Closing the door, Penny staggered backwards. Her head was spinning and she could not get her breath.
“It’s no use!” Jack shouted in her ear. “We’ve got to get out of here! The walls or floor may collapse.”
Clutching Penny’s arm, he pulled her along. In the black smoke swirling about them, they missed the kitchen door.
Frantically, they crept along a scorching hot wall, seeking to find an exit.
Then Penny stumbled over an object on the floor and fell. As she tried to get up, her hand touched something soft and yielding. A body lay sprawled in a heap beside her on the floor.
“It’s Sally!” she cried. “Oh, Jack, help me get her up!”
CHAPTER
24
DREDGING THE RIVER
Sally moaned softly but did not stir as Penny tried to pull her to a sitting position. The heat now was almost unbearably intense, with flying brands dropping everywhere. But near the floor, the air was better, and Penny drew it in by deep gulps.
Jack’s groping hand encountered the sink. Soaking his coat with water from one of the taps, he gave it to Penny to protect her head and shoulders.
“Help me get Sally onto my back in a Fireman’s carry,” he gasped. “We can make it.”