Matthew and the Chimney Sweeps: Book One (Completed, Editing)

Chapter Nine: A Rescue

Slink left for the garage alone the following morning. He said he wanted to get an early start on building a new racing cart, but Matthew knew the truth. He was going to fix CrateyII. Matthew would have gone to help him, but he was to go and sweep another chimney.

Everyone was fast asleep on the beach when Matthew and Slink had come home the night before, so questions on how their night went was left to Matthew to answer. He was quite distracted with what had happened on Maple Hill and his escape from the Mongraw Gang, but was able to tell of their time at the auction without letting on.

'How did you like getting there?' asked Jennifer, about ready to go off with Norman to take another bag of supplies to Aldo and Jeff.

Matthew, who was washing his red socks in a bucket at the table, replied, 'It was great. Although, it's quite scary when you see a train barrelling towards you.'

'Tell me about it,' snapped John. He was threading new laces through his shoes. 'The first time I saw a train heading towards me while in the grocery cart, I was outta there so fast.'

Chloe started to chuckle. 'You should have seen him, Matthew. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he took off. I've never seen anybody run that fast before.'

'I almost did the same thing,' said Matthew. He wrung out his socks and hung them up to dry on the clothes' line above.

Shaking her head, Jennifer said to John, 'You didn't even look to make sure we were all right.'

'Hey, when a train is coming towards you at top speed, it's every child for himself,' replied John.

That morning was a big contrast to the sweltering heat of the previous day. It was cooler and the wind was so strong large white-capped waves swept into the cove from the absolute treacherous ocean that lay beyond. The waves were so large the rowboat Matthew, Chloe, John, Xavier and Joe took to the beach almost tipped over no less than five times.

The journey through the storm drain was the craziest, though. Matthew felt like he was inside a wind tunnel. He had to lean against the barrage at his back so he wouldn't topple forward. And the stream of water under his feet seemed to be racing uphill.

The house of the fire chief was on a street lined with houses all the same, white with black doors. Her home, however, was painted fire truck red.

At the front door, Chloe pressed the doorbell, initiating the sound of a fire truck's siren inside. When the door opened, a smile from an attractive woman shone down at the five of them. There were also two enormous Dalmatians either side of her, wagging their tails ferociously.

Petting the dogs, who had come out to greet her with sniffs, Chloe said, 'Hello, Chief Armstrong.'

'Hey guys. Come on in.'

The walls of the house were mounted with an array of firemen's helmets, from rusty old ones to jet black new ones, and all the stairs had what looked like firemen's ladders for railings. But what instantly drew Matthew's attention were the firemen's poles, one shooting down into every room of the ground floor from above. How fun, he thought.

'Hope you're all doing well,' said Chief Armstrong.

'We are,' said Chloe. 'You?'

'Not so bad. Had quite a night last night. A huge fire broke out in the north of the city. The heat was quite intense.'

Images of his house burning down flooded Matthew's mind. He had promised himself and had told the others he would be fine coming. They kept on saying he didn't have to come, but he wanted to.