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Lydia bit her lip hard and stopped screaming. “Charlotte!”
“Open the door!”
“I can’t I can’t I can’t-”
“It’s locked!”
“I’ve unlocked it and it won’t open and the house is on fire oh dear Jesus help me help-”
The door shook and the handle rattled as Charlotte tried to open it from the inside.
“Mama!”
“Yes!”
“Mama, stop screaming and listen carefully to me-the floor has shifted and the door is wedged in its frame-it will have to be broken down-go and fetch help!”
“I can’t leave you-”
“MAMA! GO AND GET HELP OR I’LL BURN TO DEATH!”
“Oh, God-all right!” Lydia turned and ran, choking, toward the staircase.
Walden was still ringing the bell. Through the smoke he saw Aleks, flanked by Thomson and the third detective, Bishop, coming down the stairs. Lydia and Churchill and Charlotte should be here, too, he thought; then he realized that they might come down any one of several staircases: the only place to check was out on the front lawn where everyone had been told to gather.
“Bishop!” shouted Walden. “Come here!”
The detective ran across.
“Ring this. Keep going as long as you can.”
Bishop took the rope and Walden followed Aleks out of the house.
It was a very sweet moment for Feliks.
He lifted the gun and walked toward the house.
Orlov and another man walked toward him. They had not yet seen him. As they came closer, Walden appeared behind them.
Like rats in a trap, Feliks thought triumphantly.
The man Feliks did not know looked back over his shoulder and spoke to Walden.
Orlov was twenty yards away.
This is it, Feliks thought.
He put the stock of the gun to his shoulder, aimed carefully at Orlov’s chest and-just as Orlov opened his mouth to speak-pulled the trigger.
A large black hole appeared in Orlov’s nightshirt as an ounce of number-six shot, about four hundred pellets, tore into his body. The other two men heard the bang and stared at Feliks in astonishment. Blood gushed from Orlov’s chest, and he fell backward.
I did it, Feliks thought exultantly; I killed him.
Now for the other tyrant.
He pointed the gun at Walden. “Don’t move!” he yelled.
Walden and the other man stood motionless.
They all heard a scream.
Feliks looked in the direction from which the sound came.
Lydia was ru
Feliks hesitated for a split second; then he dashed toward her.
Walden did the same.
As he ran, Feliks dropped the gun and tore off his coat. He reached Lydia a moment before Walden. He wrapped the coat around her head, smothering the flames.
She pulled the coat off her head and yelled at them: “Charlotte is trapped in her room!”
Walden turned and ran toward the house.
Feliks ran with him.
Lydia, sobbing with fright, saw Thomson dart forward and pick up the shotgun Feliks had dropped.
She watched in horror as Thomson raised it and took aim at Feliks’s back.
“No!” she screamed. She threw herself at Thomson, knocking him off balance.
The gun discharged into the ground.
Thomson stared at her in bewilderment.
“Don’t you know?” she shouted hysterically. “He’s suffered enough!”
Charlotte’s carpet was smoldering.
She put her fist to her mouth and bit her knuckles to stop herself from screaming.
She ran to her washstand, picked up the jug of water and threw it into the middle of the room. It made more smoke, not less.
She went to the window, opened it and looked out. Smoke and flames poured out of the windows below her. The wall of the house was faced with smooth stone: there was no way to climb down. If I have to I’ll jump; it will be better than burning, she thought. The idea terrified her and she bit her knuckles again.
She ran to the door and shook the handle impotently.
“Somebody, help, quickly!” she screamed.
Flames rose from the carpet, and a hole appeared in the center of the floor.
She ran around the edge of the room to be near the window, ready to jump.
She heard someone sobbing and realized it was she.
The hall was full of smoke. Feliks could hardly see. He stayed close behind Walden, thinking: Not Charlotte, I won’t let Charlotte die, not Charlotte.
They ran up the staircase. The whole second floor was ablaze. The heat was terrific. Walden dashed through a wall of flame and Feliks followed him.
Walden stopped outside a door and was seized by a fit of coughing. Helpless, he pointed at the door. Feliks rattled the handle and pushed the door with his shoulder. It would not move. He shook Walden and shouted: “Run at the door!” He and Walden-still coughing-stood on the other side of the corridor, facing the door.
Feliks said: “Now!”
They threw themselves at the door together.
The wood split but the door stayed shut.
Walden stopped coughing. His face showed sheer terror. “Again!” he shouted at Feliks.
They stood against the opposite wall.
“Now!”
They threw themselves at the door.
It cracked a little more.
From the other side of the door, they heard Charlotte scream.
Walden gave a roar of anger. He looked about him desperately. He picked up a heavy oak chair. Feliks thought it was too heavy for Walden to lift, but Walden raised it above his head and smashed it against the door. The wood began to splinter.
In a frenzy of impatience Feliks put his hands into the crack and began to tear at the splintered wood. His fingers became slippery with blood.
He stood back and Walden swung with the chair again. Again Feliks pulled out the shards. His hands were full of splinters. He heard Walden muttering something and realized it was a prayer. Walden swung the chair a third time. The chair broke, its seat and legs coming away from its back; but there was a hole in the door big enough for Feliks-but not for Walden-to crawl through.
Feliks dragged himself through the hole and fell into the bedroom.
The floor was on fire, and he could not see Charlotte.
“Charlotte!” he shouted at the top of his voice.
“Here!” Her voice came from the far side of the room.
Feliks ran around the outside of the room where the fire was less. She was sitting on the sill of the open window, breathing in ragged gulps. He picked her up by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. He ran back around the edge of the room to the door.
Walden reached through the door to take her.
Walden put his head and one shoulder through the hole to take Charlotte from Feliks. He could see that Feliks’s face and hands were burned black and his trousers were on fire. Charlotte’s eyes were open and wide with terror. Behind Feliks, the floor began to collapse. Walden got one arm beneath Charlotte’s body. Feliks seemed to stagger. Walden withdrew his head, put his other arm through the hole and got his hand under Charlotte’s armpit. Flames licked around her nightdress and she screamed. Walden said: “All right, Papa’s got you.” Suddenly he was taking her entire weight. He drew her through the hole. She fainted and went limp. As he pulled her out the bedroom floor fell in, and Walden saw Feliks’s face as Feliks dropped into the inferno.
Walden whispered: “May God have mercy on your soul.”
Then he ran downstairs.
Lydia was held in an iron grip by Thomson, who would not let her go into the blazing house. She stood, staring at the door, willing the two men to appear with Charlotte.
A figure appeared. Who was it?
It came closer. It was Stephen. He was carrying Charlotte.
Thomson let Lydia go. She ran to them. Stephen laid Charlotte gently on the grass. Lydia stared at him in a panic. She said: “What-what-”