The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans Read Free Book Online Page A

mother about the ranch horses, telling her how slow and clunky they were and why didn’t she go to Kentucky and get herself something half decent. She would pretend to be cross but it was clear she adored him. She had once even referred to him as her second son. The only thing she had never been able to understand was what possessed him and Connor, two otherwise seemingly sane young men, to make them want to spend their summers putting out fires. Connor could remember the evening when they’d told her over supper that they were going to sign on as smoke jumpers.
    ‘We’re going to be Zoolies, Ma.’
    ‘What in heck’s name is a Zoolie?’
    ‘A Missoula smoke jumper, Mrs Ford,’ Ed said. ‘They’re as cool as it gets. Even cooler than being a hotshot.’
    ‘Oh, really. And what the heck’s a hotshot when it’s at home?’
    ‘They’re ground firefighters, Mrs Ford. They’re like the marines or something, I guess. Or think they are. Hotshots think they’re cool and are always boasting about it. Whereas smoke jumpers really are cool and don’t need to.’
    ‘There’s only four hundred smoke jumpers in the whole country,’ Connor said.
    ‘There’s that many idiots, huh?’ she said. ‘Let me get this straight. You get to go way up high in a little airplane, you find a fire and then you jump out and land in it. Is that the idea?’
    ‘Ma, they do give you a parachute,’ Connor said.
    ‘Oh, well. That’s okay then. You boys must be out of your minds.’
    Ed frowned. ‘Mrs Ford? I forgot. How many years was it you rode rodeo?’
    ‘That’s totally different.’
    ‘Yeah,’ Connor said. ‘In rodeo you don’t get a parachute.’
    As it turned out, Ed had something of a struggle persuading those in charge of selection at the Missoula base that his diabetes wasn’t going to be a problem. But he excelled himself in training and with the help of a compliant doctor (a close family friend who didn’t quite lie but didn’t quite tell the truth either), managed to persuade them that his condition would in no way interfere with his ability to do the job. By now they were more than glad to have him.
    Back in February, Ed had called to tell Connor about this new girlfriend he’d started dating. The guy clearly had it bad. Over the years there had been a number of girlfriends (mostly Ed’s) and one or two had even lasted more than one summer. Last year Connor had been heavily involved with a six-foot-tall hockey champ from Seattle by the name of Gloria McGrath whom Ed had nicknamed Darth. When these affairs happened, the two men happily gave each other space. Ed was a congenital romantic, forever falling in love and declaring every time that this, hand on heart, was the one. Nevertheless, listening to him going on and on about her over the phone, Connor had gotten the distinct impression that this Julia woman actually might be the one.
    ‘You remember Natalie Wood in West Side Story ?’
    ‘No.’>
    ‘Connor, really, sometimes, man, I despair of you. It’s a classic. You must have seen it on TV - you know, that little square thing that stands in the corner of the room?’
    ‘So, she’s beautiful.’
    ‘Yeah, but you know how some beautiful women know how beautiful they are? Well, Julia doesn’t. She’s totally natural. And you know what? She likes to climb, she can ski like a dream. She’s smart, funny, artistic—’
    ‘Doesn’t the halo get in the way?’
    ‘No, the wings do a little but they’re kind of sexy. I tell you, man. This is it. I want to have her babies.’
    ‘I don’t think it works that way around.’
    It was quite a buildup. Connor was looking forward to meeting her.
    Both of the rolls of film that he was processing now were black and white. He often shot color too, especially when he’d been commissioned, but when he was shooting for himself he usually preferred black and white. The shots he’d taken of the old man teaching the girl to cast were a washout. There were one or