Read Online Beyond the Storm (9780758276995) by Joseph Pittman - Free Book Online Page A

the time Adam and Vanessa had made their way to the protective covering of its gabled porch, few words existed to describe just how soaked to the skin they were. Their clothing resembling mere tatters of cloth now, soggy, muddy, and wearable never again. For Adam, he was never more grateful to see shelter, something he’d never even given any consideration. He’d always had a roof over his head. He kept an apartment in a high-rise steel building in Manhattan, and currently still owned a summer home in the rolling mountains of the Catskills. Life had been kind to him and he’d tucked away a good amount of money, which had allowed him to take full advantage of every chance afforded him. The idea of being caught without a place to stay or to keep him protected, without any way of communicating with the outside world, seemed positively barbaric. Add to this his balky ankle and Adam Blackburn suddenly found himself being thankful for the little things in life.
    â€œHere we are, at last,” he said, dropping to the porch steps from exhaustion. “Thank God we made it. I wasn’t sure how much longer my ankle could hold out.”
    â€œI was beginning to think I might have to carry you on my back,” Vanessa said, suppressing a rare smile. Not that they’d had much reason for them given their situation. “Rest your weary self, I’ll knock and see if anyone’s home. Though from the looks of the uncut lawn and the empty driveway, I’m not sure anyone has called this place home for a while.”
    â€œGee, great. What more could go wrong?”
    Adam gazed around. No cars in the driveway, the grass overgrown, the slats of the porch in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint. The porch swing was the only evidence that someone called this place home, its gentle rocking in the wind a tease of life recently lived. Vanessa was right, they may have just stumbled upon a place that could offer covering but little else in the way of amenities. No clothes, no food or beverages . . . that probably meant no working phone or electricity. Like the fates of fortune continued to fail them. Still, it felt good to not have the incessant rain pelting down on them like a continuous form of Chinese water torture.
    As Vanessa made her way to the front entrance, Adam untied his shoe and freed his foot. Rubbing his ankle, he noticed just how swollen it was. He moved it around a bit, grimaced again from the shooting pain. It wasn’t broken, that was his sense, otherwise how could he have made it this far? He’d only had to lean on Vanessa a short while until he’d felt he could put his weight on it again. He wondered: How was it that during their thirty-minute walk through the storm en route to this deserted farmhouse they hadn’t come upon another living soul, not a single car or a wayward individual out for a walk during nature’s wrath? Not even a barking dog. The world, as far as they were concerned, had gone quiet.
    â€œHello, anyone home? Hello?” Vanessa said, rapping her knuckles on the screen door.
    From his position on the porch, Adam watched Vanessa knock again, this time opening the weathered screen door and hitting the thick front door harder, all while peering through the glass. She knocked again, calling out once more. What came back in response to her gestures and words were hollow sounds, an echo of her own self that rang inside the old home. If someone was home, they were deaf, a deep sleeper, or dead.
    â€œNothing,” she said, turning back to Adam. “Got any ideas?”
    He shrugged. “Try the doorknob. Maybe it’s unlocked.”
    She tried it. The knob did not turn.
    â€œGot any other ideas?”
    â€œBreak the glass, then turn the knob from the inside.”
    â€œAdam, I’m not breaking and entering into someone’s home.”
    â€œHey, Vanessa, we’re not exactly criminals here.”
    â€œStill, I can’t do