Fire! Fire!

  The mayor now smiled at my master, his teeth brilliantly white against the grime all over his face. “Your mission has been without purpose, sir, for as you have just witnessed, I have been demolishing houses for the last few hours.”

  “Indeed yes,” said Master Pepys. “His Majesty will be most pleased.”

  “Then when you inform him of my hard work, you may also tell him that I am returning home to sleep, as I have been up all the night destroying people’s homes.”

  And with that, Mayor Bloodworth bowed deeply again, almost fell, and then turned and walked slowly away.

  My master watched him leave in silence and then drew a deep breath and sighed. “Do you know, Tom, we serve kings out of a sense of loyalty and with a deep pride, but there are times when I believe that we servants could claim we deserve better masters.”

  I’m not exactly sure what my master meant by this, but I think he was saying that perhaps His Majesty could sometimes be a better king.

  He then stepped closer to me and took his wig from where it lay around my shoulders, now that I didn’t need it to protect my lungs from smoke.

  “But,” Master Pepys went on, as he placed the slightly crumpled and grubby wig on his head, “if ever you repeat to anyone the ridiculous idea that I am anything less than deeply loyal to the king and his family I will deny it, disown you and throw you out of my service.”

  “No such words would ever pass my lips, master,” I replied quietly.

  “Good, then let us walk briskly home. It’s not too far from here to Seething Lane, and I’ve an appointment to keep for lunch”

  CHAPTER 5

  When we reached home, Master Pepys ordered a bath to be placed in his room and he soaked himself in warm water and soap for over an hour “to remove the foul stench of smoke from my flesh.”

  He told me that I must wash too as his luncheon guests wouldn’t want to be attended by a pageboy who stank like a bonfire. There was no time or place for me to have a bath so I had to make do standing under the pump in the stable yard. While one of the grooms worked the handle, I scrubbed at myself with a brush usually used for cleaning the stable floor.

  The weather was still fine and warm, as it had been all summer, but the water was freezing. I hurriedly dried and dressed myself while Pip sat close by, staring at me as though I was mad. The little dog had found me as soon as we returned home. He ran out of the kitchens wagging his tail and jumping about, but stopped playing suddenly when the roar of the fire came to us on the wind and the smell of burning got even stronger. He cowered down to the ground and whimpered, so I picked him up and cuddled him while he licked my face.

  “It’s all right, Pip, the fire won’t reach here,” I said, hoping desperately that I was right. “Master Pepys has heard that the king’s brother is in charge of fighting it now and he has the army to help him.”

  I didn’t know how soldiers were supposed to fight the raging fire with their muskets and swords, but obviously the king thought they’d do some good, and who was I to disagree.

  I carried Pip back to the kitchens and he scampered off happily to hunt for rats in the cellars. But that was before the explosions began.

  ....................

  At luncheon I stood behind Master Pepys’ chair and refilled his wine glass every time he emptied it… which was quite often. His guests were two very fine ladies and two equally impressive gentlemen, whose wigs hung in great long curls, falling from their heads like waterfalls.

  From the dining room window I could clearly see the fire, though luckily it was still a good way off. But the thick smoke had spread wide over the city and had settled like a cloud over our house in Seething Lane.

  “Oh yes, with no thought of any danger to my person, I accepted the king’s orders and set off through the blazing streets to find Mayor Bloodworth,” my master said loudly, as he told the tale of our earlier adventure through the fire to Saint Paul’s.

  “But weren’t you afraid?” asked one of the ladies, peering at him through a pair of spectacles she had on a stick.

  “Me, afraid?! Why, of course not. Though none of the gentlemen in the king’s court would come with me. I had to brave the fires alone and unattended.”

  At this I jumped as though someone had poked me in the ribs. I hadn’t meant to draw attention to myself but Master Pepys glanced at me over the back of his chair. “Ah yes, alone that is apart from Tom, here. He may be small, but he has the heart of a lion,” he added and winked at me.

  The lady looked at me through her glasses-on-a-stick. “This boy, Master Pepys? Brave? I’d find it easier to believe that a mouse would have the courage to fight an elephant and win,” she said. While her friends sniggered into their wine glasses I decided that I didn’t like her.

  At that point a huge explosion sounded and everyone rushed over to the window. “What on earth could that have been?” asked the younger lady nervously.

  “Oh, the mayor and the Duke of York are using gunpowder to blow up houses to make firebreaks. There’s also the possibility that some old soldier still had weapons and gunpowder in his house and the fire’s flaming fingers have found them,” said my master. “But let us get back to our food before it cools upon our plates.”

  I went on staring out of the window, shuddering to think of the poor souls caught up in the fire, maybe dying at that very moment, while these beautifully dressed and refined people took luncheon as though nothing was happening. I could hear them chatting politely about nothing important and even laughing as I watched the flames destroying the lives and homes of the ordinary people of London.

  “Tom, my glass,” my master called and I was forced to hurry back to the table and pour wine.

  The explosions continued to rattle the windows during the rest of the meal, and at one point I heard Pip’s terrified barks echoing up from the kitchens. It was a real struggle not to excuse myself and run down to comfort him, but I was kept busy serving dainty sweets to everyone after they’d finished eating the savoury dishes.

  As the meal and the fashionable chatter continued on, more and more explosions echoed over the city. Master Pepys began to show signs of worry. He stood at the window, glass in hand, watching the distant flames and muttering to himself. Then, after he failed to answer several questions they asked him, the guests finally decided they should leave. Their host seemed to be more interested in the fire than he was in them.

  The fuss they made as they gathered their purses, walking canes and parasols reminded my master of his manners and he escorted them to the door. There the gentlemen bowed to each other and the ladies curtsied and everyone tried to find exactly the right way of saying goodbye to prove how refined they were.

  When the door finally closed behind them, Master Pepys sighed in relief. “Sometimes it’s hard work being a gentlemen, Tom,” he said, before hurrying back to the window. I found myself thinking that it was probably far harder to be an ordinary working man or woman when your home was in flames and you were running for your life. But I said nothing. At heart Master Pepys was a good man and at least he was now beginning to show how worried he was about the fire as he stared out over the burning city.

  For the rest of the afternoon my master watched the flames as they advanced through the city’s streets. Something had changed in him. It was almost as though the explosions had somehow brought the reality of this fire home to him. Suddenly the fire was no longer something that was happening to other people in a different part of the city, now it was a disaster that threatened him and everything he owned.

  At one point he even went out without me, telling me to “keep safe at home”.

  While my master was out of the house I spent as much of the afternoon as I could with Pip, sitting with him on my lap in the pantries. I made sure that I was hidden away at the back behind the table where the expensive Italian cheeses were stored under protecting cloth drapes. No one would find me there and think of work for me to do. The little dog was shivering with fright every time
an explosion boomed over the sky, snuggling into my arms as closely as he could.

  But I couldn’t stay with him all day. All too soon the cry went up that my master finally returned home and wanted to know where I’d got to. I settled Pip in an old unused bread basket and left him with the cheeses. Reluctantly I went off to find out what I was needed for.

  Master Pepys was in his study scribbling furiously at some papers.

  “Ah, Tom, where have you been? No matter… ” he said distractedly. “I met the king on the river on his royal barge and he told me the fire has spread further. The flames are even threatening Cheapside!” When I didn’t react, he looked up from his scribbling with a look of horror on his face. “Did you hear me? Cheapside itself is in danger… the most fashionable area of the city where the richest and most important people live! Has this fire no respect?”

  I made the right sort of noises but thought to myself that now the rich people were threatened, perhaps a real effort would be made to stop the flames.

  “I’ve ordered wagons to come and take our furnishings and goods to safety.” Master Pepys went on, interrupting my thoughts. “We can no longer just sit idly by and hope the flames will go away. Everything must be packed up and made ready so that we may leave as soon as needs be!”

  ....................

  For the rest of that evening and far into the night I helped the other servants pack all the household goods into crates. Everything from the lowliest vegetable knife to the finest painting was wrapped up and sealed into the huge wooden boxes. Soon the house echoed with emptiness.

  By the time the moon had risen over the burning city, the main hallway was filled to the ceiling with crates. I was exhausted and almost fell asleep standing up! Master Pepys noticed this and kindly sent me off to bed, even though he and many of the older servants continued to work on into the night.

  When I reached my room I found Pip cowering against the door. He was still shivering with fright and, just as I bent down to stroke him, another explosion echoed over the night sky. The Duke of York and his soldiers were obviously working hard to save Cheapside. But I was soon distracted as I had to grab Pip’s collar before he ran off down the stairs in fright.

  I picked him up and went into my room, closing the door securely behind me. I made a comfortable bed for him next to my pillow before reaching up to the small window in the sloping angle of the roof, opening it and looking out.

  The fire was much nearer now, raging and writhing high up into the sky, like snakes of flame and light. The stench of smoke was almost more than I could bear, so I quickly closed the window and lay down on the bed fully dressed.

  I must have fallen asleep immediately, because the next thing I knew I was being woken up by the uproar of the huge wagons arriving to take the household goods to safety. My bed must’ve been one of the few things that hadn’t been packed away.

  I immediately leapt up and hurried downstairs to help. I found the hall in a state of chaos. Some of the stronger servants carried the big crates out to the waiting wagons, and the rest hurried backwards and forwards with baskets full to the brim with cutlery, plates and anything else that could be fitted in.

  Master Pepys must have found time to go to bed himself, because he was directing operations dressed only in his nightshirt, slippers and wig. Mrs Pepys stood at the front door waving the servants through to the waiting wagons and then back again. She too was in her nightgown and her large and complicated hairdo was securely anchored down with a white silk headscarf.

  “Ah, Tom!” Master Pepys cried when he saw me. “Quick, down to the kitchens and bring up the basket of cheeses.”

  I did as I was told, and as I lugged the heavy basket back to the hall, I found my master waiting for me with a shovel in his hand.

  “Splendid! Splendid! This way,” he said, and I hurried after him as he led me through the main door and then round the side of the house to the small orchard we had. I had no idea what was going on.

  “This will do, Tom. You can dig here.”

  “Dig, sir?”

  “Yes. These Parmesan cheeses are far too delicate and expensive to carry through the streets. They’ll do very well buried here wrapped in linen and kept safe in these baskets.”

  I didn’t think they’d ‘do very well’ if it rained, but as the weather was still warm and fine, perhaps they’d be safe. Though I couldn’t even guess why my master was wasting time worrying about cheeses when so much was being destroyed by the fire.

  As I dug down into the hard, dry soil, my master disappeared, but he soon returned with several bottles of wine.

  “These can join the cheeses too, my lad. They’re the finest sherry-wine, and easily disturbed by too much heat or fire.”

  By the time I’d dug a hole big enough, packed it with cheese and wine, and then filled the hole back up again, I was very hot and sweaty and coughing heavily as I breathed in the smoke and fumes. But there was no time to rest; Master Pepys led the way back into the house where I was soon busy fetching more baskets of goods from the kitchen and carrying them out to the four huge wagons that stood waiting on Seething Lane.

  ....................

  With all of the hard work and the rush and hurry I’d completely forgotten about Pip, until I heard a yap and there he was at my feet. He was shivering with fright, staring at the flames that were drawing ever nearer. “What are you doing here, Master Rat-catcher?” I asked the little dog. “I’ll have to find a basket for you as soon as I get a moment and then get you stowed safely on one of the wagons.”

  It was just at that point that two of the kitchen porters staggered through the gates and out onto Seething Lane. They were carrying a huge wooden crate between them and it was obviously really heavy, judging by the amount of swearing that was going on. Then, as I watched, one of them lost his grip on the crate and it fell with an almighty crash, just as another explosion echoed over the sky.

  Pip yelped in fright and, before I could do anything, he turned and ran off down the lane towards the fire.

  “Pip, wait!” I shouted as he disappeared into the shadows. “PIP, COME BACK!” But it was no good, his small black and white form had been swallowed up by the dark and the smoke.

  “Here you, give us a hand to clear up this mess,” one of the porters called roughly, as he scrabbled about on his hands and knees trying to gather up all of the spilt crockery and pots.

  But I shook my head. “I can’t… I’ve got to find Pip!”

  And before anyone could try and stop me, I ran after him, the best friend I had in the world.

  CHAPTER 6

  I heard the porters calling after me, but I ignored them. I couldn’t let Pip get lost in a burning city! He must be so scared. But even though I ran as fast as I could, I couldn’t even begin to guess where the dog had gone.

  I ran on and on, down towards the river where the billowing clouds of smoke got slowly thicker and thicker. Amazingly, even though the fire had been burning for days, the roads were still full of people. Obviously many of them had stayed in their houses hoping that the fire would be put out, or the wind would blow it in a different direction before it reached their homes. But now the flames were eating up everything around them like a starving animal. So now, finally, they were filling the roads with handcarts, trying to save their goods and belongings.

  For the past few days my every hour had been filled by the roar of fire, the stink of smoke and the screams of people, but now as I made my way down towards Lombard Street and the river, the noise and the smell got louder and stronger still.

  Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a small black and white dog dodging down a side alley, and I ran after it as fast as I could. But it was no good – I lost sight of it almost as soon as I reached the alleyway. Everything was confusing and chaotic. The billowing smoke made it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead and the heat was almost unbearable. It was terrifying – at any moment a burning building could collapse on me or I cou
ld be swallowed up by flames as they blasted into the roadway, driven by the strong winds. I ran as fast as I could, as though I could escape all the dangers, but the faster I ran, the harder I breathed the smoke and fumes into my lungs, making me cough and splutter and stumble.

  It got so bad I had to stop. I sank down on the doorstep of a house that wasn’t yet burning, and tried to breathe slowly. A huge gust of hot wind howled along the street, clearing the smoke for a moment and making it easier to breathe. I leaned back against the door, catching my breath and it was then that I heard the calling voice. I don’t know why or how I heard it over all of the other screams and shouts, but I did. Whoever it was, they sounded old and tired and without hope.

  “Will no one help me?” the voice called again, but it was quieter now, as though they had almost given up.

  I was almost angry to be distracted from my search for Pip, but I couldn’t leave somebody to burn to death.

  “Where are you?” I called, climbing to my feet. No one answered.

  “I’ll try and help, but I have to know where you are!” I looked around for someone else who might help, but there was no one about.

  “In here!” the voice came again, sounding surprised and relieved. “I’m in here. Behind the black door.”

  I looked across the street to where a black door was half hidden by a fallen beam of wood. I was scared of course – who wouldn’t be in the middle of a burning city? But there was no time to think about it really. Someone needed help and I had to give it. The house wasn’t on fire yet, but all the buildings around it were ablaze. I ran over to the fallen joist and grabbed an end, but it was too heavy for me.