Three houses in King’s Road were on fire and, as she passed one, a man came running out calling for help. He held a small boy in his arms.
Tilly threw her bike down and ran towards him.
‘Agnes and Ruth. They’re still in there,’ he cried, coughing up the words and struggling to breathe. ‘Here, take my son. I need to get them out,’ the man screamed.
‘Dad, Dad, don’t leave me,’ the child whimpered.
Two neighbours ran from across the road to join them.
‘Give Tommy to us, Gordon,’ one said.
The boy clung on to his father.
‘Get him away from here,’ Tilly shouted. ‘It’s too dangerous.’
The man handed the boy over to the neighbours and turned back towards the house.
‘You’re not going back in there, are you?’ one neighbour said.
‘I can’t leave them,’ Gordon replied. ‘They were behind me. They were right there.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Tilly said.
‘I can’t ask you to risk . . .’
‘Don’t waste time talking. Come on,’ Tilly screamed.
‘Then take this and put it over your face,’ the woman said, taking off a shawl from round her shoulders and giving it to Tilly.
As they disappeared through the front door into the blazing building, a huge piece of burning wood fell down the staircase and lodged itself at the bottom of the stairs. Tilly and Gordon stepped across it and called out, ‘Agnes? Ruth?’ He turned to Tilly and said, ‘This way, follow me.’
The air was thick and burned the back of Tilly’s throat. She tried to breathe shallowly as each breath caused her searing pain. Her eyes refused to focus as they fought to stay open. Tears streamed down her face and it felt as if her eyebrows and lashes were burnt to a crisp. The intense heat made every part of her body scream to escape but she kept seeing visions of a mother curled around her child’s body, trying to protect her from the flames. Gordon and Tilly called out again and again, and then stopped to listen for any response. They kept as low as they could, crawling up the staircase, the sound of exploding glass and collapsing masonry all around them.
They searched each other’s faces, both looking for a sign of hope in the other that they were not on a hopeless mission, both determined not to give up. Tilly was beginning to fear that they would have to get out before the house collapsed around them and save themselves when she heard a small voice call out in fear. ‘Dad, Dad. Up here.’
‘Ruth, Ruthie, hold on,’ Gordon replied, shouting above the sound of falling timbers.
The smoke cleared briefly and Tilly saw a girl squatting beside her mother at the top of the stairs.
‘Don’t move, Ruthie,’ Gordon said.
‘Mum’s foot is trapped. I can’t move her,’ Ruth cried.
Debris began falling from the ceiling and there was a gaping hole where the landing floorboards should have been. The woman’s foot had gone through the floor up to her thigh. Blood was pouring from a gash in her leg and she was unable to move. She kept lapsing in and out of consciousness.
Tilly and Gordon kicked debris to one side and Tilly stepped back as a torrent of roof tiles and plaster collapsed over her head and ripped through the floor beneath her feet, creating a chasm separating Tilly from the family. The force of the collapsing roof pushed Tilly back and a shower of plaster and wood covered her face and the shawl, which she could feel melting into her skin. She landed on her back, the burning material sticking to her. She threw the debris and the shawl off herself and felt as if her skin was peeling away with it. The pain in her face and hands was intense, but the need to reach Gordon, Ruth and Agnes forced her on.
Tilly dragged herself to her feet. Through the dense smoke, she could hear Gordon talking to his daughter. Somehow, he’d reached her.
‘It’s all right, Ruthie. You’re going to be all right,’ he reassured her.
‘Mum. You have to help Mum,’ Ruthie cried.
‘We’re getting you out, both of you,’ Gordon said, before turning and peering into the murky atmosphere that made it so hard to see anything.
‘Are you all right?’ he called.
Tilly was aware that time was critical. They couldn’t last much longer in this heat. The building was collapsing around them.
