Page 39 of Undone

Rainstorms, while usually a blessing since we always needed to keep our reservoirs full, could bring with them a list of complications that I didn’t need right now. We’d had a relatively dry late spring and summer, which meant the ground was packed hard like asphalt, making it difficult for water to soak in. The potential for a flash flood was always at the back of my mind.

I zipped up my jeans and was pulling my T-shirt over my head as I made my way downstairs to put my boots on.

Another lightning strike and more rumbling.

“That sounded a lot closer this time.” I looked up to see my sister jogging down the stairs. “I’ll check on the horses, you check the property?”

“Sounds good,” I told her. We both stepped outside. The air felt staticky. I couldn’t resist and reached out to touch Shannon, resulting in a tiny spark that made her jump.

“I’m tired, Josh, don’t make me hurt you,” she warned and I grinned. When we were younger, the three of us had been playing when it was particularly dry out and the amount of static electricity we’d managed to generate trying to “spark” each other had made her hair puff up like cotton candy. I’d thought it was hilarious but Shannon hadn’t been amused and she’d run to our parents to tattle on Fiona and me.

Lightning ripped across the sky followed by the distinctive smell of ozone. “That looked like it was over the town,” I said, as thunder rumbled.” In the barn, we could hear the horses getting antsy. Shannon took off to check on them, while I went to check the property.

While the odds of a human getting struck by lightning weren’t particularly high, that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen. But I was more concerned about strikes to any of our buildings or equipment. Even a small fire could spread into something out of control if we weren’t careful, and it had yet to rain.

The next strike lit up the sky and made the hairs on my arms stand up as more horses began to fuss. Not seeing any issues outside, I ran to the barn to help my sister. Inside, the horses were all whinnying and stomping their feet in agitation. Shannon was working her way around the stalls soothing the worried animals, so I started at the other end.Gatsby’s eyes were wild with fear and I stroked his neck, and whispered to him that everything would be okay before moving on to General Riggs, and then Red.

I eventually met up with Shannon just as the ground shook with thunder scaring the horses all over again. “Damn it, this stress isn’t good for my mares in foal,” Shannon grumbled. Moments later, we heard what sounded like an explosion and rushed outside. Toward town, we could make out a fire that looked to be in midair as sparks fluttered down.

“Looks like lightning hit the transformer. There’s going to be a lot of power outages. Good thing we have the generators,” I said as we watched it burn. Pop-Pop’s old generator was an absolute workhorse, but it used a lot of diesel to run. Our dad had invested in more fuel-efficient models that we ended up having to use a few times a year when the weather was bad and the power went out.

In the distance, we could hear sirens but we couldn’t see well enough in the dark to determine if the strikes had caused any other fires or if our local volunteer fire department was rushing to check the power lines.

“Well, there’s nothing more we can do tonight. Maybe we should get some sleep.” I started to walk toward the house, but Shannon froze, sniffing the air.

“Do you smell that?” she asked. I took a breath expecting to smell more ozone.

“Fire. That must be what the sirens were about.” It didn’t smell like a wildfire. “I hope it isn’t too bad.” As I said that, large droplets splattered on top of us. “Come on, let’s get inside before we get soaked.”

“You go. Get some sleep. I’ll stay with the horses,” Shannon said. She was already jogging back to the barn before I could respond. I stood there for a moment unsure what to do. A light came on in the kitchenand then I saw the screen door open and Zoe step out onto the back porch.

When I got closer, she shook out the towel she was holding and handed it to me so I could dry off. “Where’s Shannon?” she asked peering out into the darkness.

“She’s going to stay with the horses until the storm passes. I thought I would check the news to see if there’s any reports coming in.” I peeled my wet shirt off and rubbed the towel over my head before drying off my torso.

“I already did. There’s a fire in town near the Unitarian church. Volunteers are on the scene, but no mention of the extent of the damage yet.”

“Damn. All right. Well, let’s get some rest. I’m sure we’ll learn more come daylight.” Zoe left the other towel on the rocker for Shannon and we went inside. I kicked off my boots in the entryway before following Zoe upstairs. At the landing, she stopped. “Is something wrong?” I was a groggy mix of wired and exhausted and I really hoped that we wouldn’t get another emergency before I had a chance to get a couple more hours of sleep.

“I just wasn’t sure if I should go with you or back to my room.” She bit her lip and looked at me. I was tired and didn’t want to think anymore. I held my hand out and she intwined her fingers with mine as we went to my room. We both collapsed on the bed and Zoe’s breathing evened out almost immediately. I stared into the darkness worrying about the potential damage we could have sustained with this storm until sleep finally overtook me.

The next morning, I awoke late for me, and was surprised to see that Zoe was already up and out of the room. I swore as I stumbled out ofbed and dug out a clean T-shirt before heading downstairs, still wearing the same jeans I’d fallen asleep in.

In the kitchen, looking equally exhausted, sat Shannon and Zoe, both drinking coffee and reading something on their phones. “Morning,” I managed to get out as I headed for the coffee pot. I emptied what was left in the carafe into my cup before adding water to start another pot. I took several sips before finally turning around to face them. “Any news?”

They knew I was asking about the fire we’d smelled last night. They both nodded and Zoe read the latest Patch news report aloud. “‘Lightning strikes hit the town of Poplar Springs last night causing damage to multiple transformers and several structures including the town’s community center and elementary school. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the volunteer firefighters, the structural damage was restricted to the two buildings and the nearby playground. The next town hall meeting will discuss options for temporary classrooms until a new school can be built.’ And then there’s some comments from the different residents ranging from hope and prayers to speculation on aliens from outer space causing the summer storm.”

I rolled my eyes hard enough to hurt at that. Didn’t matter how small of a town you lived in, there were always conspiracy theorists speculating wildly on pretty much everything. I yawned, my jaw cracking hard enough to make me wince. “Right. Aliens or not, we’ve got work to do.” I was already making a list of all the areas we needed to check for damage and that included the trails we’d be using with the next riding group.

As I said that, we could hear boots landing on the steps. A moment later, Dustin and Mitch came in through the backdoor and headed to the coffee pot. I was still too tired to move, but knew that today wasn’t a good day to take any time off. I quickly went over the list of today’s chores, starting with checking for any damage and makingsure the animals were all okay. As I was talking, Eli texted that he was on the way back to the ranch having stopped to check the beginner trails but he wasn’t able to get to the upper trails because of the mud.

Knowing what I needed to do next, I stepped into my boots and grabbed my hat. We would need to use the ATVs for any trail cleanup, which meant hooking up the trailer and loading it up with equipment to clear out any fallen trees. Today was going to be one hell of a long, back-breaking day.

TWENTY-SIX

ZOE

“I’ll be honest with you. It’s going to be a challenge.”

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