Amanda Traylor - Lost Sierra

T he forest was a postapocalyptic wasteland. Singed, black remains. Life barely hanging on. The air was thick and chalky, permeated by the scent of charred meat.

The body was face down in the scorched earth. Strips of burned cotton and denim crisscrossed over the blackened muscle and sinew.

Cal Fire Captain Womak removed his red helmet and knelt beside the remains. He fought a juvenile instinct to poke the body with a stick, but he knew they couldnt risk contaminating anything until the suits arrived. It was likely a womanshoulders slender, hips sharpand likely Caucasian. But it was hard to tell much else. His own medical knowledge extended only as far as phlebotomy and CPR.

Flames get her? Firefighter Martinez asked, sauntering over. He held his dingy yellow helmet beneath his arms. His tanned face was streaked with ash and sweat, and his yellow brush pants were nearly black with residue.

Hard to say. But yeah, could be smoke inhalation. Thatd make ten gone to Hades from this bitch.

Any idea who she is?

Womak swiveled his head. Nah. Itll probably take dental records to ID her. He stood, glanced up at the decimated landscape, then back to the body. Whats the word on containment?

Martinez flubbed his lips. Twenty percent, maybe. Fire lines are contained but moving.

Better call it in then.

Dont know why people wont listen and evacuate when theyre told.

Womak exhaled a lamentable purr. The day these hillbillies listen to anything other than Reddit boards will be the day hell freezes. Go call it in.

Martinez nodded and headed for the engine.

Womak knelt again and, against better judgment, gently brushed the singed hair from the womans face. Her eyes were closed. She was almost peaceful in her darkened grave. But even so he could hear the phantom of her choking as smoke clouded her lungs. The shrill shriek of agony as flesh melted from skin. Hed been battling fires on the front line for long enough to know it was not the way hed want to go.

Martinez was back shortly. Coroner is on her way. We should get moving. Just got the call the fires creeping over the lines again.

Womak nodded then noticed something strange. He peered closer at the womans abdomen.

Martinezwhats that?

S acramento, CA: The body of a woman was discovered in Plumas National Forest near the town of Sierra Ridge among the vestiges of the Green Ridge Fire that ravished the area last week. The body has yet to be publicly identified pending notification of next of kin. Sources have confirmed, however, that the woman was a resident of the small village of Sierra Ridge, a quiet mountain town of approximately six hundred people tucked away in one of the most remote parts of Plumas County at the base of the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The cause of death is not yet confirmed but there is speculation she may be one of the ten casualties claimed by the Ridge Fire.

Sierra Ridge sustained significant damage during the fire, and many notable town structures were burned along with acres of residential property. The towns residences were evacuated shortly after the fire grew to one hundred thousand acres and came within one mile of the town limits; however many residents were reluctant to heed the evacuation orders. The numbers on casualties and hospitalizations are still coming in from local authorities. The fire is currently forty percent contained.

Wildfires have ravished many parts of rural California for the past few years, sometimes jumping containment lines and razing entire communities to the ground. Authorities urge all residents in fire zones to remain on alert and prepare for last-minute evacuations, and to heed directions from local fire departments.

This is an ongoing story and as further details come in, we will report back.

S harpes spotted hands trembled as they clutched my Tibetan teacup. I observed him with a researchers curiosity as he raised the indigo ceramic to his lips, a few droplets falling to a grizzly beard more salt than pepper. His other hand fisted and unfurled in a rhythmic cadence. His foggy eyesencased in seven decades of hard livingwere uncharacteristically shifty. The smell of Lapsang blended with the alpine morning as a dewy breeze nipped at my neck. Despite the crisp air, he was sweating beneath his leather motorcycle vest.

At first, I thought maybe Id been the one to mix up the days. Sharpe was punctual to the point of annoyance for most peopleonce a soldier, always one hed said. Now he was muttering in between sips of tea, his mind fractured into two places and times.

Sharpe, youre not making sense, I said.

He blinked. Sorry, Daphne. A lot on my mind. What were you saying?

I studied him, trying to make sense of this alternate version of John Sharpe who was irritable and distracted and not the usual jovial old biker Id come to call friend over the past six months. So many scenarios danced through my mindwas he drinking too much? Was his medication off? Had he finally slipped into the senility he always joked about?

You said something about Francisco, I said.

His hands shook harder, nearly dropping the cup. He steadied the one hand with the other and with a thin smile set the cup on the small wooden table between us on the porch.

Whos Francisco? I pushed.

He wiped his lips with a faded red bandanna. Its nothing, love. Just so much on my mind. I guess Im getting old after all. Mixing up appointments, talking to myself. He grinned, teeth tinged ashy from a lifetime of too many cigarettes and not nearly enough brushing.

Are you sure you wouldnt like to have your appointment today anyway? I have some time before my first patient arrives.

He shook his head fervently. No. No, I shouldnt. I just mixed the day up. First time for everything, right? Its better to stay on schedule.

Are you sure youre alright?

What? Right as rain, Daphne.

Your hands are shaking.

He glanced down at his trembling handsworkingmans hands, etched with spots and wrinkles. His steel veterans ring caught in the sunlight.

Fine, fine. It must be the dry air. Has me on edge.

I tried to decipher. Did he have some kind of concussion? Sharpe, youre not making sense. Why would dry air agitate you?

He blinked. Huh? Fires, obviously. Cant you smell it on the air? Yeah. Anyway, I should go. I remembered I got a date with a pool stick and my man Jack down at Scottys. He patted his knee theatrically then pushed himself to standing. Then he snapped his fingers. I just remembered why I came by. Wanted to get the name of that herb you recommended for my blood pressure. Im gonna tell my man Jack about it. Doc in Chico is trying to shoot em up full of pills and I told him all about what your nature cures have done for my broken-down ass.

You couldnt have just texted me?

He looked genuinely affronted at the suggestion, his uncharacteristic irritation slipping back into his usual breezy demeanor. Now why would I do that when I can stop by and see your pretty face?

Well, I cant argue that. Its a tincture of marjoram, clary sage and basil. I can write it down if youd like.

He offered me an Army salute. Basil it is.

Why dont you come in and Ill check you out? Youre already here.

He shook his head. No, no. I need to prepare some things. Thanks for the tea, honey. Ill see you tomorrow then.

* * *

The following morning was all routine as I prepped for a long day of patientsthe same routine Id practiced every day since moving to this sleepy hamlet tucked away in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Wake with the days genesis, yoga, check my garden, then watch the aurora break through the night sky with scratches of watercolors as I stand on my front porch. The same melodic mountain birds welcomed the day. The same dewy smells crept in from the alpines. I closed my eyes and breathed in the aroma of herbs, of the earth pulsing and growing. Some might call it mundane, but it was a solace I'd desperately craved after the nightmare of the pandemic and the swell of events that had plagued my life in San Francisco. The mountains were freeing. They allowed the soul to open and welcome nature at its purest. Up here, I was humbled by the greatness of the natural world. Up here, I could close my eyes and think. Could breathe.