“What’s so funny?” Officer Carlson squinted at us.

“It’s just stress, Officer!” Mom defended us. The firemen put out the fire that had danced at my house. They came out and declared it safe for us to go home. “Come on kids.” Mom ushered us inside.

It smelled a little like a candle was just put out, but the only thing burnt was the siding outside and the roof near the guttering.

She sat us at the table and made us hot cocoa. She fussed so much over us, we couldn’t talk about what just happened. She chattered on and on, it was her way of dealing with the stress. Then she said something that made my ears perk up.

“Wendy, you can stay here tonight, there’s plenty of room, and no doubt you’ll feel better being so close to your… Mom.” She kind of teared up, and Wendy sighed.

“Thanks Mrs. Cooper.”

“Well,” Mom took a deep breath, “I’ll go set up the guest bed.”

“That was awesome!” Wendy said low, “Did you see the colors?!”

“Yeah, when I went into save you, the fire was melting the gilding off the walls.”