Soul Fire

humour and the vulnerability I know lies behind that, makes me want to
cry. Whatever happens with Zoe at her apartment, I have to get online to say goodbye before the next Soul Beach sunset. Javier deserves that.
    But before the sadness overwhelms me, I force myself to focus on the good that’s been done here tonight. I was so convinced something was going to go wrong. That someone might lose their
life . . .
    And it didn’t happen.
    Suddenly, everything is brighter.
    ‘I should go and find my friends,’ I say, eventually.
    Gabe squeezes my hand. ‘I don’t know what you’re doing here, or how you found me, Alice. Maybe you’re an angel, a figment of my imagination.’
    ‘I’m real. All five foot five of me. Angels don’t order chocolate brownies.’
    Gabe laughs. ‘I think you’ve done your work on earth here tonight, Alice. Time for you to enjoy the Correfoc . You’ve earned it.’

45
    Barcelona’s air reeks of gunpowder, and the whole population of the city seems to be packed into a single road. By the time I reach Via Laietana, I can only move when the
rest of the crowd does too. I don’t feel like an individual anymore. I’m part of something bigger.
    It’s about fifty per cent terrifying and fifty per cent exhilarating. For the first time I’m excited about the fiesta. What happened with Gabe took me to the edge. I was so
frightened history would repeat itself, but now my body is flooded with hope. Tonight feels lucky. And in a couple of hours I might finally find the evidence that could lead me to my sister’s
murderer, thanks to Zoe.
    So maybe I can enjoy this fire run for what it is – a celebration of light.
    The grand buildings on either side have clusters of people at almost every window, on the balconies, or even perched (just) on narrow stonework ledges.
    The firecrackers sound more distant; we’re packed in too tightly for anyone to let them off in the crowd.
    Despite everything Zoe said, I hadn’t imagined it’d be on this scale. The little kids have the best positions on the shoulders of dads or granddads. Many wear scarves around their
faces, like junior bank robbers. A few have full-face screens, like bee-keepers wear masks, with fireproof fabric strips hanging down to protect their hair.
    I’ve stopped shivering and started sweating as I try to make it towards the Metro – that’s where Lewis and the others are, according to the text he sent. It’s only a few
hundred metres but it could take me an hour at this rate. And the fiesta is due to begin any minute now. Even if I didn’t know the time, I’d know from the excited faces of the kids that
the world is about to explode into flames.
    The chatter is almost deafening. I hear Spanish but also German, Chinese, French. And English? It might be Cara and the others, but I can’t see anything except the M for Metro sign above
the crowd. I try to head towards it.
    The lines along the street are already three or four people deep. And on a wide road that must be at least as long and grand as Oxford Street, that’s one hell of a gathering.
    Then I see him.
    ‘Lewis!’
    He’s crouching on top of a phone box, along with three more guys with cameras. There’s not really room for any of them, but they’ve taken a corner each.
    ‘LEWIS!’
    He hears me, but doesn’t see me, even though he’s scanning the crowd. I try to wave but there isn’t room for me to raise my arms. Right now he’s like a lighthouse in the
sea of people. The angles of his face are lit by the street lights, and his hair has been styled upwards by the breeze so it looks even wilder than usual.
    Lewis is one of a kind.
    ‘Alice!’ He sees me at last and grins and waves so hard he almost loses his balance on the edge of the box. He grins even wider, laughing at his own near miss.
    I don’t know what I’d do without him.
    Gradually, I manage to move towards the box and he points just beyond it.
    Someone grabs my arm suddenly. It’s Cara.
    ‘Hey, mystery girl. Where did you get to? We thought you were going to miss it!’
    She’s wearing Ade’s thick blue shirt now, thank goodness. Her legs are still bare from the knees downwards but at least her top half’s covered. That was the only thing about
the fiesta that was really worrying me, but now I know she’ll be OK. She’s too close to Ade, but in this crowd, I guess you could just think they were being pushed together by
accident.
    At first I can’t see the other two, but then I