We screamed and pounded until our throats were hoarse and stinging from the acrid smoke. Metal on metal scraped, a clunk and the door almost knocked me backwards as it was forced open. I swivelled towards the nightstand, grabbing my laptop andhandbag. There was no way I was leaving them behind. For one thing, our passports were in there, and if there was any way we could still make it, even after all these catastrophic events, I wasn’t going to miss it waiting for goddamn new passports to arrive.
An officer beckoned us out frantically while plumes of black smoke billowed up and out towards the ceiling, stealing our air as we ducked down low and followed the officer along the hallway. I stopped at the children’s doorways, but they were already open and the officer pushed us on from behind, down toward to the stairway.
The hallway beyond the gallery was so shrouded I couldn’t see beyond. That must have been where the fire was coming from, but I didn’t have time to get my bearings, I just needed air. I just needed my children. We stumbled down the stairs, desperate for clean air in our lungs.
The smoke lessened as we descended, but it still clawed at my throat and stung my eyes. I clutched the banister, my knuckles white, desperately trying not to fall. My heart raced, not just from the exertion, but from the gnawing fear that clawed at my insides. Where were Callum and Martha? Were they outside?
We staggered, spluttering and coughing through the front doors into the crisp night air, gulping it down greedily. My eyes streamed as I wildly scanned the faces of those gathered outside. Flashing lights from fire trucks and ambulances rushed up the driveway towards the house, casting an eerie light over the frightened faces. I pushed through a couple of officers, trying to call out despite my raw and burning throat.
‘Mum! Dad!’ Callum’s voice broke through the siren wails. My legs nearly gave way when I saw that he was dragging Martha behind him. Relief flooded through me as I rushed to embrace them. Miles practically picked us all up in his arms and we stood clinging on to each other. The realisation that we could have lost one another was barely able to sink in amid the intensifying chaos surrounding us as firefighters began issuing forth.
‘Oh, my God!’ A cracking voice approached us. We untangled ourselves, and Jeannie threw herself into Miles’s arms. ‘You’re safe!’ she cried.
‘Mother,’ he said, examining her for any injuries,. ‘Are you okay? What happened?’
Jeannie shook her head, tear-tracks down her soot-powdered cheeks. ‘I don’t know. I was pulled out of bed by an officer… I would have died, the smoke was so thick I couldn’t see a thing. I couldn’t breathe! The house,’ she wailed, ‘my beautiful house!’
Miles looked around, his eyes furtively scanning the people lining the driveway.
‘Where’s Mrs Harlow, Mother? And Gloria?’ he demanded.
She shook her head, ‘I don’t know.’
Miles made to run up back the stone steps, but I grabbed his arm.
‘Excuse me, sir, keep clear!’ boomed a firefighter. They were ascertaining whether it was safe to enter.
‘There’s a woman and a dog in there,’ Miles yelled over the cacophony. ‘On the first floor, third room on the right.’ His voice was pleading. The firefighter nodded and relayed the information over radio to his team. It seemed like an eternity was passing us by, when I saw Miles silently slip in behind them and through the dark doorway. I went to cry out for him but it was too late.
The firefighters ran in after him, their protective gear gleaming in the blue lights. We all stood, transfixed, watching the smoke-filled entrance, willing Miles, Gloria and Mrs Harlow to emerge.
Minutes stretched like hours as we waited, the hiss of water from the hoses creating a terrifying symphony. I held Martha close, feeling her tremble against me, while Callum gripped my other hand tightly.
Paramedics led us further away from the house to check us over for signs of smoke inhalation. We kept our eyes glued on the house as firefighters ran back and forth. Eventually, an officer approached us.
‘Hi there, I’m Constable Richardson,’ she said kindly. ‘I will be your liaison until Detective Sergeant Birch and Detective Inspector Randolf get here?—’
‘There he is!’ I cried. Miles was staggering from the house with Gloria in his arms.
‘Where is Mrs Harlow?’ Callum demanded.
Constable Richardson promised us she would find out and went away again. Miles carried Gloria over to us, her long tail beating against his body. He put her down next to me and we wrapped her in a blanket and smothered her with love.
After ten minutes, Richardson returned. Her eyes betrayed her sadness at the blow she was about to deliver.
Miles let out a strangled cry and stood up, but I caught his hand and held him back from attempting to go back in the house… As if that would achieve anything other than potentially harming him further.
‘I’m sorry,’ Constable Richardson said. ‘The fire originated on the first floor, third room on the right. The firefighters did everything they could.’
I looked around in disbelief to find Jeannie staring at me. Something akin to rage swept across her face, before she looked away.
The world seemed to slow down, the chaos around us fading into a dull roar as the constable’s words sank in. Mrs Harlow, the kindly woman who had been a constant presence in Miles’s life, was gone. I felt a heaviness settle in my chest, a mixture of grief and desperation.
Miles stared towards the house, as if he might still be able to do something about it. Jeannie stood frozen; her eyes were back on me with an intensity that made me uneasy. I wanted to look away but found myself unable to break her gaze.
‘Mum,’ Martha whispered, tugging at my arm. ‘What’s going to happen now?’
I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. How could I explain this to my children when I couldn’t even make sense of it myself?
