“Lady Karlson?” The heavy wooden door opened. A small, balding man stuck his head out. “You wanted to know when we’d be turning to your application?”
“Thank you.” Susannah gathered her coat and handbag and strode off before Robin could make a comment.
Ushering Finn in front of her, Susannah made sure to close the door right in Robin’s face. Win or lose, this was still nothing to do with her. Not yet and not ever, if Susannah had anything to do with it.
Chapter 21
Tess wasn’t sure what actually woke her.
The huge crashing sound, like a tree snapping in two, was certainly a contender. The cloying, clinging stink of smoke was another; she had always been sensitive to it. Last but not least, the garish light that flickered and grew brighter by the second might have been enough to disturb her well-earned rest, but her brain, along with the rest of her aching limbs, still felt sluggish and eager to return to bed. It was only when she dragged herself to the window and saw that the building across the quaint little courtyard was on fire that the adrenalin finally kicked in.
“The pub!” she gasped to no one in particular, which was hardly unusual, but where was Waffles? At the first sign of danger, he usually applied himself to Tess like a giant fluffy bandage, ready to protect her from anything.
She ran downstairs in mismatched pyjamas and almost overbalanced, but the brief wobble helped her catch sight of a pale yellow tail sticking out from under the dinner table.
“Waffles?”
He had never ignored her calls, save for a time or two when he got too enthusiastic about chasing a squirrel.
Tess glanced back at the flames, wondering why the hell she couldn’t hear sirens or see blue flashing lights yet. “Here, boy,” she coaxed, lifting the tablecloth to see him trembling and trying to press himself down through the floorboards. “It’s okay, we’re okay.”
Her first instinct was to sit and soothe him, maybe root around in her bag for something mild to calm him down. Only in that moment she remembered what her sleep-addled brain had been trying to piece together for the past minute or two.
Susannah was sleeping over at the pub.
Something about Babs having the day off and the drayman and something else that had been lost in the noise of winning the council vote yesterday.
Tess was scrabbling back to her feet after what she hoped was a reassuring enough pat for her poor scared pup. Rushing to the front door, she shoved her bare feet into wellies and yanked her parka on at the same time. Fumbling, she did what she should have done on first waking and dialled 999.
She barreled out of the door without actually opening it properly, and that was definitely going to leave her with a bruised shoulder. Tess couldn’t feel it. She just had to get over there.
Still no lights. No sirens. On the main road, curtains were twitching, and a door or two was opening, drawn out into the middle of the night like Tess had been. Tess wound her way through the sturdy wooden tables of the beer garden, getting as close as dared to the pub’s back entrance.
The first shout went up.
Looking around, she saw Adam stumbling into view, in weirdly formal pyjamas that made him look like a younger Stephen Fry. His hair was sticking up in all directions. As he approached Tess, he ended a call on the phone he was clutching.
“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted at her.
The smoke was getting thicker now, she was so close. The heat was already making sweat prickle along Tess’s hairline.
“We have to…Susannah!” She pointed to the burning building. Her brain was racing, but Tess’s mouth couldn’t keep up. She kicked at the ground with her wellies, frustrated by her lack of words.
“No, we have to wait for the fire brigade. I’ve called 999; so has everyone on the street, probably. Get back from there, Tess!” He ran toward her, waving her away, concern and fear etched in his features.
Tess saw it clear as day how this would play out. Everyone standing around, wringing their hands, worrying about risk. Meanwhile, a fire engine from God knew how far away was winding its way down the endless country roads to reach their little outpost.
“Going in!” Tess shouted back. Before Adam could do a damn thing about it, she shouldered the back door. The flimsy lock gave on the second shove.
Thank you, adrenalin.
It was already hard to breathe. Her chest was tight, her heart was hammering. Pure terror too, but Tess had always been more fight than flight, even when it was the stupidest thing she could do.
The heat and roar of the flames was coming from the main pub lounge, and Tess didn’t want to investigate any further. The faint sound of a smoke alarm was going off in there, but as she moved towards the corridor that led to the bedrooms upstairs, the lack of alarms screeching or beeping was painfully apparent. Thank God she’d been around here to see Babs in the back area before, or the entire layout would be unknown to her.
Visibility was poor. Tess didn’t dare try to switch on lights. She couldn’t remember why it was a bad idea, but she knew that it was.
Up the stairs, rooms sat on either side of the short hallway.
Tess nudged the first door all the way open but found it empty.
She coughed. Fucking smoke.
The next door was a bathroom, and she grabbed the hand towel from the rail, quickly soaking it and wringing it out. That gave her some relief over her nose and mouth.
Dropping on all fours, she crawled to keep her head out of the swirling smoke, and felt her way along to the next door.
Bingo! There was a double bed with someone under the covers. Tess practically threw herself at the shape.
“Susannah! Suze!”
The lump didn’t respond,
