A Body in the Lakes Graham Smith (free e novels txt) 📖

could either wait where she was and prepare for whoever came up the stairs or she could go down and investigate.

Beth chose to wait. She lifted one of the candlesticks and stood at a point of the landing where she could see who was coming up the stairs. If they were wearing a mask or carrying a weapon of any kind, the candlestick would be launched at their head.

Nobody came, but the whooshing roar increased.

Beth realised what the roar was and her blood turned to ice as the first wisps of smoke started to wind their way upwards.

Even so, she had to have confirmation.

Ten seconds later she had it when she saw the tendrils of smoke emanating from underneath the door of Forster’s study.

‘Shit. Derek.’

As she dashed back upstairs to wake the mayor, Beth was certain the fire was no accident and was the work of the person framing the mayor. She used one hand to dial treble nine on her mobile as the other reached for the handle of Forster’s bedroom door.

The ancient handle turned, but the door didn’t open.

‘Hello, fire brigade please.’

As Beth gave the operator Forster’s address, she remembered the clicking sound as Forster had closed the door. It was locked and there was little that she could do to change that fact.

Her eyes landed on the heavy candlestick that stood beside the chair she’d slept in.

‘I’ve got three appliances on their way to you now.’

‘Please, hurry. There’s someone in the house with me and he’s unconscious in a room that’s locked.’

Beth lifted the candlestick with her free hand.

‘Do you have a key for the room?’

‘No. He locked it from the inside.’

‘We’ll have someone with you in less than five minutes. Can you get out?’

Beth drove the candlestick into the door. She was aiming where the lock was, but all that happened was the candlestick vibrating in her hand from the impact.

‘Yes, but the mayor’s in there. I need to save him.’

‘I hear what you’re saying, but you need to get out. We’re four minutes away.’

‘We’re upstairs.’

Beth cut the call and picked up the candlestick with both hands. She picked her target as she drew the candlestick back and launched it forward with every bit of strength she could muster.

Once again the candlestick did nothing more than bounce off the door.

A splintering whoosh sounded from below and smoke came billowing up the stairs.

Beth stopped what she was doing and risked a look over the bannister. Through the peels of smoke she saw yellow flame tongues.

Five, six, seven times she slammed the candlestick into the door.

All she achieved was a series of dents in the wood.

The smoke was now so thick that she was coughing and choking as she fell to her knees. For the first time since learning the fire was spreading, Beth realised she was trapped. She kept her nose to the carpet and crawled to the bathroom, where she soaked a bath towel and draped it over her shoulders.

Beth trembled with fear as she crawled back to the landing. Her attempts to break into Forster’s bedroom and save him hadn’t just failed, they’d put her life at risk. It galled her that she had to abandon him, but she knew there was no way she was going to get through that door without a fire axe. She just had to put her trust in the fire brigade and hope they’d arrive in time to save him.

Opposite the mayor’s room was another bedroom and that’s where Beth went. She closed the door behind her and, after a deep breath, stood and whipped the duvet off the bed then stuffed it against the bottom of the door to limit the amount of smoke coming into the room.

Back on her knees she crawled to the window. Her fear that the sliding sash had been painted closed proved unfounded when she tested it and found it lifted with ease.

She knew that opening the window was a bad idea as it would give the fire below more oxygen, but it was still a better idea than staying put and inhaling any more smoke. As it was she was coughing after every breath and her eyes were streaming.

Beth heaved the window up and put her head outside so she could get some of the clear air that was instantly being drawn into the room.

She looked down. There was a heavy window ledge she could use to hang down and drop the few feet to the ground.

As plans went it was a good one apart from a single fact.

Fire was pulsing out from a window directly below. If she dropped straight down, she’d pass through the flames. While they might not harm her, if she fell the wrong way, she’d land in the fire.

The roaring whoosh of the fire on the landing was growing louder as Beth endured another coughing fit.

She looked up. Two fire engines were barrelling across Eden Bridge towards the house. They were maybe a hundred yards away.

Beth did a quick calculation. Twenty seconds to arrive and draw to a halt. Ten to spot her and at least thirty more before a ladder could be put to the window.

A minute wasn’t a long time, but it was too long for her to stay in a smoke-filled room.

She crawled out onto the window ledge and perched like a gargoyle.

Beth straightened her legs as powerfully as she could and aimed for the patch of grass at the other side of a gravel path that skirted the house.

As her feet neared the grass she let the tension go out of her legs and rolled as soon as she made contact.

The impact knocked what little air was in her lungs, but when she gasped for air, the air she got was sweet and pure.

As she pulled herself to her feet, Beth was urging the first of the firefighters to come her way to save the mayor.

The next thing she knew a firefighter was pulling her back to a place of safety as hoses