Who on earth? Ingrid stayed in the garden all morning. She even let Pippa play with her precious Snakes and Ladders board game, while Blackie looked on. The old dog always sat as near to them as he could, but today he ended up right on the board. Usually that would have made Ingrid laugh. She would have pushed him playfully, tickled his tummy and then Pippa’s. But not this morning. She pushed Blackie away angrily. She stayed out of the house and out of her mother’s way, because she had to gather her thoughts – and fast. Things were tumbling over in her head since their talk earlier. But although she tried hard, she could think of nothing she could do about it. And a refrain about fire kept repeating in her head no matter how she tried to push it away. Mum would do this thing, just as she said, something thumped deep inside her. And she, Ingrid Elizabeth Margaret Crowe was the only one in the whole wide world who could do anything about it. If she didn’t, their house Emoh Ruo would go up in smoke.
