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KIM BALDWIN. “Yes, you did,” Erin replied
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“Yes, you did,” Erin replied. “I start training next week.”
“Well, welcome aboard. We’re happy to have you.” Tim was grinning at Erin in a way that Gable recognized. He likes her. The thought made her kind of queasy.
“Thanks, Tim. I look forward to meeting everyone else.” Erin smiled back at him, and Gable wished she knew her well enough to be able to read her expressions as easily as she could read Tim’s.
“Hey, we better get in there or there won’t be any food left!” Carl gestured impatiently for the women to go on ahead.
“Food? I didn’t know we were eating dinner,” Erin said as she and Gable headed inside. Tim and Carl fell in line behind them.
“Well, having everybody in the F rehouse share a meal is kind of a time-honored tradition in the F reF ghting community,” Gable said.
“Particularly in big cities, where you live at the F rehouse,” Tim added from behind them. “Even though we’re all volunteers here, we honor the tradition by centering our meetings around a community meal. Kind of acknowledges that we’re family, that we watch out for each other.”
“Everybody takes turns cooking,” Carl said. “You’ll get your turn, probably sooner rather than later.”
“Sounds like a good tradition,” Erin said.
They went through a set of swinging double doors and found themselves in the large rectangular room normally used for training.
Six-foot-long folding tables stood end to end in the middle of the room, surrounded by enough folding chairs to seat at least two dozen people.
Just about as many as were currently milling about and chatting. An elderly man and woman were covering the tables with large plastic tablecloths in ubiquitous red and white checks, while two more men stood by with a pile of china plates and a bucket F lled with silverware.
It took a good thirty seconds for everyone to notice there was a new face in the crowd, but once they did the room fell silent.
“Hey, everybody,” Gable said. “Come say hi to the newest addition to our group, Erin Richards.”
Erin was immediately surrounded and introductions made, too fast for her to remember. It had taken Gable a while to get all the names when she joined up too, but everyone was friendly and welcoming. The volunteers were a diverse group, ranging in age from twenty-one to seventy, and included farmers, shopkeepers, bankers, and even a couple of college students.
• 46 •
FORCE OF NATURE
In short order the tables were set, and Erin was directed to a seat at one end, with the chief occupying the other.
Gable f anked Erin on her right, Carl her left.
“Who’s cookin’ today?” Gable asked.
“Larry,” someone farther down the table replied.
“That means beef stew,” Tim told Erin. “One of the rules for the meal is that everything has to be made from scratch. Larry makes a mean stew, but that’s the extent of his cooking abilities.”
A middle-aged man wearing a large apron dotted with stains appeared with a huge pot of beef stew and set it down next to the chief, who ladled it into big deep bowls that got passed all the way down the line. Erin was the F rst person served. As that was being done, the cook made several more trips to the kitchen to distribute pitchers of lemonade and plates of corn mufF ns and Parker House rolls.
No one ate until everyone had a bowl in front of them and Larry had removed his apron and joined them at the table.
“I’d like to welcome Erin, our new rookie.” The chief lifted his glass of lemonade.
“To Erin!” the assembly chorused, raising their glasses.
“Okay, everybody, dig in!” the chief said, and all eyes looked expectantly at Erin as she picked up her spoon and tasted the F rst bite.
“This is really good stew,” Erin said, and a woman a few seats away snickered. So did the man sitting next to her.
“Glad you like it,” Larry said loudly from three tables away. “It’s my own special recipe with a secret ingredient.”
More snickers.
Erin showed no sign of wilting under the scrutiny. “Secret, eh?
I’m pretty good at guessing ingredients.” She dipped another spoonful and tasted it, and set off another round of sniggering. Erin acted as if she hadn’t heard it. “Tarragon? Thyme?”
More laughter.
Erin was clearly determined to rise to the challenge. She took another spoonful. “Worchester sauce? Beer?” Half the group was laughing now, full-out laughter, bowls of stew forgotten.
Erin’s expression grew more determined. Her spoon went into her stew again, stirred it up…and the light suddenly dawned. She scooped out the hard, alien object she discovered at the bottom of her bowl and found it to be a partial dental plate, with four false teeth attached.
Loud roars of laughter shook the room.
• 47 •
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