3 Burning Heat

The children's screams could be heard from a distance. They sent cold chills down Brightise's back as she ran as fast as she could towards the source of the voices. She saw mothers and fathers ran alongside her frantically and heard names of children being shouted in despair.

"Marnie!"

"Gilbert!"

"Toya!"

She recognized some of them, who were in the same class as Clober.

When the school came into view, Brightise sprinted even faster. The windows of the small building were on fire, and thick smoke was escaping through the roof. Her heart flooded with relief when she saw her older sister carrying a big jug of water. The front of her dress was wet, and her forehead was slick with sweat. She looked dirtier than Brightise had ever been, but it didn't feel like the right time to point that out.

"Morral!" Brightise yelled as she dashed to the front of the school.

Morral turned around. She let out a deep breath at the sight of her sister. "Oh, thank god!" she said.

Brightise knew this was not the time to hug and celebrate. They could have a group hug when they got Clober out of that burning building.

Morral passed her a big bucket and directed her to the closest source of water.

They worked together in nervous silence for a while, before Brightise broke it.

"Our house is on fire," she told Morral.

Morral nodded calmly. "So is Rodna's house."

"And the bakery," a woman beside them added.

"I saw smoke coming from the mill too," an old man informed them.

No one had to state their thoughts out loud. They all knew this was no accident. It had been years since the last time something like this had happened, but it was obvious what they were up against.

An explosion from the inside of the building confirmed their fears. The flames suddenly seemed to get magically bigger and wilder.

Morral threw the jug she had been holding down.

"Screw this!" she said. "I'm going in!"

She looked at the school's windows, trying to figure out which one was the safest to enter through.

"Everyone step away from the windows!" she yelled to the children inside the building.

Then Brightise watched her usually calm and even-tempered sister break the glass with her elbow and jump on the window sill. Before she could blink, Morral had already disappeared inside the burning school.

Brightise followed her swiftly.

It was really hard to see inside, but it wasn't hard to follow the children's voices to the corner of the room, where they had cowered behind their teacher. The old woman looked at Morral and Brightise gratefully.

"Come on!" Morral said, shouting to be heard over the raging fire. "We'll make a chain! You pass the children to us and we'll help them through the window!"

The three women stood in a line. The teacher picked each child up and passed it to Morral, who in turn handed it to Brightise. Then one of the mothers outside the building helped pull the child through.

They managed to get all the children out safely. Brightise could hear Clober crying out for them outside, but Morral asked the old teacher to go first.

"We'll be right after you!" she yelled.

That was the plan. However, Morral hadn't anticipated what happened next.