Read Online Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Marian Hale
Tags: Fiction:Historical
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to Ella Rose. “You’ll be okay here till your father gets in,” I reassured her.
A slight smile lifted the corners of her mouth, and until that moment, I hadn’t realized how much I needed to see it.
She reached for my hand. “Please be careful.”
I nodded, my heart a jumble of mixed longings. I let my hand slip from hers and followed Josiah to the door. “You’ll take good care of them, won’t you, Ezra?”
“Yessir,” he said. “I surely will.”
I turned to Aunt Julia. “I’ll see you all tomorrow, and that’s a promise.”
She bit her bottom lip and gave me an uncertain nod. With a last glance at Ella Rose, I stepped back into the rain.
Josiah and I headed west as fast as we could travel. We waded through knee-deep water at first, but before we were even halfway home, the overflow had risen to the top of my thighs. The wind bursts felt stronger, and the lulls between them shortened. Still, the streets were filled with people who’d been forced to leave their flooding homes. One man floated a bathtub full of children in front of him, trying to reach higher ground. Horses, belly-deep in the rushing brown water, skittered around snakes and snapping wires, dodging broken telephone poles, porches, and cisterns being swept down the streets.
I glanced at Josiah, grateful for his company but shamed that I’d allowed him to come with me. He no doubt needed to be with his grandfather every bit as much as I needed to be with my family. Still, he came.
At Forty-fourth and Avenue S, we came across a house sitting in the middle of the street, an old colonial with tall columns that’d washed off its foundation.
“Butcher Miller’s,” Josiah shouted over the storm.
A woman carrying a child tried to cross an alley nearby, but the water took them, swirling them away like chips of wood. We watched, hopelessly beyond their reach, while the two just up and disappeared. Josiah squirmed, looking as sick as I felt, but there was nothing we could’ve done to save them.
Rain hit my skin, stinging like needles shot from cannons, but something even worse had begun to happen. Slate shingles lifted from roofs and flew through the air like hatchets. Bricks, picked up by the increasingly wild wind, struck walls, smashed windows, and knocked people into the swiftly moving water to drown.
A man buckled in front of us and Josiah plunged in after him. I helped wrestle them up from the water, but the man’s head leaned at an impossible angle and blood gushed over his shoulder. Josiah stared at me, rain streaming down his face, eyes full of horror. The man’s neck had been nearly severed by flying slate.
I wrenched the dead man from Josiah’s arms, and the brown water snatched him up, swirled him into an eddy, then swept him away.
Still, Josiah couldn’t seem to move. Splintered lumberswept past us, and I grabbed it up. “Like this!” I shouted at him, showing him how to hold a wide board against the airborne assault. I shoved it into his hands, grabbed another for myself, and we plunged ahead, holding our boards like shields till I stepped into a hole washed out by the swirling current.
I flailed for footing while muddy water swept over my head and rushed into my mouth and nose. Feeling Josiah’s hand, I latched on to him, and he pulled me up, gasping and sputtering.
I gagged and coughed up foul-tasting saltwater, and when the wind gusted again, we had to duck the debris flying through the air and sweeping down the flooded streets. Josiah shoved his board in front of me, protecting my head and shoulders, then grabbed another for himself.
As soon as I caught my breath, we started out again, but by then, I wondered if we’d ever make it. I wondered, too, if I’d ever have a chance to make things right with Papa. I should’ve never been so angry with him. He only wanted me to have what he’d been denied. And Mama. She cooked and cleaned up after us without a single complaint, while I never bothered to hide my
A slight smile lifted the corners of her mouth, and until that moment, I hadn’t realized how much I needed to see it.
She reached for my hand. “Please be careful.”
I nodded, my heart a jumble of mixed longings. I let my hand slip from hers and followed Josiah to the door. “You’ll take good care of them, won’t you, Ezra?”
“Yessir,” he said. “I surely will.”
I turned to Aunt Julia. “I’ll see you all tomorrow, and that’s a promise.”
She bit her bottom lip and gave me an uncertain nod. With a last glance at Ella Rose, I stepped back into the rain.
Josiah and I headed west as fast as we could travel. We waded through knee-deep water at first, but before we were even halfway home, the overflow had risen to the top of my thighs. The wind bursts felt stronger, and the lulls between them shortened. Still, the streets were filled with people who’d been forced to leave their flooding homes. One man floated a bathtub full of children in front of him, trying to reach higher ground. Horses, belly-deep in the rushing brown water, skittered around snakes and snapping wires, dodging broken telephone poles, porches, and cisterns being swept down the streets.
I glanced at Josiah, grateful for his company but shamed that I’d allowed him to come with me. He no doubt needed to be with his grandfather every bit as much as I needed to be with my family. Still, he came.
At Forty-fourth and Avenue S, we came across a house sitting in the middle of the street, an old colonial with tall columns that’d washed off its foundation.
“Butcher Miller’s,” Josiah shouted over the storm.
A woman carrying a child tried to cross an alley nearby, but the water took them, swirling them away like chips of wood. We watched, hopelessly beyond their reach, while the two just up and disappeared. Josiah squirmed, looking as sick as I felt, but there was nothing we could’ve done to save them.
Rain hit my skin, stinging like needles shot from cannons, but something even worse had begun to happen. Slate shingles lifted from roofs and flew through the air like hatchets. Bricks, picked up by the increasingly wild wind, struck walls, smashed windows, and knocked people into the swiftly moving water to drown.
A man buckled in front of us and Josiah plunged in after him. I helped wrestle them up from the water, but the man’s head leaned at an impossible angle and blood gushed over his shoulder. Josiah stared at me, rain streaming down his face, eyes full of horror. The man’s neck had been nearly severed by flying slate.
I wrenched the dead man from Josiah’s arms, and the brown water snatched him up, swirled him into an eddy, then swept him away.
Still, Josiah couldn’t seem to move. Splintered lumberswept past us, and I grabbed it up. “Like this!” I shouted at him, showing him how to hold a wide board against the airborne assault. I shoved it into his hands, grabbed another for myself, and we plunged ahead, holding our boards like shields till I stepped into a hole washed out by the swirling current.
I flailed for footing while muddy water swept over my head and rushed into my mouth and nose. Feeling Josiah’s hand, I latched on to him, and he pulled me up, gasping and sputtering.
I gagged and coughed up foul-tasting saltwater, and when the wind gusted again, we had to duck the debris flying through the air and sweeping down the flooded streets. Josiah shoved his board in front of me, protecting my head and shoulders, then grabbed another for himself.
As soon as I caught my breath, we started out again, but by then, I wondered if we’d ever make it. I wondered, too, if I’d ever have a chance to make things right with Papa. I should’ve never been so angry with him. He only wanted me to have what he’d been denied. And Mama. She cooked and cleaned up after us without a single complaint, while I never bothered to hide my
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