fellasâll put it out.â
âPutting out fires isnât easy on a day like this.â
âYou ever seen a fire?â said Stevie, with a faint touch of superiority.
âNo.â
âWell, I have. They put them out real easy. Itâs fun.â
âThatâs not what Gran says,â said Peter. âIâve got to go home, back to town.â
âWeâre going to the beach,â said Stevie.
âAre you
still
going?â
Stevie looked surprised. âCourse we are. Why not?â
âWell, the fire and everything. Isnât your dad afraid somethingâll happen?â
Stevie was disgusted. âOnly scaredy-cats are afraid of fire.â
âIâm not afraid,â said Peter.
âThen what are you going home for?â
âGran says Iâve got to.â
âGo home âcos of a
fire?
Gee whiz. Do they think youâre a girl or somethinâ?â
The enormity of the thought suddenly appalled Stevie, and it struck at Peter like a slap in the face. In a moment Stevie realized that he was peering over the top of the gate at an empty veranda. The slamming door left Peterâs departure in no doubt. âHow do you like that?â said Stevie. He thought it over, but couldnât make sense of it; so he skipped on homewards until he broke into a run.
âDo you know what?â he said, bursting in on his parents, âPeterâs got to go home âcos of the fire. That old Gran of his says heâs got to go home.â
âNow wait a minute, wait a minute...â said his father. He was squatting on his haunches, mopping up water with a towel and wringing it out into a bucket. Stevieâs mother was still in her dressing-gown, still strained-looking. Though Stevie didnât realize it, his mother and father had been having
words.
âWhatâs all this about?â Mr Buckingham said. âThe fireâs so far away that no one can see it...Isnât it?â he asked, looking sharply at Stevie.
âMiles,â said Stevie. âMiles and miles. Way on the other side of the mountains. Fancy makinâ him go home!â
âObviously,â said Mrs Buckingham, âthe Fairhalls know more about the fire than we do.â
âHow could they?â barked her husband. âWeâve got the phone on; they havenât. Youâve heard what the boy said. And you know what Bill Robertson said.â
âI still want to know why the sirens went. If thereâs no danger, why sound the warning?â
âFor heavenâs sake, woman, Iâve told you. If thereâs a fire you put every available man on to it to get it out. If thereâs a brigade doing nothing in an area where thereâs no danger, you pull that brigade in, too. Itâs common sense. Our boys have gone to give them a hand, because theyâre not needed here.â
âThatâs what you say, but I havenât heard it from anyone else. It comes too easy for my liking. With this wind blowing, it would be reckless to consider going away until we know that the fire is well and truly out. Now, the Fairhallsââ
âSince when have we set a course by the Fairhalls? You know what theyâre like with that boy. Theyâll ruin him...Look, if itâll make you feel any better, weâll both get in the car and drive up to the top of the hill and see for ourselves. Thatâs what we should have done in the first place.â
Her shoulders drooped. She didnât like arguing in front of Stevie, and she didnât want him to see that she was frightened.
It was Pippa who turned their thoughts in another direction. Her face, flushed and panting, appeared suddenly pressed against the screen door to the kitchen. âDad,â she cried. âI canât find Julie.â
âOh, for heavenâs sake!â Mr Buckingham threw the towel to the floor and straightened up with a hand pressed to
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