Madeleine felt overwhelmed with relief, yet distraught with anguish as she was dragged out of the ground, forcibly taken to an ambulance and laid on a trolley bed.
Fire engines surrounded the hall and firemen ran around spraying water towards reception where flames jumped out from the window frames and shot up to the roof of the house.
‘Bernie, Jack, where’s Poppy, where is she?’ Madeleine felt the panic flood through her as both Jack and Bernie shook their heads.
She’d been so sure that as soon as they escaped the house someone would have brought Poppy to her, but they hadn’t. Why hadn’t they brought her?
‘Maddie, she’s with Nomsa. Jess left her with Nomsa. They were in the kitchen,’ Jack said as tears streamed down his face.
Madeleine felt a moment of relief. ‘That’s good, right? If she’s with Nomsa, that would be good. Nomsa would look after her, right?’ she tried to find a rational explanation as Jack crumpled before her.
‘We haven’t seen them, not since the fire broke out,’ he sobbed like a child and stared directly at Bandit. ‘I didn’t know what to do.’
‘Where did Jess go?’ Maddie asked. Jess wouldn’t have left Poppy without a good reason. Where would she have gone without her? Had Jess gone into the house, was she in her father’s old bedroom? Was she trapped in the fire? Maddie’s heart rate accelerated and her breathing sped up. Both were at a rate that made her feel as though her chest would burst. The two people that meant the most to her were both missing and all she could see was their home burning to the ground before her.
She looked across at Bandit who’d already freed himself from the restraints of the ambulance.
* * *
There was no time to think. No time to plan. Choice didn’t come into his thoughts. Poppy could be in that fire and if she were, he had to save her.
He grabbed hold of Madeleine’s hands. ‘Maddie. I promise you, I’m going to find her, they must still be inside. I’m sure that Nomsa would have done everything she could to get out, but if they are still inside, I’m sure she’ll be protecting her,’ he said looking directly into her eyes. ‘I’ll find her. I promise.’ He knew he was making promises, giving her hope that the child would come out alive and that he would bring Poppy back to her mother.
All he could hear were Madeleine’s screams as he ran towards the burning building. He dodged behind the bushes, past the firemen and straight for the main door. He’d never really been religious, never been one for the church but right now he looked to the sky that glowed amber with flames and began to pray before running in through the front door, heading straight to the kitchen.
* * *
Madeleine clawed at the bed straps.
‘Let me off of here,’ she screamed as she watched Bandit run into the flames. ‘My baby, my baby’s in there.’ She launched herself from the trolley, just as the coughing once again overcame her.
‘Mrs Frost, you need oxygen. Please, lie down, put this mask on your face.’ The words of the ambulance man screeched through her mind like a firework tearing up and through the sky.
‘Lie down? LIE DOWN? Don’t talk so stupid. My baby’s in that fire.’ She stood up again and stumbled towards the house but Jack caught her and tackled her to the floor.
‘Maddie, please. Please don’t. Bandit will find her. He promised, he promised he’d find her,’ Jack cried as he clung onto her as tightly as he could. ‘He always keeps his word, you know he does. Please don’t go in there. We can’t lose you too.’
‘Jack, get off me,’ Madeleine screamed as she prised his arms from around her only to find Bernie pinning her down too. ‘You don’t understand,’ she began to sob. ‘I have to help her, I’m all that she’s got. Please, Jack, Bernie, please let me go to my Poppy.’ Her sobs turned into hysteria as she continually tried to escape their clutches and tried to claw her way across the grass, her fingers digging deep into the soil as she did. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into what seemed like hours. She held her breath, not daring to breathe as her eyes searched every window for any tiny sign of movement within.
Firefighters shouted to each other, and one moved forward, breathing apparatus attached to his back. ‘He’s got her, he’s got the little girl,’ came the shout as the firemen all ran to the back of the house.
Confusion struck and Jack let go of Madeleine, allowing her to stand. She ran to the side of the house and saw Bandit running from the direction of the woods and across the grass. Poppy was in his arms and Nomsa was at his side.