Chapter Thirty-Five
Zennor was overwhelmed by the brutal heat of the fire. The whole of the rear of the tent was a mass of flame and the smoke hit her lungs instantly.
Her throat burned and her eyes streamed. The heat was like nothing she’d ever felt before: like trying to stand inside an oven. She tried to take another step but it was impossible. If Sybil was in there … at the rear …
‘Sybil! she yelled but her voice was snatched away by a coughing fit.
Was that a figure inside right in the middle of the flames? No, please, no.
Zennor’s eyeballs felt as if they were being seared by the flames. They were so dry and her skin felt as if it was burning up. She couldn’t bear it. Yet she had to try, because Sybil was inside.
Two arms encircled her. ‘Zen! Get out!’
Matt was in the marquee, dragging her away from the flames. She tried to fight him but, weakened by the smoke and heat, he was too strong for her.
‘G-get off me.’
Without warning, she was scooped up and carried bodily away from the fire.
‘N-no!’ She burst out coughing again but Matt didn’t stop until they were way back from the tent.
She found herself dumped outside on the cool sand, hacking and spluttering. Sirens wailed in the distance.
‘Sybil. I have to help Sybil.’
Matt had collapsed on the sand next to her and grasped her hand in his. ‘You can’t. She wouldn’t want you to. If anything happens to you, Sybil will never forgive me, or your mum, and it would kill me.’
Zennor sobbed, her nose snotty and her eyes streaming. ‘You can’t say that. Why did you stop me from trying to reach her? I saw someone inside. I saw it. It could have been her.’
The marquee was now completely on fire and ashes were falling from the sky.
‘I saw her – I saw someone!’ Zennor wailed, trying to crawl away but Matt took her hand again.
‘Come away. We don’t even know she is still inside. What if she got out and she’s up on the prom, petrified because she thinks we’ve been hurt? Let’s go up there.’
Zennor jumped to her feet, the urgency to find Sybil lending her fresh energy. At the same time, she was consumed with dread. What if … Sybil had been like a second mother to her, as well as a friend, an advisor, the wisest person in the world …
In moments, she and Matt were engulfed by people: lifeguards, paramedics and the fire-service volunteers.
The crowds were held back by police and stewards at the back of the beach.
Fire tenders and the RNLI pick-ups had converged on the sand where dozens of fire crew unrolled hoses and were barking instructions.
The flames were driven by the gusts coming off the sea but the hoses were already damping it down.
Matt held her hand as they threaded their way past the stewards and police cordon towards a fleet of ambulances parked on the ramp to the beach. The smoke billowed into the air and across the sand, obscuring half the beach.
‘Oh God. If I’ve lost her …’ Zennor said, looking at him in despair.
‘Look!’ From the ramp, Matt pointed back down towards the stage area.
Four people emerged from the smoky tangle behind it carrying a rescue board. Zennor recognised Tyler and two of the others from the club, as well as the figure lying on the board, grey hair spread around her head, one arm dangling over the side.
‘Oh my God! It’s her.’
Matt’s arms were on hers, but Zennor broke free of him and ran back down the ramp. Her heart tried to break out of her chest.
‘Hey! You can’t come past,’ a police officer shouted.
‘That’s my friend!’ Zennor said, ignoring his outstretched hand and running across the sand as she’d never run before. She might be too late.
Matt was right behind her when they reached the stretcher with the limp figure wrapped in what looked like a bundle of dirty rags.
‘Sybil!’ Zennor’s hand flew to her mouth and she choked back a sob, seeing a face she barely recognised.
‘Is she …?’ Matt whispered.
Sybil’s cheeks were grimy with soot. Her lips were grey-blue but she opened her eyes. ‘Zen.’
‘Sybil!’ Zennor almost fainted with relief yet her happiness was extinguished as a medic shooed her away to place an oxygen mask over Sybil’s face.
Zennor jogged alongside them as they hurried Sybil towards the beach ramp and the waiting ambulance.
‘She’ll be OK,’ Matt said, putting his arm around her.
She buried her face in his shoulder as Sybil was loaded into the ambulance, but then heard a weak voice from the back of the vehicle.
Zennor climbed inside, kneeling next to the stretcher.
‘I – I thought you and Matt were in there. In the fire.’ Sybil waved a hand weakly. ‘I couldn’t let anything happen to you.’
‘No. Oh, Sybil!’ Zennor held her hand.
‘I thought you were in that marquee. I saw you running around the front and someone said they’d seen you go in …’
A paramedic interrupted. ‘Please. Love. Please let us help you. Don’t try to talk.’
‘B-but – I—’ Sybil collapsed coughing as the paramedic put the mask back in place.
‘Do as they say,’ Matt said, cramming into the ambulance to reassure Sybil.
‘Are you her kids?’ the paramedic asked.
‘No. We’re friends. Close friends,’ Zennor said and then turned to Sybil. ‘You’re a heroine. You risked everything for me.’
Sybil pulled the mask off her mouth again and grasped Zennor’s wrist with surprising strength. ‘I’m not. I’m n-not.’ She grasped Zennor’s hand. ‘I’m not a heroine. I’ve done something bad. Really bad.’
Sybil started coughing violently. Zennor was horrified. The effects of the smoke had clearly made Sybil delirious.
‘That’s enough,’ the paramedic said firmly. ‘We need to get you to hospital now.’
Ushering Matt and Zennor out, the paramedic closed the doors of the ambulance and it drove off up the beach ramp.
Tears poured down Zennor’s face but Matt’s arm was around her, soothing her. ‘You really ought to get checked out too,’ he said firmly. ‘You got pretty close to the flames.’
‘No, I’ll be fine. Please, let’s just get to the hospital. Sybil’s in a bad way. She wasn’t making any sense. I hope the smoke hasn’t done any permanent damage.’
Half an hour later, Matt and Zennor were again back at Penzance Hospital and Zennor gave their names to the receptionist.
‘Oh yes, Ms Brandon is in A & E. She actually gave you as her next of kin.’
‘Me?’ Zennor said.
‘Both of you. That’s what it says on the form.’
Zennor exchanged a look with Matt. ‘I’d no idea.’ The news made her want to cry.
‘She cares about you,’ Matt said. ‘And you are very close.’
‘You too.’
A nurse showed her and Matt in, saying Sybil was stable but weak so they could only stay for a short time. She explained that Sybil had had a chest X-ray and some blood tests to check carbon monoxide levels.
‘What about her heart?’
‘Everything seems OK, as is her blood pressure. She’s one fit and lucky lady to come out of that fire relatively unscathed but we’re still concerned about smoke inhalation damage so we’re keeping her in for observation. She’s also very shaken up, as you’d imagine.’
Sybil was in a room on her own and with a pulse oximeter attached to her finger and an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. She looked grey and defeated, like an empty sack.
‘Oh, Sybil …’ Zennor said, holding Sybil’s hand. It was all Zennor could do not to cry.
She felt Matt’s hand on her own back, reassuring her, before he pulled up a chair for Zennor and himself.
‘This hospital thing is getting to be a habit,’ he joked gently.
Sybil pulled her mask away. ‘I should get a l-loyalty discount.’ She broke out into another coughing fit.
‘Don’t talk,’ Zennor begged. ‘Please, just listen. I am incredibly grateful that you tried to save us. Horrified, too. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
‘No … you need to know what kind of a friend I am. My lovely, you’re not going to like any of it.’
‘Sybil. Don’t.’ Matt rested his hand on Sybil’s.
‘No. Let’s have no more delay, Matt. Zennor deserves to know what happened.’
‘It can’t be that bad,’ Zennor soothed even as she grew cold with apprehension.
Sybil didn’t seem delirious now and she was clearly desperate to get something off her chest. ‘But why don’t you wait until you’re out of hospital?
Don’t make yourself worse by upsetting yourself. She shouldn’t, should she, Matt?’
‘I—’
The machine started beeping like mad as Sybil’s heart rate rose and she dissolved into coughs again.
An alarm went off and a nurse hurried in. ‘It’s OK, Sybil. Please keep the mask on. It’s important for your recovery.’ She glared at Matt and Zennor. ‘Please could you leave? None of this is helping your friend at all.’
Sybil clutched at the mask. ‘I – I wanted to talk to them.’
‘Not now, my lovely.’ The nurse spoke kindly. ‘It can wait, surely?’
‘It can wait,’ Zennor said even though every fibre of her was anticipating and dreading Sybil’s news. ‘Rest and get well. That’s all that matters.’
‘But – wait – M-Matt. W-wait for me. Please.’
‘Please go now,’ the nurse ordered as she replaced the oxygen mask while Matt and Zennor left the room. They heard the nurse comforting Sybil and the coughs subsiding.
‘She sounds terrible,’ Zennor said, tears wetting her cheeks. ‘And whatever she has to say, I won’t let her make herself worse.’
Matt rubbed his hand across his forehead.
‘Do you know what it is? You obviously do.’
‘Yeah. Yeah, I know.’
‘And are you going to tell me?’
‘I – I want to. I have wanted to for a long time, I swear, but this is one thing you can only hear from Sybil.’