Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret Read Free Book Online Page B

lobby. “As soon as I open this door,” I said, “run straight ahead. Just to the right of the front desk, there’s a door that goes outside. It’s closer to the stairway than the main entrance is. I went that way this morning when I came back to the room for my camera.”
    I took a deep breath. “Ready?” I asked.
    â€œReady.”
    I pulled the door open, felt a blast of hot air, and saw why Daren had called for help. The entire lobby was ablaze. The area where the front desk had been was an enormous bonfire with fingers of flame reaching toward the ceiling.
    The carpet looked as if someone had set dozens of tiny fires in a random pattern across the floor. Sparks flew up, then drifted down again, like flocks of fireflies.
    The plate glass window overlooking the Pacific Ocean had shattered, and the sea breeze blew in, fanning the flames.
    â€œRun!” I yelled. I grabbed BeeBee’s hand and took off, lifting my feet as high as I could, trying to avoid the burning patches of carpet. I felt as if I were in a war zone, dodging land mines. I expected the floor beneath us to ignite into solid flames at any second.
    At least I could see. After the dark stairway, the fire in the lobby was so bright that I had to shut my eyes partway, but I saw the outside door that I remembered, and I led BeeBee toward it.
    I grabbed the brass door handle, then jerked my hand back. The smell of blistered, charred skin joined the smell of smoke as the pain shot up my arm. I ripped the wet towel from my face and used it to open the door.
    I pushed BeeBee through first, then stumbled after her.
    I heard sirens now, rising and falling like a pack of howling wolves. Fire trucks must be on the way.
    We ran away from the burning building. When we were far enough to feel safe, we stopped and looked around. I expected to see other hotel guests or employees who had escaped, but I saw no one. BeeBee and I might have been the only people in the world.
    I wondered where Daren was. Had he made it out, or was he still trapped in the burning lobby? If he had headed for the main lobby doors rather than the small side door that we had used, he may not have reached it. I wished he had stayed with us instead of pushing ahead by himself. Well, I wasn’t going to go back to look for him when I didn’t know if he was inside.
    My hand throbbed where I had burned it on the door handle. I pressed the wet towel against the burn.
    BeeBee began to cry.
    â€œWe’re safe now,” I told her.
    â€œI know,” she said, her voice trembling, “but I left Bill upstairs in the room.”
    â€œMaybe he’ll be okay. Hear the sirens? The fire trucks should be here any second.”
    â€œDo you think Daren got out?”
    â€œI don’t know. I hope so.”
    â€œYou saved his life,” BeeBee said, “and he didn’t even wait for us.”
    â€œShh. Are those sirens still getting louder?”
    â€œYes. No. They were coming closer, but now they’ve stopped.”
    We heard people shouting.
    â€œI see our room,” BeeBee said, pointing up. “Top floor, right over the lobby.”
    I looked. Yellow flames shot out of every window on the third floor. As we looked up at our room, the roof collapsed with a loud rumble like a dozen dump trucks all unloading at the same time. For a second I thought it was another earthquake; then I saw that the Totem Pole Inn was caving in on itself. The fire roared skyward as the flames consumed the roof beams.
    I shuddered, thinking what would have happened if we had stayed in our room or on the second floor.
    â€œBill is burning up,” BeeBee said.
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. BeeBee had carried Bill Bear around with her for so long that he really seemed like one of the family. I let her cry for a few seconds. Then I said, “Come on.”
    â€œWhere are we going?”
    â€œWe’ll walk around to the back of the