AllFreeNovel
Share Us
'Barbara, have you seen her? The nanny? And where's Phoebe?'
Her heart was pounding and she felt the panic rise and threaten to swamp her.
Where was Zach's daughter?
'They're over there, under the tree.'
Keely glanced across and saw the nanny in conversation with a woman from the village. There was no sign of Phoebe.
Scanning the front garden frantically, Keely tried to stay calm. The child was bound to be here somewhere...
.'The fire brigade are on their way,' Barbara told her. 'With any luck they'll be able to save Zach's house.'
But Keely wasn't thinking about Zach's house. She was thinking of Zach's daughter.
Where was Phoebe?
Her heart in her mouth, she sprinted over to the nanny, stumbling on the hard, frozen earth. It was so cold that everyone's breath was clouding the wintry air. 'Where's Phoebe?'
The nanny looked startled. 'She's playing under that tree...'
She turned to point her out to Keely and her face blanched. 'Oh, no, she's gone...'
Keely looked round frantically, yelling at the others to find the child.
'She's always wandering off,' the nanny grumbled. 'She'll be here somewhere.'
'It was your job to watch her,' Keely snapped. 'She's not even three years old. They all wander off at that age.'
Fergus, the four-year-old son of the farmer who was Zach's nearest neighbour, stuck his finger out and pointed to the house.
'Feefee in house,' he said firmly, and cold fingers of panic squeezed Keely's heart as she dropped to her knees and looked him straight in the eye.
'Phoebe's gone into the house? Are you sure?' Her voice was hoarse, and Fergus nodded.
'She wanted her teddy. She lost her teddy.'
Oh, dear God, if Phoebe was looking for her teddy then she knew exactly where the child would be.
In the playroom—right at the back of the house.
'I'm sure she isn't in the house,' Maggie said nervously, but Keely shot her a look of pure disdain.
'She's gone back to the house. She must have. Don't you know never to take your eye off a toddler?' Worry made her uncharacteristically rude. 'What sort of a nanny are you?'
Without waiting for a reply, she turned to look at Zach's house, which was rapidly becoming an inferno. And little Phoebe was in there, looking for her teddy...
Briefly her eyes closed and then she thrust Fergus into the arms of his mother with curt instructions not to let him go. Without stopping to think about the sense or safety of what she was doing, she sped towards the house, ignoring the shouts from behind her.
In the distance she thought she heard sirens but she knew she had to act immediately. Even a few minutes might be too late to save Phoebe.
Trying to remember what she knew about fires, she took a few big gulps of clean air before dropping to her hands and knees in the smoke-filled hallway. Thank goodness the flames hadn't yet spread to that part of the house.
Stay low, she reminded herself firmly. Smoke rises.
Disorientated by the smoke in the hall, she tried to remember the way to the playroom, feeling her way along the wall, turning into the lounge and crawling rapidly into the extension at the back of the house. All around her bits of furniture crackled as the fire took hold and the smoke was so thick it choked her. Forcing down her fear, she paused and peered through the smoky gloom.
'Phoebe!' Her voice sounded odd above the crackle of the flames and she looked round frantically, feeling as though her lungs were going to burst. Where was she? There was no sign of her. Maybe Fergus had been wrong and she was outside, playing a game of hide and seek...
