Page 164 of The Storm Boys Series Collection

I pulled Jeremiah down to sit in his chair. “I’ll get somethin’ to wash your hands,” I said, ducking into the bathroom. I wet wads of hand towel and came back out. He pulled his beeping watch off and dropped it to the floor, then he lifted his shirt and ripped off the chest strap—I’d forgotten he was wearing it—and it joined his watch on the floor.

I took his hands and began gently wiping them clean.

He let me do it without complaint, and his hands were trembling, so I knew he was rattled. “You okay?” I murmured. The wind was loud outside, but I knew he heard me.

His eyes met mine, and even in the dark I could see how troubled he was. “I could taste it.”

“I know. I saw.” I got a bottle of water, twisted the cap off, and gave it to him. “Here, drink some.”

He sipped it and I wiped a smear of mud from his temple before dumping all the dirty paper towels into the bin.

Jeremiah looked over to where the dad was still clutching his two girls. They weren’t crying now, but they were still clinging to their dad. “I didn’t mean to frighten them,” Jeremiah said.

The dad was watching us, very obviously seeing me tend to Jeremiah, the soft words and gentle touches. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t like seeing two men together or if he was just in shock in general. “It’s fine,” he said. “You saved them. Thank you. I can’t thank you enough. Scared yourself too, I bet.”

Jeremiah nodded. “You could say that.”

I gave his shoulder a squeeze. “He has a habit of running into dangerous situations with little regard for his own safety.”

He glanced up at me and I gave him a smile to let him know I wasn’t mad. “Saving people’s fine, remember?”

That reminded me... the bird.

I stepped over Doreen’s legs to near where the dad was sitting and picked up the box with the bird in it. But then I also saw the snacks and food I’d brought. I gave the box to Jeremiah, then handed some bottles of water to the dad and a bag of crisps for his kids. “You guys hungry?”

I gave some water to Doreen and Suri, and taking another bottle, I considerednotgiving it to the news pair, but begrudgingly gave one to them. They could damn well share it.

“Thank you,” the cameraman said.

“Yes, thank you,” the newswoman echoed.

I didn’t reply. I just gave them a look of disdain and went back to Jeremiah. He was now sitting on the floor, so I sat down next to him.

“My name’s Jeff,” the dad volunteered. “And this is Casey and Presley.” Both girls were still lying on Jeff, but they were eating some crisps, so they were going to be okay.

“Doreen, and this is Suri,” Doreen said. “And our baby, Bruce.”

“He rides the motorbike with goggles on,” Casey, the eldest girl, said.

“That’s right,” Doreen said. “He does.”

A clap of thunder and an immediate boom of lightning shook the building, and both little girls screamed.

The wind was back to roaring, the rain was hammering with a constant rumble of thunder. Or maybe the whole sky was roaring. I couldn’t tell it apart anymore.

“I’m Jeremiah,” Jeremiah said. He had to almost yell because of the noise outside.

“Tully,” I said, looking at Jeff. I was pretending the news pair weren’t even there.

They said their names, Shane and Lindy or Lindsey or whatever the hell her name was. I didn’t care. I still didn’t acknowledge them.

“You, uh, Jeremiah,” Jeff said. “You knew there was lightning.”

“Yes,” he answered.

“The girls’ hair,” I added quickly. I wasn’t giving loose-lips-Lindsey one more detail of Jeremiah’s life for her to make a story out of. “Their hair was sticking up with static. It’s indicative of an imminent strike.”

Jeff instinctively patted both girls’ hair down. “I was trying to fix my roof. Some of the iron had lifted. I told them to stay inside.” He shook his head. “It would have got them. It was right where they were standing...” His voice got shaky. “Thank you.”

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