Matthew and the Chimney Sweeps: Book One (Completed, Editing)

Chapter Five: Freedom

 

Matthew looked out the open window, the cool night air tickling his face, and smiled from ear to ear. Being free was the best feeling in the world. No more chains, no more Miss Thorn and no more counterfeiting. He pictured his father, a big grin on his face too.

His thoughts turned sad. To the night it happened. He had given his room to his aunt and uncle willingly, happy to sleep in his new treehouse for the first time. But his happiness soon turned into the worst part of his life. It was the smoke that woke him up. He tried to get inside the house, but the flames were just too intense. His entire family, there for a family reunion, was taken from him like that. Faulty electrical wires, the authorities had said.

'We should stop soon,' said Chloe, as they drove down a deserted country road, waking Matthew from his thoughts. 'Eat and then go to bed.'

'Good idea,' said John, now sitting in the back with Matthew and Norman. 'I'm starving. What food do we have left?'

'We have some rice, a potato, two cans of corn and a spoonful of mustard.'

'That's pathetic. We should have raided the manor's kitchen like I said.'

'Like I said to you, doing that wasn't the most important thing.'

'We should have raided Mr and Mrs Jacobs apartment,' said Matthew. 'Every time I saw Mr Jacobs, he had something in his hand. Chips, cookies, candy.'

'Awww, mmmaaannn,' whined John.

'He also liked his cereal with marshmallows,' said Matthew.

John sank into his seat and began to sulk.

'I don't know why you're so obsessed with marshmallow cereal,' said Jennifer.

'Because it tastes good,' said John. 'It's sweet, I like the shapes, and the marshmallows aren't like normal marshmallows, they're crunchy not pillowy soft —'

'All right, all right,' said Jennifer. 'There's no need to go on and on.'

'Well you did ask,' said John.

'I like cereal with marshmallows too,' said Matthew.

John patted Matthew on the shoulder. 'Thank you.'

'Over there,' said Jennifer, from the passenger's seat. She pointed ahead to a brightly lit billboard advertising toothpaste in a field.

'Perfect,' said Chloe. 'We can hide the car behind it.' She drove the car off of the road and over to the billboard. As she put on the parking break, she said, 'We should try and contact Slink first. Tell him we rescued Matthew and that we're fine.' She opened the lid of the compartment between the driver's seat and the passenger's, reached in, pulled out a radio handset, and began speaking into it. 'Slink? Come in, Slink?' There was no answer. She tried again. Still nothing.

'Let's see if getting the radio's antenna higher will help us get through,' said Jennifer.

'I'll do it,' said Norman, and he got out of the car. He went round to the front and with one good yank, ripped out the car's antenna from its socket.

'Slink connected our two-way radio with the car's antenna,' John explained to Matthew. 'Our car's built-in radio doesn't work.'

Matthew thought ripping the antenna from the car, disconnecting it, would not make the two-way radio work, but then he saw there was a cable attached to the antenna, which Norman was pulling and pulling out of the socket.