“It’s fire engines!” Danny shouted above the noise outside. “They must be coming from Wellsville. Let’s watch and see which way they turn.”
CHAPTER XVII
Fire!
Watching the fire engines from the porch, it was easy to see which way they were going. The Beverly Inn overlooked the valley beyond the crossroads. Here and there a house and a piece of cleared land broke the green carpet of trees that covered the hills in every direction.
It was a quiet scene except for the red fire engines streaking past, their sirens screaming. Judy had expected them to turn to the west toward Ulysses. The straight road ahead would take them to the house with the boarded-up windows. To Judy’s surprise and momentary relief, they took the road to the east.
“It can’t be too bad. There aren’t any towns in that direction, are there?” she asked.
“Not for quite a distance,” Peter began. “It may be some country place—”
“Not ours?” Danny wailed.
Thinking he meant his old home, Judy started to reassure him. But first she knew she must reassure herself. She liked excitement, but not the excitement of fires. Memories rushed back—her old school burning, the crackling flames when a fire was deliberately set to halt the rebuilding of Roulsville.
“We’ll find out where it is,” Peter promised. “Come on, Judy. We have to go that way to take Danny back to the orphanage. We may as well see what’s burning.”