No Earls Allowed (The Survivors #2)(92)

She stepped outside, pulling Chester and James with her. Next came Walter, his eyes scanning the crowds. He was followed by Angus, Sean, and George. Julia led the boys away from the building and into the shadow of the shop across the street.

“Are you hurt, miss?” a man asked.

“No, I—”

Chester gasped, and Julia turned to see what the matter was. Chester pointed at the orphanage, and Julia gasped. Flames, bright red and orange, shot from the kitchen and into the dark sky. “Oh dear God,” she whispered.

“I want my mama,” Jimmy said, pulling at her skirts. Julia lifted him and hugged him.

“Shh. I have you. You’re safe.”

“I’m scared,” Chester wailed.

Julia lifted him too, hugging both boys tightly. Ralph and Michael pressed close, Robbie keeping vigil beside Mrs. Koch.

“Julia!” Mrs. Dunwitty said, rushing toward her.

“Is everyone out safe?” Julia asked.

Mrs. Dunwitty shook her head, her eyes wide with fear. “The little one, Charlie. He was right in front of me, and he wanted to go back for those rodents.”

“Oh no!” How could she have forgotten the rats?

“Matthew, Mark, and Luke!” Chester cried.

“I told him to forget them, but as soon as we reached the door, he pulled away from my hand and ran back inside. I tried to go after him—”

Julia shook her head. Mrs. Dunwitty could barely climb the stairs. She couldn’t be expected to go back inside a burning building. She handed Chester to Mrs. Koch and Jimmy to Robbie. “I’ll go back for him.”

“I’ll come with you,” Robbie protested.

“No! You will stay right here and keep the other boys safe. I am counting on you, Robbie. Promise me.”

He nodded. “I promise.”

Julia looked at her friend and former governess. “I’ll be right back.”

“I wish you wouldn’t go.” Tears streamed down the older lady’s face.

“I can’t lose him. I’d rather die than lose him.”

“I know. Come back to me. To us.”

“I will!” Julia called as she rushed back into the burning orphanage.

*

Neil jumped from the hackney even before it had come to a stop. He’d seen the flames shooting from the orphanage from a half-mile away. From that moment on, Rafe had to physically restrain Neil to keep him in the hackney.

“It will take longer on foot,” Rafe had argued when Neil tried to throw him off. Billy hadn’t moved. He’d sat still as a statue, his face as white as marble.

And when the hackney slowed, Neil hadn’t given Rafe a chance to hold him back. He’d sprung from the conveyance like a cat, sprinting with all he had for the burning building.

“Major!”

Neil had skidded to a stop and turned at the sound of the child’s voice. He scanned the darkness and the unfamiliar faces of the residents of Spitalfields, who had gathered to watch the fire burn and attempt to stop its spread with buckets of water. He lowered his gaze, and that was when he saw James waving wildly at him. James’s blond hair caught the light from the fire and shone like a beacon. Immediately, Neil spotted other orphans, plus Mrs. Koch and Mrs. Dunwitty.

But he didn’t see Juliana.

He jogged toward the small group, praying he had simply missed her. She would be where he orphans had gathered. She was simply not in view.

Then why did he feel like casting up his accounts and emptying his belly of all the gin he’d consumed tonight?

“Major! Major!” The other boys had spotted him, and they called for him, their voices frantic and their faces mottled with the reflection of the red and gold flames. When Neil reached them, he surprised himself by pulling the closest boys into his arms. Walter looked quite dumbstruck, but James and Michael embraced him back. Neil ran his hands over the boys’ heads and his gaze touched on others—Angus and Sean, Chester and Jimmy.

“You’re safe,” he said. “Where is Lady Juliana?”

James’s gaze dropped and Neil inhaled painfully.

Robbie stepped forward. “I’m glad you’re here, Major.”

“Where is Lady Juliana?”

“She went back inside, sir.”

Neil whirled to stare at the burning building again. Juliana was inside. Memories of the fire that had left Jasper scarred and Peter dead slammed into Neil. He’d let Jasper and Peter down. He couldn’t let Juliana down too.

“Charlie is still inside,” Mrs. Dunwitty said, coming forward, tears streaming down her cheeks and Jimmy clinging to her skirts. “He went back for those rodents.”

Of course he did, Neil thought. He loved those rats.

“The fire started in the servants’ quarters,” Mrs. Koch added, “and spread to the kitchen. The lady still has time to escape.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Billy said, coming up behind them.

Neil gave the boy a hard look. “What does that mean?”

“It means I know Slag, and he’s probably waiting inside for her. He won’t let her out alive.”

*

Julia covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief and made her way through the thick smoke toward the stairs. She could hardly see and she stumbled almost blindly, making her way mostly from memory.