The Raging Storm

Chapter One

 Soot watched her siblings jump on the stepping stones over the river. Her younger brother, Rain, was gripping onto his cat, which was trying to leap away. Rose followed, holding onto her dog. They each had their own pets. Milky was Rose’s pet, Whiskers was Rain’s pet, and Soot had a cat named Princess. 
  “Be careful!” Soot grabbed Rose’s arm when she had tripped. 
  “Milky!” Her scream was loud and panicked.
  “Hold on, Rose, I’ll get it!” Rain announced.
  “Oh, no you won’t! You’ll help Rose to the other side. Take Princess too, I’m going to get Milky.” Soot shielded her eyes from the sun as she searched for the white dog that had fallen out of the youngest’s arms into the river. She spotted her thrashing wildly in the deep water.
  Rain took Princess in his arms and jumped across to set them down. He went back and helped Rose across the gaps.
  Soot dived into the water, shivering as the cold reached her bones. She swam toward Milky as quickly as she could. Soon enough, she held the dog in her arms and struggled toward the shore. Her siblings came running toward her, the two cats in Rain’s arms.
  “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Rose hugged Milky tight. 
  “No big deal.” Soot sighed. Her hoodie clung to her sides and her hair was dark and stringy.
  “That was so cool! I want to be just like you one day!” Rain announced enthusiastically.
  “Aheh, no you don’t.” Soot rested her hand in her brother’s blonde hair.
  “Do!” Rain protested, wrinkling his nose as he pretended to be mad.
  “Faker.” Soot laughed, carrying out the ‘er’.
  “Uh, Soot? Where’s Rose?” Rain suddenly looked worried.
  Soot glanced around. Rose was gone. There weren’t many clues as to where she went. Just her lingering scent of apple juice and a small velvet ribbon lying on the ground. 
  “I don’t know.” Soot admitted. She walked toward the ribbon. It looked like it had fallen out of her hair as she walked; or more likely ran. Rose was energetic and excitable. She probably saw something and got curious. I hope it wasn’t dangerous. 
  Soot took Princess from her brother and adjusted her comfortably into a small bag, specifically made to carry animals. Princess let out a small meow, her smoky grey ears twitching. Whiskers looked at Princess, he seemed to want something. Soot shrugged it off and looked around. A pile of dung was sitting beside a tree, half buried. “They went that way.” Soot looked at her brother as she pointed to the pile. “Hold your nose!” she joked.
  Rain let out a small laugh and followed her toward the tree. “I think I hear Milky!” Rain gasped, flicking his gaze to a gap in the trees. A troubled barking sounded, along with the loud rushing of a waterfall.
  “Rose needs to stop wandering off and be more careful! She’ll end up dead at this point!” Soot snapped. She trudged toward the noises, Rain just behind her. 
  “Rose!” Rain cried out, just as Soot spotted her dog clinging to a rock, while Rose was on a larger one, bent down with her hands in the water. On the stone, was a branch, big enough for someone to walk across.
  “Rose! What are you doing?!” Soot scolded the younger girl. She sighed and took the bag off of her back and passed it to Rain. She found a route to get to her sister. Quickly, she ran across a fallen tree. It cracked under her weight. Rotten. She thought, she could feel the wood giving way under her. With a quick leap, she reached the other side. The tree still stayed. That was lucky. Soot ran toward the smaller branch. She wouldn’t be able to walk over it. And Rose shouldn’t have even been able to.
  Soot came to the conclusion that she would have to swim. Her heart lurched as she realized that the current would be far too strong. “Rose, you’ll have to jump.” Soot called as the branch fell in with the current, sweeping away and getting stuck on the fallen tree that bridged over the river. 
  This vacation was turning into a nightmare. Soot wished her parents hadn’t had to stay home with her five year old brother, who was sick, trusting her to take her siblings. Soot was sixteen, Rain was twelve, and Rose was eight. It was supposed to be a nice hike for today, followed by a video call with their parents. Soot would have to make three, one for her mom and stepdad, one for her siblings’ mother, and one for her own dad. 
  Rose picked Milky up roughly and tossed her over to Soot. Milky would have died if Soot didn’t catch her. “What the heck, Rose?! That was dangerous! Never do that again!” Soot yelled. She suddenly didn’t trust Rose to be alone with any animal. She now understood why Princess seemed so afraid to go near Rose before they came on this vacation. 
  “How else was I supposed to get her across?” Rose asked innocently.
  “Carry her, duh!” Soot was outraged. “Just jump over here! We’re going back to the cabin!” 
  Rose jumped, just missing the shore, but landing in the shallow part of the river. Her dress dragged in the current. “Hurry up!” Soot urged. Rose continued to sit there, clinging onto the grass.
   Soot grabbed her sister’s hand and hauled her up. She practically dragged her over to the tree bridge. “Go first.” 
  “What about Milky?” Rose put in.
  “Milky can wait! You’re more important than a dog! You even threw her! Isn’t that enough proof?” Soot nudged Rose onto the tree. She watched as her sister walked across, struggling to balance. Rain rushed over to the edge and grabbed Rose’s arm to steady her.
  Soot nodded in approval and made her way halfway across, letting out a squeak of horror when she heard the tree snap below her. She needed to get to the side closer to her siblings. It was already too late though. The branch gave way and sent her into the cold water. She grabbed onto the rooted side, which was farther from Rain and Rose. Milky was gone. It’s too dangerous for me to swim for Milky, she won’t survive anyway. 
  “Milky! Get Milky! Please!” Rose cried.
  “Rose needs Milky, come on, get her please.” Rain called.
  Soot felt hot with fury. Didn’t her siblings care about her? She let go of the tree and desperately tried to stay over the water. She was starting to get tired with her attempts. She felt water fill her nose and mouth. The river’s churning seemed distant. She could only see black. Something hard and pointy hit her in the head, just over her eyebrow. 
  Realizing what was happening, she forced herself up. The water was calming and getting more shallow. She spotted a toad leap from one rock to another. Milky was lying on another, the rock she was on was still in the water but it held her up out of it. The water had a soft current and got even shallower. Soot stood up, the water was up to just under her chest. “Milky!” she panted. The dog lay motionless. Milky was dead. 
  Soot decided that she would make a stuffed animal to take Milky’s place in Rose’s life. But that would mean hollowing out the drowned carcass. She picked up the white dog, feeling her warm body get colder with each second. Rose and Rain emerged from the trees. The light blue dress Rose wore was ripped and Rain had a few scratches on his arms.
  “Thornbush?” Soot asked hoarsely, just before coughing up water.
  “Yeah, are you okay?” Rain muttered, his voice tinged with regret.
  “Is Milky okay?” Rose chimed in.
  “Yes and no. I’m fine, I just need rest. Milky is-” Soot didn’t want to tell her sister that her beloved dog was dead. “-asleep, for now.” She lied.