Read Firestarter for Free Online

be—
    Eddie’s half-resentful, half-pleasant chain of daydreamswas broken by a strange feeling of warmth coming from his feet; it was as if the floor had suddenly heated up ten degrees. And accompanying this was a strange but not completely unfamiliar smell … not something burning but … something singeing, maybe?
    He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was that little girl who had been cruising around by the phonebooths, little girl seven or eight years old, looking really ragged out. Now she was carrying a big paper bag, carrying it by the bottom as if it were full of groceries or something.
    But his feet, that was the thing.
    They were no longer warm. They were hot.
    Eddie Delgardo looked down and screamed, “Godamighty Jeesus!”
    His shoes were on fire.
    Eddie leaped to his feet. Heads turned. Some woman saw what was happening and yelled in alarm. Two security guards who had been noodling with an Allegheny Airlines ticket clerk looked over to see what was going on.
    None of which meant doodly-squat to Eddie Delgardo. Thoughts of Sally Bradford and his revenge of love upon her were the furthest things from his mind. His army-issue shoes were burning merrily. The cuffs of his dress greens were catching. He was sprinting across the concourse, trailing smoke, as if shot from a catapult. The women’s room was closer, and Eddie, whose sense of self-preservation was exquisitely defined, hit the door straight-arm and ran inside without a moment’s hesitation.
    A young woman was coming out of one of the stalls, her skirt rucked up to her waist, adjusting her Underalls. She saw Eddie, the human torch, and let out a scream that the bathroom’s tiled walls magnified enormously. There was a babble of “What was that?” and “What’s going on?” from the few other occupied stalls. Eddie caught the pay-toilet door before it could swing back all the way and latch. He grabbed both sides of the stall at the top and hoisted himself feet first into the toilet. There was a hissing sound and a remarkable billow of steam.
    The two security guards burst in.
    â€œHold it, you in there!” one of them cried. He had drawn his gun. “Come out of there with your hands laced on top of your head!”
    â€œYou mind waiting until I put my feet out?” Eddie Delgardo snarled.
7
    Charlie was back. And she was crying again.
    â€œWhat happened, babe?”
    â€œI got the money but … it got away from me again, Daddy … there was a man … a soldier … I couldn’t help it …”
    Andy felt the fear creep up on him. It was muted by the pain in his head and down the back of his neck, but it was there. “Was … was there a fire, Charlie?”
    She couldn’t speak, but nodded. Tears coursed down her cheeks.
    â€œOh my God,” Andy whispered, and made himself get to his feet.
    That broke Charlie completely. She put her face in her hands and sobbed helplessly, rocking back and forth.
    A knot of people had gathered around the door of the women’s room. It had been propped open, but Andy couldn’t see … and then he could. The two security guards who had gone running down there were leading a tough-looking young man in an army uniform out of the bathroom and toward the security office. The young man was jawing at them loudly, and most of what he had to say was inventively profane. His uniform was mostly gone below the knees, and he was carrying two dripping, blackened things that might once have been shoes. Then they were gone into the office, the door slamming behind them. An excited babble of conversation swept the terminal.
    Andy sat down again and put his arm around Charlie. It was very hard to think now; his thoughts were tiny silver fish swimming around in a great black sea of throbbing pain. But he had to do the best he could. He needed Charlie if they were going to get out of this.
    â€œHe’s all right, Charlie.