Read Online Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones - Free Book Online

panicked.”
    No doubt he was right. David thought they looked just that kind of girl. But it made no difference to the fact that they were hanging on to a chimney in a desperately narrow space between the flames and yelling for help. The firemen had put a ladder up against the next building, but there was clearly no chance of them reaching the girls.
    â€œLuke,” David said. “You can’t bring the dead to life. Remember?”
    Somehow, that seemed to be the right thing to say. Luke sighed, and the entranced look on his face altered, so that David could see he was attending.
    â€œLuke,” he said, “I want the fire out now.”
    Luke seemed surprised and rather hurt. “Don’t you like it?” he said.
    â€œI love it. It’s brilliant,” David said. “It’s just those silly girls that have messed it up. Do put it out now. Please.”
    Luke smiled at him—a real, friendly smile, and not that strange, entranced one. “All right,” he said. “Have it your own way.” Regretfully, he looked across at the building again.
    The fire began to die down at once. The flames shrank away from the roof, leaving a wide black trail. At the upper windows they seemed to stoop and cower. Then they were gone, leaving blank black windows, though there were sparks still, round the frames. Then the same happened at the next row of windows. By this time, a fireman was climbing across the roof toward the girls, and the women round David and Luke, who had hardly believed it at first, began to clamor.
    â€œThere, what did I tell you? They’ve got it under control!”
    â€œI knew those girls would be all right!”
    But, as the fire died down stage by stage, Luke’s face grew sadder. David took his arm again and gave it a squeeze.
    â€œCheer up. It was a brilliant fire.”
    â€œYes, it was, wasn’t it?” said Luke.

6
MR. CHEW
    T hat evening, for the first time since he came home, David was not sent to bed early. Astrid was still in a good humor, and so busy telling Aunt Dot about the fire that she let Uncle Bernard score twenty-two points in the illness-contest without scoring one herself. That put Uncle Bernard in a good mood too. And Aunt Dot was pleased because David had come into supper looking as Aunt Dot thought boys should look. David could not resist giving Astrid a tiny flicker of a wink, like Luke’s.
    The only discontented one was Cousin Ronald. He was cross because it looked as if England was going to lose to Australia, and because his new gardener had not turned up. “Rang up this afternoon, if you please, and said he’d got a better job at Thunderly Hill,” Cousin Ronald told them. “Of course I got on to the other chap straightaway, but he can’t come till tomorrow. At this rate the garden will be a wilderness by Wednesday.”
    He told them this several times. Nobody took any notice. So Cousin Ronald, peevish at being ignored, tried to pick a quarrel with David by making the incredible statement that they could say what they liked, but he knew Gleeson had been breaking the rules after tea.
    The reason why David did not contradict him and end up by being sent to bed was that he was too busy thinking about Luke. He thought of Luke working his dishonest miracle on Astrid, and he thought about the fire, and he came to two conclusions. One was that Luke did not operate by the same rules as other people. The other was that, if so, Luke was something of a responsibility. He was great fun, but David was going to have to be careful what he said to him in future. As for Luke’s story about prison and being grateful, David still thought that might be a joke. But he was not at all sure now.
    Whatever the truth was, David and Luke spent a splendid evening together. David went into the front garden after supper. He struck a match. And Luke came cheerfully in through the front gate. After that, they rambled round the