Page 46 of Spring Showers

“I know Pa,” Thandie said and shook the water off her poncho. Her eyes trained on the scene outside the glass doors.

“What do you see, dear?” Margret asked.

“It looks like some of the other guests are heading this way too. I wonder if there’s flooding in any of their cabins, or perhaps they heard the bells like we did and are coming to see what’s going on.”

Grant helped push the door open against the wind and let the two younger couples indoors. “Did you have any flooding at your cabins?” he asked.

“No, but it’s a swamp,” Brent said.

The woman on his arm added, “The lake is filling back up. All those pretty flowers—gone!” she turned to Thandie. “I’m so glad we went on the nature walk while we still could. It was so beautiful.”

Thandie took her hands. “It’ll all come back. It’s only water.”

“What if the lake stays filled?” Grant asked her as though she was a water expert.

She shrugged. “I guess we go for a swim.” That made everyone laugh, though nervously. “Look. He’s here.”

Grant flipped his raincoat hood up and walked out to meet the older gentleman. Driving his old blue pickup truck, Pa towed a flatbed piled high with sand. Coming to a stop right in front of the building, Pa hopped out, and Grant shook the old man’s hand. “Pa? Hi, I’m Grant. How can we help?”

Pa motioned for Grant to follow him around to the bed of the truck. He dropped the tailgate, where hundreds of sandbags were bundled and stacked. “We need these filled up. The bridge washed out, and all that water is coming this way if the rain doesn’t let up soon.”

Grant pointed at the lake. “It’s already here.”

“We better move fast,” Pa said with an uneasy chuckle. He pointed to the side of the barn. “Shovels are back there.”

Grant returned to the flatbed with the tools. Thandie stood beside the sand pile, unpacking the bags. Even Brent and the other man, William, came out of the barn to lend a hand. They all got straight to work. Everyone knew what needed to be done.

Thandie and Pa held the bags open. Grant and Brent shoveled loads into the bags. William tied them off and passed the filled sandbag to Leo. The bags were passed down the line of volunteers that wrapped around to the back of the barn where he could only assume some flooding or erosion was in progress. Grant didn’t realize when so many people had shown up to help, but he recognized them all as the other guests. Even the trio of older ladies was out there in their galoshes, swinging sand.

The once-dry creek that bordered the property swelled to the brim. What looked like a landscape feature running along the long path from the barn down to the old dock was now a torrent, threatening the stunning barn itself. The sandbags were their only hope now. Even if by some miracle they got the job done today, he knew that waterways often overflowed their banks after the storm was long gone. Getting the investment was the least of The Foundry’s worries, now surviving the day was on the line.

In no time, they used up all the sandbags in creating a barrier about two feet high along the back of the barn where the stream turned before making the last straight run into the lake. Grant hoped it would be enough. He had become very fond of the retreat and was willing to do whatever he could to save it.

“Thanks for the help,” Pa said and climbed into the driver’s seat. “I’m going for another load.”

Thandie led everyone back inside the barn to get warm and dry until Pa returned. Leo was the last one in, and instead of stopping and taking a break, he ran toward the back of the barn nearest to where the stream came closest to the structure. Seeing dread on Leo’s face, Grant took Thandie’s hand, and they followed behind Leo.

How could the man not be worried? After all, everything Leo had worked for, all the time and preparation to get the retreat up and going, looked like it was at risk of washing away in an instant. His heart went out to the man who had been nothing but a gracious host the whole week thus far.

Thandie flexed her fingers around Grant’s as their feet sloshed through a half inch of water. Grant’s suspicions were confirmed in the exercise area. The rubber carpets were soaked, and rain spilled in from the window ledge like a waterfall. The flooding wasn’t coming from the rising waters at all, but from a poorly sealed window. A window that could be fixed if they acted quick enough.

“What can we do?” Thandie asked and let go of Grant’s hand.

“I can’t afford to replace all this stuff,” Leo said. “Will you bring as much as you can carry up to the loft or in thecucina?”

“Grant, I could use your help outside with a tarp.”

“Let’s go,” Grant said, and the two men ran back through the barn.

Grant didn’t see Thandie again for a while, as their routes were opposite. From outside the window, he could tell that she was working hard as the various equipment stocks inside dwindled. Leo met him with a hammer and nails, a tarp, and a scrap board. Pinning the tarp behind the board, Grant held it all in place while Leo hammered in the nails. It was an ugly fix, but it would keep the majority of the driving rain off of the failing window until a permanent fix could be made.

On his way back in, Pa pulled around and parked by the door with an empty flatbed.

“Pa, what happened?” Leo asked, but Pa was out of breath. “Why don’t you come inside really quick.”

Leo escorted the older man, and Grant held the door, snapping his fingers for someone to bring a chair over to them. Inside, Pa plopped into the seat without a complaint, and someone else handed him a water bottle.

“The road...is...gone,” he said between sips.

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