Fire! Fire! Read Online Free PDF

leave. Their host seemed to be more interested in the fire than he was in them.
    The fuss they made as they gathered their purses, walking canes and parasols reminded my master of his manners and he escorted them to the door. There the gentlemen bowed to each other and the ladies curtsied and everyone tried to find exactly the right way of saying goodbye to prove how refined they were.
    When the door finally closed behind them, Master Pepys sighed in relief. “Sometimes it’s hard work being a gentlemen, Tom,” he said, before hurrying back to the window. I found myself thinking that it was probably far harder to be an ordinary working man or woman when your home was in flames and you were running for your life. But I said nothing. At heart Master Pepys was a good man and at least he was now beginning to show how worried he was about the fire as he stared out over the burning city.
    For the rest of the afternoon my master watched the flames as they advanced through the city’s streets. Something had changed in him. It was almost as though the explosions had somehow brought the reality of this fire home to him. Suddenly the fire was no longer something that was happening to other people in a different part of the city, now it was a disaster that threatened him and everything he owned.
    At one point he even went out without me, telling me to “keep safe at home”.
    While my master was out of the house I spent as much of the afternoon as I could with Pip, sitting with him on my lap in the pantries. I made sure that I was hidden away at the back behind the table where the expensive Italian cheeses were stored under protecting cloth drapes. No one would find me there and think of work for me to do. The little dog was shivering with fright every time an explosion boomed over the sky, snuggling into my arms as closely as he could.
    But I couldn’t stay with him all day. All too soon the cry went up that my master finally returned home and wanted to know where I’d got to. I settled Pip in an old unused bread basket and left him with the cheeses. Reluctantly I went off to find out what I was needed for.
    Master Pepys was in his study scribbling furiously at some papers.
    â€œAh, Tom, where have you been? No matter… ” he said distractedly. “I met the king on the river on his royal barge and he told me the fire has spread further. The flames are even threatening Cheapside!” When I didn’t react, he looked up from his scribbling with a look of horror on his face. “Did you hear me? Cheapside itself is in danger… the most fashionable area of the city where the richest and most important people live! Has this fire no respect?”
    I made the right sort of noises but thought to myself that now the rich people were threatened, perhaps a real effort would be made to stop the flames.
    â€œ I’ve ordered wagons to come and take our furnishings and goods to safety.” Master Pepys went on, interrupting my thoughts. “We can no longer just sit idly by and hope the flames will go away. Everything must be packed up and made ready so that we may leave as soon as needs be!”
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    For the rest of that evening and far into the night I helped the other servants pack all the household goods into crates. Everything from the lowliest vegetable knife to the finest painting was wrapped up and sealed into the huge wooden boxes. Soon the house echoed with emptiness.
    By the time the moon had risen over the burning city, the main hallway was filled to the ceiling with crates. I was exhausted and almost fell asleep standing up! Master Pepys noticed this and kindly sent me off to bed, even though he and many of the older servants continued to work on into the night.
    When I reached my room I found Pip cowering against the door. He was still shivering with fright and, just as I bent down to stroke him, another explosion echoed over the night sky. The Duke of