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The wind out-shouted September's screamed warning. She yelled again, but Nikki ducked her head and scurried to the first chained dog. She crouched beside the trembling youngster. The girl ignored the driving rain but flinched when the hail thumped the middle of her backpack. At least she had that minimal protection.
"What's she doing?" Melinda hugged Kinsler while Steven simply stared, silent with wide eyes. "The tornado will get her, what's the matter with her?"
"Go take cover. Go on." September gestured toward the dirt pit dug several feet deep in the center of the cement building. "Crouch down and cover your heads. Take Steven. I'm counting on you, Melinda. Go."
Melinda grabbed Steven's hand, and still clutching Kinsler, she headed for the pit.
September had to get Nikki to safety, but also protect Melinda and Steven. "Shadow, go-to Steven. Keep him safe." She gave him a quick hug, then squirmed into the crushed SUV. The car blocked the barn door completely. The only way out was through the open hatchback.
Her knee whined when it cracked against the car but she didn't listen. September narrowed her eyes against flying debris. She prayed the hail wouldn't knock either of them unconscious, and dashed to the girl. She yanked Nikki's backpack to get her attention. The storm’s noise drowned out easy conversation.
Nikki’s face reddened with frustrated effort. "I can't get it off." She screamed over the wind noise. "His collar's too stiff." The young tail-wagging Pit Bull pushed into Nikki's lap hampering her efforts.
"You'll get us killed." She tugged Nikki's arm, but the girl wrapped her arms around the pup, refusing to leave. With frantic fingers, September struggled with the pup's collar, too, but it was hopeless. "We’d need to cut it." She dug in her pocket for the knife Shadow had knocked out of Cassie’s hand during the show-me game. Even with the sharp blade, it would take too long to saw through the stiff leather.
Nikki's smile lit up her face. She reached into her knapsack, and pulled out Doc Eugene's bolt cutters.
"What else you got in there?" September sheathed the knife back into her pocket with such force the blade sliced through fabric and caught in the padded batting lining. She took the bolt cutters from Nikki and cut the chain tethering the pup to the stake. "Now let's go."
Nikki shook her head, and mouthed something September couldn't hear, pointing to the next dog, and the next.
"Dammit! I'll do it. You go!" September waved the girl toward the barn when her screamed words tore away in the wind. She stood and grabbed Nikki by the arm, ready to drag her back, but the girl released her Pit Bull pup, pulled away and ran to the next dog.
Had she been alone, she'd not hesitate to rescue the dogs, so September fought grudging admiration for Nikki. As the adult, she had to put kids first, no matter what.
September sacrificed five seconds to consider options as the sky boiled black, and the swarming cicada-buzz grew deafening. Her ears popped with pressure change, but she couldn't tell the funnel’s location. Hell, it could be a mile away or directly overhead, flatten the barn and leave her untouched. No way to predict, no way to get Nikki away from the dogs, and no way she could abandon the foolish child. All you can do is the best you can do. A sudden calm filled her with purpose, and she raced with the bolt cutters to the next dog.
Nikki soothed each dog and held collars steady for September's snick through the chain. At their release, the dogs slunk low to the ground, wagging and sticking close to their heels, either unaware of freedom or relishing the attention more.
The last dog, a massive adult male with a scarred head as wide as his chest, leaned into her arms as September cut him free. "Back to the barn." The storm out-shouted her words, but Nikki understood when September waved the bolt cutter.
The hail increased in size and velocity, pounding all around. The adult dogs, although frequently struck, made no sound but stayed close to Nikki and September as they hurried toward the shelter. An army of icy bullets machine-gunned the barn and Nikki squealed and covered her head. Then her arms dropped to her side, and the girl fell face forward onto the ground.
September stumbled and fell, surprised when her knees splashed into soggy ground salted with the chunks of ice. The roar of the storm out-shouted anything she might say. Bright crimson sheeted from the girl's scalp where hail had clubbed her brow.
The open rear hatch of the SUV beckoned. Before September could stagger upright to lift Nikki, Shadow leaped from the car and raced toward her. "No. Wait." Heart in her throat, September also gave Shadow the wait hand signal, and breathed again, when he skidded to a stop.
The young Pit Bulls milled around her legs. At least the storm distracted them from aggressing toward each other, or Shadow. September had to get Nikki, herself and Shadow back through the SUV gateway. As she watched, one of the nearby dumpsters tipped over and blew hard against the barn, metal lid flapping like cardboard. The train-like chang-chang-chang-chang noise relentlessly approached. All but the scar-faced dog scattered.
September grunted as she hefted Nikki over one shoulder. Shadow hesitated, and then disobeyed and raced to meet her.
The Pit Bull eyed him, face and forelegs crisscrossed with a jigsaw puzzle of scars. Mangled ears pinned back, he offered a broken-toothed snarl, and stood foursquare braced and ready for a fight. Shadow put on the brakes but didn't take his eyes off the dog.
"No. Shadow, stay with me." She couldn't hear her own voice, and prayed he’d listen. No time left. Must choose. Prevent the fight...protect the girl. . .
The twister tore into view, uprooted trees like weeds and tossed the second dumpster across the yard. "Shadow, COME. Stay with me." Anguished, September left Shadow to race the last few yards to the SUV, pushed Nikki's limp figure inside, and turned back to watch. "Shadow. Shadow, come boy, baby-dog, come on. Pleeeeese . . ." Her throat shredded raw with screams, shielding her eyes from debris, she watched Shadow’s standoff from inside the SUV, willing her dog to run, run, return to her.
The Pit Bull would take him down if he turned tail. Shadow knew it, too.
The two dogs circled each other, Shadow backing away and turning his head as the older, more experienced fighter stalked him.
She couldn't abandon him. Screw the storm. September grabbed the bolt cutters to race to Shadow's defense. Then Nikki stirred and started to wail, and clutched September’s arm.
"Don't leave me. It's coming, it's coming, don't leave me!" Frantic eyes wide, blood streamed from the child’s sliced brow.
September dropped the tool, and gathered the girl into her arms. "I'm here, hold on, we're going to be okay, hold on." More debris flew past the SUV’s open hatch. Shadow and the Pit Bull continued to circle each other.
Lightening staggered across the sky accompanied by a simultaneous "boom." A tree branch barely missed the open hatch of the SUV. It impaled the cement wall of the barn. Another one might not miss. September strained to see, but the two dogs had disappeared.
Baby-dog, stay safe, God I'm so sorry, please forgive me . . .
September wept as she pulled the hatch closed and thumbed the key-fob lock, praying she'd not cut off Shadow's only chance for survival.
