The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone - Part 1, Laurentide

Chapter 9 - A Ticket to Ride

The students had no trouble warning people. Everyone in Laurentide was outdoors, watching smoke billow into the sky from the fire at the Academy. Soon they noticed more smoke on the north side of town.

"There's a fire in The Hedges!" Molly called out as she ran toward home.

"There's a fire in The Hedges!" Peter yelled as he raced to his father's store.

Soon the flames in The Hedges were ten stories tall. People began packing up their things.

"Molly! Thank goodness you're here," Aunt Marcy exclaimed as Molly burst through the front door. "There's a fire at the Academy."

"No, Aunt Marcy," Molly replied, fighting back tears. "There is no more Academy. It's all on fire. And the Pug-Nasties set fire to The Hedges, too."

"The what?"

"The Pug-Nasties. The gypsies, the burglars – whatever they are. They work for Ursula Bamcroft and they're destroying the school and the whole town and whoever won't let them be in charge."

Aunt Marcy took Molly in her arms. "There, there," she said. "You're just upset. It can't be that bad. I'm sure the Academy will be fine. And we're safe here at home."

But just then a fire engine roared to the end of the street. The field there was a raging inferno.

"There's a fire there, too!" Aunt Marcy said in surprise.

"I told you," said Molly.

"Oh, my. Oh, my."

A police car followed the fire engine. The officer spoke over his loudspeaker.

"Everyone on Linden Street. Evacuate your houses. Evacuate the neighborhood."

"What does evacuate mean?" Molly asked.

"It means we must leave," Aunt Marcy explained. "Go upstairs and pack. I'll get your brother ready. We can go to the Town Square until the firemen put the fire out."

Molly hurried upstairs to her room and pulled a suitcase out of the closet. But then she didn't know what to put in it. "How long are we going downtown?" she called. "Do I need my pajamas?"

"Molly, just hurry!" Aunt Marcy replied. "Grab the most valuable things and let's go. The fire is getting closer."

Molly ran to the window. The fire was getting closer. It had spread from the fields to the beautiful linden trees at the end of the street. The firefighters were helping people to escape.

She spun around and looked at her room, realizing that her house might actually burn down. What should she save? Her toys, her dolls, her trophies from soccer, her t-shirt collection? She didn't want to lose anything.

Two minutes later she was back downstairs, dragging the suitcase. Aunt Marcy had Michael in her arms.

"Molly! Why is your suitcase so heavy? What have you got in there?"

"All my books," Molly replied.

"Your books! You need clothes and your toothbrush, not something to read."

"Grandpa says books are the most valuable things," Molly explained.

"Oh, there's no time to argue. Come get in the car."

But the street was so packed with people Aunt Marcy couldn't get their car out of the driveway. People blew their horns and yelled at each other.