Peril at Palm Shores (Kristi Cameron Book 7)

by Cynthia Griffith

  “Mom!” Skeeter whispered and pointed at his sleeping sister. Kristi had never fallen asleep at the table before—and certainly not in a restaurant!

  “Shh! Don’t wake her!” her mother said softly. The rest of them went on with their dinner and talked quietly around her. Kristi never heard them. She slept on.

  _________

  CHAPTER SIX

  _________

  Getting Ready for Jenna

  “What are you doing awake at this hour, Kristi?” her father asked as she pattered out to Grandma’s living room. He was alone in front of the television. It was turned down low so as not to wake anyone in the sleeping household.

  “I’m starving!” Kristi whispered.

  Her father chuckled. “I’m not surprised! You fell asleep before your food was even served. We brought it home for you. It’s in a styrofoam container in the refrigerator, if you want to heat it up in the microwave.”

  “Okay. I’m so embarrassed, though! I must have looked like an idiot, sleeping at the table like that!”

  “Oh, I don’t think anyone but us noticed, except maybe the waitress, of course. We got you awake enough to walk out of the restaurant under your own steam.”

  “Thank goodness for that! I would totally die if you had had to carry me out like a little kid, Daddy!”

  Steve laughed softly. “I would have died, too, Kristi! I don’t know if I could handle that! You’re too big, and I’m too old!”

  Kristi laughed and went out to the kitchen to get something to eat. She looked at the food in the container. Eww—it didn’t look nearly as appetizing all cold and globbed together, as it did when it was served warm in the restaurant. She sighed and put it back. Skeeter would eat it, she knew. For now she would just have a bowl of cereal.

  She poured her cereal and milk and went back to the living room with it. “How come you’re up so late, Dad? What are you watching? Aren’t you tired?”

  “Oh, yeah! But I’m watching the weather channel. Hurricane Jenna is moving pretty fast and has taken a sharp turn toward the north. It looks like she could be headed our way.”

  Kristi’s spoon stopped halfway between her mouth and the bowl. “The hurricane is coming here?” she repeated.

  “Looks that way.”

  “How soon until it gets here, Daddy?” Kristi asked. All of a sudden she wasn’t hungry anymore.

  “They’re saying another twenty-four hours, but a lot can happen between now and then, Kristi. Hurricanes can be pretty unpredictable. They can speed up or slow down, veer off in another direction, get stronger or weaker… We’ll just have to wait and see what’s going to happen.”

  “What should we do in the meantime, Dad?”

  “Well, the first thing, of course, is to pray about it, Kristi. God is in control of the weather, and only He can calm the storm. But if He chooses not to calm the storm, than He can just as easily calm the storm inside of you, and give you peace. Then there are certain things we can do to protect ourselves and our property if it looks as if the hurricane is actually going to make landfall in this area. We can board up windows, move things that might be blown away indoors, and stock up on water, batteries and food. We can also evacuate, or move further inland, to get out of the path of the storm.”

  “What are we going to do, Dad?”

  “Well, for the moment we are going to turn off the television and go to bed! Then in the morning we will see how things look and discuss our options with your grandma. This is her house and she should be the one to make the decisions about it. Are you done with your cereal, Kristi? Finish it, and then let’s turn in for the night. It’s going to be another long, hard day tomorrow—or I should say today, since it’s after midnight—and we need to get some rest.”

  A few minutes later Kristi was back in bed. Robyn and Anna were sound asleep. She lay there for a few minutes thinking about the coming storm, and then she took her father’s advice—she started praying about it. Her father had been right—the Lord calmed her heart, and soon she was fast asleep, too.

  A beam of sunlight crossed her face and woke her in the morning. She blinked and turned her head to escape the sharp rays. It was hard to believe that by late tonight they could be going through a hurricane! Kristi squinted and saw the sunlight sparkling on the pool just outside the French doors. The sky was still a bright blue, but she saw clouds racing across it, as if pursued by the hurricane itself.

  The room was empty. Anna and Robyn were already up. Kristi jumped out of bed and headed for the shower. It was almost six o’clock and they would be leaving for the zoo soon. She was starting to get used to these early morning hours now, but it still wasn’t her cup of tea. All she had to say was, Skeeter had better not have eaten all the donuts already! She was starving again!

  Kristi showed up at the breakfast table with wet hair and barefooted. “Good morning, Sweetie!” Grandma said as she entered the room and looked immediately at the empty box on the table. “I saved you some donuts, Kristi Anne! Your favorites!” she said as she handed Kristi a plate with two fat chocolate donuts on it and a glass of milk.

  “Thanks, Grandma!” Kristi said in relief. “You’re the best!” Skeeter was eyeing her plate, but she turned her back on him and sat at the other end of the table. “What does the weather report say this morning, Dad?” she asked. “Is Jenna still coming our way?”

  “It looks like it, Kristi. You need to eat quickly. We have a lot to do today—both here and at the zoo. The rest of us are about ready to go.”

  “Okay, Dad,” she mumbled through a mouthful of donut. She gulped her milk, trying to wash the donut down. How does Skeeter do it? she wondered. It’s a wonder he hasn’t choked to death by now!

  The zoo! was her next thought. In all her worry about the hurricane, she really hadn’t given much thought as to how it would affect the zoo. Were the animals in danger? Could the zoo withstand the onslaught of wind, rain and floods? Was the hurricane going to wash away all their plans for the anniversary party?

  “Time to go!” Steve called out.

  “Here! You take it!” Kristi said as she ran past Skeeter to get her shoes. She shoved her other donut at him. “I admit it—I just can’t shovel it in like you do, little Bro. You’re the pro!”

  A few minutes later they were in the van on the way back to the zoo. Skeeter waved the donut under his sister’s nose. “All you had to do was bring it with you, and eat it in a leisurely manner like this, Kristi!” He daintily broke off a small piece of donut and placed it carefully in his mouth. He slowly chewed it before breaking off another piece. “You don’t have to stuff your mouth, you know, Kristi!” he mockingly chided her.

  Kristi stared at the donut left in her brother’s hand. She was still hungry and it was a long time until lunch. Grandma had saved that donut just for her. Why, oh, why had she panicked and given it to Skeeter, of all people? She watched now as he flaunted it before her and then popped the last bite into his mouth just as they pulled in at the zoo. Her stomach rumbled a bit. It was a long, long time until lunch!

  Randy was waiting for them at the maintenance shed. A big grin was on his face. “No vandalism last night!” he said by way of greeting. “Probably because they knew we’d be on the lookout for them. Jimmy, Sam, Gretchen’s husband Bill, and I took turns patrolling the zoo all night.”

  A wave of relief went through the teens. At least they wouldn’t have to redo all the hard work they had done the day before.

  The smile disappeared from Randy’s face before they could even express their happiness over that fact, though. “Now we have to spend the day getting ready to stand up to Jenna. Jimmy was on the phone with the national weather service already this morning, and their advice was to prepare for the worst, especially since we’re so close to the beach. That means we’ll have to board up windows, fill sandbags, make sure there is plenty of food and water safely stowed for all the animals, move everyone indoors by late afternoon—the list goes on. We’re even going to load some of the
hoofed animals—the antelopes, zebras, camel, llamas, and so forth—into cattle trucks and move them to a different location—a ranch further inland. Their shelters here aren’t as hurricane-proof as the rest of our buildings, and we don’t want to take any chances with them. So there’s a lot to do in a short amount of time, and we sure are thankful to have your help.”

  “We’re glad we can help, too,” Steve said, “but I have to tell you that we’ll have to leave earlier today. I need to board up my mother-in-law’s house, as well, and get things put away and hurricane-proofed there as much as possible, too. Then I want to move my family further inland, also. The reports are predicting landfall sometime around midnight, so we need to be gone by six o’clock tonight.”

  “Aw, Dad! Can’t we stay for the hurricane?” Skeeter asked. “That would be so cool!”

  “Nope!” his father said firmly. “I am responsible for not only our family’s safety, but for Robyn’s, Anna’s and Pete’s, as well. I am sure their parents wouldn’t appreciate us letting them stay in harm’s way just for the ‘fun’ of it! We’ll do what we can here and at Grandma’s house, and then we’ll leave until Jenna blows over. I already have motel reservations for us in Tallahassee.”

  “What about your plane, Dad? We’re not flying, are we?” Dan asked.

  Steve shook his head. “No, it’s too windy for a small Cessna. Besides, we’d be short one seat with Grandma with us! I’ve already made arrangements for it to be put in a hangar.”

  “Well, let’s get going then,” Rachel said. “We have a lot to do.”

  Randy got the kids started filling sandbags. A dump truck had delivered a small mountain of sand before they even got there, and now it all had to be shoveled into burlap bags and taken to the different buildings around the zoo. “We’re going to place these in front of the doors of each of the buildings. They won’t keep out a major flood, but they’ll certainly help in a small one. We have a number of buildings that are in low-lying spots. We’ll start with them first and keep going until we run out of sand and bags. You’ll need to wear gloves to protect your hands, as well as safety goggles for your eyes.”

  He passed out the gear and then said, “Filling sandbags takes two people—one to hold the bag open and the other to shovel the sand in. You only have to fill the bags half full, otherwise they’ll be too heavy to handle. Don’t tie the bags. Fold the flaps under, like this. Then when we get ready to stack them, we’ll lay them like bricks, staggered on top of each other.” Randy demonstrated how to fill and stack the bags and then asked, “Everyone understand?” They all nodded. “Take my truck, Dan, to move the bags. Jimmy’s got the zoo’s truck, and your dad and I will be using the cart and trailer.”

  “Okay, then, I’ll let you get to it. Jimmy and Sam are out taking care of the animals, and they’ll pretty much be tied up with that all day. We’ve closed the zoo for the day so we can get ready. The cattle trucks are coming at ten o’clock this morning to get the animals we’re moving. Once we have the sandbags filled and moved to the various buildings, you kids can bring in the trash cans and any other things that aren’t nailed down that might get blown away. You can also start moving supplies up out of reach of any flooding we may get. Steve, while they’re doing that, could you help me board up windows? We also need to make sure we have enough gasoline to run the generators in case we’re without electricity for a couple days, and fill some tanks with water.”

  They stared at Randy who was normally a pretty quiet guy. All of a sudden he was taking charge, and very sure of himself and what needed to be done as he barked out orders and got them all moving. There was a sense of urgency in his voice and his words, and they sprang into action with a determination to match.

  Rachel and the girls filled sandbags while the boys carried them to Randy’s personal pickup and stacked them in the bed of his truck. Whenever they had enough bags ready Dan would drive the truck to one of the animal habitats and they would lay the sandbags up against the doors of each building. The mountain of sand had looked endless at first, but gradually through the morning it dwindled until there was not much left and they had run out of burlap bags.

  Robyn and Kristi leaned wearily against their shovels. “Ow! Look at the blisters on my hands!” Robyn said as she pulled off her gloves.

  “I know. I have them, too. Just think how bad they’d be if we hadn’t worn the work gloves!” Kristi said.

  “You should have let Anna and me trade places with you,” Rachel said, as she examined the girls’ hands.

  “Well, we had the system down pat so we just kept going. I guess we ought to get on with the next job. What time does Dad think we need to leave this afternoon?” Kristi asked.

  “He said we need to quit at three thirty. We have to get Grandma’s house ready for the storm and then leave for Tallahassee by six, so we only have about four hours left to get the work done here at the zoo.” Rachel answered. “Let’s get back to work.”

  They started rolling trash cans into the nearest buildings and taking down the umbrellas on the tables at the refreshment stand. Dan, Pete and Skeeter drove up in the pickup truck as they were folding the last umbrella. “Hey, Mom, we finished laying all the sand bags!” Skeeter called out the window. “What are we doing about lunch? This place is closed, and I’m starving!”

  “Never fear! Grandma is here!” they heard just at that moment. There came Elizabeth, staggering down the walk from the front gate under a half dozen big pizza boxes! “Help!” she called.

  Skeeter jumped out of the truck and ran to take the boxes from her. “Oh, wow, Grandma! You are the best!” he exclaimed.

  “Well, I knew you’d all be hungry, so I had the pizza delivered, but we nearly missed out. The pizza place was about to close to get ready for the hurricane, but when I told them I needed to feed a bunch of volunteers who were trying to save the animals at the zoo, they agreed to stay open long enough to make our pizzas and deliver them. Let’s get the rest of the guys and eat quickly.”

  Pete called the men on the radio in Randy’s truck, and Gretchen and Tammy joined them a few minutes later bringing drinks and napkins. They were soon enjoying a fast lunch together. Jimmy and Sam had been moving animals all morning and making sure there was plenty of food and water stocked up for them for the next couple days. Steve and Randy were still boarding up the windows. Tammy and Elizabeth had been securing things at the nursery and hospital. Gretchen and her husband planned to spend the night sitting out the hurricane with Tammy there.

  “Isn’t that dangerous?” Rachel asked. “You’re so close to the beach! Shouldn’t you move further inland?”

  Gretchen shrugged. “We don’t really have a choice. We can’t leave the animals completely alone. Jimmy and Randy are staying, too. Sam has a family he needs to move. We’ve set up some cots, but I doubt if we’ll get much sleep tonight.”

  The Camerons and their friends looked in admiration at these dedicated people who were willing to risk their lives for the creatures in their care. Kristi breathed a little prayer for their safety.

  The lunch break was over quickly. The girls started moving things off the lower shelves in the gift shop, refreshment stand and storage room. If water got past their sandbags, hopefully it wouldn’t reach high enough to ruin everything. Rachel and Skeeter worked in the office, moving equipment higher and stacking the furniture as best they could. Steve, Dan and Pete were doing the same in the maintenance shed and other food storage areas around the zoo.

  Though the wind had picked up and clouds were on the horizon, the sun was still shining in Palm Shores. It was really hard to believe that in less than twelve hours a hurricane would be pounding this beautiful little spot. They worked steadily, and as swiftly as they could, until at last they had moved as much as they possibly could out of harm’s way.

  Steve popped his head into the storage room where the girls were just finishing up. “Ready, girls?” he asked. “I’ve got Grandma and the guys with me, and we’re ready to go. We ne
ed to get over to Grandma’s house and take care of things before we leave town.”

  “Uh-huh,” Kristi said. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and wiped her hands off on her jeans. “Whew! I think we’ve done everything we can here. Now we’ll just have to see if Jenna is big and bad enough to beat us anyway.”

  They took one last look around and went back outside to say goodbye to the zoo workers and tell them they’d be praying for them. Gretchen and Tammy hugged them all and thanked them for all their hard work. Sam and Randy shook hands with the guys and slapped them on the back. They knew they could never have gotten so much done in such a short length of time of it hadn’t been for the Camerons and their friends.

  They did not linger long over their goodbyes, though. There was still plenty of work ahead of all of them and time was growing short. They finally went back into the gift shop and made their way through the stacks and piles and out the employee’s entrance at the back of the building. They headed for their rental van.

  “Oh, no!” Steve exclaimed as he reached for the keys in his pocket.

  “What’s the matter? You didn’t lose the keys, did you?” Rachel asked.

  “No, but look!” Steve groaned, pointing to the van.

  They gasped as they realized what had happened. The van was a wreck. Someone had slashed the tires and smashed in the windshield of their vehicle. It looked as if they would not be going to Tallahassee, after all, that night!