James and the Red Balloon and Other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories (Thomas & Friends) by Rev. W. Awdry

Author:Rev. W. Awdry [Awdry, Rev W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-98423-5
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2010-12-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Ethan shouted something after her, but before he could get to his feet to stop her, Lauren had whipped out into the passageway. The sight that met her gaze down at its other end horrified her.

The chimney cupboard had exploded like a fragile eggshell with the force of whatever device must have been planted behind its door. That it was incendiary in nature was obvious since flames were rapidly engulfing the hall. She could hear their roar, feel the intense heat they generated, see tongues of fire licking toward her along the old, dry wood of the floor.

All this registered in her mind within the space of a few seconds. Then, pivoting, she fled back to the bedroom, colliding with Ethan in the doorway.

“The fire’s already blocked the stairway!” she cried. “We can’t get out that way!”

He drew her into the room, closing the door against the smoke billowing along the passageway. It refused to shut properly after his earlier abuse of it. Smoke began to curl in little wisps around its edges and under its bottom.

“Find whatever you can to stuff into the cracks while I see what I can do about getting us out of here,” he directed her.

Lauren didn’t question what that might be. Wouldn’t permit herself to fear they might be hopelessly trapped. Panic was not an option. Urgency was.

Tearing the quilt off one of the beds, she hung it over the door, pressing its folds in and around the edges of the door as best she could. Then, stripping the sheets from the mattress, she knelt on the floor and bunched them along the bottom of the door. It helped, but it wasn’t enough.

Smoke started to seep through the barrier, stinging her eyes as she worked, invading her lungs. She heard glass shattering behind her, and when she turned her head, she saw Ethan at one of the windows. His arm and hand wrapped with a pillowcase, he had smashed out the lower pane of the window and was now picking away the splintered fragments that still clung to the frame.

“Painted shut,” he explained his action. “It wouldn’t budge.”

She got to her feet, started to join him at the window. “How far is it down to the—”

She broke off, coughing on the smoke she’d swallowed. But he understood what she had tried to ask.

“No need to worry about that. This window is over the kitchen roof. We’ll crawl out on that and then it should be an easy drop to the ground. Come on, I’ll help you through.”

Lauren made her way swiftly to his side and then stopped again as memory seized her. “Hilary! We can’t just—”

“I’m not going to leave her behind. Just get out there, and I’ll lower her down to you.”

Aided by Ethan, Lauren managed to scramble through the opening he’d cleared and onto the ridge several feet below her. By the time she’d secured her footing on the roof, which mercifully had a low pitch, he’d gone back for Hilary and was sliding her limp body feetfirst through the window.

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