Out of the Ashes by Valerie Sherrard Page A

noticed a thin curl of smoke coming from the far side of their storage shed.
    I ran around the shed to get a better look and saw that flames were just starting to lick the outside of the building. I scooped snow on it frantically to smother the flames before they got out of hand. They sizzled and sputtered for a few moments and then went out.
    Looking around, I noticed that the snow had been stirred up and there were pine needles laying in it here and there. I followed the trail it created out to the street where a broken bough lay discarded. Whoever had been there had taken care to cover their tracks.
    I was still standing there when I saw Greg coming along the street. He raised his arm in a wave and called my name cheerily.
    As he got closer, I blurted out what I’d just discovered and we went together to examine the damage to the building. It was minimal, a few scorched areas where the flames had begun to burn before I’d put the fire out.
    â€œThank goodness you were here,” Greg said solemnly. “That building is pretty close to the house, and there’s a breeze blowing this way. It wouldn’t have taken much for the house to catch too.”
    â€œIt would be awful to lose your house for the second time,” I commented.
    He looked hard at me then, and I blushed when I realized what I’d just said. He’d never mentioned anythingabout the fire that had claimed his mother’s life, so it had to be obvious to him that I’d been listening to the town gossip.
    â€œYes, for the second time.” His eyes bored into me and for a second I felt afraid, although I wasn’t really sure why. It felt as though he was looking for something that I didn’t want him to find.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    We went into the house then, and Greg called the police to report the fire. While we waited for them to arrive I mulled over some perplexing questions. The big one, of course, was who had set the Taylor’s shed on fire? It couldn’t have been Greg, since he was nowhere near when it happened. And where was Mr. Taylor? Was it possible that he knew Greg was responsible for the other fires? He might have heard the rumours that centred on him and figured that if the police were watching him, they’d soon realize that the culprit was actually Greg. Could have set his own building on fire in order to draw suspicion away from his son?
    The police cruiser pulled into the driveway before I’d had a chance to work my way through this new tangle of clues. Greg got up to meet them at the door. He explained that I’d been the one who’d discoveredsmoke coming from the shed, and they asked me a bunch of questions and then got me to sign a written statement.
    I felt a little guilty when they asked me if there was anything else I could tell them. I knew they meant about the fire at the Taylors’, but it didn’t make me feel any better when I said there was nothing else, since I had a key piece of evidence under the step at my house. That reminded me that I’d meant to move the mitten to another hiding place, but I couldn’t worry about that right then.
    They were there for almost an hour, and Mr. Taylor still hadn’t come home. Greg was surprised that his dad wasn’t there and hadn’t left a note or anything.
    â€œHe always leaves a message telling me where he’ll be if he’s going out,” Greg commented to me after the police left. “It’s strange that he didn’t this time.”
    Strange unless he expected the house to be on fire by the time Greg got home, I thought. In that case, leaving a note would be a waste of time. Naturally, I kept that thought to myself.
    â€œWell, I’ve got to get cleaned up and changed,” Greg said then. “I won’t be long.”
    â€œNo rush,” I assured him, meaning it. “Do you mind if I have another look at your library while you’re in the shower?”
    â€œOf course not.