Page 70 of Steadfast

A wave of defeat overwhelmed her.

She sat in the mud next to the quad, indifferent now to the water soaking through her clothes or the turbulent wind gusts that pounded against her. A flash of lightning zigzagged across the sky, followed by a sharp, rumbling crack of thunder. She shielded her eyes from the icy, cold drops that pricked her face.

Struggling to pull her phone from the rough, tight pocket of her jeans—she knew it was time to call Maeve.

Yanking her glove off her hand with her teeth, she scrunched her fingers, attempting to get some feeling back into her stiff, bruised hand. Her skin was so cold that she couldn’t trigger the screen that was being hit with pattering raindrops, and there was no way facial recognition would work in her pathetic, water logged condition.

When she was finally able to open her home screen, the last little bar of service turned into an X.Her phone had always been unreliable at best on the edge of the property, and now the storm had obviously taken out the very last tower.

“Dang it!” She yelled, the wind stealing her voice as though she hadn’t made a sound at all.

Steeling her nerves, Oakleigh knew she couldn’t give up. Her frustration with her little sister and Mia had evaporated as she imagined them injured orworse. The terrible thoughts prompted her along as she climbed back to her feet. She swiped her muddy hands across her jeans and straightened up.

In the howling wind that whipped and swirled chaotically around her, she heard what sounded like her name whistling across the open pasture.

Chapter 22

Anchored

Oakleigh’s ears ached from the chill. She was sure she had heard something, yet she found herself doubting her senses. She squinted, shielding her eyes from the sideways rain to see if she could spot anyone across the miles of property sprawled before her.

“Oaaaakleeeeigh!” Mia’s voice carried across the pasture.

“Okay, I definitely heard that,” Oakleigh said aloud, reassuring herself that she wasn’t crazy. Her boots squelched in the wet earth beneath her feet as she ran toward the fence line. When she arrived, she found the broken down wall of sandbags, which now looked sadder than ever. It was a harsh reminder of how they had failed so miserably at such a simple task. Leaning over as far as she could, she peered down into the ravine below. She could feel the wet earth giving way under the soles of her boots.

Closely examining the brush and jagged rocks, she noticed a stream of water had already begun to rush down from the mountains above.

It was all happening just as Maeve had warned.

Please don’t be down there.

“Mia?” she yelled against the harsh wind that battled against every word. Waiting for any response, she bundled her arms against her chest in an attempt to conserve her body heat. Her soaked clothes offered no protection against the elements.

After a moment without hearing anything except the sounds of the storm, Oakleigh felt somewhat relieved. Perhaps they weren’t foolish enough to find themselves in the path of rushing water.

She noticed her warm breath puffed a cloud into the freezing air as she considered her next steps.

“Oaks!” Mia’s hoarse voice called again from below.

Oakleigh’s fragile moment of relief turned to dread.

She scoured the ravine where the water thrashed through the brush. Her eyes went wide as Paisley finally emerged, crawling on her hands and knees up the steep wall of dirt. She was covered with muck, and she had bleeding gashes on her arms and face.

“Wait there,” Oakleigh threw her hands out to stop Paisley from trying to climb any further as rocks began to clatter down the sliding cliff. Stepping over the pile of sandbags, she could only pray that she wouldn’t tumble into the ravine. The thought of all three of them trapped and injured made her sick with anxiety.

If it was left up to Audrey to find them, they were doomed.

Oakleigh put her knee in the soft earth. Planting her palm, she slid down the nearly vertical ridge. The loose dirt threatened a landslide with her every movement. She dodged as many rocks and branches as she could on the way down, hoping to avoid pushing more debris onto Paisley.

When she arrived at the bottom, she reached for her sister and grasped her hand. It took all of her strength to heave her up to the secure spot beside her.

Paisley dug her heels into the sharp incline and attempted to wipe the mud from the palms of her hands onto her jeans.

“Where’s Mia?” Oakleigh asked, now that Paisley was safe.

“She’s down below,” Paisley began. “We followed a bull, but then the quad flipped—”

“How could you be so irresponsible?” Oakleigh cut her off. The words spilled out, and she put no effort into drawing them back. “Seriously, Paisley. I asked you to do one thing.”

---