CHAPTER 13 - The Flood
I made it back to Aunt Maria and Uncle Seth's a little after dark. The rain had moved in while I was leaving town and the drizzle had caught up with me when I reached the house. I quickly unsaddled my horse and let him go in the pasture. I ran to the porch and stepped inside the warm house. The fire place was crackling and sending an orange glow over the room. The smell of the fire had me feeling how tired I was.
"How'd it go, boy?" Paw asked as I walked through the living room.
"We went swimmin'." I answered and turned to keep Paw from seeing the grin I couldn't keep from my face.
"Didn't take ya long, huh?" Paw and Uncle Seth laughed and I just shook my head. I went down the dimly lit hall and opened the door to my bedroom.
I stripped off my wet clothes and hung them over the wooden chair by the window. It was chilly and that was unusual for a late summer night. The rain should make the hot air humid, but it didn't. The rain was pouring down and the sky was darker than it usually was at this time in the evening. I wriggled around trying to get comfortable but I couldn't. I was already starting to feel sore in muscles I didn't know I had. I knew that in the morning it would be worse. I hadn't been swimming for fun in a long time.
I drifted off listening to my little cousins babble about their dolls in the room next to mine. It seemed like I had only closed my eyes for a few seconds when a loud crashing noise jolted me out of sleep. I jerked into a sitting position and scanned the room. I jumped when I heard it again. Thunder.
The rain was still coming hard. I sat on the edge of the bed and the moment my bare feet hit the floor I knew something wasn't right. I looked down at the floor and saw it was covered in water. I jumped up from the bed and grabbed my shirt from the chair. I didn't bother buttoning it, I just slipped it on and grabbed my boots. I quickly put them on and opened the door. The hall was flooded, too.
"Paw!" I yelled from the doorway. I waited a few seconds and yelled again. "Paw!"
The door across from mine jerked open and Paw was looking at me with a crazed expression. Then he noticed the water. How he hadn't noticed when he first got out of bed was beyond me. The water was rising every second. "What the-"
"Oh! The house is floodin'!" Aunt Maria screeched from her bedroom. She swung the door open and ran across the hall to the girl's room. Uncle Seth came out right behind her and looked down the hallway to us.
"We need sand bags." Uncle Seth said calmly and walked past us. Paw and I followed him outside and to the barn.
The three of us carried sand bags from the barn to the house and stacked them around the perimeter. The water had risen almost 3 inches since we started and I couldn't figure out where it all was coming from. As if reading my thoughts, Uncle Seth gave me the answer.
"The Creek floods the town every once in a while when we get a hard rain."
"Blue Creek?" I asked, my mouth suddenly becoming dry.
"Yeah. It starts south of town and when it gets high enough, it finds it's way here."
Mary Beth. I knew her house had to be under water by now. The creek wasn't far from her house and she was at the bottom of the hill. The water would have reached her first. The thought had me fighting off panic. I had to go and find her, just to make sure she was safe.
Paw and Uncle Seth jumped over the sand bags and went inside to check on the girls and Aunt Maria. I stood where I was, debating on if I should even go. Thunder roared again and I felt the rain coming even harder. I had to go.
I whistled for Apache and ran to the barn. As soon as I opened the door I could see him coming from the pasture. He ran into the barn and stopped just in front of me. I grabbed the saddle and blanket from the rail and saddled him. I was slipping on his halter when the lightening started. Apache started to stomp his foot in the water and I knew he was as anxious as I was. I gently rubbed his nose and he instantly calmed.
I lit the lantern hanging by the stalls and quickly swung into the saddle. Apache was hesitant at first, but once we got out of the barn he took off. The lantern didn't help much, but it was better than nothing at all. The little light we had earlier from the moon was gone. The clouds were so thick now that no light came through.
I made it to Escalera in record time. The streets were flooded completely and debris was floating around me. Apache was high stepping in the water and I could feel his nervousness. His ears twitched back and forth constantly and I didn't have to see his eyes to know he was watching everything. The farther out of town we went, the deeper the water became.
I was getting close to the hill when lightening struck again and Apache reared. I held on but lost the lantern in the gushing water and knew I would never find it. I urged Apache forward and he resisted. He stood in the same spot for a few minutes stomping his feet and throwing his head. He didn't want to go down the hill. To be honest, neither did I.
The water was flowing by us down the hill and I knew it was only a matter of time before the water rose so high you couldn't see the slope of the hill. I kicked Apache in his flanks and urged him forward again. Slowly, he walked us down the hill. When the ground became flat again, the water was up to Apache's chest. I knew he'd get tired soon so we made a straight path towards the white house that I could barely make out through the rain.
Wind had started to blow fiercely, sending the down falling rain into sideways sheets that sprayed my face. We reached the house and I led Apache up on the porch. It wasn't much higher, but it would shield him from the rain while I looked for Mary Beth. I kicked open the door when I found it was locked. I ran inside the dark house and called for Mary Beth.
"Mary Beth!"
Nothing.
"Mary Beth!"
I heard a clutter from the ceiling and looked up. There was nothing there. I waded around in the house and searched every inch of space for Mary Beth. When I didn't find her, I felt the tinge of panic growing in my gut.
"Mary Beth!" I yelled once more and strained my ears to listen.
"Britt?" It was so faint I could barely hear it. "Britt, is that you?"
"Where are you?" I yelled again. I was beginning to think I was talking to her ghost.
I heard a snap and part of the ceiling pulled up. The attic door. Mary Beth peeked her head over the edge and strained her eyes to see me. I couldn't hide the relief on my face when I saw her. "Britt?" She called again and I could tell she'd been crying by the raspy sound of her voice.
"It's me, I'm down here."
"I'm gonna let the ladder down. Watch out."
The wooden ladder lowered to the floor and I grabbed it. I slowly climbed the ladder and released the breath I'd been holding when I pulled myself into the attic. Mary Beth grabbed me with such force I thought she was going to break me in half. I held onto her and realized she was soaking wet. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. Why did you come?"
The question threw me off and I couldn't keep the shocked, and a little offended, expression off my face. "If you want me to leave, I will." I said with irritation clear in my voice.
"NO! No, I didn't mean it like that." Mary Beth squealed and grabbed my arm. I huffed out a breath and rubbed my face, feeling the quickly growing beard. I really needed to shave. "I just meant... Why did you want to come?"
"I wanted to make sure you were safe."
"You silly outlaw." I heard the amusement in Mary Beth's voice, but it was hollow. "You're not as dangerous as Mother Nature. You could have been killed." Her voice was quiet at the end and I barely heard the words.
"I thought you didn't care 'bout how dangerous I was?" I grinned and finally found a smile on her face. She leaned forward to rest her head on my chest and tightened her grip around me.
"It's actually a little comfortin' right now."