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He wrapped his arm around Hannah, hurrying to the cordon of police and teachers which surrounded the scene. ‘Let me through. Paramedic.’ At the sight of his uniform he was waved through and, taking Hannah with him, he made for the two ambulances, parked next to a fire engine.
‘Josie—’ he recognised the paramedic who was waiting by one of the ambulances ‘—what’s happening?’
‘There’s a class of fifteen kids and a teacher, trapped in there. No sign of the teacher, but there’s a little girl who keeps coming to the window. There’s a fire crew gone in.’ Josie pointed towards a pile of rubble which almost filled a gaping hole in the wall. Above it, clean plasterwork with a line of pictures still pinned to it in a parody of normality amongst the destruction.
As he watched, one of the pictures fluttered from the wall on to the ground. A groaning sound, and a chunk of plasterwork flattened it as it detached itself from the wall and crashed down. Hannah let out a little scream of terror.
‘Okay, Hannah. It’s just a piece of paper...’ He tightened his arm around Hannah’s shaking shoulders. The image of frailty, crushed and broken, had torn at his heart too.
Josie was shaking her head, her eyes fixed on the classroom windows. ‘She didn’t hesitate. That woman deserves a medal...’
‘What?’
‘The firefighter. She saw the little girl and she was the first in, even though there have been great chunks of stuff coming down. Three of the men followed her.’
‘Red hair?’ A trickle of hope found its way into Jack’s heart.
‘Dunno, she had a helmet on. I didn’t know it was a woman but I heard her call out to someone.’
Cass. It must be Cass. ‘I’m going in...’ Jack let go of Hannah and started to walk, and Josie pulled him back.
‘Don’t be an idiot.’
‘Ellie’s in there.’
Josie paled suddenly. ‘All the same, Jack. If you get hit on the head by a lump of concrete then that’s just another thing they’ll have to deal with.’
He didn’t care. ‘Stay here, Hannah. I’ll find them.’
‘Jack...’ Both Hannah and Josie were pulling at him now, and Jack shook them off. Then he looked up. Two figures had appeared in the window, with dark jackets and yellow helmets. Firefighters.
Cass. She and the other firefighter were making short work of the safety bars across one of the windows, and they opened it wide. Jack wondered where the other two men who had gone in were, and hoped that their absence didn’t mean that there were casualties to attend to.
‘Jamie...’ The children were being lifted out one by one, into the arms of the men on the two ladders which had been raised to the window, and passed down to the ground. Hannah sprinted forward, pushing a policeman who tried to block her path out of the way in a surprising show of strength. She reached her son and fell to her knees, hugging him close.
Ellie. Where was she? Why wasn’t she the first? Jack looked up at the window and saw Cass, with Ellie in her arms. She was talking to her, waiting for the firefighter on the ladder to be ready to take her, and Ellie was nodding.
Then a kiss. Jack almost choked with emotion as he saw Ellie handed safely from the window and into the arms of the man on the ladder.
Cass’s attention was now on the next child, lifting him up and talking to him. But all Jack could see was Ellie. He ran forward and heard her voice as she was carried down the ladder.
‘I shouted for help...’
‘That’s right, sweetie. Well done.’ The firefighter was smiling as he climbed down.
‘Daddeee! Cassandra rescued me.’ Ellie held out her arms to Jack and then he felt her small body against him. He stammered his thanks to the firefighter, who nodded, climbing back up the ladder to fetch the next child.
‘Are you all right, honey?’ His first instinct was just to hold her, but he forced himself to check Ellie’s small body for any signs of blood or injury.
‘Cassandra came to find me. I got rescued...’ There was clearly nothing wrong with Ellie’s lungs.
‘That’s right, darling.’ He looked up and saw Cass pass the next child out of the window. When she’d done so, her gaze scanned the people below her and found Ellie, who waved at her excitedly. Cass’s grin told Jack that she’d seen what she had been looking for, and that she knew Ellie was safe.
The children were being marshalled into a group around the ambulances by parents and teachers so that each could be checked over. Jack walked across, holding Ellie tightly against his heart.
He saw Sarah running towards them and Ellie waved to her.
‘I was rescued!’ Clearly Ellie wanted everyone to know. Sarah flung her arms around them both and Ellie struggled to get out from between their bodies so that she could see what was going on.
