Chapter 1: The Fire

Pat growled as he got up and left Shanelle, heading to the upstairs bathroom. Okay, maybe she was right, that extra glass was too much… Date night had been fun, with Lucky and Chucky at his parents they'd finally had a chance for a bit of romance, but Shanelle had warned him that he wasn't the young dog he'd once been and that the extra glass of wine wasn't a good idea. She had been right, as usual, which meant he had to hobble down the hall with a halfie and hope he'd have decent aim in the dark.

He fumbled around for the doorknob to the bathroom was greeted by a warm glow when he opened the door. I thought we packed the kids' nightlight? He noticed that the outlet by the sink was empty. Yeah, we packed it. So where's that light coming from? He looked around for a minute, his brain still half dead at the combination of light inebriation and arousal taking most of its vital resources, eventually discovering it was filtering through the blinds. What? There's no way its morning already… he pulled up the shade and quickly took a half-step back, almost slipping on the bathmat.

"Shanelle! We need to call Triple 0!" He ran back down the hall.

She blinked, sitting up as he ran into the room. She watched Pat fumbling for his phone on the nightstand. "Pat, what's going on?"

"The Heeler's house is on fire!"

***BCH***

Bandit woke up to the smell of smoke. He slowly opened his eyes, to be greeted with grayish smoke pouring into their bedroom under the door. "Oh my God! Chilli! The house is on fire!"

Chilli's eyes immediately opened and she sat up. "The girls!"

The two quickly left their bed and ran to the door. Bandit flung it open, a rush of smoke and an acrid smell quickly bursting into the room. They dashed down the hall, the floor creaking angrily as they hurriedly tread across it. It was clear the fire was on the first floor, the smoke pouring out of the heat vents that connected to the playroom and kitchen below attested to the growing problem beneath their feet. The girls' room was at the end of the hall where the most smoke was flooding in. Chilli quickly grabbed the handle to their daughter's room and yanked it open. Mercifully both girls were still in bed, their chests rising and falling peacefully in their sleep.

"I'll get Bluey. You get Bingo." Bandit ordered. Chili nodded in agreement, going to their younger daughter's bed.

"Hey, Bingo. Come on, get up sweetie…"

The pup cracked her eyes open. "Mum? What's going on?"

"We have to leave the house. Come on. I've got you." She scooped up her daughter.

Across the room Bandit was doing the same thing to Bluey.

"Dad, why are we going outside?"

Bandit exchanged a panicked look with Chilli.

"There's a fire. We need to get outside so we're all safe." Chilli replied.

"A fire?!" Both girls shouted.

"Yes loves, a fire. But we're going to be fine. Come on." Bandit hugged Bluey tightly as they left the room. The hallway had seriously deteriorated in the few moments they'd spent in the girls' room. The floor now screamed anytime they took a step, clear that the blaze below had burned away most of the supports. Bandit edged along the wall, carefully trying to spread his weight so that he wouldn't cause the floor to collapse. Bluey whimpered and nuzzled her snout into her father's shoulder. He held onto her tightly as he moved along the wall.

He reached the front stairs and saw that, miraculously, the front room was still mostly normal. "Chilli, come on! The front room's clear. We can go out through the porch." He shouted back.

"Okay, we're coming!" She shouted behind him. She looked down at Bingo, who was openly sobbing at the ongoing events. "It's okay, I've got you. We're all going to be okay…" She kissed her on the forehead.

"You promise? For real life?" Bingo whispered.

"I promise." Chilli responded.

Bingo tried to smile, only to feel a sudden lurch.

The next three seconds would be burned into the memories of the remaining Heelers for the rest of their days. Chilli's eyes widened as the floor collapsed, wooden boards smoldering as they gave way. In that moment Chilli did the only thing she could, a final thought racing through her mind as her body coursed with adrenaline, I have to save my baby. She threw Bingo forward, the small girl landing on the floor near her father as her mother fell down into the flaming pit that had once been a playroom.

"Mum!" Both girls shouted.

"Chilli!" Bandit screamed. He almost threw himself into the hole after her, but stopped as he felt Bluey and Bingo's arms grabbing onto him. Bluey clung onto his chest as Bingo grabbed onto his leg. He looked down, his youngest daughter latched tightly on. In a moment he grabbed her and put her under his free arm, charging quickly out the front door and into the yard. He was greeted a second later by a panicked Pat and Wendy running from their houses.

"Oh my God! Girls!" Wendy quickly scooped up the Heeler children. "It's going to be okay…" She said, hugging the two tightly. She turned toward Bandit, who was staring blankly at the house as it rumbled, the entire structure now aflame. "I saw the fire from my bedroom and called emergency services. There should be a truck soon."

"Wait a minute, where's Chilli?" Pat asked, noticing the absence.

"Wait… oh, no…" Wendy muttered, looking toward the house. "No, it can't be. She's not…"

Bandit watched the roof collapse as he fell to his knees, the cracking sound echoing through the quiet street in the early morning as the house gave in to the growing inferno. He felt the heat of the blaze on his fur as he wept. No. No. No. "Chilli!" He howled as sirens started approaching the cul-de-sac.

***BCH***

It took a bit over three hours for the responding fire departments to put out the Heeler house. One had called to bring in an extra tanker truck to spray down the houses next door to keep the flames from spreading, but it was clear that was a lost cause by the end of the first hour. By the end of it the Heeler, Retriever, and Spitz homes had all undergone substantial damage, with the house behind the Heeler's only being spared due to a large in-ground pool blocking the spreading flames.

Wendy, Judo, Pat, and Shanelle stood to the sides of the cul-de-sac, watching as their houses steamed, the last fire truck leaving the neighborhood after the fires had been confirmed fully extinguished.

"Mom, what are we gonna do now?" Judo asked, looking up at Wendy, tears streaking down her fur.

"We'll help those who need it." Wendy replied, looking over at Bandit. The blue heeler had been forced to move from his vigil on the front lawn by the EMTs and was now sitting on the curb facing away from the wreck that had once been his home. He held his daughters firmly in his grasp. "Come on." She walked over with her daughter.

Bandit looked up, his eyes red and his muzzle wet from a mix of tears, mucus, and saliva. "Morning, Wendy."

"Morning, Bandit." She sat beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

A moment later Pat and Shanelle had joined on the other side, placing hands on the bereft dog. "I know there's nothing I can say to make this better, so I'm not going to try. But we are here for you, mate. All of you." Pat rubbed his hand over Bingo's ears, then Bluey's. The youngest girl barely indicated she registered the touch. Bluey winced at the contact, pulling herself closer into her father's fur.

Judo glanced at her friends, "I don't know what I'm supposed to say, but, I don't want you to feel bad…" she played with her hands, looking down. "I know I felt bad when my dad died, and I don't want you to feel like that, but I don't know what I can do to stop you from feeling like that…" She sniffled. "I just, I don't know what to do! I'm sorry Bluey! I'm sorry Bingo!"She sobbed, burying her face in her mother's chest.

Wendy placed a hand on her daughter's back. It had been almost three years since Doug had passed away. It had been sudden, one minute he was on the back porch with a cup of coffee trying to get rid of his headache. The next he was gone, lying on the flagstones. A brain aneurysm. I'd never even heard of them until it happened. She slowly rubbed circles on Judo's back, trying to keep her calm. After a few passes she felt her breathing slowing. Wendy turned her head to look at Pat and Shanelle. The retrievers met her look and silently sighed. The three glanced back at their ruined homes, then at their neighbors. What do we do now?