by Tara Brown
Rain with a red sky in the morning meant a storm. Always.
“Hurry!” she called out, though the horse didn’t understand what she wanted. With no reins or saddle, this was a sprint for fun in his mind.
Ollie and Scar kept up with the galloping horse, staying to the side of the trail to be sure not to get caught underfoot.
She blew past the smithy and yanked on Asher’s mane to get him to stop at Quays.
The second the whole shore came into view, her heart sunk. Dark, menacing clouds laced with a bright-red tint were moving in from the south. She licked her finger and held it in the air, feeling the wind on the back of it. It was cool. Her heart sunk.
Her brother and father would be back by tonight.
The first boats were already beginning to sail for the docks.
“I knew I could feel it in my bones,” Alek’s voice made her turn around. He was with Aunt Mildred and standing on the boardwalk. “Haven’t had a summer storm in a decade or more.”
“What do we do?” Lenny asked.
“Well, it’s not any different from a spring storm. Batten the hatches and wait for it to pass.”
“Shouldn’t you be home?” Aunt Mildred asked Lenny snidely.
Lenny ignored her, too emotional with the heavy disappointment drowning her. “Father and Wilf will be back by tonight, then?”
“Oh aye, they’ll be back before dark, there’s no doubt. That’s a big storm. They will have seen it going out and turned around. I’d have a good dinner on. Your father’s gonna want to chew on something when he gets back. All that work and packing the boat, he’ll be fit to be tied.” Alek nodded his head at the ship tied at the dock. It was her cousin’s. “Randall came in about fifteen minutes ago. Said the cold air and the hot seas are mixing up something fierce out there. Said it might be a bad one.”
“Like the summer I was born?” She obviously couldn’t recall it, but she’d heard the tales. Roofs ripped from houses. Waves so high they washed away the docks in some places. Houses in low lying areas were gone. Trees that had stood for hundreds of years uprooted. It was a tragic summer that year. Fishermen aplenty died at the hands of the storm. Lenny’s gran said it was the cost. Every now and then the water god demanded a price for such fine fishing and bountiful lives.
“Let’s hope not.” He glanced at Asher as Ollie demanded to be rubbed down. “But you need to get them home and like I said, batten down the hatches, my dear.”
“Don’t forget—”
“She knows what she’s doing,” Alek interrupted his wife, twitching his head to the right. “Off with ya, Lenny.”
“Okay. I’ll come back when the farm is ready and help here,” she said as she walked to Asher and jumped on his back again. Using his thick mane, she steered him to the right and dug her heels in, insistent he gallop.
Her plans to leave were ruined but maybe it was meant to be.
Had she been on the road with her sisters and mother, Wen would have had to do this on his own. And battening down the hatches wasn’t a small job, even in the spring when the storms were much smaller.
As she got to the farmhouse, she jumped down and led Asher to the barn as Wen came running out.
“What got into you?” Wen asked.
“Rain means storm, meaning Father and Wilf will be back. There’s something serious brewing out at sea. Uncle said it could be as bad as the one eighteen years ago.”
He paled. “The great storm?”
“That’s what Uncle Alek said. Randall just docked and said the cold wind coming from the north is blowing in funny, mixing with the warm seas. And the red on the horizon is about as bad as I’ve ever seen.”
“Red sky at morning, sailor take warning,” Wen muttered.
“Indeed. Which means you have to go help your mom get settled, and I have about an hour to ready the farm to weather the storm, and then get to town to help Uncle Alek ready Quays and the docks. Boats will be coming in by the dozens. The harbor is going to fill, and we’ll both be needed.”
Wen sighed. “I’m tired just thinking about this. I had nice plans to read a book I bought from Salty’s and eat the left-over roast on some fresh buns.” His shoulders slumped but he nodded. “Where should I start?”
“Close up everything in the house, close the shutters. I’ll get all the animals in the stables and pens and reinforce the windows and doors in the barn. Then we’ll move anything the wind can get ahold of and stack it along the far side of the hay shed.”
“Not to sound like I wouldn’t have been able to handle it, Lenny, but I’m grateful you’re still here.” He smiled and turned back to the door, hurrying inside.
“Me too,” she called after him and ran for the fields.
She was halfway with the animals when the wind picked up. She could taste the salty storm in the air. It made her skin tingle to feel such electricity.
Storms on the southern shores of Dahleigh were commonplace in the later fall as the northern winds came south and met the warmer ocean. But the ships were long done the season and the bay was ready. A storm in the middle of the fishing season was nothing but a major inconvenience.
Ollie and Scar helped herd the sheep and chickens, both of them glancing toward town every now and then, pausing, perhaps sensing it too. She grabbed the rope around the ox’s neck and led him to his pen.
By the time Wen came out, Lenny was done closing everything up and had started organizing anything the wind might grab and placing it on the far side of the hay shed. The worst the wind could do there was pick the random objects up and throw them at the forest.
It was lunchtime when they finished, so Lenny grabbed them both an apple and a drink of water. They ate and drank as they walked to town with Scar and Ollie at their sides.
The forest was alive with the sounds of the storm that was coming fast. The trees sounded like the ocean washing over a pebbly beach.
“This came on quickly!” Wen shouted as they cleared Uncle Cyril’s house.
“I know!” she shouted back, needing to lean forward a bit as they walked so she could fight the wind.
At the smithy, James and Master Barnes were closed up and no more smoke rose from the forge or the stoves. The doors and shutters were closed and the yard was tidied.
The boats in the harbor looked to be riding on the backs of horses, the way they moved with the waves.
The town was busy, just as Lenny had thought it would be. Everyone was rushing in a different direction as the wind grew stronger and the waves swelled.
“I’m going to help Mum close up. Hopefully, she’s sober enough to have done some of it!” Wen shouted and ran off. Ollie seemed tempted to chase after him but stayed with Lenny as she turned and faced the storm.
Lenny’s eyes naturally scanned the harbor for her father’s and brother’s boats. Her cousins were both in now, docked and empty.
Worry began to set in until she saw the Alymis coming toward the harbor. She was riding the swollen waves, spraying seawater everywhere every time she crashed down. Her eyes drifted behind it, searching for the Vagabond, but she didn’t see it. She knew it was still early and the storm wouldn’t hit for at least another hour or two. Loads of time for Wilfred to get in.
But her stomach ached anyway.
Scar nudged her back to reality and Lenny peered down at the worried pale face of her hound. “Let’s go help Father tie off.”
She hurried along the boardwalk to the stairs to the docks, rushing quickly for the end where her father always kept his boat.
It would be a snug fit in the harbor if many more boats came in, and after this the repairs would be endless.
It wasn’t just luck on her side that she hadn’t gone with her mother and sisters. It was as Gran always said, the gods—a miracle.
As the ship got closer, Alek came out to help too. The sea was lifting and lowering the docks, making them creak and sway, which was why Ollie and Scar had decided to wait on land.
“You see Wilf yet?�
� Uncle Alek asked, wiping the water from his face. The rain hadn’t started but the mist coming off the waves was as bad as rain.
“No.” She pinched her brow and continued scanning. “He’ll be in shortly. Or maybe he was closer to another dock.” She offered plausible scenarios rather than worry, but it didn’t help.
“He’ll come. He knows the seas.” Alek didn’t sound convinced either.
“This storm’s been brewing for a while,” Lenny spoke but her eyes didn’t leave her father’s face as he shouted at his crew. “The sky has been pink a few times in the past week.”
“Yes, and now she’s here.” Alek waved at Edwin.
“Wilf in yet?” he called when the ship got closer to the dock.
“No!” Alek and Lenny shouted back at the same time.
“He’ll be round. He knows the sea!” Edwin barked. It was pandemonium by the time he was tied up and they were off the docks.
The rain began, adding to the winds that had also picked up.
Everyone followed Alek into Kelpies to watch the storm hit.
The pub was warm with the bodies, the summer weather, and the kitchens working triple time to feed everyone.
Esmeralda, Esme, and Evette, the sisters who ran Kelpies for their father, were running pints of beer and plates of food as fast as their feet could carry them.
And for once, the fishermen kept their eyes on the sea and not Esmeralda’s beauty.
“We made it about a quarter of the way to the fishing waters when I noticed cool air in the wind. Heading south, that shouldn’t happen,” Edwin murmured, leaning in toward the table so Lenny and Alek could hear him. “Wilf said he was going to his special spot. Little weasel still won’t tell me where it is. Says it’ll bring him bad luck.” Edwin shook his head and lifted his beer to his lips. He took a small sip, much smaller than he normally would, but his stomach was turned at the fact Wilf still hadn’t come in.
Lenny watched the harbor. Boats stopped coming in. It was a sea of ships in the harbor, there had to be fifty of them. Her stomach ached and her hand slipped into her pocket. She found the stone she’d left in her pants pocket the other day. She had forgotten it was there.
It was warm from her body and she wrapped her fingers around it, unable to completely cover it.
It felt good to squeeze it.
“Any news?” Wen asked as he burst through the crowd and arrived at the table. He was drenched.
Ollie lifted his head for Wen to stoop and pet, but Scar kept her head down and her eyes darted nervously around the busy pub.
“Nothing. But I’m thinking he might have gone to the docks in Mamble. Over by Maiden’s Bridge. I believe his spot for fishing is near there. Wouldn’t make sense to come all this way in a storm if there are perfectly good docks there,” Edwin said, suggesting this was something he and Wilfred had discussed, but it was not. He was trying to keep his daughter calm, but she clearly didn’t buy the story any more than he did.
“Oh, of course. That makes sense.” Wen nodded but even he didn’t seem persuaded. “Should we head back to the farm?”
Lenny wanted to say no. She wanted to stay put. The winds were howling and blowing nearly a gale. The rain was coming in sideways. But she knew the answer.
“Yeah, some of us ought to get back,” Edwin said. “Perhaps I’ll stay and wait for Wilf or word about where he docked. If you two want to go back. Just in case.”
Lenny nodded, desperate not to be sent away, but she knew she had to go.
She got up and the dogs followed suit. “See ya at home,” she spoke quietly, not sure they heard her.
Wen walked in front, forcing the door open with all his strength as she rushed out. He closed it, fighting to not slam it.
The wind hit them, whipping water in their faces.
“We better run,” Wen called out.
“Okay!” Lenny answered.
She was faster so she went first, getting swept to the side by the violent winds.
They ran hard past the smithy and Uncle Cyril’s house until they reached the path which was already littered with leaves and small branches.
A snap in a nearby tree forced Lenny to leap out of the way as a branch came down.
“Faster!” she shouted at Wen. He was breathing heavily and not the runner she was but fear helped him on.
They burst through the forest into the farmyard, maintaining their speed. Lenny waved Wen on. “Go into the house, I’ll check the animals!” she yelled. Wen went for the door to the house but both dogs followed Lenny to the barn. She slid the massive bar, which held the door shut, to the left, letting it fall. The wind caught the door and swung it open, slamming it into the side of the barn.
She wrestled with it, pulling it shut and barring it into place again as the winds whistled through the small cracks of the old building. It was sturdy despite being the same age as her gran.
The land had been in the family for hundreds of years. The Aillings were one of the first families to settle in Blockley, one of the first fishing families too.
She lit a couple of lanterns and hung them, giving the animals and her some light.
Asher was nervous. He kept picking up his feet and stomping them back down, jerking and rearing, slamming into the walls of his stall.
“It’s okay, boy,” she soothed him as she stepped to him with her hands out, moving through chickens who had flown their pen panicking but less likely to destroy the whole barn. Asher nudged her when her hand touched him and his eyes were wild. “Shhhhhhhh.” She stroked his nose as he reared his head back again.
The other horses weren’t doing much better, but fortunately, there were far less of them in the stalls, thanks to her mother and sisters taking three. The ox was the best behaved. His dark eyes flickered about but he hardly moved.
The sheep and goats were in their pens, making small noises but mostly huddling against one another. Scar sniffed everyone, checking them while Ollie scratched his ear awkwardly as he stood on three gangly legs.
Not sure if she could leave them or not, Lenny decided to ride it out in the barn. At least she would be there if anything went wrong and could possibly get them out.
The wind picked up, slamming branches against the outbuilding. Asher calmed so long as Lenny was touching him. Scar nestled into a ball at Lenny’s feet and Ollie slept at the door, like a dragon guarding the keep, startled only when Wen came out with a travel skin of water for Lenny and knocked at the door.
“Should we go inside? I left the cats in there,” he called to her as he came inside, shouting as the wind whistled past them both.
“No, we can’t leave them. Asher will tear the barn down on everyone else. You go inside.”
“No.” Wen shook his head. “I’m not leaving you.” He grabbed them both a bale of hay to sit on.
They rode the storm out in the barn, cooing and shushing and trying to soothe even the wildest of beasts.
It was terrible and frightening but eventually Lenny fell asleep with Scar at her feet and Asher breathing down on her head. And she didn’t wake until it was over.
Chapter 14
Lenny woke with a start. Something was burning her. She jumped up, nearly screaming as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the stone. It was glowing a bright blue, and hot, but when she tried to throw it, her hand wouldn’t open.
It had seared itself to her skin.
Seeing everyone calm and sleeping, she ran for the door with Scar hot on her heels. She saw a last-minute savior and plunged her burning hand into the water pail she’d gathered for the animals. Finally able to breathe, she closed her eyes and a flash of something hit her—a vision.
It was the storm at sea.
A ship was being tossed into the waves.
Lightning struck, showing the guardians on the cliffs in the background. The men on board screamed, scrambling about in a panic as they were thrown to the side and doused in water.
A man stood at the helm, his face so clear she saw the
reflection of the guardians in the glint in his eyes as he came to terms with his fate. His eyes matched hers in color. His lips were pressed into thin lines. His brow knit, not in anger or fear but acceptance of what would be lost.
Time.
He imagined it all, dragging Lenny on the journey as he watched his child be born, his sisters married, his wife pregnant again, Lenny smiling with her dogs standing next to her, his grandmother dying. He saw everything he would miss, and for one brief second, he smiled. Those faces were the last thing he saw as the lightning struck again, against all odds, hitting the same place twice.
Lenny screamed and pulled her hand from the water, letting the fading stone sink to the bottom of the pail.
“Lenny?” Wen asked groggily. “Did we live?”
“Wilf!” she shouted and ran for Asher, freeing him from his stall. “Check the fence lines to make sure they’re sound and then get the animals into the fields. Water and food! I’ll be back!” She pulled the horse to the door and opened it, jumping on his back. He was startled from the storm, but she would find him some fruit afterward. Always fruit after a storm or a scare.
She rode hard with the hounds hot on their heels, but not in the direction of town. She went the way her vision had told her, toward the cliffs at the Ruins of Moyer where the massive ancient ruins of the guardians overlooked the seas.
She rode hard, faster than she ever had. The dogs kept up.
Asher was ready to ride, having been penned and scared. He galloped hard for the path that led to the old ruins. It was a day’s ride if done leisurely with the intention of sightseeing.
But her racing heart and terror-filled mind could think of nothing but her brother. The vision had been so clear, she could have named the men on his boat.
The path became craggier and rockier as it led out of the forest and along the water’s edge. The cliffs were smaller, but there were rocks and outcroppings to avoid. She jumped from Asher’s back, leaving him to find his way home if he abandoned her. She didn’t care. Scar and Ollie kept pace with her, both scared by her erratic behavior.