Chapter 17

Lizzie pushed her way through the stampede of terrified workers. ‘You want to go down, girl!’ one of them shouted. ‘The mill’s on fire!’

‘I know!’ she grunted, shoving past him. ‘Let me through.’

Harsh, acrid smoke made her cough. Her head spun. Half-starved and exhausted, she struggled through the crowd step by step.

‘Amelia!’ she shouted, her throat hoarse. ‘Where are you?’

She broke through the last of the mill workers, charged around the landing and sprinted up to the very top floor.

She was in a long hallway, right under the roof. The sloping sides gave the whole room a triangular shape while at the end, a round window showed a gloomy sky. Only a few whale-oil lamps lit the place.

Down both sides of the room, to the left and right, stacks of cloth had been piled up. It was like an immense loft. This must be a fabric storehouse – and when the fire reached it, it would burn like dry grass. Smoke was already curling up from the gaps between the floorboards.

Somewhere, among these musty heaps of fabric reaching up to the diagonal ceiling, Maisie and Amelia must be hiding. There was no other way out of the place.

From downstairs Lizzie heard shouts and screams, then a terrific crash, and the floor vibrated below her feet. One of the machines must have collapsed.

‘Maisie?’ she called nervously. ‘Amelia? You’ve got to get out!’

Maisie shuffled out from behind one of the end stacks, still holding Amelia to her like a life-size doll. She stood in front of the window and stared at Lizzie with white, wild eyes.

‘Can’t you smell the smoke?’ Lizzie pleaded.

Maisie took a deep sniff and laughed bitterly. ‘This place, it’s tasted Hendry blood before. My sister died here, you see.’

‘How?’ Lizzie tried to ask, and burst out coughing.

‘Like that,’ Maisie said, with an insane chuckle. ‘Fibres in the air. It gets into your lungs and you rot away from the inside.’ She sniffed. ‘Jinnie died at her machine, coughing up blood. They dragged her away and someone took her place like they always do. But not any more. I’ll die here. I know that. But I’ll be the last.’

Lizzie slowly moved towards her, holding her hands out. ‘I can’t imagine what you’ve been through,’ she said. ‘To drive you to this … they were cruel to you. Wicked. It’s unforgivable.’

‘You sound like her uncle. You were here for one day!’ Maisie yelled. ‘What can you know?’

‘I know enough! My brother died in a factory!’ Lizzie screamed back at her. ‘An’ I loved him, just like you loved your sister, so don’t you dare tell me I’m like MacDonald!’

Maisie stood trembling, then gave Lizzie a sad, almost sisterly smile. Lizzie crept even closer, praying she could get near enough. She was almost at the window now. She passed by a pile of spare machine parts: wooden shuttles, gears, odd twists of metal she didn’t recognize.

‘It can’t go on, can it?’ Maisie said, tears flowing down her face. ‘The owners must change their ways.’

‘They have to.’

‘No more of this slavery. Or there’ll be a reckoning. A red dawn.’

‘Maisie,’ Lizzie pleaded, ‘you’ve done what you meant to do. MacDonald’s scared half to death. So just let Amelia go.’ Desperately she tried to think of the right thing to say. ‘She’s only a child. You aren’t going to make a child suffer like MacDonald does, are you?’

Maisie wept and clung onto Amelia, rocking her back and forth.

‘Maisie, for the love of God! If we don’t leave now, we’ll all be killed!’

‘Can’t stop now,’ Maisie sobbed. ‘Come too far to turn back. We’ll all go together, won’t we? Off to Fairyland in the dancing flames.’ She smiled down at Amelia, who stared back at her in silent terror. ‘And your uncle won’t ever forget us. We’ll be dead, but all the boys and girls that come after will be safe. Because he’ll have learned his lesson.’

Lizzie knew then that Maisie was determined to die. Nothing she could say would change that. Thinking quickly, she grabbed one of the loose shuttles and flung it at Maisie. It struck her in the head with a grisly crack and Maisie let go of Amelia and sank to her knees, groaning and clutching her head.

Lizzie grabbed Amelia, hugged the little girl to her, then glanced back at the stairwell. To her dismay she saw greedy flames were already leaping up inside it like an oven.

Amelia coughed and gasped. ‘Lizzie, I’m scared.’

‘So am I.’

The smoke was growing thicker. Lizzie wrenched at the window fastening, but it was rusted shut. She sagged in hopeless defeat, then felt Amelia gently hug her again. Big eyes gazed up into hers, full of trust.

No. I’m not giving up!

With her elbow she bashed and bashed at the handle. Flakes of rust flew, and her arm burned with pain – then suddenly the window came free, half a circle of glass creaking open. Cold, sweet, fresh air rushed into the room.

Lizzie gasped, her throat aching. She looked down, and her stomach lurched. The factory wall fell away like a brick chimney, the cobbled yard spreading out impossibly far below. There was no ladder.

‘There they are!’ shouted MacDonald from the yard. A crowd of people stood with him, their faces turned up, full of pity and horror.

Lizzie gripped the window frame, paralysed by panic. Soon, the flames would reach the room, or the floor would collapse from under them. If they jumped, they would fall to their deaths.

No safety net here. Desperate, she looked around for salvation. Her gaze fell on a stack of rolled-up bolts of fabric, and an idea took hold of her mind.

She grabbed one of the rolls and heaved for all she was worth. Somehow she managed to drag it to the window. She changed ends and shoved it until the whole thing was hanging out, then kicked it until it fell down, unravelling like a flag on the way.

‘Stretch it out!’ she yelled. ‘Like a safety net!’

MacDonald understood. The crowd took hold of the edges of the cloth and pulled.

A roaring, crashing sound made Lizzie look back into the factory. The floor was falling in, piece by piece. A crimson glow flickered across Amelia’s face.

Lizzie grabbed her. ‘We’ve got to jump.’

‘Nooo!’ Amelia kicked and tried to pull away. ‘I can’t!’

‘Yes. You can. It’s time to fly, Amelia. Like a fairy! Then you can bounce, just like at the circus.’

‘Bouncing?’

‘The biggest bounce you ever did.’ The floor beneath Lizzie’s feet groaned. Hot light shone between the cracks. ‘Hurry!’ She quickly kissed the little girl on her forehead.

Obediently Amelia sat on the window ledge. ‘I’m going to fly,’ she whispered. ‘One, two, three … wheee!’ She jumped – and vanished from sight.

From the yard below came a rising chorus of screams. Lizzie couldn’t bear to look.

Deep in the factory, something exploded with a bang and a rattle. The heat was unbearable now. She ran over to Maisie, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her over to the window.

‘No!’ wailed Maisie, trying to fight Lizzie off. ‘Leave me alone. I’ll die here in this factory – just as I always knew I would.’

‘Not if I can help it,’ Lizzie said grimly. Yanking with all her might, she pulled the wounded woman to the window, then pushed her out. Screams came from below as Maisie fell towards the cloth safety net.

Lizzie gazed wildly around the factory floor, checking that nobody was left. With a loud groan, the floor sagged and began to collapse. As quickly as she could, she lifted herself onto the window ledge.

She closed her eyes, crossed her fingers – and jumped.