Wildfire! Read Online Free Page A

rooting in a clearing. The last light of day shone down through the break in the trees and illumined them plainly.
    Ben had always known that huge pigs lived in the woods, but he had seen them only a few times. They moved around mostly at night, hunting for food. They were about three feet tall at the shoulder and large-bodied, with dark bristly hair and sharp tusks. The boars—the males—guarded the group, and Ben knew they could be ferocious, especially when protecting their young.
    And among the other pigs were two young piglets.
    Curious, the pup moved nearer the group. One boar separated from the others and grunted warningly. It trotted a few steps toward the puppy. Obviously this boar was ready to defend the whole group against danger. It was the largest of them all, its tusks glimmering like curved knives.

    The dog barked, sounding a little scared now.
    â€œOh, no,” Elliot moaned under his breath.
    The pig grunted again and trotted nearer.
    This sent the pup into a frenzy of barking. He made a short rush at the boar. He stopped before getting too near. But the pig came after him, snorting and grunting angrily.
    At last the pup got scared enough to turn and head for Ben, away from the boar. The boar kept coming. The pup was right in his path, and in front of the pup were Elliot and Ben.
    Elliot panicked. He ran, stumbling in the near-dark, getting away.
    Ben stood his ground, badly frightened. Then he raced toward the pup. The enraged boar was getting closer by the moment.
    Before the furious pig could reach them, Ben managed an extra burst of speed and scooped up the quivering puppy. Holding the dog in his arms, he reversed direction, trying to choose a way that offered the best chance of escape.
    Outside the clearing, dusk was darkening to night. It was hard to see much of anything. Ben knew the best thing he could do would be to climb a tree, but none of those around him had low-enough branches to give him a foothold. And climbing with the puppy in his arms would be almost impossible anyhow.

    The pig snorted. It was only a few yards away now. And Ben knew that it was capable of tearing them both to pieces.

7
    He had to take cover. Desperately Ben scanned the small visible space around him. He could make out a clump of scrub palmetto nearby, its stunted clusters of short trunks and fronds forming dense bunches of foliage. Holding tight to the puppy, Ben dived into it and burrowed until he and the pup were out of sight.
    His heart pounded. He felt as if his chest might burst.
    The pup whimpered softly, then quieted.
    Ben waited. The boar was right outside the palmettos.
He heard its harsh, angry breathing. But it did not charge the dense foliage.
    Ben waited. He knew the boar was still there, and he didn’t dare move.
    Then there were new sounds. It was as though a strange mood was overtaking the forest. The woodland creatures were stirring. Ben heard a wide rustle of squirrels and armadillos through the underbrush, and a quiet but hasty slither of snakes.
    He peeked out between palmetto fronds. The boar was not far from him, but its gaze was set in another direction.
    Ben looked that way. A glow had appeared in the woods. The boar snuffled, lifted its head, and sniffed the air.
    Ben smelled it, too. It was a faint new wave of smoke.
    A river of fright seemed to rush through his stomach. The glow brightened against the sky. Then flickers of orange and red light showed through the trees.

    Ben recognized them with horror. Flames. There was a new fire in the forest.
    He remembered sparks from the exploded rocket drifting over the trees. This was just what people had feared might happen, what the whole town had been warned about—the reason fireworks had been banned.
    The boar snorted and tossed its head. It trotted back to its group and began rounding them up.
    A deer crashed through the woods, escaping from the fire. The puppy trembled and tried to hide his head against Ben’s