Lara arrived at the entrance to the store just as the fire alarm began to ring. Spud was waiting at the doorway. He had never been so glad to see her.
‘What’s that terrible noise, Mum?’ he asked, covering his ears with his paws. Before Lara could answer, they heard someone shouting inside the shop. ‘There’s a fire on the ground floor! Everybody leave the building!’
Spud leapt away from the door. ‘That’s got to be something to do with Stanley Strange,’ he barked. ‘I bet that’s why he had the box of matches.’
‘I think Mum and Ollie are inside!’ gasped Lara, ‘And Star – did you say she was locked in a stockroom?’
‘Yes, she’s with the real Santa,’ replied Spud, ‘on the fourth floor, near the grotto.’
By now there was a steady stream of people leaving the shop; soon it would be a torrent and then a flood. Lara tried hard to contain the rush of anxiety that was racing through her body. Keep calm; remember your training.
She pointed to a spot across the road, in sight of the shop but a safe distance away. ‘Wait over there and look out for Dad, Ben and Sophie. They’ll be here soon. I’m going in.’
‘But Mum …’ said Spud. He too remembered what the firemen had told Ollie’s class at school. ‘Get out, stay out, call the fire brigade out.’
‘I’m a Spy Dog, Spud. I’m trained for emergencies. You take care of the family and let me take care of secret Santa.’
‘But Mum,’ whined Spud. ‘It’s dangerous.’
Lara looked her puppy in the eye. ‘Sometimes a Spy Dog has no choice,’ she woofed. ‘Try not to worry.’ Spud watched as his mum bounded into the store.
It was chaos! Hundreds of people were hurrying down the shop’s staircases as Lara fought her way up. Some of them tried to push her downwards with them. One man actually grabbed her collar and forcibly dragged her down several stairs.
Sorry, I know you’re trying to help, thought Lara as she bared her teeth in a snarl that made him let go of her collar instantly. The noise of the fire alarm was hurting her ears. People were screaming, children crying and all the lights had gone off.
As Lara reached the second floor, she heard a familiar voice.
‘Lara! Have you come to rescue us?’
It’s Ollie – and there’s Mum too, thank goodness!
Ollie threw his arms round Lara’s neck and gave her a hug, ‘It’s OK, Lara, we’ll be out in a minute and then the fire brigade will come.’
No, Ollie, it’s not OK. Star is trapped in a locked room. I’ve got to rescue her.
Lara pulled herself away, gave Ollie a quick lick and pushed on upwards past a very large man in a ski jacket.
Ollie couldn’t understand what she was doing. ‘Lara!’ he bellowed, turning back to try and get a glimpse of her as she disappeared into the crowd. ‘Lara, come back!’
Mum couldn’t understand it, either. ‘We can’t stop, Ollie. Lara must have her reasons. We’ve got to keep going!’ Ollie’s eyes filled with tears but he knew his mum was right. They hurried down the last flights of stairs and out into the cold fresh air.
By the time Lara reached the third floor, the last few people were hurrying downwards. Soon the staircase was deserted. With her heart thumping and her mouth dry, Lara carried bravely on up to the fourth floor alone.
The toy department was deserted. An empty buggy stood in the middle of the floor and some abandoned shopping bags lay on their sides beside the till. It was clear that everyone had left in a hurry. Lara looked round quickly. Where’s Santa’s Grotto?
She raced over to that corner of the department and into the warren of offices and stockrooms behind. The fire alarm was still making a terrible noise but she thought she could hear the faint sound of barking and shouting through the clamour. As Lara passed an open office door, she stopped suddenly. Someone in a red coat was sitting with his back to her, in front of a computer.
It’s Santa! But is it the real one or Stanley Strange in disguise?
The man was muttering quietly to himself. ‘OK, I’ve disabled the sprinkler system so the fire can really get going. No chance of the fire brigade getting up here for a good while yet … Now on to the next part of my plan.’
It’s Strange. He must be mad! Doesn’t he want to be rescued? thought Lara, but there was no time to worry about that now. She had to find the others. It wasn’t hard. The real Santa was beating his fists on the stockroom door and shouting, ‘Help! Help! Get me out of here!’ at the top of his voice. Star was barking along with him and scratching at the door. Lara had to bark her loudest to make herself heard.
‘It’s Mum, Star. Don’t worry, I’m here and I’m going to get you out!’
She quickly examined the lock. Oh no, it’s high security. I can’t pick it. It needs a special swipe card. If only I had more time …
But Lara knew she had hardly any time at all. I’ll have to break the door down.
She ran back to the office where Strange was still bent over the computer, deep in concentration. There was a small metal filing cabinet on wheels just by the door.
This will do! Lara began to push it out into the corridor. Don’t look round, please don’t look round! She didn’t need to worry. Strange was still far away in his own little world, muttering about passwords and bank account numbers.
‘Stand away from the door, Star. Get Santa away too,’ barked Lara. ‘Be quick! Tell me when you’re ready.’
Now it was Star’s turn to think fast. How can I get him away from the door? He doesn’t understand me and he’s desperate to get out!
As Santa stood hammering on the door, Star picked up one of Strange’s ropes in her mouth and looped it quickly round his ankles. Then she gave a short, sharp tug so that the old man overbalanced and fell sideways to the floor.
‘What on earth?’ he exclaimed. ‘I thought you were helping!’
‘Ready!’ barked Star to Lara. ‘But be quick!’
Lara had lined the filing cabinet up with the door some distance away down the corridor. She started to push it along, running behind, then ran faster and faster and, as it gathered speed and momentum, finally sent it flying straight into the door.
It worked! The force of the heavy metal cabinet had burst open the lock. The door flew open, narrowly missing Santa and Star, and the cabinet rolled in, closely followed by Lara.
‘Goodness gracious me!’ said Santa. ‘We’ve been rescued, my little puppy friend, by a dog who looks just like you!’
Lara led the way to the emergency exit. Santa jogged after her, carrying Star. By now most of the floor below was filled with smoke and flames, and smoke was beginning to billow up to the fourth floor too, but the emergency stairway was still clear. It was getting hot and Santa was sweating.
Go straight down, barked Lara. If it gets smoky crawl on the floor – there will be more air there. You should be OK – but hurry!
Santa didn’t need to be told. He was surprisingly nimble for an old man and disappeared down the stairs at top speed, holding Star tightly in his arms.
Lara was left standing alone at the top of the stairs as the whole building began to fill with fire.