Into the Fire by Pam Harvey Read Free Book Online

see her? Exactly?’
    Ling pulled her hair from her neck and piled it on top of her head. It was getting hotter in the centre. The air conditioner didn’t seem to be working very well. ‘Okay,’ she said, ‘we were sitting in the library and Mrs Hastings was going to unveil the brooch. Gabby wanted to leave because it was so hot. She must have stood up but I can’t really remember. Then the SES officer came in and told us we had to leave. That’s when I first noticed she was gone.’
    ‘Trust Gabby not to want to listen.’
    Ling gave a small smile then she shook her head. ‘That’s when it was discovered that the brooch was missing. Everything seemed to happen at once.’
    Hannah sat up and looked around the room. ‘Someone who was there in the library must have seen her go. Do you see anyone familiar here?’
    Ling quickly scanned the room. She only came to Teasdale during school holidays and didn’t know many people. The faces in the room all looked unfamiliar. ‘I would have noticed if she’d gone out the main entrance. Is there another door out of the library?’
    ‘There’s another exit but it goes into the collections section.’ Hannah frowned. ‘It’s usually locked because you have to make an appointment with the reference librarian to look in there. I went in once with Dad looking for old land titles when he was going to buy the hotel.’
    ‘Why would Gabby go in there?’ asked Sean.
    Hannah shrugged. ‘I bet she was looking for a way out that didn’t look too obvious. She would have had to turn back, though. Or else she’s still in there.’
    ‘The SES would have checked out the whole library, wouldn’t they?’ asked Ling anxiously.
    ‘You’d think so. But maybe the door was locked so they didn’t bother.’
    ‘I could go and look, Hannah.’
    ‘No, Sean. No way. Not on your own. Mum would kill me if anything happened to you.’
    ‘Nothing would happen, Han. I’ve gone to the library before on my own, and you know it.’
    ‘Yes, but not on a Total Fire Ban day, with bushfires surrounding us and Mum and Dad unable to get back into town.’
    ‘Not to mention the fact that everyone’s been told to come to the community centre,’ Ling added. She bit her lip. ‘Maybe something’s happened to Gabby and she didn’t hear them call out.’
    ‘Wait here, guys.’ Hannah patted Ling’s shoulder, stood up and walked quickly to the woman at the front desk. ‘Excuse me,’ she said. ‘We think we know where our friend is. She’s still in the library.’
    The woman looked up distractedly. ‘And you are?’
    ‘Hannah Williams. Can we go and check the library?’
    ‘I’m sorry, but you can’t leave here on your own.’ The woman looked down at a list in front of her. ‘We have notified the police to alert your parents that you are here. So, no, you can’t go to the library. The SES and the local police have searched the library thoroughly and there is no one there. What’s your friend’s name?’
    ‘Gabby Hunter.’
    ‘Well, I’ll certainly check for you. What’s her address?’ The woman looked up at Hannah as she told her and gave her a tired smile. ‘It’s okay. The fire isn’t near the town centre. She may have just gone home.’
    Hannah gave a worried shrug and went back to Ling. ‘They won’t let us out. And they said they’ve checked the library.’
    ‘What do we do now?’ Ling looked pale.
    Hannah gave her a rough pat on the shoulder. ‘We’ll go and check anyway—if we can find a way out that isn’t too obvious.’ Hannah looked around. ‘Where’s Sean?’
    Ling pointed. ‘He found a friend from school and he’s gone over to chat with him.’
    Hannah looked at her brother, who was talking excitedly with his friend and spinning the gyroscope in front of them. The other boy’s father gave Hannah a wave and a thumbs-upsignal. She waved back. ‘Looks like we don’t have to worry about him now.’
    A woman carrying ice-cold bottles of water and trays of