by Maria Burke
‘You’ve got to get that seen to, Kerry,’ said Timmy. ‘Look, I’ll go and search the forest for Simon. He may have spotted something in there and gone after it.’ Timmy flew off into the Swishtree Forest.
The chief fireman took Kerry firmly by the arm and led her towards Tom Dillon. ‘My men will be here on the grounds for a while checking things out,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry about Simon. We’ll find him. Now get yourself to the doctor before you pass out.’
Kerry and Dot sat in the Dillon’s front sitting room waiting for news of Simon. A big wad of white gauze was wound around Kerry’s head. Her face was pale. The doctor had spent the last half hour removing some fine slivers of glass from her forehead before he stitched her up. After her painful ordeal, Tom Dillon insisted on taking Kerry home to his wife for a cup of tea. Mrs Dillon did her best to make Kerry comfortable on the sofa and offered her a plate of freshly-baked brown scones. But Kerry pushed it away.
There was a loud knock on the front door.
‘Stay where you are. I’ll get it,’ said Mrs Dillon as she hurried off to answer it.
‘Oh hello, Lord Mayor,’ they heard her say from the hallway. ‘Yes she’s here, come on in. I’ll go and make you a fresh pot of tea.’ She showed him into the sitting room.
‘It’s the Lord Mayor for you, Kerry,’ she said.
Kerry rose to greet the Mayor, who swept into the room wearing a shiny blue suit.
‘My dearest Kerry,’ he said, ‘you look absolutely awful, you poor thing. What a dreadful thing to happen. I came as soon as I could get away from the town hall.’
‘Have you seen Simon?’ Kerry demanded.
‘No. He’s still missing. But we all heard the blast of that explosion down in the town hall. It could be heard for miles and miles. Some of the old town councillors are in a state of shock. We’re lucky one of them didn’t drop dead. One of these days that brother of yours will blow up the entire town. Everybody is talking about it. The police are down at Macken Cottage right now asking questions. They want to talk to you about what happened before the fire.’
‘Oh no!’ said Kerry.
‘What does that boy keep in the shed? It sounded like a nuclear explosion.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ said Kerry. ‘Simon’s been worse than ever since we came back from our trip to the Land of Fire. He’s always in the shed doing some experiment or other. I’m so worried. I wish I knew where he was.’
‘President Lumina told me that he’s been working on a project for her.’
‘Yes,’ said Dot. ‘He says it’s top secret and that it will change the world.’
‘He always says things like that,’ said Kerry. But why haven’t they found him? He’s been gone so long.’
‘Simon is always missing when you want him the most, Kerry,’ said Dot. ‘You know what he’s like. Don’t worry, he’ll turn up soon.’
‘Yes, let’s look at the bright side,’ said the Lord Mayor. ‘They didn’t find any trace of Simon in the shed, so it is possible that he’s still alive. The fire brigade are still searching for him around the grounds. They said his body may have been flung from the building during the explosion. And the chief fireman has assured me that the house is fine, apart from the broken window, the ruined kitchen and smoke damage. With a few renovations it will be all back to normal. So don’t worry.’
‘Don’t worry, you say! My brother is missing, the police want to question me, I can’t afford to renovate my burned-down house and I’ve got a blinding headache …’
‘My dear Kerry,’ said the Mayor, ‘you never told me that you were having financial difficulties. President Lumina is constantly asking for you to visit her at Fire City. She’s got plenty of work for you there. I can’t understand why you came back.’
‘I was worried about Simon falling behind with his school work. And I love being at home in Kilbeggin. It’s a pity there’s so little work in this town.’
‘There’s no point in being broke Kerry,’ said the Mayor. ‘I’ll cover the cost of your voyage to the Land of Fire. It’s the least I can do.’
‘This is very kind of you but I’m not going anywhere without Simon. I’ll clean the mess up myself. The fire brigade said they would board up the kitchen window until I can afford to get it replaced. I can manage … really …’
‘Kerry, you simply cannot go back to that awful mess and live without windows. I wont allow you.’
At that moment there was a tapping at the window. They all leaped up and saw Timmy hovering outside. Kerry raced over to unlatch the window.
‘It’s OK, Kerry. I saw him,’ said Timmy. ‘He’s in the forest.’
‘Is he alive?’ she cried. Large tears welled up in her eyes.
‘Of course he’s alive. He says someone blew the shed up.’
‘I think everyone agrees that Simon blew it up,’ said the Mayor.
‘Why would he blow up his own shed?’ asked Timmy.
‘Accidents always happen when people leave dangerous chemicals lying around unattended,’ said the Mayor. ‘They become unstable and can explode at any time. Everybody is saying that—’
‘Timmy,’ shouted Kerry. ‘Where is he?’
‘No need to shout, Kerry,’ said the Lord Mayor. ‘Calm down. You’re in a state of shock and it’s not good for you to be getting upset. Now Timmy answer the question – Where is Simon?’
‘That’s what I’m trying to explain if you would only listen to me. Everybody is blaming Simon for the explosion but it wasn’t his fault. You see he saw someone in the shed …’
‘Who?’ said the Mayor.
‘He didn’t tell me. He just said it wasn’t safe for him to come back.’
‘But that’s ridiculous,’ laughed the Mayor. ‘Who would want to blow that old shed up?’
‘Simon said that he’s been working on a top secret project for President Lumina. Something called “Platinum Fire”. And if it got into the wrong hands it could be very, very dangerous.’
‘Dangerous!’ exclaimed Kerry. ‘Why would President Lumina involve him in something dangerous? Take me to him Timmy. Please, I’ve had enough of this.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I don’t know where he is.’
