*Chapter 12* Putting Out the Fire

“What?” asked their mom. Their father quickly turned around and ran over to the firemen. He also didn’t know much Korean, but he pointed rapidly and motioned for the fire fighters to follow him up the stairs. He would lead them to their apartment and the fire.

Mrs. Mathews didn’t know whether to be mad or worried or just happy that her children were safe. After Leo had started crying, Daisy and Max had also started crying and so Mrs. Mathews just tried to hold them all together. “There, there. It’s going to be alright,” whispered Mrs. Mathews. She looked up to their apartment window on the seventh floor, but she couldn’t see any fire or even smoke coming from their window. They waited and waited together. After a time the children’s tears stopped, but they were still too worked up to tell their mom how they had started the fire.

Ten minutes later, the firemen came out of the building with Mr. Mathews and … the old neighbor woman living next to them! One of the firemen spoke to the crowd and the people started walking inside. The crowd didn’t seem worried, but were quite happy that they could go back to their homes, away from the rain.
Mr. Mathews looked at his children and then said, “Well, I think that you need to explain to me, your mother, these firemen, and our neighbor what went on today.” The children turned embarrassedly red and followed their father back up to their apartment. When they walked into the apartment there was a large puddle where the fire had been. The three children sat on the couch and the adults sat on the floor with their backs against the wall facing the three.

“Daisy, you are the oldest, and I put you in charge of your brothers,” said Mrs. Mathews. “Why was there a fire here?”

Daisy looked over to the computer and saw their Indonesian flood story left still on the screen. She remained silent for a little while, until Max spoke up.