Mountain of Fire Read Online Free PDF Page A

ground moving a few split seconds before she felt her mother shaking her awake. “Fitri, Agus! Wake up! We have to leave!”
    People ran out of their homes terrified that the volcano had finally erupted. But the tremors stopped, just as suddenly as they had started. Both the bule and the policeman were trying to calm everyone down.
    â€œIt’s okay, it’s okay! Everyone listen up. It wasn’t an eruption. Just a small tremor,” the policeman was shouting.
    Agus looked terrified. “Fitri! What about the lahars? If they start coming down, can we run fast and get away? What about Pak Eko? He is even closer to the crater.”
    Fitri did not answer because she did not want to tell him the truth. There was no way anyone could outrun lahars. They were deadly mudflows. Lahars started after a volcanic eruption and moved like liquid concrete, full of mud, rocks and debris. They moved at super speeds, faster than any man or animal could run, destroying and sinking everything in their path.
    Instead she said, “It’s okay, Agus. There is no lahar yet.”
    Pak Andersen was on his radio, talking to his office in Yogyakarta. The villagers crowded around him, worried, anxious. They had so many questions. Would it happen again? Is the volcano going to erupt? Is the lava loose? Is it flowing towards them this very minute?

    The bule shook his head. “It is the same level of danger as before.”
    He turned to Fitri’s father. “Pak Eko must let the people leave the village. The eruption could happen anytime. Speak to him again,” he urged.
    A group, along with Ayah, set off for Pak Eko’s hut to see if he was okay, and to ask him again whether they should leave, or stay for the Tapak Bisu.
    Over an hour passed and Fitri huddled under a warm blanket in the doorstep of her house, shivering in the cold early morning air, watching the nervous excitement outside. People were waiting for the group) to return from Pak Eko’s hut.

    â€œPsst, Fitri, I have something to show you,” Agus popped up, whispering to her. She realised she had not seen him after the earthquake. In all the excitement, Agus had gone missing.
    â€œWhy is your face so dirty, you monkey? Ibu had better not see you now.” She touched his shirt. “Are you wet? How did you get wet?”
    â€œI followed Ayah to Pak Eko’s hut, to see what he would say.”
    His sister was about to yell at him, but something in his face stopped her. “When the earth moved... something, something is there, Fitri,” he almost whispered to her.
    â€œWhat do you mean something is there? Are you making up stories again? Like the last time you thought you saw a big bear in the mountain? We don’t have any bears here,” Fitri snapped at him.
    â€œNo, no, Fitri, I promise. This is something else,” he said excitedly. “Something is there in the ground.”
    Fitri found it impossible to soothe the agitated boy, so she told him she would spank him if he was making up stories to annoy her, and reluctantly agreed to follow him.
    They ran up the mountain till they reached the watchtower. At this point, Agus should have taken the road that led back to the Guardian’s hut, just as he had done yesterday. Instead, curiosity had gotten the better of him and, on impulse, he took the other road and went up towards the government sign-post that read “ Berbahaya”.
    It was deathly quiet.
    â€œThat’s it, Agus. We can’t go on anymore. It’s too dangerous,” his sister said looking around nervously.
    â€œIt’s only a little way further,” Agus said.
    Fitri stood there, refusing to move.
    â€œJust a bit further, Fitri. Come on! Not near the dome!” Agus said urgently. “Come on!”
    It was times like this that she thought her little brother was braver than her. Agus led her on the path till they came to a section of the mountain with a small stream. Just