mattress where we’d left the
matches and the magnifying glass.
We ran and called the maid. She
came, but she didn’t know what to
do. The door was locked, and before
we could figure out how to get into
the shed the whole thing caught—
the mattress, the ladders, the paint,
the turpentine, everything.
The flames moved quickly.
Soon the roof was on fire, and from
there the blaze spread to the main
house, and the whole thing burned
and burned and burned. Smoke was
billowing into the sky. A neighbor
had called the fire brigade, and the
sirens were on their way. Me and