end.’
They ran and slid down the corridor to the end room whose windows faced away from the mountain, and looked out into nothing but blackness as thick as the pit of a coal-mine. And then came a shower of fireballs that lit up the scene in flash after flash like rapid lightning. The Temperance Hotel stood out, lonely, abandoned, leaning drunkenly into a mess of mud with the volcanic load weighing down its roof and chimneys.
‘It’s a goner, Joe,’ said Charlie heavily. ‘And all our plans with it. The wife will break her heart.’
‘Be thankful you didn’t stay inside it,’ said Joe. ‘We’ll allbe ruined before the night’s out. Look at Falloona’s store! Willie Bird hasn’t got a hope, it’s too ramshackle. And I daren’t look at the stables. What those poor creatures are suffering I can’t imagine, but what can we do? We can’t bring them inside like Lollop. How deep would you say that muck is?’
‘It’s up to my windows, but the roof must have shed some of that. Say, eighteen inches on the road? It’s hard to tell.’
‘Easily that. And these fireballs mean business. I can see three whares on fire. No, four.’
‘There’s a light at Sophia’s. A lantern hanging on the porch.’
‘Aye, so there is! How far that little candle shows its beams! So shines a good deed in this naughty world.’
‘What’s that you say, Joe?’
‘Shakespeare. Never mind that. I trust Willie’s wife will be there. It ought to stand, it’s a sturdy place with a good pitch to the roof. Willie’s put on a brave face, but it’s a hard thing to be parted from her now. Come on, this is no time for sentiment. We’ve work to do. This place could be afire while we’re talking.’
‘We wouldn’t even smell the smoke with all the sulphur in the air,’ said Charlie.
They filled two buckets from the upstairs tank and went back along the corridor. The first four rooms, without guests, were a shambles. The beds were askew and washingbasins, lamps, books and pictures were scattered and broken all over the floors. It didn’t seem to matter. But in Mrs Hensley’s room, usually so neat, the mess was like an insult and Joe couldn’t resist picking something up.
‘Hey! Look out!’ yelled Charlie.
A red-hot boulder as big as a saucepan came straight through the window. Joe leapt to one side, Charlie to the other as the hideous thing landed fair on the bed, and both buckets spilled on the floor. ‘The devil!’ yelled Charlie and ‘God preserve us!’ yelled Joe as they rushed for more water, holding desperately to their lanterns. The damask counterpane was aflame by the time they got back, and glass was still flying across the room, driven before a sudden and furious gale. They doused the flames and retreated, closing the door, leaning on it, breathing hard.
‘We were lucky not to be sliced by that glass,’ said Joe. ‘What do you make of that wind? It’s coming down the valley, towards Tarawera.’
‘Drawn by the heat of the volcano,’ Charlie said. ‘Like a draught in a room with the fire going.’
‘Then it’s low on the ground and won’t keep the stuff away.’
‘No. Makes things worse. Suffocating.’
‘I heard another window break. We’d better keep going.’
They put out ten fireballs in all, none as big as the first, and in ten minutes every window on the valley side wasbroken. ‘There’s no end to it, Charlie,’ said Joe. ‘You’d better go back to your wife and keep an eye on the downstairs windows. The balcony shields them, but this gale—and the air’s so foul—it must be a trial to them all. As for the lassies—’
‘They’re as steady as any of them, Joe. I’m proud of Lillian. Didn’t know she had it in her.’
‘Aye, but they’re in our care, and that wee Maori boy too. They’re all in our care. Go down now, I’ll have one more look and follow.’
That final check showed nothing but rushing wind. If the next fireball sets fire to the place there’s no help
They ran and slid down the corridor to the end room whose windows faced away from the mountain, and looked out into nothing but blackness as thick as the pit of a coal-mine. And then came a shower of fireballs that lit up the scene in flash after flash like rapid lightning. The Temperance Hotel stood out, lonely, abandoned, leaning drunkenly into a mess of mud with the volcanic load weighing down its roof and chimneys.
‘It’s a goner, Joe,’ said Charlie heavily. ‘And all our plans with it. The wife will break her heart.’
‘Be thankful you didn’t stay inside it,’ said Joe. ‘We’ll allbe ruined before the night’s out. Look at Falloona’s store! Willie Bird hasn’t got a hope, it’s too ramshackle. And I daren’t look at the stables. What those poor creatures are suffering I can’t imagine, but what can we do? We can’t bring them inside like Lollop. How deep would you say that muck is?’
‘It’s up to my windows, but the roof must have shed some of that. Say, eighteen inches on the road? It’s hard to tell.’
‘Easily that. And these fireballs mean business. I can see three whares on fire. No, four.’
‘There’s a light at Sophia’s. A lantern hanging on the porch.’
‘Aye, so there is! How far that little candle shows its beams! So shines a good deed in this naughty world.’
‘What’s that you say, Joe?’
‘Shakespeare. Never mind that. I trust Willie’s wife will be there. It ought to stand, it’s a sturdy place with a good pitch to the roof. Willie’s put on a brave face, but it’s a hard thing to be parted from her now. Come on, this is no time for sentiment. We’ve work to do. This place could be afire while we’re talking.’
‘We wouldn’t even smell the smoke with all the sulphur in the air,’ said Charlie.
They filled two buckets from the upstairs tank and went back along the corridor. The first four rooms, without guests, were a shambles. The beds were askew and washingbasins, lamps, books and pictures were scattered and broken all over the floors. It didn’t seem to matter. But in Mrs Hensley’s room, usually so neat, the mess was like an insult and Joe couldn’t resist picking something up.
‘Hey! Look out!’ yelled Charlie.
A red-hot boulder as big as a saucepan came straight through the window. Joe leapt to one side, Charlie to the other as the hideous thing landed fair on the bed, and both buckets spilled on the floor. ‘The devil!’ yelled Charlie and ‘God preserve us!’ yelled Joe as they rushed for more water, holding desperately to their lanterns. The damask counterpane was aflame by the time they got back, and glass was still flying across the room, driven before a sudden and furious gale. They doused the flames and retreated, closing the door, leaning on it, breathing hard.
‘We were lucky not to be sliced by that glass,’ said Joe. ‘What do you make of that wind? It’s coming down the valley, towards Tarawera.’
‘Drawn by the heat of the volcano,’ Charlie said. ‘Like a draught in a room with the fire going.’
‘Then it’s low on the ground and won’t keep the stuff away.’
‘No. Makes things worse. Suffocating.’
‘I heard another window break. We’d better keep going.’
They put out ten fireballs in all, none as big as the first, and in ten minutes every window on the valley side wasbroken. ‘There’s no end to it, Charlie,’ said Joe. ‘You’d better go back to your wife and keep an eye on the downstairs windows. The balcony shields them, but this gale—and the air’s so foul—it must be a trial to them all. As for the lassies—’
‘They’re as steady as any of them, Joe. I’m proud of Lillian. Didn’t know she had it in her.’
‘Aye, but they’re in our care, and that wee Maori boy too. They’re all in our care. Go down now, I’ll have one more look and follow.’
That final check showed nothing but rushing wind. If the next fireball sets fire to the place there’s no help
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