Firefighter's Christmas Baby. Annie Claydon

grinned. ‘It’s not you. He does it with everyone. Everyone he likes, that is...’

      Right. This was obviously the hurdle that she had to jump to gain entry to the team. She could respect that, there was no such thing as being too careful when your job involved the kinds of risks that the crew faced every day.

      ‘Callie! Over there...’ Ben shouted, and she started. She was already standing well out of the way of the fire crew, and the point he’d indicated precluded any good photographic shots of the imaginary conflagration.

      She ran obediently to her allotted spot and he nodded, seeming to be fighting back a grin. ‘All right. Thanks, everyone.’

      The crew followed his lead, at ease now as they left their positions and started to meander back inside. Ben was suddenly one of them again, just another member of the crew, but Callie was under no illusions that as soon as the alert bell rang, he’d be their leader again.

      ‘Did I pass?’ She murmured the words to him as he strolled back across the yard towards her.

      ‘Yeah. Full marks.’ This time he allowed himself to smile. ‘Make sure you do the same when this is for real.’

      This wasn’t for real? Full marks meant that she had a chance of going with the crew on their next call-out. That made it real enough.

      They didn’t have long to wait. When the alarm sounded, Callie was on her feet with the others, pulling on the high-vis protective jacket with ‘Observer’ written across the back of it.

      She was familiar with the sound of a siren but it usually emanated from her own rapid response vehicle. The fire engine made more noise and she wasn’t used to the sway of the vehicle or to being squashed between Eve and one of the other firefighters while someone else did the driving. Neither was she accustomed to feeling like a parcel, only there for the ride.

      But she did as she’d been told, waiting for the firefighters to get out of the vehicle before she did. Smoke and flame plumed upwards from what looked like a storage yard behind a brick wall.

      ‘Callie, stay right back. There are gas canisters in there.’ There was a popping sound as one of the canisters exploded in the heat of the conflagration. Ben didn’t look back to make sure that she complied with the instruction as he hurried towards the back of the fire truck, where the crew was already deploying two long hoses.

      Water played over the top of the wall, another jet aimed at a gate to one side. Callie knew that the angles were carefully chosen to maximise the effect of the hoses, but it seemed that no one had actually made that decision. It was just a team, working together apparently seamlessly.

      Photographs. That was what she was here for. She’d almost forgotten the camera in her hand in favour of watching Ben. In charge, ever watchful and yet allowing his crew to do their jobs without unnecessary orders from him. It was a kind of trust that she wished he might bestow on her.

      He turned, waving her further back, pointing to a spot beside the police cordon. At least she was out of his line of sight now, and she could remove the heavy gloves that made it practically impossible to take photographs. Not that it mattered all that much. She was standing so far back that the people behind the cordon probably had as good a chance of taking a meaningful shot as she did.

      I hate this. She was used to working on her own and making her own decisions. But if she proved she could comply with Ben’s orders, he might ease up on her a bit.

      In the meantime, she’d do what she could. Callie turned for a shot of the cordon, people lined up behind it watching anxiously. Some were passers-by who’d stopped, while others in bright-coloured sweaters and dresses rather than coats had obviously been evacuated from the houses closest to the blaze. Over the steady thrum of the fire engine and the roar of the flames she could hear a child crying and another babbling in excitement.

      Panning back towards the firefighters, a movement caught her eye. A twitch of the curtains in one of the houses in the row next to the yard. When Callie pressed the zoom, she saw a head at the front window.

      ‘Ben...!’ She ran towards the fire engine, screaming above the noise, and he glanced back towards her. ‘Over there, look.’ She pointed to the window and he turned suddenly, making for the house. He’d seen what she had, that the police evacuation had left someone behind.

      It appeared that since he’d given Callie no indication that she should move, he expected her to stay where she was. Forget that. Callie tucked the camera into her jacket and followed Ben.

      ‘Go back. We’ve got it...’ They met on the doorstep. The woman had disappeared from the window and without a second glance at Callie he bent down, flipping open the letterbox to look through it and then calling out.

      ‘That’s right, my love. Open the door. No... No, don’t sit down. You need to open the door for me.’

      Suddenly he puffed out a breath and straightened, turning to Eve, who had arrived at his side. ‘We have an elderly woman sitting on the floor, leaning against the front door. We’ll go in through the window.’

      Eve nodded and Ben reached into his pocket, pulling out a window punch. It took one practised movement to break one of the small glass panes in the windows at the front of the house.

      ‘Callie, I won’t say it again. You’re in the way...’ He didn’t look round as he reached in, slipping the catch and swinging the window open.

      ‘Since when was a paramedic in the way when you have a possible trauma? You should be getting out of my way.’ Callie resisted the temptation to kick him. Playing along with Ben at the fire station was one thing, but this wasn’t the time or the place.

      He turned quickly, a look of shock on his face. Then he took the helmet from Callie’s hand, securing the strap under her chin and snapping down the visor. ‘Put your gloves on. Stay behind me at all times. Eve, stay here and let me know if the fire looks as if it’s coming our way.’

      He pushed the net curtains to one side and climbed in, turning to help Callie through the window. She ignored his outstretched hand and followed him. When he led the way through to the hallway, Callie saw an elderly woman sitting on the floor behind the door. Her eyes were closed but her head was upright so she was probably conscious. Callie tapped Ben’s arm to get his attention.

      ‘Did she fall?’

      ‘I don’t think so. She just seemed to slide down the wall.’

      ‘Okay.’ Standing back wasn’t an option now and neither was staying behind him. The house wasn’t on fire and Ben’s skills were of secondary use to her. Callie pushed past him and knelt down beside the woman, taking off her helmet and gloves. She wasn’t used to working with these kinds of constrictions.

      ‘Hi, I’m Callie, I’m a paramedic from the London Ambulance Service.’

      The woman looked up at her with placid blue eyes. It seemed that the urgency of the situation had escaped her, and Callie saw a hearing aid, caught in the white hair that wisped around her face, with the ear mould hanging loose. She was clutching a pair of glasses that looked so grimy that they could only serve to obscure her sight.

      Great. No wonder she hadn’t responded when Ben had called through the letter box. Callie gently disentangled the hearing aid, putting it in her pocket. There was no time now to do anything other than make do with what the woman could hear and see.

      ‘Are you hurt?’ She tipped the woman’s face around, speaking clearly.

      ‘No, dear.’

      ‘Have you fallen?’

      The woman stared at her, her hand fluttering to her chest. Callie heard Ben close the sitting-room door so that more smoke didn’t blow through the house from the broken window. The smell of burning was everywhere, filtering through every tiny opening from the outside, and Callie knew that the air quality in here wasn’t good.

      She felt a light touch on her shoulder. ‘You’re happy to move her?’