Chapter 7

Saturday morning after breakfast at the diner we headed home. We got to downtown Vincennes near where the fire was when a police car turned on its lights behind Dad.

He muttered, “What now,” while pulling over.”

The policeman was Bill Rose from yesterday. He was all smiles,

“Sorry if I scared you, folks. The Mayor had us on the lookout for you. He would like to speak to you at his house if it wouldn’t be too much of an imposition.”

There was no reason not to and our trip was ahead of schedule so we followed the police car to the Mayor’s house. The patrolman must have called ahead because the family was waiting at the door.

We were welcomed in like favored members of the family. After taking our hats and coats we were settled into the kitchen with our choice of coffee or hot chocolate. Mayor Hobbs handed us each a copy of the Vincennes Sun Commercial. The headline was, “Deadly fire kills.”

The story proceeded to tell that one person didn’t make it out of that inferno. He was in the first room. I must have got a really sick look on my face because the Mayor spoke up.

“Rick, Mr. da Costa was known to smoke in bed and an advanced alcoholic. He was dead before you ever went up those stairs.”

I still wondered.

Mum gasped, “Rick, have you looked at the pictures?”

As I was saying, “No,” I looked at the front page picture. I never noticed but when I was coming out of that building the Sun Commercial photographer must have been there. The picture showed me coming out of the doorway with the girl in my arms.

I was looking up so it was a good shot of my face. Behind me, smoke was curling up the doorframe and flames shooting down the stairs.

Other than the fact it was me, it was the most incredible action shot I have ever seen. The look on my face was of such intense concentration there is no doubt I would have ran through a brick wall to get out of there. Further inside the paper were additional pictures of me and my brothers.

When the reporter interviewed us I had given a concise description of what occurred when I went up-stairs. He asked how I knew to check the doors for heat before opening them, I told him, Boy Scout training. Eddie let him know that I had just passed Eagle. That was in the paper.

Mr. Hobbs informed us that the whole family would be receiving the keys to the city of Vincennes and be recommended for an Indiana State award of heroism for our actions. They would keep us posted for events and would like us to come back for the presentations. He also told us the photograph was so dramatic that the AP had picked it up and the story would be in many newspapers. Oh, joy!

Mary and Ruth were playing dolls at the other end of the table. Melissa told us she had hunted for a Barbie Doll to replace Mary’s. She couldn’t find them anywhere. When she inquired of a local store that carried the Mattel brand they made a phone call and found out that our area was a test market. Sales in the test area had been tremendous, so the doll would be released nationwide in March.

Mary heard all of this and said, “It’s alright I have other dolls at home. Rick promised he would buy me one when he could. I know he will.”

Of course, I had to reaffirm the promise, which was no problem. As we got ready to leave the two little girls hugged and promised to write to each other. Their Mums exchanged addresses.