He stopped on a ledge and stared wildly, in a sudden panic, lest he should somehow miss her.

He called again, even while reason told him that his voice could not carry any distance, with all that crackle and roar.

He forced himself to stand there for a minute to get his breath and to see just how far the fire had already swept, and how fast it was spreading.
Even while he stood there, a flaming pine branch came whirling up and fell avidly upon a buck bush beside him.

The bush crackled and shriveled, a thin spiral of smoke mounting upward into the cloud that rolled overhead.

Jack stood dazed, watching the yellow tongues go licking up the smaller branches.