A shrill screaming wind cut off her words. On the horizon a huge black funnel dropped suddenly out of the boiling green clouds. Tearing through trees and fences like a giant plow, the twister churned up dust and kicked sheds out of its path. Haystacks exploded. Brush ripped free from its roots. Birds flew screeching, their wings beating the air in a futile effort to escape.
“Cyclone!” Eli hollered. “Come here, Lily.”
Grabbing her arm, he tucked her and the baby against his side and began to run down the road toward the picnic site. He’d seen twisters tear across Texas and New Mexico, and he knew the destruction they could cause. Quicker than a man had time to think, the whirling wind could blast his house to kingdom come, strip the skin off his livestock, and suck his children into the air—never to be seen again. The townsfolk needed to take cover, and Elijah knew the creek bed wasn’t deep enough to protect everyone.
“Where are we going?” Lily cried as she struggled to keep up with him. “What will we do?”
“We’ve got to get everyone into the empty soddy. It’s half-underground.”
As he and Lily reached the site of the fish fry, the crowd had just noticed the black funnel bearing down. Over screams and barking dogs, Elijah bellowed for everyone to run up the slope and take cover in the soddy. Rushing Lily and the baby toward the little house that had once belonged to Seth Hunter, he could hardly believe the chaos. Some people were actually trying to pack up their belongings. Others had elected to race toward the grove of trees. Mr. Rippeto was even hitching his mule to his wagon in hopes of outrunning the cyclone.
“Salvatore!” Eli called to the man. “Run for the soddy!”
By now, stinging hailstones peppered the bare skin of Eli’s face. Sam was crying and Lily could barely move against the howling wind. Her long dress tangled around her legs, and her hair streamed back from her face. The cyclone was headed straight for Hope, Eli calculated, and there was not much hope it would avoid the town. His heart sick, fear an acrid taste on his tongue, he swept Lily into his arms and ran the last few paces toward the soddy.
The old door had blown off its hinges, but townspeople were crushed together in a huddled mass on the floor. Children sobbed as husbands called out to their wives, making certain of their presence in the room. Eli worked his way through the throng to the back of the soddy, and he shoved Lily onto the dirt floor beside Caitrin Cornwall and Rosie Hunter. Chipper gripped his dog around the neck. Rolf Rustemeyer hollered at everyone in German. Sheena O’Toole shouted her children’s names. Jack’s sister, Lucy, began to shriek.
Just as Salvatore Rippeto burst into the soddy and was yanked to the floor by groping hands, the cyclone churned across the sod roof of the little dugout. The sound of ten train locomotives deafened Eli’s ears. Praying for protection, he surrounded Lily and Sam with his arms.
Oh, God, dear God, he pleaded as the wire screens ripped off the soddy’s windows and the black of night descended. He could feel hands gripping him from every side, as though the whole town was clinging together in one lump of trembling humanity. Save us, Father! Please save us!
But God hadn’t protected Lily from her own father, Eli remembered as he held the woman close. His Lord didn’t promise shelter from all evil. The buildings would be flattened. The crops ruined. The town devastated. God, please don’t destroy Hope. Please save your people!
A chair flew out through the open door and vanished into the darkness. A mother clung to her child as the wind lifted the toddler up, pulling, sucking, greedy for ruin. At that moment, a heavy iron plow drove straight through the soddy’s front wall, splintering wood, grinding up sod bricks, slamming into the gathered people. Screams mingled with cries for help.
It was no good, Elijah thought as he left Lily’s side and crawled toward the injured. The twister had them in its grip. In moments it would devour the whole town. The soddy couldn’t hold up under the pressure. It was bound to explode or collapse, and then—
“My faith looks up to Thee—”
A beautiful voice lifted over the screams of babies, above the sobs of the wounded, even beyond the growl of the tornado.
“Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!”
Amid the storm, other voices one by one joined with Lily’s.
“Now hear me while I pray,
Take all my guilt away,
O let me from this day
Be wholly Thine!”
Chapter 13
LILY sang, rocking the baby in her arms as howling winds wrapped around the soddy.
“Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.”
The others in the room had joined in, and as Lily began the fourth verse of the hymn, the roaring, growling tornado suddenly faded into nothing more than shutter-banging gusts. And finally, the tumult transformed into utter silence, eerie in its intensity. The sheer terror gradually ebbed from Lily’s body, leaving her trembling and chilled.
Next to her, Rosie wept in her husband’s arms. “The cyclone got our house,” she cried in an anguished whisper. “I just know it did. All your hard work … the new front porch … Chipper’s toys … the baby’s room …”
“Hey there, sweetheart,” her husband said. “We’re all alive, aren’t we? Even ol’ Stubby.”
Nearby, the big mutt thumped his tail and gave a whimper. The little boy lying against him patted the dog’s massive head. “It’s okay, Stubby. God brought us through, an’ now we’re all gonna be fine.”
“Sure, we’ll rebuild the mercantile, won’t we, Jack?” Caitrin Cornwall asked her new husband, her usually hearty voice carrying a note of uncertainty. “We’ll be back in business before the month is out, so we shall. At least, I hope so.”
“Caitrin, I’m worried about Lucy,” Jack said. Lily knew the man was referring to his sister’s fragile mental condition. “She’s holding on to Mama for dear life.”
“She’ll be all right. We’ll put Lucy to work cooking for everyone, shall we then?”
“Oh, Caitie, must you always be so cheerful?” her older sister, Sheena, groused. “Next thing we know, you’ll be callin’ the cyclone naught more than a stiff breeze.”
At that, the crowd hunched together in the little soddy began to chuckle and relax. Outlined in the open doorway, Elijah got to his feet and addressed the people.
“Folks, I’d better tell you there’s a couple of us injured up here.” At the reaction of concern, he motioned for calm. “Salvatore Rippeto was clobbered by the plow that came through the wall. I think his leg is broken, and we may need to get him to Topeka. And one of Violet Hudson’s little boys fell and skinned his knee pretty bad running up here. Other than that, the main thing we need to find out is how many of us made it into the soddy. Before we head outside, we ought to know who we’re looking for.”
Lily could see dull, gray rain streaming down in a torrent, veiling the destruction left in the wake of the black funnel. Never in her life had she imagined anything so powerful, so all-consuming, so relentless. Never had she felt as small and helpless as she had racing up the hill toward the soddy. Even when her father had been bearing down on her, she had sensed that she would survive the pain. But the cyclone had been a thousand times more frightening than her father, for in its fury, the storm held the potential for death.
Lily had felt terrified, unprotected, panic-stricken. Yet she had not felt alone. Through the growling wind and the grinding dirt, she had sensed a calm fullness within. Not once had she thought to crawl into the secret place inside herself—the place where golden music had blocked the pain of her father’s abuses. Instead, in the very midst of the cyclone, a song had erupted from her heart, music both strong and serene. She had known the overwhelming presence of God’s Spirit within, for as he promised, Christ had not left her comfortless.
Hugging Sam, she hummed to the baby as Elijah, Seth, and Jack checked on and counted the families crow
ded into the soddy. Some of the groups elected to brave the rain the moment they were all accounted for—eager to race home and inspect the damage. Others chose to huddle in the security of the thick sod walls until the storm had subsided.
“Are you and Sam all right, Lily?” Elijah asked her as he finally worked his way in the darkness to the back of the room. “I didn’t intend to leave you alone, but when that plow—”
“I’m not alone,” Lily said.
“I guess not. I never knew so many folks could cram into one house. I reckon we must have looked like a can of oysters all bunched up together. I’m glad nobody got hurt worse.”
“Is anyone missing?”
“A couple of the young single farmers took off for the trees near the creek. I sure hope they found some low ground. I’ll tell you what; I’ve seen whirlwinds racing across the desert, tossing around tumbleweeds and darkening the sky, but I’ve never known anything like that twister.”
Lily gathered the baby closer as Elijah sat down beside her. “Thank you for seeing me to safety,” she said. “I was frightened.”
“Who wasn’t? I’ll bet that cyclone tore up the whole town.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “God just barely gave us enough time to get to safety. You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” Enjoying the warm comfort of the man’s embrace, she leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m worried about the church.”
“It’ll be standing. I have no doubt God saw to that. He wants his folks to have a place to worship—especially after something as terrible as that twister. I sure hope the Hunter place is still up. Seth just put on a new front porch, you know, and they’ve got the baby coming this fall. They need to have things all ready by that time, but this could set them back. Jack Cornwall’s smithy is made of sod, so it ought to be all right. But his house and the Hanks place might have gone. I wonder about the opera house.”
He fell silent momentarily. Lily stroked Sam’s cheek, praying the child would relax enough to sleep. If most of the houses in town had been destroyed, she and the others would be forced to take shelter in the soddy until morning. There wasn’t even enough room for everyone to lie down. How had Beatrice, George Gibbons, and their workmen fared in the storm? What if they lay injured even now?
“I’ll bet that place is flatter than a hotcake,” Elijah said. “A pile of toothpicks.”
“Oh, Elijah, that would be terrible.”
“Would it? Don’t you know the Lord works out his will in this world? If he wanted to get rid of that opera house as badly as I did, he probably smashed it to smithereens.”
“But what about the people? What about Bea and the others? You sound as though you’d be glad to find them dead.”
Elijah stiffened at her accusation. “I don’t want anybody to die, Lily. But I wouldn’t object to seeing those folks pull up stakes and head back to Topeka.”
Lily busied herself tucking Sam’s blanket around him. She had turned from her past and asked Christ to be Lord of her life, but that didn’t mean she had stopped caring about Beatrice and the others. Though she had no desire to join them in their business, she would never wish evil upon them either.
“I’m sorry, Lily,” Elijah murmured. “What I said just then wasn’t really about your friends. It wasn’t even about the opera house.”
“Well, what was it about then?”
“It was about … about not wanting to let you go. I don’t want you to leave town, Lily. I don’t want you to leave Sam.” He was silent for a moment. “I don’t want you to leave me.”
Lily closed her eyes, soaking up the sound of words she had longed to hear. Could it be possible that now, after all her mistakes and all her pain, she had found a man with whom she could build a future? Would God really allow Elijah to care for her? Did hope for true love really exist for someone like her?
“I know you’re angry with me,” Elijah said, “and I don’t blame you. First I tell you I’m going to do one thing, and then I do the exact opposite. One time I’m walking away from you, and the next time I’m holding and kissing you. Lily, I wish I could explain to you how mixed-up I’ve been feeling.”
“Why don’t you try?” Though the darkness around them was alive with people, the pouring rain drowned out all but the sound of his low voice. “Because if you could only tell me how you really feel—”
“I feel two ways.” His fingers on her shoulder tightened as he struggled to express himself. “On the one hand, I think you’re … well, you’re a good woman.”
“Good?”
“Kind and sweet, you know.”
“You’re talking about the way I take care of Sam.”
“And how you are with Ben and Eva Hanks. They love having you at their house. Everybody in town really likes you a lot.”
“Do you like me, Elijah?”
“Sure I do.”
As Eli fell silent, Lily could almost feel the man breaking into a sweat. Why was this so hard for him? What held him away from her? She felt sure it must be her past—her marriage to Ted, her life with the traveling show, her friendship with Beatrice, even the fact that she’d given birth already. How many times had her father told her to stay pure? “Men don’t want used goods,” he had shouted across the parlor during her first and only courtship.
But she wasn’t pure. Not unless Elijah was willing to accept the cleansing she had received from the Lord. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Lily felt sure God viewed her now as whole and pure again. But would Elijah?
“I care about you, Lily,” he said finally. “And not just the way a shepherd cares for the sheep.”
A smile tilted one corner of her mouth. “I’m glad you’re beginning to see yourself as a pastor.”
“But not with you. With you, I’m … well, I’m flat-out confused.” He leaned his head back against the sod wall. “See, I’m a preacher. And that means God has some special work for me to do.”
“God has special work for each of us.”
“Sure, but I’ve got to be an example, you know. I can’t be a stumbling block to folks. I’m supposed to lead them on the right path.”
“And I’m a stumbling block to you?”
“Phew.” He shook his head. “You just say whatever you’re thinking, don’t you?”
“More or less. You said you felt two ways about me. On the one hand, you like me. At least, you like the way I take care of Sam, and you appreciate the fact that I’ve helped Ben and Eva. Let me guess the other. You see my past life as though it still exists. I’m still that woman who came in with the traveling show, that fortune-teller, that drifter. Am I right?”
“The thing is, Lily, that God might want to send me to China. And if I let myself care about you … more than as Sam’s helper … I’d pretty soon be wanting to cart you off to China.”
Lily stroked the sleeping baby’s head. Though she was sure she knew why Elijah refused to accept his growing feelings for her, she intended to make him speak plainly. He was hedging. Evading the truth. He didn’t want to tell her she was “used goods” and not pure enough for him. If she was to be rejected, she would have the reasons clearly stated.
“You’re not worried about whether I’d want to go to China, Elijah,” she said. “You know good and well that if God wanted to send me to China, I’d be able and ready to go. And I would go to China, because I’d know I was supposed to be there. You’re the one who told me we’re never alone. Christ’s Spirit is always with us—in China or in Kansas. Whether you want to hear it or not, I have the strength to go anywhere and do anything so long as I’m walking the right path and following the light of my salvation. It’s true I’ve made mistakes. I married for the wrong reasons. I ran from my fears. I fell in with tricksters. But you said a life can be changed, made brand-new, made pure again. Because of my faith, I am healed, Elijah.”
“What?” His voice was low and filled with disbelief. “What are you telling me, Lily?”
“I’m saying that it’s you who’s veering off the straight and narrow.” She set Samuel in his arms, fighting the urge to run out of the stuffy little soddy and breathe freely. “Take your son, Preacher-man. You were so sure God gave him to you. Without doubting the Lord’s plan for a moment, you just picked that baby right up out of his dead mother’s arms and went on your way. But you’ve been too blind to see what else God gave you. You don’t even know what’s right in front of your nose. It’s Hope, Elijah. The Lord sent you here.”
“Well, I—”
“God puts people in places because he has work to do there,” she went on, determined to force the man to face the truth. “These townsfolk were hungry for the Word of Christ. They had even gone so far as to build a church. God was already at work in Hope, don’t you see? He led you here to be his instrument. It’s not just Sam who needs you, Elijah. It’s the Hunters, the O’Tooles, the Cornwalls, the Rippetos. It’s me. I need you. God brought us together—and it wasn’t just so I could feed Sam. It’s because he has a plan. Can’t you understand that? He has a plan! Now are you just going to veer off the path and live with one foot on the road to China, or are you going to start looking forward into the light of your own salvation and following God’s plan for you in Hope?”
Finished, depleted, even angry, Lily pushed to her feet. “I’m going to see what’s left of the town,” she said. “I’m too tired to talk anymore.”
She started off through the huddled figures, most of them now dozing. As she stepped over Stubby, Elijah jerked on the hem of her skirt.
“Hold on there, woman,” he said, coming to his feet behind her. “Just one cotton-picking minute.”
Wobbling backward, she braced her hand against the soddy wall. “I’m going to look for Ben and Eva.”
“It’s the middle of the night. There’ll be critters out. You won’t be able to see a thing.”
“Would you two be quiet?” someone whispered loudly. “We’re trying to get some shut-eye here.”
Prairie Storm Page 18
