Page 2 of From the Embers

I weave between the fire trucks and the people, somehow seeming to go unnoticed, and then there’s a gap between the crowd. My heart booms in my chest, louder than any drum I’ve ever heard in my life. Daryl is yelling something out the small crack in the window, the same time I hear a booming voice calling mine. It’s my dad. But I’m so close… I know I can shimmy up the drain pipe and climb onto the porch roof, right below the bedroom windows. I’ve done it a million times when I’ve sneaked out over to his place before.

When I see him holding Sammy up at the half-open window, I don’t hold back. No hesitation. I bolt.

I don’t know how I make it to the side of the house without being caught, but there’s a lot of yelling. The smoke is getting thicker, it’s billowing out the top of the house like thickening fog. The devil is in those flames, I swear it.

My mind races through the faces of Daryl’s family; his sisters and parents. Are they okay?

He and Sammy are alive at the moment… If only he could get the rest of the window open, he could slide Sammy out and then himself.

I scramble for the drainpipe and push myself up, just as I’m nearly sprung by two of the firefighters who try to grab me. They’re yelling but I’m not even thinking of myself, or my parents and sister who must be watching on with total disbelief and horror. I know my dad is going to throttle me if I make it out of this alive… it isn’t a thought that really occurred to me until now. I just need to get up there and save my friend.

The surface is rough jousting myself up, it’s slippery and embers from the blaze are flying everywhere like little offshoots. My pajama bottoms snag on the pipe as I haul myself up onto the porch roof. I hear a tear as I swing my legs up, but I don’t care. This is why Abby calls me a spider-monkey; I’ve always had the knack of being quick and clever getting in and out of tricky places. They love me on the basketball team, volleyball, football—you name it, I can do it, and do it well. I’m not what you would call a quiet achiever when it comes to sports. I like to win. I like to be the best at whatever it is I’m doing.

Sammy’s barks turn into a howl and the sound goes right through me as I right myself on the roof, balance with my arms by my sides, and carefully make it over to Daryl’s window.

“Daryl!” I scream when I see them.

He’s crying, his face hot and scared at the half-open window. His eyes widen when he sees me. As I glance behind me, I can see we’re soon about to be joined by the rescue team.

“Take Sammy!” he calls, passing him through to me as the gap is small enough. “I have to find Adi.”

Adi? Oh, shit.

I don’t hesitate. I drop to my knees and grab onto the shaking fluff ball coming through the window. I hold him to my chest and tell him it’s going to be alright. I position Sammy between my knees and try to budge the window open with Daryl on the other side, frantic and desperate. It’s then I see another face at the window… Adelaide? My heartbeat spikes knowing his baby sister is there with him, his sisters’ rooms are right next door to his. “Push!” I yell as we both edge the window upwards.

“Take Adelaide!” he yells, coughing and trying to waft the smoke away. I don’t know where the blaze is coming from exactly, but it’s moving fast. “I’ll find another way.”

I shake my head. “No way. Push again!”

We both manage to push the window upwards just as one of the firefighters gets to the top of the ladder at the side and comes toward me.

“Pass her through!” I yell to Daryl, my voice strained and frantic. Poor Adelaide is in tears, her little hands balled into fist and her big green eyes round and frightened.

“Go on, Adi,” Daryl says. “Denver will take you down, hurry!” He lifts her up and pushes her through the gap in the window and I pull her into my arms.

“It’s okay,” I murmur as she clutches onto me. “We’ll get you down, okay?”

She cries into my chest, clinging on, but the worst isn’t over yet. I need to pull Daryl out and find out where the rest of his family is.

“You need to stay very still, do you hear me?” My tone turns serious. We’re on the porch roof after all, and she’s a toddler who could hurt herself if she doesn’t stay still. “Don’t move.” I turn back to my best friend at the window, who’s pushing himself up onto the inside ledge. “Take my hand, D!”

He reaches out to me and I pull him half out, his body wedged halfway. Sammy is still between my knees and Adi clutching onto me, wrapping around like a koala. A coughing fit takes over Daryl as he breathes the thick, sticky air. The heat behind him is unbearable. Luckily, Adi seems to be okay, she isn’t coughing at least. I don’t even have time to work out where the heck his parents or Carrie could be. I’m hoping they got out okay.

“Jesus, son,” I hear a deep male voice behind us. “Are you trying to get yourself killed!”

The firefighter drops to his knees and helps me yank Daryl all the way out into his arms. I pull Adi up into my chest as I stand and secure Sammy again, who’s clawing at me for dear life, trembling.

To say the rest is a blur is an understatement. I know I’m in deep shit with my folks, and we still haven’t made it down yet. But really, what was I supposed to do? Watch my friend, his baby sister, and his dog die inside their house? The rescue team could well have gotten to them in time, but my instinct wasn’t to stand safely at the curbside. It was to run toward the danger and help.

We make it across the roof the way I came, carrying Adi and Sammy over to the side of the house where the blaze hasn’t caught on yet, though it could at any time. I’m sure of it.

There’s a ladder positioned there now and another firefighter just appeared at the top.

I don’t even register how I get to the bottom, but I pass Adelaide down to him as she looks up at me with piercing eyes, scared and full of worry. I know the firefighter helps me somehow, but I’m too busy holding onto Sammy, now in my shirt, to take it in.

At the same time a sense of relief, with equal parts dread, washes over me as I think about the rest of the Wilder family… I can hear Daryl’s voice, crying and scared, calling for his parents. Did they make it out yet? When my feet hit the hard ground with an almost welcome thud at the bottom of the ladder, I run for the edge of the lawn. It feels like the most welcoming place I’ve ever seen right now. I’m following the firefighter who’s holding Adi. She’s staring at me over his shoulder like I’m a lifeline, I guess because I’m someone familiar and it’s what she needs right now.

My legs move faster than I can carry them, so fast that I stumble and feel myself falling. I quickly roll onto my side so I don’t crush Sammy in my arms. My face is down in the dirt but I push myself upright and look straight into my father’s eyes. He’s on the ground with me, sobbing, scared, angry, exasperated, all rolled into one. I don’t think he even has the strength to tell me off. He just cries.