Fire! Fire! Read Online Free

knocks down the houses also takes away all of the wood and other material that the building was made of, that can still burn.”
    â€œAh, yes,” I replied. “And that would be hard work and very difficult.”
    â€œExactly so, Tom,” Master Pepys said, and looked at me meaningfully.
    ....................
    We were now galloping along Fleet Street back towards Tower Hill and I could see the fire dancing over the roofs of the houses, towering up into the air in a wall of blazing light. It almost sounded like a storm at sea: roaring, hissing and crashing. As it burned, it seemed to draw the air into it, creating a huge wind, as though the flames needed to breathe. But the wind only drove the fire along, leaping from roof to roof like a living creature and sending up huge billows of smoke and deadly sparks.
    Now the horses started to throw their heads about and look very scared as they saw the burning buildings more clearly and the stench of smoke got stronger. Soon we came to a complete standstill as the horses reared up and screamed.
    â€œIt’s no good, sir, they’ll go no nearer,” the coachman said regretfully, and we were forced to climb down. We were plunged into the crowds of people hurrying by with bags and boxes stuffed with what they could save from the flames. Master Pepys pressed a coin into the coachman’s hand to show his thanks, and then, holding onto his wig, he began to battle against the flow of people as though against the strongest tide. I followed behind, hanging onto my master’s coattails.
    â€œNot far now, Tom,” he bellowed over the noise. “The king said Master Bloodworth was somewhere near Saint Paul’s.”
    â€œBut how will we find him, sir, in all this… this… mix and muddle and clatter?” I shouted back as I coughed and spluttered in the smoke.
    Master Pepys carried on pressing forwards, like a man wading through a river. “I’m not sure… but we must try. It is our duty to the king.”
    I found myself thinking that if the king wanted to give orders to Master Bloodworth, the mayor of his city, then perhaps he should find him himself. But then I pushed such thoughts out of my head, horrified by my treacherous thoughts.
    Suddenly there was a huge blast, as though a barrel of gunpowder had exploded somewhere in the flames. Several people in the crowds threw themselves to the ground. I too ducked down, terrified, but my master carried on moving forward as though nothing had happened and I had to follow.
    I could feel the heat now almost like a solid wall. We both paused for a moment as we got used to the hot air forcing its way up our nostrils and then down into our lungs.
    â€œSaints and sausages, Tom,” Master Pepys gasped. “I feel my words should burst into fire as I speak!”
    I nodded and looked around at the blazing buildings. We were on Fleet Street, a main highway that was mercifully wider than many of the roads in this old part of the city. But as we struggled on through the pressing crowds and the heat and smoke, we somehow got pushed away from the wide road of the main route and into the tangled and twisted side streets that led south towards the River Thames. I don’t know how far out of our way we went because the streets were like a maze. We also had to keep alert as buildings collapsed into the street around us and filled all the open space with rubble. We both took out handkerchiefs and held them over our mouths as we scurried on like ants in a grassfire. But then suddenly a loud CRACK!!! echoed through the air and we skidded to a stop. A wall as high as a cliff slowly toppled forward and fell with a mighty crash into the street.
    The cloud of smoke and dust billowed over us, like a strangely hot winter fog. We both coughed and spluttered, but Master Pepys soon began to move forward once more and I hung onto his coattails again, scared of getting lost in the firestorm.
    Soon we came