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Chapter eleven

The lights were on in Ruth’s house. Graham stopped the car in front of it. The children jumped out and ran to the house.

Ruth came out of the front door with Roughy. ‘What are you doing here’ she asked.

‘We came to get you and Roughy out,’ they said.

‘What’ she said.

‘Get in the car,’ Graham said. He pulled her hand.

A sudden strong earthquake moved the ground. Roughy ran into the trees. Lauren ran after her. ‘Roughy! Roughy’ she called.

Harry and Rachel drove up the road. ‘Not far now,’ Rachel said. Then the strong earthquake hit them too. Big rocks fell into the road behind them. Rachel looked at Harry. ‘Now we can’t come back down this road,’ she said.

In the dark trees Ruth and the children called for Roughy. Ruth got tired. She stopped calling. She heard the children. They were young. ‘I must get them out of here,’ she thought.

‘Ruth, can you see Roughy’ said Lauren.

‘No, I can’t,’ Ruth said. ‘And it’s too late now. We must go. Now.’

‘But we can’t leave her!’

The children looked at Ruth. She was different, stronger. ‘I said now,’ she said.

Harry stopped the car outside Ruth’s house. They saw Rachel’s car there. Rachel jumped out and ran into the house. ‘Ruth! Graham! Lauren’ she called. There was no answer.

‘Where are they’ said Harry. ‘The lights are on.’

Then Ruth and the children came out of the trees. Rachel ran over to them. She put her arms round them. ‘Where were you’ she said. ‘I’m angry and happy at the same time.’

‘I’m sorry, Mom,’ said Graham. ‘We had to get Ruth.’

‘There’s no time for this now,’ said Ruth. ‘Get the children into the car and get out of here.’

‘We can’t do that,’ Harry said. ‘There are rocks all over the road behind us. And you’re coming with us.’

‘OK,’ said Ruth. ‘Give me five minutes. I must get some things.’

Harry spoke on the radio to the scientists at the hotel. ‘Is anybody there’ he asked.

‘Harry, where are you’ said Dreyfus.

‘Up at the lake,’ Harry said. ‘We’re OK, but there’s no road for us to come back down the mountain.’

‘Harry,’ Paul said, ‘this mountain is going to explode– and soon. I’ll send a helicopter up to get you.’

‘No, get out of there,’ Harry said, ‘before it’s too late. Don’t wait for us.’ The radio started to die. ‘Harry, can you hear me’ Paul said. ‘Can you hear me?’ He looked at the others. ‘The radio’s dead,’ he said.

Rachel and Ruth threw things in some bags. Ruth wanted to take everything. ‘This is my home,’ she said. ‘All my things are here.’

Rachel wanted to cry: ‘Let’s go! Leave all that! Let’s go!’

Up on the mountain above Ruth’s house a river of red lava began to flow down the mountain. Fire suddenly caught on the trees. The river of lava left everything dead behind it.

The lava came to Ruth’s house. It flowed round to the left and to the right. It flowed round to the front of the house. The cars stood there. Fire started to climb up the outside of the house.

Harry looked out of the back window of the house and saw the lava. Then the lava broke the window and flowed into the house. Fire ate chairs, tables, everything. Harry and Rachel pushed the children to the front door. Ruth followed with her bags.

Rachel screamed: ‘Look! The cars!’

Red hot lava flowed under the cars. Lava flowed from the left and right into the lake. ‘There’s only the lake,’ Harry said. ‘Let’s go!’

They ran down to the lake and jumped into Ruth’s small boat. ‘Now we’ll be OK,’ Graham said to Lauren.

Then they saw the fish. Hundreds of dead fish on the water.

Harry tried to start the boat’s engine. He couldn’t do it. Ruth said, ‘I know this boat. I’ll do it.’ She started the boat and they moved out across the water.

They looked back at Ruth’s house. There was fire everywhere. ‘That was my home,’ Ruth said. ‘I always lived there.’

Everybody was very quiet. One of the cars exploded. ‘Where’s Roughy’ the children thought.

‘This boat is slow,’ Harry said, ‘but it’ll get us there.’

Then he heard a different noise. ‘Where’s that noise coming from’ he thought. ‘Ah, yes, under the boat.’ He looked down. ‘Don’t put your hands in the water,’ he said.

‘Why’ Rachel asked.

‘The water’s acid.’

Graham said, ‘The acid is eating into the boat. Will it get us there?’

Harry didn’t answer.