by Marla Monroe
“Crap, Thad. It felt like the entire house came down! I’ll come with you,” Harry called out from the direction of the kitchen.
“No! Stay with Harriet and sit close to a wall away from windows just in case there’s more than just a storm brewing out there. I’ll get Abby and be right back down.” Thad didn’t wait to hear Harry’s comment. Instead he grabbed the candle on the fireplace mantel and, holding both candles high, climbed the stairs as fast as he could in the dim flickering candlelight.
What greeted him upstairs made his stomach drop—a hundred feet.
Chapter Ten
“Abby!”
Thad had never felt fear like what swelled inside of him in that moment. A huge tree limb or, hell, maybe even the entire top of the tree, had fallen through the roof into the second floor of the house. With all of the booming thunder, they hadn’t realized that what they’d heard just before the house shook had been the tree cracking just before it had sliced into the rooms above them.
He barely heard his own voice calling out her name, so he knew he had no chance of hearing hers if she did call back. Thad wasn’t sure how long fear had held him frozen with horror, but a flash of lightning illuminated the area that had once been the sewing room where Abby was probably lying hurt, maybe even dead. That thought was all it took to break free from the paralysis and climb over the debris to reach where he hoped to find Abby alive.
For the first time in a long time, Thad prayed. He promised everything and anything he could think of if God would just keep her alive for him. Images of what he’d seen during and just after the disasters flashed through his mind, substituting Abby’s face until he felt physically ill and had to stop digging to breathe through the nausea.
“Abby!” He didn’t stop calling even though he knew there would be no way he could hear her with all the noise of the almost living storm.
Thad had no idea if he was even in the right spot to dig since almost the entire section of hall was filled with tree limbs and leaves. He couldn’t tell where the sewing room had originally been with nothing to use as a guide. He just continued jerking limbs and branches out of his way, tossing them haphazardly to one side. Long minutes had passed with Thad making no real progress. He needed help. Harry would fight just as hard as Thad was to find her. He had no illusions that the other man wanted Abby just as much as he did.
That didn’t matter right then. First they had to find her and take care of her. Anything else could be decided once they were sure she was safe.
“Harry!” Thad hurried over to the top of the stairs. “I need your help!”
A candle appeared at the bottom of the staircase and Harry’s face emerged. “Hey! What’s wrong? Where’s Abby?”
“The lightning hit a tree right next to the house and the entire fucking top is on the second floor now. I can’t find her. I need your help, Harry.” Thad’s voice was beginning to grow hoarse from calling out to Abby over and over again. “She’s buried under all of it. We’ve got to find her, Harry.”
“We’re on our way up. I’m not leaving Harriet down here alone and she can help move the smaller limbs out of the way for us.” Harry disappeared for a few anxious seconds then another candle joined his and both Harry’s and his sister’s faces appeared as they climbed the stairs as fast as they could safely manage.
“Holy shit! Where do we even start?” Harry shook his head back and forth as he surveyed the devastation the tree had wrought on the top floor. “Dear, God. How can she even be alive under all of that?”
Thad grabbed the other man by the throat and shoved him against one of the only walls standing with no real damage to it. “Don’t even think that. I don’t want to hear it out of your mouth again!”
“Thad. He’s in shock. Don’t hurt him. We need him to help find Abby. Let go of him, Thad!” Harriet’s hands wrapped around the wrist of the hand that held Harry pinned to the wall by his neck.
Thad looked down at her delicate hands as they attempted to pull him off of her brother. He shook himself and let go before taking a step back. What was wrong with him?
“I–I’m sorry, man. We can’t do this if we’re going to find Abby. I—” Thad closed his eyes then shook his head. “Let’s just find her.” He turned back to the inky darkness cut only by the less frequent lightning and the measly candles in their cans now sitting on the floor.
“No harm, man. We’re both in shock. I’ll start over here and work toward you and the back of that wall.” Thad waded into the tangled mess of branches, cracked wood, and limbs.
She’s going to be somewhere in that direction where the closet was,” Harriet called out above the noise of the storm. “The closet was a walk-in with lots of shelves.”
Thad swallowed down bile as he looked in the direction she pointed. It looked like where the closet was supposed to be was buried beneath the heaviest portion of the tree top. Instead of focusing on the seriousness and apparent hopelessness of the situation, Thad set his sights on reaching that location. Once there, he could concentrate on whatever was next.
After what felt like hours, he and Harry reached the side of the room where the closet was supposed to be located. Thad’s arms ached from pulling and lifting branches and limbs he normally might not have been able to budge. The adrenaline ran high in his bloodstream now. The crash was going to be right bastard, but as long as it didn’t happen until after they got Abby to safety, he was fine with whatever happened. He’d meant every promise he’d made to find her alive.
“Thad! The closet looks like it is still intact but the fucking limb in front of it must be part of the main part of the treetop. If she’s inside, she’s probably fine.” Harry grasped Thad’s shoulder and squeezed hard enough that it galvanized him into action once again.
“That tree limb isn’t going to move and we don’t have saws to cut through it.” Thad wiped the sweat and water from his eyes with his soaked shirt. “Hell, it would take hours even if we did. We’re going to have to go through the wall to get to her, Harry.”
“Then we’d better work high up the wall since I’m betting she’s on the floor. We don’t want to chop into her.” Harry retraced his steps to where Harriet stood next to a pile of wood she’d been pulling out of their way.
“What do we have to cut through that wall?” his sister asked, voice barely audible over the noise of the waning storm.
“I’m going back downstairs. I think I saw something down there we can use. I don’t remember if it was in the pantry or the cellar. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Harry’s form faded into the gloom as he picked his way down the stairs without taking a candle with him.
“Thad? Is Abby going to be okay?” Harriet’s eyes shone in the candlelight with barely withheld tears.
“She’s going to be fine, Harriet. We aren’t going to let anything happen to her or you. Bang on the wall to let her know we’re out here and coming for her.” Thad returned to the top of the tree blocking most of the room, including the closet door.
While Harriet banged on the closet wall, calling out Abby’s name over and over, Thad tore into the smaller limbs of the tree top in case they needed more room to work. Rain poured through the hole in the room, soaking him to the bone. Rivulets of cold water had him blinking every few seconds in order to see what he was doing. It felt like hours before he heard Harry’s voice as he called out that he had something.
Thad could have kissed the other man on the lips when he saw what he’d brought back. Not only had he found an axe, but he also held in his other hand a hatchet.
“Son of a bitch! Great going, Harry. Which are you more comfortable with?” Thad asked as he picked his way back to where he stood next to his sister.
“I use a hatchet a lot with building my cabins. Are you okay with the axe?” Harry held out the aged wood handle to him.
“Axe is fine.” Thad took it and weighed it in his hands to get a feel of the balance. “I’m going to cut into the top part of the wall to open it up some, then
you can start widening the hole with the hatchet.”
“Got it. Come on, Harriet.” He took his sister’s hand and pulled her back to give Thad room to swing.
“Abby! If you can hear me, stay on the floor. We’re going to get you out of there but you need to stay down on the floor, ma puce. Stay down on the floor!” Thad stepped back and drew back the heavy ax before stepping into the turn, bringing the axe around to bury itself deep into the wall about five feet off the ground.
Thad followed through with four more swings that left a good-sized ragged hole in the wall of the closet. He leaned the axe against the tree limbs and grabbed the edges of the wall to look down into the darkness. He couldn’t make out a single thing.
“Bring me one of the candles from out in the hall. I want to see if she’s even in here.” Thad prayed she was because if she wasn’t, he wasn’t sure they had any chance of finding her alive.
Harriet handed him one of the cans holding the largest of the candles. Thad cupped his hand around the flame to try to prevent either the wind or the drizzle still falling from extinguishing it. He leaned one shoulder into the hole, leading with the candle, and peered into the gloom that seemed thinner with the candle’s light attempting to dispel it.
“What do you see?” Harriet asked.
“Is she okay?” Harry sounded just as anxious as his sister had.
“I can’t see anything yet.” Thad tried to adjust his stance, but keeping his balance was just about impossible while standing on all of the debris covering the floor. “Harry, grab hold of the back of my jeans so I can lean farther in.”
He felt a hand grab the waistline of his pants, nearly giving him a wedgie in the process. Thad wasn’t about to complain. He could straighten that out after he knew that Abby was alive. Harry’s grip on his jeans gave him the security that he wasn’t afraid of losing his balance now and could lean farther into the ragged hole. Slowly the gloom dissipated and the outline of a woman lying near the back of the closet had his heart stuttering to a stop until he viewed the slow rise and fall of her chest.
“She’s alive!” he yelled from inside the closet.
It nearly deafened him, but it didn’t seem to register at all with Abby. She remained completely still except for her shallow breathing. He took a few extra seconds to see if he could locate any glaring injuries, but other than the blood on her forehead Thad couldn’t see anything else to worry about. The head injury alone could be enough to kill her, but at least she didn’t seem to be losing a large amount of blood. He’d take what he could get.
“How did she look? Is she awake?” Harry and his sister peppered him with questions once he’d maneuvered his shoulders and head from the rough-cut hole.
“Look. I can’t see much with just a candle but she’s alive and I didn’t see any obvious injuries other than a head injury that bled some. She’s not conscious, though. We need to get her out of there.” Thad grabbed the axe. “Harry, you make that hole larger so one of us can get in there to lift her out for the other one. Try to keep the pieces on the outside so they don’t hit her.”
“What are you going to do?” the other man asked.
“I’m going to start cutting these limbs back in case we have to have more room. We can’t both work on the wall without taking a chance at hitting her.” Thad started swinging the axe with all of his strength, partly to clear out the multitude of branches and limbs and partly to get rid of some of the fear and frustration coursing through his adrenaline-rich bloodstream.
Never again. Neither of the women would ever be left without one of them with her at all times. They’d been so fucking focused on other men attacking or stealing them away that they hadn’t taken into consideration that there were more dangers out there than just other men. Thad was pissed at the weather and himself for not thinking about it.
* * * *
Harry prayed with every stroke of the hatchet that Abby would be okay and that he didn’t hurt her while he was trying to get her out. After every stroke of the hatchet, his sister rushed in and pulled back all the debris so he wouldn’t trip on something. He made sure she was well out of the way before he took another swing. They’d all made too many mistakes these last few days. He wasn’t about to let it happen again. This wasn’t ten years ago. He couldn’t assume that everything was fine if they just watched out for strangers. The world was entirely different now. Nothing was dependable or for certain. They had to remember that.
“Hold up, Harry. Let me see how close you’re getting to Abby now. You might almost be on top of her.” Harriet picked up one of the candles and leaned into the much wider hole. “You’re right on top of her, Harry. We need to soften up this hole so we can get her out without all of us ending up with splinters.”
Harry’s heart jumped into a thoroughbred gallop. “Let me look.”
Harriet handed the candle to him and stepped over a broken board to give her brother room. He carefully gripped the can holding the candle and leaned through the hole to see where his Abby lay.
My Abby.
When did I start thinking about her like that? I don’t need to keep thinking that way. She isn’t my anything other than my partial responsibility. Harriet is my priority right now.
Despite managing to capture several splinters in the process, Harry could see Abby lying motionless on the floor. Blood covered one side of her face and pain had etched a series of lines across her forehead up to the cut that still seemed to be oozing blood. A strange emotion filled his gut with nausea. His abdominal muscles cramped as if preparing to clamp down and make him empty his meager stomach contents right there.
He stepped back and had his sister to thank that he didn’t fall down. The sheer kick in the gut he’d taken at seeing Abby in that condition nearly dropped him to his knees. His next thought was would he have ended up with the same emotions if it had been Harriet down there instead of Abby. Guilt rumbled through his gut all over again. Abby meant far more to him than she should have. He needed to talk to Thad about this as soon as they had her out safe and downstairs. Being torn like this was eating him alive. It had to stop.
“Harry! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Harriet’s shaking voice shoved him back to where he was and what he was supposed to be doing.
“I’m fine. Just winded from leaning over the wall like that.” He stood up and drew in one deep breath after another to settle his gut and his nerves.
Thad was still chopping at limbs and furniture like a madman. He hadn’t even noticed that Harry had stopped working on the wall. The man seemed just as manic about the situation as he felt.
“Thad! Stop! We need your help to get her out now,” Harry yelled to get the other man’s attention.
The other man stopped and whirled around. For a split second in one of the sporadic flashes of weakening lightning, Thad’s eyes held a maniacal glint and the shadows from the bright light gave his face deep crevices so that the other man looked forty years older and crazy as a loon. Harry couldn’t stop the quick step back he took when Thad’s wild eyes latched onto him.
Then it was gone as Thad stepped closer and out of the crazy shadows from the hole in the roof and all of the swaying branches.
“What did you say?” Thad asked.
“I said we need your help to get her out. The hole is big enough for one of us to get through now. Harriet is trying to remove as many of the sharper pieces as she can.” Harry stepped back again to let the other man pick his way closer to what was left of the closet wall.
He ducked into the hole, then pulled back. “I think I’m a little narrower through the shoulders than you are. I’ll climb inside and lift her out to you. Try to keep her neck and head as steady as possible until we’re sure she didn’t break a bone there somewhere.”
Harry watched as the other man threw one leg over the edge of the much wider hole, then leaned into the closet before pulling the other leg in with him. His entire upper body disappeared while he assessed Abby’s condition.
&nbs
p; His sister took his hand and squeezed it but didn’t say anything. Even though it was still raining and the wind still stirred up the noise of branches hitting the house, it seemed too quiet. Harry swore it was taking Thad too long to determine how severe her injuries might be. The idea that she might be in serious condition or even— He couldn’t say it, much less accept it.
“Harry, get ready to help me lift her through the hole. She’s got a head injury but I don’t know how severe. She’s unconscious but seems to be breathing fairly easily. Remember to keep her head and neck as straight as possible.” Thad’s voice didn’t crack or wobble, giving Harry hope that she would be just fine after resting some. He could handle that.
“Here, Har. This looks like it would help support her until you can lay her in the hall where there’s still a room to keep the rain off of us.” Harriet held a length of board that had hash marks and numbers all along it.
“What is it?” He took the board that measured a good four feet by three feet.
“It’s a cutting board. You put it on your table or bed to keep from scratching the surface or cutting your sheets and comforter.”
“Here she comes, Harriet. Hold that end as steady as you can and I’ll lift her out before we use the board to move her.” Harry reached into the closet to take hold of Abby’s shoulders as Thad held her back and legs steady.
“Ease her toward me, Thad. That’s right.” Harry kept one hand at the back of her neck to keep it stabilized while supporting her lower half until Thad could climb back out of the closet. “Harriet found a solid board we can use to keep her straight.”
They gently laid her on the board, then picked their way back through the door and into the hall. Harriet carried the candles and set them so that they illuminated the area surrounding Abby’s head.
Harry hadn’t noticed all the blood when he’d helped pull her out of the closet. Now with the sharp contrast of candlelight, the dark red appeared evil as it covered her face and scalp. His hands shook as he tried to stroke the dark wet strands off of her eyes. It uncovered a jagged laceration just below her scalp over her left eye. He hadn’t seen it before with her hair covering it.