It's just… I'm really going to miss you."

Unable to stop the flood of emotions that spread over us, Charlie and I hugged each other tightly.

"I suppose now is the best time to tell you that Bronwyn and I have decided to stay right here in Pontypandy," Charlie told me kindly. "Gareth has been helping us find a house to rent until we can afford a mortgage. So, I'll still be right here for you whenever you need me."

I smiled slightly. "Thanks, Charlie. I was so afraid that you were planning to life far away, like granddad."

"Well, you don't need to worry about that now. We're staying right here. But, as you know, Bronnie and I are having our honeymoon in Scotland. Do you think you'll be able to stay out of trouble for a week?"

"I'll try," I promised.

"Good. And this'll give you a chance to get used to living on your own with just mum and dad. You'll have to until you're old enough to move out of home yourself."

"Yeah. I just wish mum would stop pestering me. She doesn't do that with you."

"She does that because you're her baby, and whether you like it or not, you always will be. Just try and put up with her pampering. Now, we'd better get downstairs for dinner. I want to get to bed early tonight, because we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Is Gwen taking part in the wedding too?" I asked Charlie as we made our way downstairs.

"Of course. She's one of Bronwyn's bridesmaids."

"Oh. Can you please make sure she doesn't go near me?

Charlie nearly laughed. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Sam! I know she's got a crush on you, so you'll have to deal with her yourself."

"Thanks for the brotherly support!" I sneered.

"Hey, you didn't lift a finger to help me when Bronwyn had a crush on me. So, now it's your turn. Who knows? You might end up marrying Gwen one day." Before I could think of anything to say in reply to that, Charlie turned his attention to mum. "Is dinner ready, mum?"

"Yes, Charlie. And I've made your favourite for your final night as an unmarried man. Okay, everyone. Let's eat!"