smoke that billowed out. Then he dove, headfirst, inside.
The roof above the porch collapsed a second later. Cole had run to the
other side of the house to try to get in through one of the windows on
the first floor, but he couldn't get close enough, for the heat pouring
out was too intense. His eyes burned and watered as he backtracked to
the gnarled tree closest to the house. Thick branches hung down over
the eaves and he hoped he could get close enough to jump onto the
roof.
He began to climb. Seconds later he swung out, hand over hand, and
then dropped down to the roof. Daniel appeared at the window with
Tilly wrapped in a blanket and draped over his shoulder. Before Cole
could help him, Daniel jumped through the opening and sprinted toward
the opposite side of the roof. The branches on that side of the house
were lower and easy to grasp hold of.
'Caleb wasn't with Tilly. Get out of here, ' Daniel shouted. 'The
roof's going to go.' Ignoring the warning, Cole headed for the window
Jessica had pointed out. Tongues of fire were hissing and spitting at
him from the opening, but fear lent him strength. He was so damned
scared he wouldn't find the baby alive, he recklessly followed Daniel's
example and plunged headfirst inside.
He was surprised to find the floor was still there. He landed with a
thud on his left shoulder, rolled, and stood up. A thick wall of black
smoke knocked him backward to his knees. Ashes poured over his face
and matted his eyelashes. His eyes burned so badly he couldn't see
where he was, he couldn't breathe, and the heat inside the bedroom made
his skin feel as though it were melting. He dropped down to the floor
and took a deep breath of cool air. Then he began to crawl forward on
his belly.
There was almost a foot of clean air trapped between the floorboards
and the dense, deadly smoke. Taking another deep breath, he shouted
Caleb's name.
The sound of his voice was lost in the crackling inferno. He slowly
inched forward. He couldn't see anything, but he hoped he would bump
into a clothes closet. Every bedroom had one, and he knew that
whenever his little sister had become afraid, she'd hidden there. He
hoped to God, Caleb had done the same thing.
The bed was his second choice, but he found it first. He hit the side
of the headboard, squeezed himself along the length, and reached
underneath, sweeping his arm back and forth in a wide arc.
There wasn't anything there.
Every second that passed was another second closer to the babyws
