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Kevin was the first to spot the smoke. He pointed at the wisps crawling up the wall from the bullet holes.
“Jesus. He’s set a fire.” Tyler sat bolt upright.
Beth exchanged a look of resignation with Mrs O’Doole. “He’s going to expect us to escape through the window and will probably be waiting for us to climb down.”
“If he’s lit a fire on the stairs, it’s going to be our only way out.” Mrs O’Doole lifted Kevin away from her so she could uncoil her legs. She knelt in front of him, took him by the shoulders and addressed his terror-stricken expression. “We have to be ready to run.”
He shook his head.
“Listen, Kevin, we have no choice. This whole room will be on fire soon.”
Beth tugged the duvet off the bed and started removing its cover. “Don’t stand in line with the window. We can tie this and the bottom sheet together and dangle it out.”
“So he can shoot us off it.”
“Tyler!” Mrs O’Doole narrowed her eyes at him.
“It’s exactly what he’s expecting us to do,” Beth said grimly. “Let me take a look in the attic.”
Mrs O’Doole yanked at the bottom sheet. “If there’s fire below, we don’t want to get trapped up there.”
“Didn’t you say there’s another hatch over the landing.”
“Yeah. But what good is that going to do us?”
“At least we could get out onto the landing without having to open that door. If we move the chest now, he’ll know we’re making a run for it down the stairs.”
Mrs O’Doole started knotting the sheet to the duvet cover. “He’s probably made sure we can’t get down that way, anyway.”
“Let me check. If there’s a way out up here–”
“I’ve told you there isn’t.”
“At least let us try, Mom. I’ll take a look.”
Mrs O’Doole gripped Tyler’s arm as he went to get on the mattress. “You stay here with the gun. He still might come through that wall.”
He turned to Beth. “Come on, I’ll boost you.”
They both got on the bed and Beth slid her foot into his interlinked fingers.
“One, two...”
On three, he raised her to the ceiling, and she punched her palms against the hatch. It slid sideways, and Tyler teetered as she scrabbled for the edge.
“OK?”
She felt him push against the soles of her boots and crawled into the darkness. There was a strong aroma of wood lacquer. Beth looked down into the bedroom at Tyler.
“There’s a pull-cord for the light above the hatch.” Mrs O’Doole leaned in and gestured.
“I should go up there, Mom.”
“Stay where you are.”
Beth half straightened until she felt the beams against her scalp. Cobwebs stroked her face. She waved her hands about until she touched the string. The end of the pull struck her in the chest and she trapped it there, gripping the plastic and quickly yanking it down.
Strip lights flickered on. Mrs O’Doole was right. The roof was made of solid beams. No window or hatch. Only a small amount of daylight coming through a grille that was no bigger than a place mat. There were a few crates skulking in one corner, but otherwise the considerable space was empty. Beth headed towards the landing side, padding carefully across the floorboards. She found the hatch with a telescopic ladder clipped to the top of it and, as she slid her finger into the ring, felt a warm draught from below.
Marcia O’Doole looked at the wall behind her. Black patches were blistering the ivory wallpaper and rapidly spreading upwards to the coving. The blaze on the landing had to be intense. She looked at the open window and the sunshine outside.
Sooner or later, they’d have to lower the sheets and take their chances. Maybe Tyler could cover them with gunfire from the window while she took Kevin down. But even if they reached the ground, they still had to make it up the steps to the patrol car.
Beth still hadn’t opened the hatch. What if he’d pre-empted this move and was waiting on the stairs with his gun trained on it? She ran back to the opening she’d entered by and looked down at the two faces there. “Drop the sheets from the window and let me know when you’ve done it. Then I’ll open the other hatch.”
Mrs O’Doole and Tyler nodded uncertainly.
“Maybe we can distract him. Be careful.”
They left her looking at the stripped mattress. Suddenly it was slid out of view leaving a square of darker oatmeal carpet. She assumed they’d moved it nearer the window so they could secure the sheet around the slats in the end.
Beth waited, crouching and bracing herself for gunfire, but none came. Their two faces returned and nodded again. Beth crept over to the second hatch. He hadn’t started taking shots at the window. Was he in position on the bank? If he was, he wouldn’t give away his presence there yet, wouldn’t start firing until at least one of them tried to climb down. Or perhaps he was still in the house.
She knew she didn’t have time to delay any further. Beth grabbed the ring and heaved the door, leaning swiftly back from the opening as it hinged up. Fire found fresh oxygen; a thick streamer of orange flame sucked through, scorching the ceiling above. She waited for it to ignite the beams. To her relief, the column quickly weakened to short spikes at the aperture before it dropped completely out of sight again. Acrid grey smoke poured upwards and started to fill the attic, though. Beth clamped her hand over her mouth and fought back a cough. She couldn’t give her presence away if the gunman was nearby.
Beth leaned slowly over the opening, the draught of heat almost unbearable, and looked down at the blazing carpet runner below. The house popped and cracked amidst the heavy rumble of the fire. From her angle, she couldn’t see down the stairs. She moved to the other side of the hatch and quickly dipped her head over the edge so she could get an upside-down view of the landing.
She squinted against the fumes, felt her scalp and eyelids tighten. Huge flames covered the wall of the bedroom, their tips gradually creeping across the ceiling. The stairs were clear and the other side of the landing hadn’t yet caught fire. Beth quickly and quietly sealed the hatch to prevent any further smoke filling the space and ran over to the bedroom side where two faces were waiting for her.
She waved away the smoke so she could see them and allowed herself to splutter. “I couldn’t see him on the landing. Which rooms are on the opposite side?”
“That’s the boys’ bedrooms and the bathroom,” Mrs O’Doole said, and looked behind her nervously.
She blinked the water out of her eyes. “Do they all have windows?”
Mrs O’Doole nodded.
“We could try to climb out the other side of the house.”
“If he hasn’t locked them...” Tyler thought aloud. “It’s got to be better than trying our luck out this window, though.”
“I won’t use the telescopic ladder. He might hear me. I’ll drop down on the landing and try the handles. If it’s safe, I’ll bang on the door twice. You can cover yourself with blankets and cross the landing into the other room.”
“Let’s do it,” Mrs O’Doole said. “But what if they are locked?”
“I’ll have to make a run for it downstairs.”
“No. We’ll try to open this door.”
“If you do that, the fire will quickly spread into the room.”
“It’s not going to matter. We’ll all have to leave by the window then.”
“No. If you don’t hear my knocks, I’m heading downstairs. The fire hasn’t spread down them yet.”
“He could be waiting for you.”
“If he’s in the house... I’ll bang once. That’ll be your signal to climb out of the window.”
“If you’re able to.” Mrs O’Doole paused. “Take the rifle.”
Even though she’d offered it, Beth knew from her hesitation that Mrs O’Doole didn’t want to give it up. She couldn’t blame her. It would be the only thing she’d have to defend her children with. “I can’t carry it and climb down from the hatch.”
Tyler held it aloft. “It has a shoulder strap.”
“No. Just listen for two bangs on the opposite door. As soon as you hear them, pull the chest away and be ready to make a break for it.”
The two faces below shared the pursed expression, as if they knew it would be the last time they’d see her.
