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Combs stood aghast when he saw the barn. Or what was left of it.
The cement frame carried less than half a roof, leaving most of the wooden loft open to the weather. The flood swelled four feet high around the base, turning it into an island that might wash away any minute. The sibilant sound of the water reminded him of snakes. He hated snakes. Floods flushed out all kinds of creepy crawlies. Now that Willie and Melinda were safe, worry for September knotted his gut.
Uprooted trees and other debris created beaver dams that clogged the new waterway, hitching along in fits and starts before pieces broke loose and surfed away. Nobody could survive unless able to anchor to something solid.
Combs, Gonzales and Doc Eugene slowly climbed out of the SUV. The veterinarian collected an odd-looking gun from the back of his car that Combs knew held tranquilizer darts, in case Pit Bulls posed a problem. He and Gonzales both carried flashlights. So far, though, he detected no sign of life.
Gonzales walked closer to the edge of the road, and peered up and down. "If they held dogfights here, the water has done a number on any evidence." He headed to the abandoned sedan, with the driver's door still open, and poked his head inside. "Keys in the ignition. An iPad on the passenger seat. Is this September's car?"
Combs shook his head. And Shadow, he never left September's side. He gazed up at the distant loft. If she was there, they'd need a hook and ladder to get her out. “Hellooooo! September, you there?”
A dog yelped. "Shadow? Hey boy." Combs searched for the author of the sound, his flashlight spearing the gloom. On the far corner of the barn, nearly out of sight, slanted green metal thrust up out of the water, a fallen tree partially obstructing and holding it in place. "There, is that a dumpster?" It had overturned, and a white dog with spots clung to the top.
Doc Eugene adjusted his glasses. "It’s a pup. What do you know; we've got a dogfight survivor after all. Somebody cut its chain." Heavy links hooked to the dog's oversize collar clanked and chattered against the metal box. "No way to reach him, though. Smart not to swim. The chain would drag him down."
"Have to wait for the level to drop." Gonzales examined the sky. "The rain stopped for now. If it doesn't start up anytime soon, flood water recedes pretty quickly."
Combs eyeballed the debris field both on the ground and in the water surrounding the barn, searching for any motion. Hope tightened his throat when he saw the bundle of clothes, then recognized hangars stuck in the mass caught on an extension ladder half submerged in the flood. Damn. Just showed how tornadoes created havoc, dumping the contents of someone's closet from miles away.
Gonzales, still at the strange car, examined scuffmarks in the ground, and then reached for his gun. "Combs, I got shell casings. It’s a .45, consistent with a semi-automatic, same as at Kelvin’s office."
"Doc Eugene, go back to the car." Combs pulled his own gun, and speared his light over the ground. "The Doctor had a Remington Rand." There were lots of those World War Two surplus guns still in circulation. "Here's another shell. And another." He scanned left and right, and then hurried toward the brink of the drop off. "I got the gun." It sat in a puddle next to the road.
Gonzales cocked his head. "Hear that, Combs?" He surveyed the area, brow wrinkled in concentration. "I could swear somebody's singing."
"...down came the rain,
and washed the spider out..."
***
She imagined voices, including the bark of a dog. Not Shadow, she knew his voice.
September stirred, tried to raise her head, and gave up. She'd managed to pull Steven onto her lap, one arm locked around him while she hooked the other through the overhead ladder rungs. She didn't have the strength to pull them both out, and wanted to hang on and catch her breath.
When dumped clothing from the wardrobe boxes swam out of the barn, she'd been grateful it covered them both. She didn't fight the sodden mess. By comparison, the worn material kept cold wind from further chilling their forms.
Steven still shuddered with cold, but September felt warm. She'd stopped shivering. And wanted in the worst way to close her eyes for a nice nap. But not yet. Not until he was safe. "Steven. Steven." She tried to shake him a little, and panicked when she nearly lost her grip on the boy. "You have to climb out. Can you do that? Grip the ladder rungs, and climb out."
She wondered why her words slurred. Steven acted like he didn't hear her or understand. But even a little kid should be able to manage. "Up up up, climb out. Ona ladder, get in the car." He'd be warmer, safer inside the Doctor's car. The Doctor wouldn't need it anymore. That thought made her want to giggle, but it took too much effort.
The police would come soon. Somebody called them. Couldn't remember who. "A little nap..." They'd wake her when they came. Her eyes drifted closed.
Steven started to sing. Little boy soprano, like an angel. Rude audience, shouldn't talk . . .
If the voices would stop, she could sleep. Asleep, she could dream. About Shadow. Her baby-dog. He'd gone away, hadn't he? She'd done something to make him go away, couldn't remember what. The deep ache of loss hurt, hurt, hurt, God please, she wanted to hold him one more time, tell him sorry, so very sorry. She'd laugh and he’d lick her face, and beg to chase Frisbee and shake his Bear-toy and play sniff-the-cat to drive Macy nuts and wag-wag-wag so hard his tail hurt when it hit her legs and she didn't care but God, the love and acceptance in his big brown eyes, no blame, no judgment, only love and more love and silly sweet baby-dog cocking his head and sticking toys in her face to make her laugh.
September held out her arms. She could feel him, his furry black warmth in her arms, and clung tight to him, happy again, never wanted to let him go, but still he slipped away, away, away . . .
***
"She's there. End of the damn ladder. Doc, hold it steady." Combs couldn't believe he'd nearly missed her.
September trailed in the water, barely floating and anchored only by one elbow hooked over a rung. Her waist-length hair had been hacked off, ragged, close to her scalp. The child, could that be Steven? clung to her, repeating the singsong nursery rhyme.
"September, hang on, I'm coming." Her blue lips never moved, and her eyes remained closed.
Doc Eugene and Gonzales held the end of the extension ladder while Combs climbed to reach the pair. He had to pry Steven from September's arm, and then handed him back to Gonzales. Steven continued to sing as Doc Eugene wrapped him in a blanket and carried him to the warm SUV.
Combs slipped into the water to reach September. He gasped at the temperature and his teeth chattered. He could stand in the four-foot flood, but the current greedily sucked and dragged, eager to swallow him up. He hand-walked the overhead rungs, and kept one hand gripped on the ladder, and gently unhooked September's arm. Her icy skin shocked him.
"Doc, call the paramedics." They had to warm her up. "You got anything for hypothermia?"
She stirred in his arms. Her green eyes didn't focus. September began to cry. "He's gone he's gone he's gone, oh God, he's gone, my fault." She looked around wildly. "Steven. Lenny? Did you find Lenny, he's a kid. And Shadow, oh my poor baby-dog." She wept.
"Steven's safe. Put your arms around my neck. Come on, put your arms around me, honey." Combs looped his left arm about her waist, and used his right on the ladder to pull them along.
September tried to hook one arm on his waist, but it kept slipping off. The temperature quickly sapped his strength, and he wondered how long she'd been in the water. Combs reached the bank, and handed her up to Gonzales.
He pulled himself out and as soon as their weight came off, the ladder slid from the dirt bank and sank beneath the filthy water.
"Let me." Combs took the blanket Gonzales offered and cocooned it around September. "Come on, honey, talk to me." He shook her. "Talk to me, September."
September blinked, and recognized him. "Are you real?"
With a cry, he hugged her. "Yes, I'm real. You're safe, the ambulance is on the way. Steven's okay, too. All are okay." He smiled, holding and rocking her. "Now that I found you, September, I won't ever let you go. I love you."
But her eyes overflowed. "I love you too, Jeff. But I've lost Shadow." She turned her face into his chest, sobbing.
