Jim Hutchison
1 "Coming to the football match this afternoon?" Bill McIntosh asked 59-year-old Royce Wedding as they drank beer at the Eureka Hotel in the Australian town of Rainbow. Royce shook his head. "I promised Mom I'd burn off the weeds on one of our fields."
2 Bill, who was thin but strong, looking far less than his 79 years, peered outside at the heat. A light breeze was blowing from the north, making conditions perfect for the burn. But Bill felt uneasy about Royce doing the job alone. The farmer had a bad leg and walked with great difficulty.
3 The pair had been best of friends for 30 years, ever since the days when they traveled together from farm to farm in search of work. Now, living alone 12 miles east of town, Bill scraped a living hunting foxes and rabbits. Once a fortnight he went to town to buy supplies and catch up with Royce, who helped run the Wedding family's farm. "I'll give you a hand," Bill said.
4 The pair set off in Royce's car. Soon they were bumping over a sandy track to the weed-choked 120-acre field. "Fire's the only way to get rid of this stuff," said Bill as they tied an old tire to the tow bar with a 50-foot chain. Soaking the tire with gasoline, Bill put a match to it and jumped in the car.
5 Driving slowly from the southern edge of the field, they worked their way upwind, leaving a line of burning weeds in their wake. Half way up the field, and without warning, the car pitched violently forward, plowing into a hidden bank of sand.
6 The breeze suddenly swung around to their backs and began to gather strength. Fanned to white heat, the fire line suddenly burst into a wall of flame, heading directly toward them. "Let's get out of here!" Royce said.
7 Desperately he tried to back the car out of the sand bank. But the wheels only spun deeper in the soft sand.
8 Suddenly the fire was on them. Bill pushed open his door only to find himself flung through the air as, with a roar, the gasoline tank exploded and the car leapt three feet off the ground. When it crashed back down Royce found himself pinned against the steering wheel, unable to move. The car's seats and roof were now on fire.
9 Bill lay where he fell, all the breath knocked out of him. The front of his shirt, shorts, bare arms and legs were soaked in burning gasoline. Then the sight of the car in flames brought him upright with a start. "Royce!" he cried, struggling to his feet and heading for the car.
10 Pulling open the door, he seized Royce's arms through the smoke. "I'm stuck," Royce said. "Get yourself away!"
11 The fire bit at Bill's arms, face and legs, but he tightened his grip on Royce. "I'm not leaving you here," he said.
12 Now Bill dug his heels into the sand and pulled as hard as he could. Suddenly he fell backward. Royce was free and out of the car. As soon as he had dragged him away he patted out the flames on Royce's body and on his own legs and arms with his bare hands.
13 Royce saw a second explosion rock the car, as it was eaten up by flames. "I'd be ashes now if Bill hadn't gotten me out," he thought. Looking down, Royce was shocked by the extent of his injuries. His stomach and left hip were covered in deep burns. Worse still, his fingers were burned completely out of shape.
14 Lying on his back, Bill was in equally bad shape. Pieces of blackened flesh and skin hung from his forearms, hands and legs.
15 Bill looked across at his friend. Reading the despair clouding Royce's face, Bill said, "I'll get help. You hang on." Royce nodded, but as he watched Bill set off slowly across the blackened field, he wondered how his friend was going to walk almost two miles and get over three fences.
16 A lifetime spent around the tough people who make their home in the Australian bush had permanently fixed into Bill's soul two principles: never give up no matter how bad the odds and never let a friend down. Now, with every step sending pain piercing through every part of his body, he drew on those twin pillars of character. "If I don't make it, Royce will die out there," he told himself over and over.
17 "What's the matter with that dog?" said Vicky Wedding, Royce's mom, peering out her window. Startled by a noise behind her, she turned to see Bill leaning against the door.
18 "Dear God, what happened?" she exclaimed, grabbing Bill as he slid down the doorframe.
19 "We got caught in the fire," he whispered, barely able to speak. "Get help." Vicky sat Bill down, covered him in wet towels to ease the pain of his burns, and then picked up the phone.
20 Throughout the bumpy, hour-and-a-half ride to the hospital in Horsham, neither of the two injured men spoke of their pain. "We should've gone to the football match," Royce said, trying to keep their spirits up. Bill grinned weakly.
21 Not long after Bill found himself at Government House being presented with the Bravery Medal for his courageous rescue. But the real highlight for Bill came six months after the fire, when Royce, just out of hospital, walked into the Eureka Hotel and bought him a beer.
22 "We made it," said Royce as they raised their glasses. "Here's to the best friend a man could have."