The Best of Sisters by Dilly Court

Author:Dilly Court
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical Saga
ISBN: 9781446472651
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2011-04-29T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The air was thick with acrid smoke billowing from the building and belching in great clouds from the broken windows. Burning pitch, paint and paraffin filled the air with noxious fumes. The explosive power of the fire had shattered the windowpanes and shards of glass covered the street like jagged hailstones. With her lungs bursting and her muscles screaming from the effort, Eliza worked in the human chain, handing bucket after bucket of water to Davy as it came along the line that stretched down to the quay wall. Her eyes watered from the stinging effects of the smoke, but there was no time to feel pain or to acknowledge physical discomfort; the fire must be put out at all costs or the whole row of warehouses and shipping offices would be razed to the ground.

‘Take a rest, Liza,’ Davy said, peering at her anxiously over his shoulder as she handed him an overflowing bucket. ‘This is man’s work.’

‘It’s my business that’s going up in flames,’ Eliza said, shoving the bucket into his hands. ‘Never mind me.’

At the front of the chain she could hear Ted’s voice ringing out loud and clear directing the operation and controlling the crowd of onlookers that had collected to watch the spectacle. All the men in the pub had turned out to help put out the blaze, and above the roar of the inferno there was the sound of horses’ hooves as the owners of the neighbouring premises arrived. Word had spread quickly in this close-knit community and now everyone, from the boy apprentices to the owner of the warehouse adjoining the chandlery, had rolled up their sleeves and joined together to battle the fire. With its bell jangling the horse-drawn wagon of the fire brigade, K division, clattered onto the cobbles and the firemen went into their well-practised drill.

‘Stand back,’ Ted roared, spreading out his arms and urging the crowd to move away. ‘It’s going to go at any minute.’

The ground beneath Eliza’s feet began to shake. A low rumbling sound evolved into a mighty explosion of tumbling masonry as the walls collapsed and the roof caved in, sending up a choking fog of dust, sparks and flying debris. Eliza’s knees buckled beneath her as a wave of dizziness swept over her. She would have crumpled to the ground if a strong pair of arms had not dragged her clear of the danger and continued to support her. All around them there was a moment of stunned silence; buckets of water fell from nerveless hands, spewing the muddy water from the Thames onto the cobbles where it hissed and evaporated in the intense heat. Then pandemonium broke loose all around them as the human chain dispersed, men and woman running for cover as bits of brick and mortar hailed down on them.

As she fought for breath in the thick cloud of dust and smoke, Eliza realised that she was being held in the arms of a complete stranger.

‘Are you all right?’

The voice

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