“Emma, what’s wrong?” Jimmy looked up from his lunch long enough to realize that something was bothering their surrogate mother. She was staring out the window anxiously, as if she was trying to focus on something that was still too far away to see.
“Nothing,” Emma walked back to the stove and ladled up some more of last night’s left-over stew for Cody’s almost empty bowl. She couldn’t stop herself from casting a furtive glance out the window again though.
“Looks like a storm is rolling in,” Cody followed her gaze. He could just make out the storm clouds on the horizon. “Why’s the sky turning green?”
“We need to let the horses out of the barn NOW,” Buck jumped up from the table, almost tipping his stew into Ike’s lap in the process.
“What are you talking about, Buck?” Cody took another bite. If he was going to be forced to leave the table early because of one of Buck’s superstitions, so be it. But he was going to make sure he got every bite he could first.
“Buck’s right,” Emma nodded towards the approaching storm. “This is tornado weather. If we let the horses out, they’ll have a chance to escape the storm. Get to it boys, it looks like the storm is moving in fast. Ike, I need you to help me get the cellar set up. Everyone get back here as soon as you let the horses out. I don’t want any of you caught in this. You won’t be able to outrun it.”
The boys moved quickly out the door. Only Kid lagged behind.
“Emma, Lou’s out in this,” he sounded desperate.
“There’s nothing we can do about that, Kid,” Emma sighed heavily. It broke her heart to know one of her “children” may be caught in the storm, but she also knew that she couldn’t let any of the others put themselves into danger by going after her. “I’m sure she’ll find shelter before the storm hits. Now, go make sure those horses are okay.” She was also worried about Teaspoon. He had gone into town earlier. She only hoped he wasn’t trying to outrun the storm and get home.
Once the horses were loose, the boys headed down to the cellar. Emma and Ike had carried blankets down, as well as some food, in case they were there for a while. She also made sure the water pitcher was there in case anyone got thirsty. She took one last look at the life she had built for herself at the way station – the huge barn and separate stables, the bunkhouse across the yard, her own house with it’s fresh coat of whitewash that Teaspoon had made the boys do a couple weeks ago – and she knew she may never see it that way again. The rain was just starting to fall as she she the door and followed the boys into the cellar. At least her family would be safe.
Lou, on the other hand, wasn’t having as much luck in finding shelter from the storm. She was about a mile from the Sweetwater way station, and the storm was almost on her. It had started raining about fifteen minutes earlier, and judging by the timing of the thunder and lightning, the storm was only about a mile away. When she was younger, her mama would tell her how to count the time between the lightning and the thunder to tell how close the storm was. Five seconds meant the storm was about a mile away. She would lie awake on stormy nights, counting between each flash of lightning and each rumble of thunder, until the storm passed. Only then would she be able to fall back to sleep. Storms still woke her up, but she wasn’t terrified of them like she had been as a child. Until now. Lying awake listening to the storms was a whole lot different than being caught in one!
She kept her eyes open for a house or barn in which to take shelter, but there was nothing around for miles. She knew that already, having made this run more times than she could count. She would just have to ride as fast as possible toward the way station, and hope the lightning didn’t hit her.
She breathed a sigh of relief as the station house came into view. She made it! And then she heard it – the sound of a huge, rushing wind. Looking behind her, she saw what she had feared most during the storms of her childhood. Not too far behind her, just in front of the approaching storm, a funnel-shaped cloud was lowering to the earth.
“Come on Lightning, you can make it,” she urged the horse forward. She dared to glance back once, only to see the tornado approaching faster than she was riding. She’d never make it! But, as if he sensed the severity of the situation, Lightning quickened his pace, and Lou saw the distance between herself and the tornado increase slightly.
She stopped Lightning short in front of the bunkhouse and dismounted as quickly as she could. Taking the mail pouch, she slapped Lightning’s haunches, spurring him forward. The horse needed no other urging to run from the approaching cyclone.
The tornado was heading straight for the way station now. Lou knew she had no time to run across the yard to the safety of Emma’s cellar, and even if she did, Emma and the boys would have locked it from the inside. The noise of the tornado was too great for them to hear her if she tried to knock or call for them to open the door. Instead, she took refuge just inside the bunkhouse door, ready to dive under one of the bunks if the tornado got too close. Emma could lose everything if the tornado hit the station. They could rebuild, but where would they get the money for that?
As if it could read her mind, the tornado let out a huge roar, as if to say, “I would devour everything in my path. There is no stopping me!”
And then, the most miraculous thing Lou had ever seen happened. Just as it was nearing the station yard, the tornado abruptly turned to the right and headed alongside the road in front of the station, away from the town of Sweetwater. Lou stood in the doorway, watching as it ate up all the trees and grass in it’s path, until it was satisfied and pulled itself back into the sky.
An eerie calm descended upon the station as the storm moved passed. One by one the horses wandered back into the station, although it would be a couple days before they located the last remaining stragglers. Emma and the boys opened the cellar door, expecting to see chaos and destruction all around them. They were instead greeted by Lou who was as happy to see them as they were to see her.
The corral fence had been blown over by the high winds, and there were several
large tree limbs in the yard, but there was no lasting damage done. Disaster
had approached the little station, but had not struck. At least, not this time.
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