Jane and the Fire – Part III

In 1958, young Jane is a twelve-year-old girl who has just moved to the big city of Chicago, Illinois with her parents and cousins Billy. She feels a bit stifled by the big city, and plans now to take her young cousins to the park, when they hear loud footsteps.

As they reach the door, there is the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. Billy Sr. freezes and looks back at Jane, who is carrying Billy Jr. She puts him down, and peers out the door down the dingy, poorly lit corridor. It’s just as they feared – she can see the top of a velvety hat appearing at the top of the stairs. Grumpy, glaring, scary Mr. Bennet who lives three apartments down. She rushes to close the door, and it barely shuts before they can hear Mr. Bennet thunder by.

“Why must he walk past like a rhinoceros?” Jane mumbles to the Billies, to make them smile. The Billies smile a little but their smiles seem muted. Jane can’t blame them – Mr. Bennet is a scary man. There’s a knock on the door, and Jane opens it warily to find another man there – a thin, tall man with a fawning, obsequious sort of expression on his face. The expression disappears when he sees the children.

“Is Vince Bennet home?” he asks.

Jane points soundlessly down the hallway. The man suddenly looks relieved. He shows them a slip of paper with a scribble on it – it’s only a scrap, but Jane can tell it’s expensive and glossy paper.

“I couldn’t tell if it was a six or a nine,” he says kindly, in case they can’t understand by themselves.

Jane gives him an embarrassed smile. The man tips his hat to them and walks away. The children look at each other.

“I wonder why he was so pleased that Mr. Bennet didn’t live here,” Jane says. The Billies don’t care; this delay is the only thing bothering them. They hurry to Mrs. Joyce, who is at a neighbor’s house, and quickly procure permission for a quick jaunt outside; Jane has realized that she doesn’t know the way to the park. They walk down the street slowly, absorbing the varied smells from food stalls and watching other children run by. There are a row of shops and other apartments on the other side of the street, too, and the children gaze up at the big, stately looking buildings. Across from their own apartment, though, there isn’t a general store or hotel, but what looks like a real-life haunted house. They stop outside to look at it. It’s dark and boarded up. Jane is surprised that no one’s torn it down already – it’s not doing anything for the appeal of the street. They walk on to the street past that one. There’s the town bank here, and a police station, and to their delight – a large open park. The Billies run around and chase after a random dog. Jane looks back at the spooky dark building and shivers. There’s something up with that house.

Stay tuned for more next month!