Read Online Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale - Free Book Online

empty, we checked Uncle Nate’s.
    Ezra met us at the kitchen door, eyes soft with relief, and though he never said a word to Josiah, it wasn’t difficult to sense the great affection that passed between him and his grandson.
    “Come in, Mr. Seth,” he said. “I’ll get towels. You boys is soaked to the bone.”
    “Is that Seth?” Aunt Julia called from the parlor.
    “Yes’m. He be here with Josiah, safe and sound.”
    “Thank goodness,” she said, stepping into the kitchen. “Now if Thomas and Eliza would just get here, too . . . I haven’t had an easy breath since all this started. Haveyou heard?” She looked up at me, eyes full of disbelief. “The bathhouses are gone.”
    I nodded. “I thought Mama and Papa would be here by now. Didn’t they telephone?”
    “I haven’t heard a word from them, but it’s impossible to get a call through now.”
    I took the towel Ezra held out to me and sat at the table. “They must’ve decided to stay in the rental.”
    “Or with one of the neighbors,” Aunt Julia added. “The Peeks have a nice sturdy house. Maybe they’re there.”
    “Where’re the boys?”
    “I gave them a plate of fudge and sent them to their rooms to play.”
    “And Uncle Nate?”
    “He telephoned earlier. He and Ben are trying to save what they can at the lumberyard, and then they’ll head home.”
    I nodded, not wanting to tell her how bad the streets were already. They wouldn’t have an easy time of it. I left the towel and walked through to the veranda. Palms and oleanders leaned under the northerly assault, weighted down with water. Rain-darkened slate roofs stretched in every direction as far as I could see, but I figured I could still make it home if I hurried. I glanced down the street toward Ella Rose’s house. A light shone from the parlor window.
    I told Aunt Julia I’d be right back and ran to check on the Covingtons. I knocked only once. The door opened quickly, and Ella Rose pulled me inside.
    “I was watching out the window and saw you coming,” she said. “Daddy’s still not home, and I can’t get through to him on the telephone.”
    “You’re here alone?”
    She nodded, eyes dark with worry.
    “No sense in waiting here all by yourself. You’d better come back with me.”
    She scribbled a note for the foyer table and grabbed a hooded cape.
    “Ready?” I asked.
    With a nod, she slipped her hand in mine, and we splashed back through the knee-deep water to Uncle Nate’s.
    Aunt Julia stood just inside the door, waiting with towels.
    “Her father’s not home yet,” I said. “I brought her back to wait for him here.”
    She saw the worry in Ella Rose’s face and led her to a chair. “Ben and Mr. Braeden are on their way home, too,” she said. “And do remember that Seth and Josiah came through the storm just fine, so we needn’t worry too much about those great big men of ours. Now let me get some dry things for you all.”
    She turned, but I stopped her and held her hand in mine. “I have to go on home, Aunt Julia.”
    She shook her head hard. “Your mama and papa would never forgive me if I let you go back out in that storm.”
    “I have to know they’re okay,” I argued. “They might need me.”
    She glanced toward the windows, then back at me. “Please, just wait until your Uncle Nate gets here. He’ll help you decide what’s best.”
    “I’m sorry, Aunt Julia. I have to go now before the storm gets worse.” I handed her the damp towel and saw Josiah standing in the kitchen doorway.
    “I’ll go with ’im, Miz Braeden,” he said.
    An ache washed across Ezra’s face but quickly disappeared. “See here, Miz Braeden,” he soothed. “Don’t you worry none. Josiah’ll hep look after him.”
    “I don’t know, Ezra.” Her fingers twisted in the tail of her apron. “I just don’t know.”
    “Why, these here strapping boys’ll do jus’ fine. You’ll see.”
    I gave Ezra a grateful glance, kissed Aunt Julia on the cheek, and turned