The Rescuer

by Dee Henderson

  “There!” Dave focused his light ahead of them. The skeleton of the house was still there—two outside walls were still standing and part of the roof tipped in on its side. Stephen released Kate’s arm, looked to make sure she was steady, and then surged ahead of her to join Dave.

  He picked his way around the foundation of the house. “Meghan!”

  “Is there a basement or a shelter somewhere she would have dove for cover?” Dave asked, his light running across the building remains.

  Stephen wedged his light in a crevice. “Dig!” He started tossing drywall and broken furniture away. Tears tracked down his face. She was in this! A nail on a board pierced his glove and drew blood. He tossed the board away. He climbed over the remains of the refrigerator and with Dave’s help shoved it off the debris pile. They needed more help, light, time. Minutes counted when someone was hurt. Dawn was still hours away, and he was afraid there would be no extra hands to help them. Destruction marked the path of the tornado as it cut toward town.

  Meghan pushed her hand against the fabric of the couch, her head aching, nearly deaf from the noise. “Here.” Someone was out there. She tried to call and could barely whisper. She tried to get a deeper breath but it made her dizzy. Something was covering the opening she had used when she slipped under the sofa. Bricks. Those were bricks. The fireplace had come down over the couch.

  She was getting hot. She lifted her head a few inches from the floor and realized her mouth was bleeding again. “Over here.” Her hand felt the cool metal of the fire poker near the couch arm. She couldn’t lift it, but she could wiggle it. She moved it as much as she could, trying to dislodge what it had struck. She heard something fall.

  “Meghan!”

  The voices were getting louder. She pushed the poker again and realized she could move the bricks. She rested her head back down on the floor and put her energy into moving out bricks.

  “She’s under here!”

  Stephen. She let her head rest back against the floorboard. He’d come. She gulped air around the tears of relief, then she reached a hand toward where she could hear them digging. She waited for her rescuer to reach her.

  Stephen tugged his sweater over Meghan’s head, turning her into a mummy of wool. “Better?” He wiped at the remaining traces of tears.

  “Much.” She wrapped her arms around the warmth. They sat in the shelter of the remaining wall, out of the wind and the tapering-off rain. Stephen checked her pulse again and this time she didn’t try to push his hand away. She had a cut on her lip, a few bruises, and he was still worried about her hearing, but she’d come through this night in better shape than he could have hoped.

  He dug through his pockets looking for anything else that might help, or at least bring comfort. He found a piece of gum, not sure how old it was. It wouldn’t do her sore jaw any good. He set it aside.

  She laughed weakly. “I wish I’d been able to see the tornado. Ken has been trying to get near one for years and I ended up under one.”

  “A little too close for my comfort.” He ran his finger along her hairline, pushing back her dripping bangs and wishing he had a hat to offer her. “That couch is about the only piece of furniture still actually left in the house. We passed the mattress stuck up in a tree and the bed frame wrapped around a snapped telephone pole.”

  “I prayed for an angel to sit on it for me to keep it from moving.”

  Stephen leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’ll take it, however it happened. I did a lot of praying too.”

  She smiled toward him, and then her expression turned distant. “Did they catch him?”

  Stephen didn’t let himself dwell on what he would like to do to the man who had kidnapped her. “I don’t know. I was coming to rescue you.”

  “I appreciate your priorities.” She leaned against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. “I knew you would come.”

  He rubbed his hand across her back. “You wanna talk about it?”

  She instantly shook her head.

  He leaned down to see her face. The separation from Blackie, the storm, being snatched, going through it blind—they had to talk about it sometime soon, or the memories would just mess with her head. Now wasn’t the right time to push. “Maybe later,” he offered and she didn’t reject the idea.

  “Where’s Blackie?”

  “I had him with me at the sheriff’s office when word came in the jewelry store was on fire. He bolted on me, heading toward your house. He’s been frantically looking for you.”

  “He’ll crawl under the porch—he’s got a blanket pulled under there—or if he can get into the house and head under my bed, he’ll be there.”

  “I’ll find him as soon as we get to town,” he promised. The weight of the day was catching up with him. He hugged her and sighed. “Let’s not do this again, okay?”

  “I’m exhausted enough to fall asleep right here. I don’t think I’ll worry about hearing just a little wind and thunder anymore.”

  “I agree with that.”

  Dave’s torchlight appeared as he helped Kate over the uneven ground.

  “Kate is pretty wiped out too. She’s coming over with Dave now.”

  “You let her out in this?”

  “Saying no wasn’t an option.”

  Meghan struggled to sit up. “The couch was upside down; it will still be pretty dry. Dig it out and give us somewhere more comfortable to sit than the ground.”

  It was a good idea. Stephen squeezed Meghan’s hand and stood. He tugged the couch out of the remaining rubble of the fireplace. Kate joined Meghan and Dave came over to help him.

  “What are the odds we’ll find the car still drivable?” Stephen asked Dave as he flipped over the couch cushions to find the driest side.

  “I’ll hike back to the road and find out,” Dave said. “I’ll drive in as close as I can. I’d rather not spend the rest of the night out here.”

  “Take the extra batteries for the flashlight.”

  “Will do.” Dave stopped and hugged Kate, then headed for the road.

  “Meghan, let’s move you to the couch.” Stephen helped her up. She held onto his hand and Kate’s arm and picked her way through the debris. She gripped the arm of the couch and moved to sit down. “Okay, this is good.”

  Meghan tugged Kate down to sit beside her. “Swing your feet up on the couch and breathe deeply. Stephen, can you find the throw pillows? They were near the couch earlier. And we need a blanket.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Kate groaned and started to pant.

  Meghan laughed. “She’s in labor.”

  Twenty-nine

  Dave pushed the car keys into his pocket and walked through the trees back to the destroyed hunting lodge. They had transportation out of here. Meghan needed to get back on familiar turf, and he had to get Kate somewhere she could get some rest. Ahead of him Meghan and Stephen both hovered over Kate. He broke into a jog over the rough ground.

  “What’s wrong?” He looked from Stephen to Meghan and then at his wife, and he forgot everything else going on around him. Her face was bunched in a tight grimace, her eyes closed, the strain showing in her body. “She’s in labor!”

  “Yes.”

  The contraction shook his wife. “Kate—” Dave knelt beside the couch, his hand gripping hers tight. He was going to be a dad too early, and far from the hospital where he had her preregistered. “Breathe, love, like they showed you.”

  The contraction eased off and her eyes opened as she sucked in a deep breath. “I’m having this baby. Now!”

  His hand shook as he pushed back her hair. “And you’re going to be fine; I’m right here, just like I promised. Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

  “I didn’t know. My back ached, but then the contractions just started.”

  “The car survived; we’ve got transportation to get us back to Silverton.”

  “That would be good,” she whispered, breathing out. “Assuming Stephen doesn’t want
to deliver his niece or nephew right here.”

  Stephen paled. “Dave, give me the keys to the car. I’ll check how much gas we’ve got left and see if phones still work, find out which roads are passable. We either try for Silverton, or we head the extra miles to Ridgefield. Don’t move her until I get back and can help.”

  Dave dug out his keys and handed them to Stephen. “Just getting back to the highway is going to be the biggest challenge.”

  “I’m willing to shove aside a downed tree if you are. Meghan, come with me. Let’s see what we can do about getting the backseat cleared for Kate to recline.”

  “Guys, relax. She’s got plenty of time.” Meghan hugged Kate. “I’ll be back.” She reached for Stephen’s hand. “Let’s go.”

  Dave watched Stephen and Meghan walk toward the car. “They make a nice couple.”

  “It’s about time he settled down.”

  Dave turned back to his wife, leaned forward and kissed her. “No chance this is a false alarm and the little one is just making sure we’re paying attention?”

  “None.”

  “I was afraid of that.” He leaned his head forward against hers. His wife handled a kidnapping first and pushed aside the fact she was in labor until after the job was done. “Good job, Kate.” He laughed. “Just think of the story we’ll have to tell at birthdays.”

  “I want a little girl.”

  “As long as she is just like you, that would be okay with me.”

  She looked around. “I really do not want to have this baby here.”

  “I’ll carry you back to town if I have to. Lie back and relax while you can. The car ride will be tough.”

  The tornado had hit the town. Stephen drove slowly through the debris-filled main street, easing the car over bricks and boards and stripped tree limbs. The smoke rising from the jewelry store added to the sense of its being a war zone. Two bulldozers were literally pushing debris out of the roadway. “It’s bad, Meghan.” There wasn’t panic among those directing the cleanup. Men would be digging by hand through that rubble if someone was thought buried under there. The tornado sirens must have given the residents just enough warning to get to cover.

  “Get us as close to the side door of the clinic as you can,” Meghan urged.

  “I’ll try. The road is crowded with cars, and deputies are bringing what looks like the walking injured into the clinic,” Stephen said. “The building is in good shape, just a couple toppled trees. Ahh, here we go. Joseph has triage set up in the parking lot. He can help us get Kate inside.”

  Kate arched her back to ease a contraction. “It’s good timing. We don’t have much time!”

  “Dave, support her back. Breathe, Kate. Pant. Stay ahead of it,” Meghan said.

  “I’m trying.”

  Stephen didn’t dare look back. He concentrated on getting through the vehicles.

  “That’s good. Keep with it. It’s going to ease off,” Meghan encouraged.

  Kate groaned. “It is not. And I want to push.”

  “Not yet!” Dave ordered. “Just squeeze my hand and don’t push.”

  “Kate, it’s early yet. The sensation is just the baby moving. You’ve still got several hours of labor ahead of you, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh, don’t say that, Meg. I won’t survive it.”

  Stephen threw the car in park and rushed around to open the back door. “Okay, sis, we’re here.” She was panting as the contraction faded away.

  “We’ve got a couple minutes before the next one hits. Let’s get you comfortable inside, love,” Dave encouraged. Stephen helped Dave ease her out of the car. Dave swept her up into his arms.

  Stephen rushed ahead of him to open the door.

  “This way.” Meghan directed them through the back hall of the clinic. “I’ll get Dad. He’s wonderful at delivering babies.”

  Stephen caught her hand to pause her at the doorway. “I’m needed out there with Joseph. I hate to leave you here, but…” His lips brushed against hers. “Remember I love you.”

  Her hands framed his face and she kissed him back. “I love you too. Now go to work.”

  Stephen struggled to get around the downed trees and power lines to reach Meghan’s street. She desperately needed Blackie with her.

  Her house was gone. He stood and stared at the destruction, feeling sick. All that remained was the fireplace, an interior wall, and part of the roof bracing. There were no discernable rooms, no sign of her piano. The flooring had gone into the basement area. The next house on the street was merely a smooth foundation. She’d loved this house and all the dreams it represented.

  “Blackie!” Meghan had suggested under the porch or under her bed. Stephen didn’t have much hope for either.

  The answering bark was faint but joyous. And it was somewhere from the far left side of this mess. “Blackie, where are you?”

  Stephen climbed over the debris and got down on his belly as he realized the sound was coming from below him in what had once been the basement. He shoved aside loose boards. The dog was down there in two feet of water. Blackie desperately tried to jump and get a foothold on the debris only to slide back into the water with a splash.

  “Easy, boy. Let me come to you.” A beam had protected the dog from being buried in the debris. He was behind what looked like the hot-water heater, the white metal giving the animal no traction. Plaster pieces floated in the water around him.

  Stephen locked his feet around a beam and wiggled another six inches over the edge. He got a hand around the dog’s front leg and another in the fur behind his neck and he did the only thing he could—hauling the animal out even as he yelped. “Sorry, boy, sorry.”

  He got a drenching as the wet animal slammed against him and then a hot bath as the dog licked every inch of his face he could reach. Stephen held the dog off his chest and heaved a deep breath as he laughed. “I’m glad you’re alive too. And there’s someone who is going to be very happy to see you.”

  The sun rose into a pink dawn. Stephen held a towel against a lady’s badly gashed arm as he walked with her into the clinic, grateful the sight of blood was no longer causing him problems. A nurse met them before they had even crossed the waiting room. Doctors and nurses from surrounding towns poured into Silverton to help, and for the first time since this had begun, Stephen felt as though they were getting ahead of the rescue efforts.

  “Thank you, Stephen.”

  “My pleasure, Mrs. Heath. They’ll have you fixed up in no time.” He handed his patient off.

  He saw Meghan step out of an exam room at the end of the hall and he whistled as he headed her direction. Her head came up and she swiveled her head to locate the direction of the sound, and then a private smile appeared just for him.

  “Hey there, beautiful.” Blackie was pressed so tight against her left knee she had to take cautious steps.

  She pushed back her hair with both hands. “Hardly beautiful after this night, but I’ll take the kind words.”

  “How’s Kate doing?”

  Her face lit up with her smile. “Good. Ashley is coaching her, and she’s the expert. Maybe in the next half hour. If the ambulances weren’t so urgently needed for the injured, Dad would have transferred Kate to the hospital, but I think the plan now is to let her deliver here. Two obstetricians are among the medical teams helping out, so she’ll be in good hands when the time comes. Dave’s with her. Would you like to see them?”

  “In a bit. Can you take a couple minutes and share the back steps and a cup of coffee?”

  “I would love to.”

  Volunteers had set up coffee, tea, toast, and donuts on the table in the receptionist area. Stephen got them coffee and walked Meghan out through the back of the clinic. “I’m glad you can’t see this damage. The town took a direct hit.”

  She pushed off her tennis shoes and worked a rock out. “There were no casualties, so it could have been much worse. Dad said their place and yours are pretty much untouched.”

  Stephen res
ted a hand against her face to turn her toward him. “I’m sorry about your house.”

  “So am I. Everything I dreamed about from the curtains over the kitchen sink to the wind chimes by the front door. It was a house kept alive in my memories all these years. I can’t believe it’s just gone.”

  “I’ll rebuild it for you. Every detail.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “You would do that for me?”

  “You bet.” He would love to have her one day sharing his farm, but he wasn’t going to use this timing to even suggest she think that direction.

  Her smile appeared. “I’ll think about it some. Maybe the next house shouldn’t have a basement. Or that step into the garage I kept missing.”

  He wiped away her tears. “We’ll make it right, okay? Of everything you have to be sad about right now, the loss of the house is one thing we can fix.” Stephen picked up her hand and looked at how the scrapes were healing. She’d been wearing latex gloves and the powder had irritated the scrapes. He soothed his thumb across them and made a note to get some lotion. “How else are you doing?”

  “I’m okay, just very tired.”

  An understatement if he’d ever heard one. She looked exhausted.

  A car door in the parking lot slammed and her coffee sloshed. She was still very nervous under that fatigue. “Would you tell me about what happened?”

  “I’d rather not.”

  He let her drink her coffee. “Why?”

  “I was so scared…” she whispered.

  “Then share it, let me at least soften the memories.”

  “I hate being blind. There was no reference point for where I was, what the surroundings were like. Without Blackie—I was petrified to move. And when I heard that sound of the wind… I just want to forget.”

  He rubbed her arm. “Did you know your abductor?”

  She didn’t answer him.

  Stephen turned her face toward him and brushed his hand along her cheek. “You can trust me with whatever that answer is.”

  “I trust you. I just don’t want to talk about it.”