“She’s still inside!” a maid cried. “With the boy and the nursemaid—upstairs!”
Peering up, he saw Josephine’s pale face appear at the open window high up in the nursery, her voice calling down, “Michael! We’re trapped!” She held the child close, the nursemaid hovering behind her.
“Hold on!” he shouted, and then to the people surrounding him, “Ladders! Get me a ladder!” Seeing one on the engine, he grabbed it and raced back to lean it against the wall of the house.
But it barely reached the second-floor ledge. The window was too high. Thinking fast, he yelled, “Tie the bedsheets together! Lower the boy down first!”
She disappeared from the window. He pictured her frantically running through the room, collecting bedsheets and trying them together. Would it be enough? Would they be in time? He mentally urged them to hurry and was relieved when, a few moments later she reappeared at the window with the sheets. But when they lowered the makeshift rope, it was still painfully short of even the reach of the ladder. It would be too dangerous for anyone to descend that way. He wasn’t waiting any longer.
“Stay put! I’m going in.”
He searched around frantically until he saw what he needed: a length of rope in the fire engine. Grabbing it along with the ladder, he ran into the inferno. He was somewhat familiar with the layout of the house from his several visits to the nursery; thank goodness for that. He didn’t need to waste time finding his way around.
When he reached the corridor outside the bedchamber, the flames intensified, and the heat and smoke almost made it impossible to breathe. He pulled his shirt collar around his nose and mouth to provide some protection as he advanced through the flaming corridor, grimly aware it was barely passable now. He would not be able to get them out through this route.
As he turned the corner, he met with the reason why Josephine was trapped. The staircase leading to the nursery was engulfed in flames. Josephine appeared on the landing above, leaning above the railing.
“Michael! We are up here.”
Her face was soot stained and streaked with sweat, but she stayed calm despite the dire situation. The nurse, on the other hand, was almost petrified with shock, while the cries of the child echoed through the burning house, lending a macabre atmosphere to the already disastrous circumstances.
Taking in the situation at a glance, he propped the ladder against the railing, a few feet away from the burning staircase, and climbed up easily. For now, they had a way to get down, but it wouldn’t last. Already the flames were licking along the banister, and in a matter of minutes, they would reach the spot where he had the ladder propped. Even if he had time to get them down, then what? By the time they reached the corridor, it might be engulfed in flames, and he didn’t know if there would be another way out. Up and out the window seemed the better choice. He jumped over onto the landing and led them back tothe nursery, closing the door to try and keep most of the smoke out.
“Do you think you can bear it if I lower you from the window using the rope?”
“I can, but what about Edward? And Nurse…”
“I’ll strap him securely, but I need you to go down first. Then I’ll lower the child to you and, finally, I’ll help the nurse down.”
“No. Help Nurse first, I can’t leave her alone up here. She is terrified.”
“Josephine…” There was a reason for the rescue order. The nurse would be the slowest to come down. She would delay them. And if there was no time to get them all down, at least Josephine could escape with the child. But he recognized the mulish set of her chin, and they would waste more time arguing. “Fine. Nurse, come here.”
The woman just shook her head no, backing away. “It’s either this, or you burn up here,” he said baldly, conscious of the seconds ticking by, of the fire getting closer, and his throat getting sore with the smoke. How much longer did they have?
Josephine saved the moment by placing a hand on the older woman’s arm. “Listen to Michael, Nurse. You’ll be safe with him. We’ll all be safe with him.”
At last the nurse approached the window, and between Josephine and himself they fashioned a sort of harness to keep her secured to the rope. Then came the most difficult part. Convincing the woman to step off the ledge and trust Michael to lower her securely to the ground. This is what he was trying to avoid. They were wasting precious time. At long last, the woman let go with a scream of panic and he slowly lowered her to the waiting arms of the servants gathered below. When they had unstrapped her, Michael quickly retrieved the rope.
Time to lower the child now. But the little one was crying and any attempt to separate him from Josephine only increased hisscreams, until he was red-faced and hysterical. There was no way he could lower the child by himself. Reassessing quickly, he grabbed one of the sheets and wrapped it around Josephine several times, making sure Edward was tied securely to her chest.
“How does that feel?”
“Good. He feels secure. And look, he stopped crying.”
“Let’s go, then.”
He held the rope with the makeshift harness made of bedsheets tied at one end.
“Do you trust me to lower you securely to the ground?”
In response, Josephine grabbed the harness and secured it to her body, then sat on the edge of the window.
“Ready? Hold on to the rope and push back slightly with your feet, I’ll—”
“Wait.”
“Having second thoughts?”
