42097609460

He was about to whine, but she pulled him up, cutting him off.
“C’mon!” she screamed. He immediately began to cough, doubled
over as she dragged him out. The hallway was an impenetrable
wall of smoke, but she rushed forward nonetheless, pulling Josh
behind her. Groping, she found the doorjamb to Kristen’s room
across the hall.
It wasn’t as bad as Josh’s room, but she could feel the enormous
heat building behind them. Josh continued to cough and wail,
struggling to keep up, and she knew better than to let go. She
raced to Kristen’s bedside and shook her, pulling her out of bed
with her other hand.
The roaring of the fire was so loud, she could barely hear the
sound of her own voice. Half-carrying, half-dragging the kids
back out into the hallway, she saw an orange glow, barely visible
through the smoke, where the entrance to the hallway was. The
wall crawled with fire, flames on the ceiling, moving toward
them. She didn’t have time to think, only had time to react. She
turned and pushed the kids back down the hallway toward the
master bedroom, where the smoke was less thick.
She rushed into the room, flicking on the light. Still working.
Alex’s bed stood against one wall, a chest of drawers against
another. Straight ahead was a rocking chair and windows,
thankfully untouched as yet by fire. She slammed the door behind
her.
Racked by coughing spasms, she stumbled forward, dragging Josh
and Kristen. Both of them were wailing between hoarse bouts of
coughing. She tried to free herself to raise the bedroom window,
but Kristen and Josh clung to her.
“I need to open the window!” she screamed, shaking herself free.
“This is the only way out!” In their panic, they didn’t understand,
but Katie didn’t have time to explain. Frantically, she tore at the
old-fashioned window lock and tried to heave the heavy pane up.
It wouldn’t budge. Peering closer, Katie realized that the frame