The Great Fire Read Free Page B

hangings flare up, blacken and fall.
    â€œIt was a fireball!”
    A man and woman rushed out of the front door, the man shouting, “The room burst into flames around us! There was nofire in our house before that. A fire-raiser has done this!”
    The people in the street looked around, and Sam suddenly felt frightened. These people suspected arson – and foreigners.
    â€œIt’s him!” a woman exclaimed. She pointed at André. “That French boy! I saw him! He threw something!”
    â€œI didn’t!” protested André. “I’ve been helping!” He looked terrified.
    â€œHe’s lying! Arrest him!”
    A man moved to seize André, but Sam sprang in front of him and shouted, “Leave him alone! We were firefighting! You saw us. We were in the chain!”
    He turned to the others. “You know it wasn’t him. You saw us passing buckets!”
    It made no difference. They wanted a culprit. A foreigner. And André looked the part. Sam pushed past the man, grabbed André’s arm, and pulled him out of reach.
    â€œQuick!” he shouted. “Run, André! Run!”

5
Escape
    â€œKeep together!”
    â€œI can’t – “
    Crowds of people surged up the road, separating the two boys. Sam, with Budge’s lead wound around his wrist, caught only an occasional glimpse of André’s red doublet. Sam glanced over his shoulder. Were those their pursuers back there? Yes! That man, glaring, calling to others behind him – he was one.
    â€œCome on, Budge!” Sam seized the chance to duck and weave through the throng and shake the man off.
    But now where was André? Sam could no longer see the red doublet anywhere. Had their enemies caught him? Or was he hiding?
    â€œAndré!” he called. But there was no answer.
    Smoke filled the street, and Sam realised for the first time that in their hurry to escape they had run downhill, towards the fire. Ahead of him was a whole row of blazing houses. No one was trying to put out the flames any more. Instead, people were intenton escaping with their possessions. The flow of refugees was all uphill – against him.
    And still he could not see André.
    â€œI’ve lost him,” he told Budge. “And I was supposed to be looking after him. ‘Two will be safer’, Master Giraud said.”
    Two would also be company. He felt frightened, alone in the burning city.
    He looked around. An alley led off to the left. Could André have gone that way? He turned down it, saw an open doorway, and peered into the dark interior.
    â€œAndré?” he shouted.
    â€œSam! Is that you?” The faint voice came from deep inside the building.
    â€œYes!” Sam felt a huge sense of relief.
    He led Budge into the empty shop. It was even darker in there than in the smoky street outside. He trampled on broken glass and bumped into overturned furniture.
    Sam realised that this place had been ransacked by looters and for the first time he wondered what might have happened to the Girauds, back in Foster Lane.
    â€œWhere are you, André?” he called.
    â€œDown here!”
    In the dim light Sam noticed some steps leading to a storage room.
    As he hurried down, Budge bounded ahead of him, and the dog’s lead slipped outof Sam’s hand and caught around his ankles as it fell to the ground.
    Sam tripped and fell off the unguarded side of the steps, landing in a heap on the floor with Budge. Pain shot through his left arm. He cried out. Budge whimpered and nuzzled him.
    André’s concerned face came into view. “What have you done?”
    â€œMy arm – I think it might be broken.” Sam felt sick and faint.
    â€œTry moving it,” said André.
    â€œAaargh! I can’t! It hurts.”
    â€œWe’ll need a bone-setter, if it’s broken.”
    Sam winced. “Maybe it isn’t.”
    â€œAre they still following us – those