Chapter Thirteen #2
Dear Lord, she missed him.
But she didn’t want Margery to see that she was melancholy, so she forced herself to smile and wrapped the cuff around her arm again.
“Let’s see if we can get those numbers to come down, okay?”
Susie brought them all sandwiches and Margery a large glass of milk, which she’d asked for. “I don’t even like milk, but it’s all I seem to want,” Margery said.
“Other than pickles,” Susie said, and they both laughed.
Her blood pressure was exactly the same, which was actually good. It wasn’t going up or being erratic.
Still, Ellen willed it to go down, just a bit, so she could leave and make sure her own family was safe.
“I’m going to call home, tell them what I’m doing and when to expect me.”
“You can’t stay?”
“I’ll stay for a while, but I need to get back before I can’t get back.”
“Oh. Yeah, I’m sorry—I know you have kids. You didn’t have to come.”
“I wanted to,” Ellen assured her. Then she stepped out onto the porch and phoned home. She was grateful to hear a ring. Cell service was always spotty during storms, but with the Suttons on a hill, it helped.
Penny answered on the third ring. “Hello!”
“Grandma, it’s Ellen.”
“How is the Sutton girl?”
“She’s good. Elevated blood pressure. Worried about her husband, who she hasn’t spoken to in two days. I’m going to stay for another hour or so.”
“Keep the radio on. The weather reports are coming in fast and furious.”
“I will,” she said. “Are Avery and Bobby back yet?”
“No, I haven’t seen them.”
Ellen looked at her watch. It was one thirty. “Like I told Jake, if they’re not home by two…”
“I’ll call over there, have them come home right now.”
“Thank you.” She breathed a sigh of relief.
She should have done that herself, but she also knew how much Carl and Rose appreciated Avery’s help with the sheep, and her friendship with Gianna.
After the accident, most of Gianna’s friends stopped talking to her.
It was as if they thought paralysis would rub off on them.
And having to leave college had been so hard on the young woman.
Growing up, Avery had adored Gianna, the pretty older girl who always had friends and dates and got a scholarship for college.
Gianna was kind, but Avery wasn’t in her peer group.
Then after the accident, Gianna realized that Avery was the only friend who had stuck.
Ellen hadn’t had to tell Avery to stay in contact, she’d done that all on her own.
Ellen then asked, “Has Jake finished in the barn? He and Lyla need to eat.”
“Everyone’s still in the barn. I popped Millie’s shepherd’s pie into the oven to warm. It doesn’t smell as good as mine, just saying. But I have stew for tonight, and I baked an apple pie.”
“Grandma—”
“I can’t sit still. Storms make me antsy. Oh, and the Pritchards called. What’s the wife’s name again?”
“Abigail.”
“Right. Abigail. She wanted to know if we knew of someone who would come out to fix their generator, which they can’t seem to get working. They called everyone in the phone book and no one will come out until Monday.”
That didn’t surprise Ellen, locals knew that this area would be cut off because Mule Run always flooded during storms.
“Can you ask Mateo to go over there? They have three little kids; they’re going to need the generator tonight.”
“They don’t know what they’re doing,” Penny grumbled, her admonition of “city folk” moving into the rural community loudly unspoken.
“They want a simpler life for their kids,” Ellen said. “I like them. They just need a year or two to get used to it.”
“I’ll talk to Mateo after he and Jake are done with the barn.”
“Thank you. I love you, Grandma.”
“Love you, too. Drive carefully.”
“I’ll call when I’m heading back.”
She ended the call and watched the rain fall, straight and steady. How much longer did she have before it would be too dangerous to drive?
She went inside. “Susie, do you have a radio?”
“Sure.” She went to the kitchen to retrieve it.
Ellen put on the local weather station and kept the volume low, just loud enough so she could hear it. She checked Margery’s blood pressure again and was relieved that it had dropped to 135 over 80.
Now, it was heading in the right direction.
Penny McKenna checked on Millie’s casserole and wrinkled her nose. She didn’t want to feed bad-tasting food to her family, but she also couldn’t waste it, either. That would be a greater sin. Gravy … yes, she’d warm up some of her own gravy, which would at least make the shepherd’s pie edible.
She walked into the well-organized pantry—that was all Avery, not her.
The girl had even labeled the shelves to make things easy to find.
Avery enjoyed helping Penny can—they made jams, syrup, canned whole fruits, pie filling, gravy, and more.
Avery had even made Penny pretty little labels for Christmas two years ago: From Grandma Penny’s Kitchen was printed on the top, with enough space to write what was inside and the date of canning.
There were several jars of gravy left, so she took one and used the jar opener her grandson John had bought her years ago. She used to be strong enough to open anything in the kitchen, but these days her hand just didn’t grip as it used to.
She dumped the gravy into a saucepan and turned it to low. Then she was rinsing the jar when she glanced at the phone.
She needed to call Rose and have her send Avery and Bobby home.
She dialed the number. It took four rings before Rose answered.
“Hello?”
“Rose? It’s Penny.”
“Hello, Penny.”
“Can you send Avery and Bobby home? Ellen had to go up to Rock Creek to check on the Sutton girl, and the rain is coming down hard, and she’s worried that little bridge between your place and ours will flood and they’ll get stuck.”
“Oh. Bobby left; he’s on his way. He was going to tell you that Avery is going to spend the night. She’s been a big help.”
Penny frowned. “Did she ask Ellen?”
“No, she told Bobby.”
“When did he leave?”
“Not long ago.”
Penny sighed. It wasn’t her place to make these decisions. “Avery needs to talk to Ellen. She can’t assume this is okay.”
“I’ll have her call.”
“Her cell phone. She’s up at the Suttons. I’ll keep a lookout for Bobby.” The boy was probably still out looking for that cat, and Penny hoped he didn’t get himself stuck. Still, he had nearly thirty minutes until his two PM curfew.
“Okay. Thank you.” Rose hung up.
Penny stared at the phone. Rose didn’t sound like herself. Usually she was chatty—far more chatty than Penny preferred—and it was Penny who had to find an excuse to hang up.
She looked out the window. The rain fell in steady drops. If the ground wasn’t already saturated, the water would be more welcome.
It was going to get worse, she thought as she went back to the stove and stirred the gravy.
Thunder rolled in the distance and Penny frowned. That boy had better be back sooner rather than later.
After Bobby got off the radio with Avery, he sat against the barn wall for a long time trying to figure out what to do.
Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. He didn’t know why Avery was lying to him about helping with the sheep, because she wasn’t in the barn doing anything. And he didn’t know who that man was.
It started to rain, so he went into the barn, where it was dry. He climbed up into the loft and sat there, staring at his radio.
He didn’t know what to do. His dad would know.
His mom would know. His brother and sisters and even his grandma would know what to do.
But Bobby was scared and worried. He didn’t want to leave his sister, but he didn’t want to stay and have that man find him.
Because he knew, deep down, that something super weird was going on and he needed to get help.
He couldn’t use the radio because the man might hear him. Going home seemed to be the best option, but what if Whisper Creek flooded the road and no one could get back to help Avery? Then his sister would be trapped here with no one.
He laid back in the hay and closed his eyes. His dad always said that when you had a hard decision to make, you should shut off the world. Close your eyes, get rid of all the junk in your head, and focus on your problem. If you’re quiet enough, calm enough, and say a prayer, the answer will come.
Bobby didn’t know if that would work. He didn’t sit still all that well—his teacher always told him to stop fidgeting.
But his dad was the smartest person he knew and if his dad said it would work, then Bobby had to try.
He didn’t know what else to do, so he closed his eyes, said a prayer, and waited for an answer.