Title: Heels on Fire
Author: Andie
Rating: PG
Summary: I really don't know how these things happen to me, they just do. But really... if Marissa had never convinsed her neghbors - the Darnels - that I could babysit I would never be in this dang burning fire hole.
Warning: A tiny bit of violence and harsh language.
Fic Type: One-shot
Disclaimer: All characters of the Sammy Keyes series belong the Wendelin Van Draanen. I own Addy and the Darnels. And the bad guys. And cop.

This is a little pre fic to Sammy Keyes and the Mishap Fortune. I hope y'all will like it!

Heels on Fire:


Okay, I'm officially in deep do-do.

Deep stinky do-do.

That's on fire.

Yup. Burning shit, like the stuff people put on other people's porches for pranks. Like in the movie Disturbia. Which is a way awesome movie. Shia LaBeouf is AWESOME and hott. I love him! Okay, not really… but he's like the coolest actor ever. And smokin' in the looks department.

Umm, yeah. I should probably be focusing on the problem at hand, huh? Unlike the character Kale, in that movie, who only had to deal with a bag of dog shit on his porch (Granted, being under house arrest would suck too). I have to deal with a whole house of burning fire. Though it is a little lacking on the doggie do-do. But if I don't get out of the house soon I'll be the one burning, as well as the screaming girl I'm now holding.

I'll have a whole new look at crispy critters.

Yippee… not.

Damn, Addy (aka: Adeline Woodlyn Darnel; age 7; missing for two days and 18-hours – along with myself) had a mouth of a banshee on her. I guess that I would be freaking out a bit too if I was left to die in a burning building.

Oh. Wait. I was left to die in a burning building. Does anyone see me screaming? Huh?!

"Addy, please. Stop screaming sweetie, everything is gunna be all right. You've just got to calm down, 'kay?" I really, really hope I'm not wrong about everything being all right. I so don't want to die at the age of fifteen. And I haven't even gotten to State on the softball team! This sucks hairy balls, man.

Addy's wails reduced to quiet sniffles letting me hear my thoughts again.

Which were still in panic mode, not helping me at all.

Okay. Deep breath.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Jesus, I coughed choking on the smoky air, maybe I shouldn't do the deep breathing thing when the air is all smoke.

"Sam, I'm scareded," Addy managed to speak through her coughing fit.

Christ, I needed to get us out of here before we inhaled to much air.

What to use, what to use. Fire surrounded us from everywhere. And we were on the second story landing. The only thing I could do was jump through the wall of fire.

A beam crashed down no more than a foot away from myself and Addy, causing twin shrieks to escape our mouths.

Alright Sammy, you better start thinking faster!

"Okay, okay," I stroked Addy's hair trying to calm her and myself, "Shit, shit, shit, shit." I knew what I could do.

"Shit, damn, shit, shit, damn," This was so not going to be good.

Before I could second guess my choice of action I had grabbed up the throw blanket that covered a chair in the hallway, tossed it over my head, held Addy's face to my chest.

And jumped.

Shiiiiiiiit.

Has anyone every jumped from a second story balcony or window or even a tree?

I barely had time to breath before we hit the ground, it went by so fast. I would have figured it would seem like forever, you know, the whole life flashing before my eyes thing…

The air flew out of my lungs like an inflated balloon as I hit the ground with Addy tucked under my chin, "Goddamn it."

Waves of pain ran up my arm, from wrist to elbow, causing me to moan. I was 99.2 percent sure that I had broken my arm and 73 percent sure that it had broken in two places.

"Addy," I huffed, "you okay?"

Muffled cries met my ears confirming that Addy wasn't hurt too bad, "C'mon, Addster," I used her pet name hoping to comfort her, "we've got to get some help okay? And get you back home to your momma and daddy."

I rolled from my side onto my back, out of the bushes that had broken most of our fall, making sure not to roll onto my injured arm. We needed to get help, but since our kidnappers and ransom (Mrs. Darnel's housecleaner, Clare Bayer, and Clare's 'acquaintances', Buff-Guy: aka Phil Martinez and Skinny-Guy: aka Oliver Hicks) holders had left after killing Smart-Guy, aka Davie Ryan who had been an undercover cop.

(Clare, Skinny-Guy, and Buff-Guy had been behind a string of robberies in East Jasmine, the SMPD had gotten a lead and sent Davie Ryan to try to get in on it all. Didn't work out so well…)

"Can you walk for me Addster? I hurt my arm, you'll be okay, right?"

I sighed in relief when she nodded her head. Thumb in her mouth Addy stood up shakily. The grimy yellow shirt with a small blue crescent moon she wore had scorched places that were the same color as her milk-chocolate skin. The matching blue star covered pajama pants had a hole in the knee and were burnt on the bottoms. Addy's small child's face was marked with grime and soot that had accumulated over the past three days.

I winced as I eased myself up, the throbbing pain in my arm pounded in time with my heart as I stood, "Christ," I muttered as I ran my good hand through my just-above-the-shoulders hair cut. The house in which we had occupied only a few minutes ago was now completely engulfed in flames. We were lucky that we had gotten out in time.

"Sam?" Addy tugged at the end of my burnt and blood battered "RWHS Softball" tee. (Clare and the baboons hadn't been against beating the hell out of me when I had tried to escape the second day – I'm positive I now have a black eye), "I hear an amb'alence."

I looked down at the young girl who had gotten me into the mess, the hand that wasn't attached to the thumb occupying Addy's mouth pointed out to the dirt road that had once acted as the old house's driveway.

The Calvary was here… finally.

I am so never babysitting again.


Thanks for reading, tell me what y'all think please!

And if yah want, go on and read Sammy Keyes and the Mishap Fortune. It's the fic that comes a year after this.

- Andie