Tess wasn’t sure what actually woke her.
The huge crashing sound, like a tree snapping in two, was certainly a contender. The cloying, clinging stink of smoke was another; she had always been sensitive to it. Last but not least, the garish light that flickered and grew brighter by the second might have been enough to disturb her well-earned rest, but her brain, along with the rest of her aching limbs, still felt sluggish and eager to return to bed. It was only when she dragged herself to the window and saw that the building across the quaint little courtyard was on fire that the adrenalin finally kicked in.
“The pub!” she gasped to no one in particular, which was hardly unusual, but where was Waffles? At the first sign of danger, he usually applied himself to Tess like a giant fluffy bandage, ready to protect her from anything.
She ran downstairs in mismatched pyjamas and almost overbalanced, but the brief wobble helped her catch sight of a pale yellow tail sticking out from under the dinner table.
“Waffles?”
He had never ignored her calls, save for a time or two when he got too enthusiastic about chasing a squirrel.
Tess glanced back at the flames, wondering why the hell she couldn’t hear sirens or see blue flashing lights yet. “Here, boy,” she coaxed, lifting the tablecloth to see him trembling and trying to press himself down through the floorboards. “It’s okay, we’re okay.”
Her first instinct was to sit and soothe him, maybe root around in her bag for something mild to calm him down. Only in that moment she remembered what her sleep-addled brain had been trying to piece together for the past minute or two.
Susannah was sleeping over at the pub.
Something about Babs having the day off and the drayman and something else that had been lost in the noise of winning the council vote yesterday.
Tess was scrabbling back to her feet after what she hoped was a reassuring enough pat for her poor scared pup. Rushing to the front door, she shoved her bare feet into wellies and yanked her parka on at the same time. Fumbling, she did what she should have done on first waking and dialled 999.
She barreled out of the door without actually opening it properly, and that was definitely going to leave her with a bruised shoulder. Tess couldn’t feel it. She just had to get over there.
Still no lights. No sirens. On the main road, curtains were twitching, and a door or two was opening, drawn out into the middle of the night like Tess had been. Tess wound her way through the sturdy wooden tables of the beer garden, getting as close as dared to the pub’s back entrance.
The first shout went up.
Looking around, she saw Adam stumbling into view, in weirdly formal pyjamas that made him look like a younger Stephen Fry. His hair was sticking up in all directions. As he approached Tess, he ended a call on the phone he was clutching.
“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted at her.
The smoke was getting thicker now, she was so close. The heat was already making sweat prickle along Tess’s hairline.
“We have to…Susannah!” She pointed to the burning building. Her brain was racing, but Tess’s mouth couldn’t keep up. She kicked at the ground with her wellies, frustrated by her lack of words.
“No, we have to wait for the fire brigade. I’ve called 999; so has everyone on the street, probably. Get back from there, Tess!” He ran toward her, waving her away, concern and fear etched in his features.
Tess saw it clear as day how this would play out. Everyone standing around, wringing their hands, worrying about risk. Meanwhile, a fire engine from God knew how far away was winding its way down the endless country roads to reach their little outpost.
“Going in!” Tess shouted back. Before Adam could do a damn thing about it, she shouldered the back door. The flimsy lock gave on the second shove.
Thank you, adrenalin.
It was already hard to breathe. Her chest was tight, her heart was hammering. Pure terror too, but Tess had always been more fight than flight, even when it was the stupidest thing she could do.
The heat and roar of the flames was coming from the main pub lounge, and Tess didn’t want to investigate any further. The faint sound of a smoke alarm was going off in there, but as she moved towards the corridor that led to the bedrooms upstairs, the lack of alarms screeching or beeping was painfully apparent. Thank God she’d been around here to see Babs in the back area before, or the entire layout would be unknown to her.
Visibility was poor. Tess didn’t dare try to switch on lights. She couldn’t remember why it was a bad idea, but she knew that it was.
Up the stairs, rooms sat on either side of the short hallway.
Tess nudged the first door all the way open but found it empty.
She coughed. Fucking smoke.
The next door was a bathroom, and she grabbed the hand towel from the rail, quickly soaking it and wringing it out. That gave her some relief over her nose and mouth.
Dropping on all fours, she crawled to keep her head out of the swirling smoke, and felt her way along to the next door.
Bingo! There was a double bed with someone under the covers. Tess practically threw herself at the shape.
“Susannah! Suze!”
The lump didn’t respond, just groaned a little.
Tess took in the sleep mask, the earplugs. There was a little bottle of something on the nightstand. Shit. Apparently Susannah took something to help her sleep. Fantastic.
Still no lights or sirens from outside. The smoke was getting thicker and lower. It was in her face now even when she hunched over.
This couldn’t wait.
It had been a while since Tess had been to the gym. Walking Waffles was her daily workout, so when she grabbed Susannah, clad in dark silky pyjamas, lifting her turned out to be a whole new problem. Those long legs were a menace, and everything about Susannah seemed to be willfully floppy as Tess tried to leverage her off the mattress and into a fireman’s lift.
In the end, sheer panic did most of the lifting, and Tess just had to hold her in place as best she could, the damn slippery material of Susannah’s pyjamas only making it harder.
Moving was difficult. Tess was already out of breath, and Susannah’s dead weight over her shoulders made keeping low much harder. Opting for speed over ducking down, Tess headed back to the door.
Smoke everywhere. Shit. Which way are the stairs? Tess turned, facing the door to get her bearings. To her right. That was it.
Susannah started to wriggle but Tess held on tighter. Even if she was waking up, this was no time to try and explain the situation to a groggy woman.
The roar of the fire was louder. Wood was splintering. Glass smashing. Tess took a step. Then the next.
Step. Step.
She wanted to cough so badly, it was like her throat was itching on the inside, but that was a bad idea. If she started coughing, it would only get harder to move. To think. To get out.
Halfway down the stairs, Susannah started to struggle, coming to. Tess shouted at Susannah to help her wake. When she finally gained consciousness, slipping from the clumsy over-shoulder hold under her own steam, Tess began dragging her, one insistent arm around her torso, down the rest of the steps.
Tess couldn’t tell which of the doors downstairs was safe to open. The pub itself was a lost cause. She turned, pulling Susannah with her. There was no chance of going back the way she came in; that door had thicker smoke pouring through it.
“Which way?” she yelled against Susannah’s ear, hoping she was rallying enough to have some kind of instinct.
Susannah lurched towards one of the doors. Tess moved with her.
It was the back room. Babs’s living room. They staggered through it, both now on their knees by halfway. Tess looked around.
A door. A window. Anything?
Tess saw the heavy grey fire-exit door like a mirage through the smoke, a faint glow of green above it. Thank everything holy and not for whatever health and safety law made those fluorescent signs mandatory, because Tess could barely see a foot in front of her.
She threw herself at the door. The bar across it was pressed in by Susannah’s shoulder as Tess yanked her towards it.
It opened. It was open, and they were out.
Stumbling, Tess made it as far as she could until her momentum finally gave out.
They were in the car park. There were voices, other hands lifting Susannah and letting Tess slump to her knees. Then, finally, she let the coughing come. Heavy barks squeezed her chest and shook her body. She hacked and hacked until she could breathe again, wondering how she hadn’t passed out.
Adam was tending to Susannah. That was good. Adam was a sensible guy. Did all his first aid qualifications. Put the certificates on the wall. He was kneeling beside her and talking to her.
Someone passed Tess a bottle of water, and her gulps were punctuated by more coughing.
Tess crawled over to check on Susannah, but she was in the recovery position, eyes closed.
Tess’s panic rose.
No, she was definitely breathing! Chest rise, chest fall.
Tess pressed her fingers to Susannah’s neck and yes! That was her pulse. Not fast or strong enough, but there.
Adam was talking, but Tess couldn’t hear him.
Maybe Susannah couldn’t either.
The blue lights came at last. Bells ringing, sirens screaming. Chaos in the shape of a big red truck. Behind it, higher and reedier in pitch, came the ambulance. Help was here.
Tess had done enough, and now they were going to take over. She was crying—or was it just the smoke irritating her eyes? She lay on her side, facing Susannah.
Tess didn’t care what the madding crowd thought when she reached out to stroke Susanna’s soot-stained cheek. “They’re coming. So don’t you even think about not being okay. You got out, that’s all that matters. And you promised me that once you got this pub issue sorted that we’d go out and celebrate your yes vote. You owe me a party, Lady Karlson. Don’t you forget that.”
Then the paramedics were suddenly there with their neon jackets and their latex-coated, capable hands.
Tess felt the last of her adrenalin wearing off and just let herself become pliable. She answered their questions and let them shine lights and prod things. Then there was a mask over her mouth and nose. Horrid, rubbery thing. Felt clammy, like someone else just had it on. Then she took a deep breath for what seemed like the first time in hours. Well. Much better.
“We’re going to take you both to the hospital,” the tall paramedic was saying, steering her to the waiting ambulance. No, there were two ambulances.
“I want to go with her!” Tess cried out, or tried to. The effort of saying it felt like a dozen knives dragged across the inside of her throat.
Susannah was on a stretcher and already being loaded into one of the ambulances.
“No room, and they have to monitor her on the journey,” the paramedic replied. “Come on. The sooner you get in, the sooner you can see your friend again.”
Tess didn’t bother to correct him. She wasn’t sure what she’d be correcting. She climbed up the vehicle’s steps and took her seat, waiting for the doors to be slammed closed.