He didn’t hesitate. And a moment later my daughter, my beautiful daughter, appeared in the hatch. ‘Dad,’ she said, smoke swirling around her head. I wanted to embrace her, kiss her, tell her I was sorry, but that would have to wait. I pulled her up through the gap and she collapsed against me. I put my arm around her.
‘We’re going to run,’ I said. ‘Straight to the front door. You ready?’
‘Wait—’ she said.
But I didn’t let her speak. I took hold of her arm and pulled her, into the burning front room, through the heat, the flames, the walls buckling around us. There was a terrible roaring, rushing noise, and I shoved Frankie, sending her flying through the open door. I leapt after her, convinced the hair on the back of my neck was about to catch fire, the heat like nothing I’d ever felt. If I hadn’t been soaked through, I’m certain I would have gone up in flames too.
I landed on my knees on the porch. Carl’s bow was there, along with a quiver of arrows. Frankie, who had already got to her feet, pulled me down the wooden steps into the soaking grass. I lay on my back and looked up at the sky, ashes dancing above me. Two pairs of arms took hold of me – Frankie’s and Ryan’s – and pulled me towards the trees.
I sat up. Coughed uncontrollably. Struggled for breath. I opened my mouth and tried to catch the rain, which was falling more heavily again. Frankie was crouched beside me, her hand on my back.
‘Nikki’s in there,’ she said.
The roar of the fire. The wind. The rain. I wasn’t sure if I’d heard her correctly.
‘She was in the basement with us. I think she’s broken her back.’
I looked at the burning cabin. There was nothing I could do. They were all dead now, the original three. Crow, Goat and Fox.
‘Everett’s body was down there too,’ Frankie said.
I couldn’t take any of it in. ‘We need to . . . get out . . . Back to the resort.’ My body was racked with coughs again. The smoke was in my lungs. My insides felt charred and black.
I tried to get to my feet but fell back. Everything swam. The heat from the burning cabin was making me want to vomit, and smoke swirled all around us, black embers and orange sparks flying above our heads. It was like being in Hell. But Frankie was alive. She was fine. Ryan too. I had got them out, and if I died now it would be fine.
I wanted to lie down on the grass, the exhaustion and shock and relief taking over, but Frankie stopped me.
‘We need to get away from the fire and the smoke.’
She was right. I let her help me to my feet. With the smoke billowing around us it was hard to find the path, but Ryan said, ‘This way’， and we followed him. As we pushed through, the smoke grew thinner and soon I was gulping down clean air as we entered the clearing.
I collapsed on to my knees. I needed to rest again. Needed oxygen. I lay down on my side and concentrated on breathing. Surely the fire would attract people from the town and the resort. Let them come to us. I was spent.
‘Dad, what are you—？’
She stopped talking.
Two figures appeared before us, out of nowhere.
Buddy and Darlene.
They were wearing their masks. Goat and Fox. I watched them lift their faces towards the blaze beyond the trees, then swivel their attention back to us. Frankie was behind me, near the entrance to the hidden path, and Ryan was beside her. Somehow, I found some strength and pushed myself into a sitting position.
Buddy held a gun and Darlene had a knife.
I watched as Buddy lifted the gun.
‘Go back,’ I said. ‘Now!’
Frankie and Ryan understood immediately. They darted back into the trees. I followed, realising that once you had seen the entrance to the path it was impossible to unsee it. I still have no idea how I managed it, where that final burst of strength came from, but I guess it’s like one of those fabled mothers who is able to lift a car to free her child. I wasn’t only trying to protect myself. Frankie still needed me.
Or so I believed.
I could hear the twins crashing through the trees behind us, and somewhere in the distance, above the rain and the wind, I heard the drone of an engine. A plane or helicopter sent to check out the fire? I didn’t have time to think about that right now. The three of us – Frankie, Ryan, me – emerged into the clearing around the cabin. I stopped running. The cabin was burning hard, flames erupting from the roof, black smoke pouring into the sky. Fortunately, the wet weather and clear ground between the cabin and the surrounding trees had stopped the fire from spreading and setting off a wildfire. An image of Nikki trapped in the basement, unable to move, flashed before my eyes, and I pushed it away, knowing it would return later to fill my nightmares.