After all the paddling the girls had done they had no trouble falling asleep, all except Nancy. Whether it was the fatigue in her arms making her uncomfortable or she was troubled by thoughts of the act of vandalism inflicted upon them, she didn't fall asleep right away, and then she didn't really feel sleepy. She rolled out of bed carefully so as not to disturb Ivy. She slipped on some sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt and wandered down the stairs.
She was going to turn on the kitchen lights but became aware of the moonlight filtering into the room. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She inched the window open to feel the draft of cool air. Nancy had discovered that in this place however hot it was in the afternoon all the heat from the land seemed to radiate upward to the fathomless dark sky each night and be lost. As she looked out the window she was impressed by the hush that fell over the nighttime world. Only the chirping of insects and cries of distant birds could be heard. Calm moonlight glimmered on the lawn. The lights of their neighbors' houses could not be seen, and there were no streetlights. It felt strange and lovely to be in genuine night, she thought.
Just then she saw two circles of flame sprout up on the lawn. She could barely see a dark figure scampering into the woods. The flames were near Jesse's tent! There was no time to lose. Nancy switched on the lights and ran up the stairs to wake Mr. Fisk. As he told her he would be up shortly, she raced to the back door and outside. She ran to the tap on the outside wall and turned on the lawn sprinkler. She didn't even know if this would reach the fire but she had to try it while she went to rescue Jesse.
Frantically she rushed across the lawn. She shouted Jesse's name as loudly as she could. Just as she got to the tent he stuck his groggy head out the opening. "Thank goodness you're awake," Nancy panted. She paused only long enough to assure herself that Jesse had no difficulty extricating himself from the tent. "I'm going to get the hose nozzle," were all the words she spared for him before she rushed off again, this time to the garden shed.
"Oh, you idiot," she admonished herself when she reached the shed. "I forgot to bring a flashlight." It was almost pitch dark inside the shed and she had to find the shelves with her hands. It seemed like a clock was ticking inside her head as she groped along each shelf. Finally she found it and hurried to the sprinkler.
A wide area of grass was now blackened and smoldering. Thick gray smoke wafted up from it. A narrow border of orange flames was spreading outward. Nancy remembered that it had not rained since she had arrived on the island. She ran through the cold shock of the sprinkler shower hitting her body and grabbed the sprinkler. The light of the fire made it easy to undo the hose. Only with the nozzle in her hand and the hose attached did she allow herself to feel relief. Jesse was now standing in the center of the lawn. Nancy became aware of the presence of others. Mr. Fisk, Horace and a middle-aged man she recognized as the proprietor of the Broad Harbour general store were also on the lawn. Nancy could douse the edge of the fire and prevent it from spreading but the water pressure was low and the burning patch continued to smolder and occasionally send up tongues of flame.
Nancy looked up to see Horace staring at her intently. The light of the fire flickered on his face, casting black shadows from his features. Nancy lowered her gaze. For the brief moment that she had made eye contact she sensed a deep loneliness and longing. Not only was the attention so unexpected but she felt that there must be some mistake. He must be looking past her at some other woman. Gradually her self-composure returned. She told herself she mustn't do anything to encourage him.
"It's a good thing you were awake, Nancy," said Mr. Fisk. "There's no telling how far the fire could have spread given a little more time." He glanced at Jesse's tent and his face looked tired and strained.
"It could still spread," Mr. Podmore pointed out with alarm. "Burning ashes could blow from the fire into those trees. That would be a disaster. Luckily the wind is calm tonight. I'll go get the fire extinguisher from my boat. Horace, you've got one too, don't you?" Nancy saw Mr. Podmore glance anxiously in the direction of the prospector's cabin. Horace reacted as if he were being awakened from a dream. He nodded and the two hurried off wordlessly towards the road. Nancy realized it wasn't late, only eleven o'clock, but wondered how the two men had managed to arrive so quickly.
Out of the corner of her eye Nancy noticed a light on the road. It had to belong to someone walking alongside the road, pointed downward to illuminate the ground in front of them. Nancy thought it was curious that anyone would be walking along this quiet stretch of road at this time of night. The figure was screened by trees but for a moment the beam of the light was raised and Nancy thought she saw longish blonde hair. With the risk that the fire could flare up again she could not even consider following the figure.
"Thank goodness you're alright," exclaimed Mr. Fisk to Jesse who looked bewildered as he joined them.
Jesse seemed too shocked to say anything at first, then he mumbled, "The smell of the smoke was so strong, it woke me up, I think."
A half an hour later they were seated in the kitchen with the fire extinguished, and Mr. Fisk could joke, "I guess this doesn't rank up there with your usual exploits, rescuing kidnap victims from armed gunmen, saving pilots from planes crashed into the sea. Putting out a lawn fire won't land you in the headlines."
Nancy smiled weakly. "I'm sure I would rather not be the subject of newspaper headlines." She turned to the other two men. "I was wondering how the two of you got to the scene so soon," she asked, as if it were casual conversation.
"I saw the light from the fire at my place, so I went to investigate," said Horace. He was acting sullen and avoided Nancy's gaze.
"And I happened to be driving by and saw this young lady fending off the flames by her lonesome," said Mr. Podmore.
Nancy was still puzzled. She didn't think it was possible to see Horace's property from the lawn, and she didn't remember hearing Mr. Podmore's truck going past. She would need to get out first thing in the morning to examine the remains left by the fire.
Everyone in the room had to know that the fire had been deliberately set. It could not have started naturally or by accident. No one was willing to say anything, however. Perhaps they did not wish to alarm Jesse any further.
Jesse was grateful. Nancy could see it in the shy smile he gave her, but he felt awkward to say more. Nancy quite understood and was glad not to hear more glowing praise.
"Mr. Podmore," Jesse asked, "are you the A.J. Podmore who wrote a history of the island?"
"Why yes, it's only a modest little booklet, but I'm glad you appreciate it."
"I have some questions I would really like to ask you," said Jesse, his face glowing with enthusiasm.
"I think it can wait until tomorrow," decided Mr. Fisk. "It's getting late and these men need to get home."
Nancy needed to shower and change her clothes. "There's always a downside to saving lives," she thought.
Jesse had moved his belongings into the livingroom of the house and slept in a sleeping bag on the carpet.
The other girls had slept through the whole incident. There didn't seem any point in waking them. As Nancy slid into bed she was wondering whether the actions taken against them were all intended to prevent them from finding the gold. But the residents of the island had had ten years with the house empty to uncover the gold. It didn't make sense. All she was certain, Nancy thought, was that the danger of the incidents was rising, and all it would have taken tonight was a gust of wind to be lethal. She couldn't help reflecting that the island seemed such a calm, pleasant paradise yet there were ugly human emotions at work here. Whether it was fear, greed, hatred, or anger, Nancy wished she knew the exact motivations behind these attacks.