Fire! Fire! Read Online Free PDF Page A

him while he licked my face.
    â€œIt’s all right, Pip, the fire won’t reach here,” I said, hoping desperately that I was right. “Master Pepys has heard that the king’s brother is in charge of fighting it now and he has the army to help him.”
    I didn’t know how soldiers were supposed to fight the raging fire with their muskets and swords, but obviously the king thought they’d do some good, and who was I to disagree.
    I carried Pip back to the kitchens and he scampered off happily to hunt for rats in the cellars. But that was before the explosions began.
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    At luncheon I stood behind Master Pepys’ chair and refilled his wine glass every time he emptied it… which was quite often. His guests were two very fine ladies and two equally impressive gentlemen, whose wigs hung in great long curls, falling from their heads like waterfalls.
    From the dining room window I could clearly see the fire, though luckily it was still a good way off. But the thick smoke had spread wide over the city and had settled like a cloud over our house in Seething Lane.
    â€œOh yes, with no thought of any danger to my person, I accepted the king’s orders and set off through the blazing streets to find Mayor Bloodworth,” my master said loudly, as he told the tale of our earlier adventure through the fire to Saint Paul’s.
    â€œBut weren’t you afraid?” asked one of the ladies, peering at him through a pair of spectacles she had on a stick.
    â€œMe, afraid?! Why, of course not. Though none of the gentlemen in the king’s court would come with me. I had to brave the fires alone and unattended.”
    At this I jumped as though someone had poked me in the ribs. I hadn’t meant to draw attention to myself but Master Pepys glanced at me over the back of his chair. “Ah yes, alone that is apart from Tom, here. He may be small, but he has the heart of a lion,” he added and winked at me.
    The lady looked at me through her glasses-on-a-stick. “This boy, Master Pepys? Brave? I’d find it easier to believe that a mouse would have the courage to fight an elephant and win,” she said. While her friends sniggered into their wine glasses I decided that I didn’t like her.
    At that point a huge explosion sounded and everyone rushed over to the window. “What on earth could that have been?” asked the younger lady nervously.
    â€œOh, the mayor and the Duke of York are using gunpowder to blow up houses to make firebreaks. There’s also the possibility that some old soldier still had weapons and gunpowder in his house and the fire’s flaming fingers have found them,” said my master. “But let us get back to our food before it cools upon our plates.”
    I went on staring out of the window, shuddering to think of the poor souls caught up in the fire, maybe dying at that very moment, while these beautifully dressed and refined people took luncheon as though nothing was happening. I could hear them chatting politely about nothing important and even laughing as I watched the flames destroying the lives and homes of the ordinary people of London.
    â€œTom, my glass,” my master called and I was forced to hurry back to the table and pour wine.
    The explosions continued to rattle the windows during the rest of the meal, and at one point I heard Pip’s terrified barks echoing up from the kitchens. It was a real struggle not to excuse myself and run down to comfort him, but I was kept busy serving dainty sweets to everyone after they’d finished eating the savoury dishes.
    As the meal and the fashionable chatter continued on, more and more explosions echoed over the city. Master Pepys began to show signs of worry. He stood at the window, glass in hand, watching the distant flames and muttering to himself. Then, after he failed to answer several questions they asked him, the guests finally decided they should