Tiles were rolling from roofs and shattering glass could still be heard as windows collapsed. People were running everywhere, some of whom had obviously escaped from their dwellings. There was screaming. There was shouting. There was crying. There was chaos.
The lady jumped from the wagon and the ground shook violently once again. She released the horses and they ran, while the carriage went backwards and rolled out of the village to become lodged against some trees which were still standing though at an angle.
Seth looked at the departing horses in mute despair. They might never return and the carriage was bound to be damaged. He would never be able to cope with the expense. But there was more at stake than horses and carriages and already the lady was running towards a house where someone was trapped under a piece of wood.
He should be looking for his fiancé but what could he do in the circumstances? The carriage was there but the horses had gone, thanks to this lady. He tore after her and pulled at the beam which had fallen on the man’s leg in an effort to free him. But it was too heavy and he didn’t know what to do. He was not at all weak, he knew, but the beam was huge. The lady came to stand next to him and started to pull with him.
It wouldn’t budge and there were cries for help around them which tore at Seth. Others were obviously trapped, but he had to free this man first. He pulled even harder and the ground humped once again.
As it did so the beam lifted a bit from the man’s leg and the lady held it and shouted above the noise. “Pull him out.” Seth pulled with all his might, Frederick was freed and she dropped the beam before running towards some shouts from the adjoining house.
“Where is your wife?” Seth asked Frederick.
“Down the road at the store with the children.”
Seth looked at where the store stood and Frederick’s wife emerged from it. She ran down the road with the children close behind her.
“We’ll come back to you.” Seth said and ran after the lady, desperately wanting to go back to Lower Pine to see Rachel but knowing he couldn’t at this moment. She must be terrified and he ought to be comforting her, but what else could he do other than go where help was needed?
“We need to get them away from the buildings,” the lady said. “Could a few men make stretchers out of doors? They might be able to pull them free.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” Seth said. Some men ran towards the area, desperate to pull out anyone who had been trapped. Over a hundred residents in the village and they had to ensure that all were safe, except that most of the houses seemed to have collapsed and nobody knew who was in them. It would be the same in Lone Pine, Seth rather felt.
“We must go from house to house.” Rex Taylor ran down the road towards them, a tall, burly man in his forties with whom Seth had a passing acquaintance.
“Where is your family?” the lady asked.
“Down the road there.” He pointed. “I’ve put them away from the buildings.”
“Good. We need to search the buildings one by one and call out. We also have to make sure fires don’t begin from stoves.”
“Yes. Maybe we should divide into teams.” Rex looked round as a few other men ran towards them. “There are forty five houses. Let’s take a few each but make sure your families are alright first.”
They were, they said, but there were other men running towards their toppled dwellings and not all of them would be empty because the men were working and women and children could be inside. A lot had come to see the stagecoach go through but not everyone, Seth was sure.
“I’ll come with you,” the lady said to Seth as the men divided into pairs.
“We can manage, ma’am,” he said.
“Women are not helpless,” she replied. “Come on.”
He followed her in the direction Rex had told him to go, a bit put out at being ordered, he had to admit. Rachel wouldn’t do that, and what was she thinking? He looked down the road then back at the sound of wagon wheels. The Reverend who lived in Lower Pine jumped out and ran towards them.
“We’ll take casualties to our house,” he said. “Some of the men are following to help here and they will check how things are in Lone Pine.” He looked down at Jonathon. “We’ll take you back to the rectory in a few minutes, also your family.”
Linda Barnsley would look after them, Seth knew, and the noise of the earthquake had stopped, also the humping from the movement. What was horrifying was the rubble from the row of collapsed houses which went from one end of the village to the other.
By now the prospective bridegrooms and other men had arrived from Lower Pine in a few carts and were involved in the search for trapped people. The ladies were with his wife, the Reverend said, but the lady with Seth refused to go with him when he suggested it. Every available person was needed, she said, and how many people were there here? “About a hundred,” Seth replied. “There are round three hundred in Lone Pine.”
“That is a lot. We need to write down all their names so we can check if they have all been accounted for. Do you have a paper and pencil?”
He would write down a lot of things so he did and what she said was sensible. He had to stop being touchy when so much was at stake. “Yes,” he replied, taking it out.
“Good. Maybe you could write down all those who are already accounted for.” She moved towards the first house and called loudly. Quite musically, he noticed, despite the intensity of her tone, and she really was beautiful. Not half as dainty as Rachel but definitely outstanding. Her face was oval. She had a classic beauty which he had rarely seen. Her hair cascaded round her face where it had come loose.
She pushed it back before calling out again. “Is anybody down there?”
There was a faint moan from below and Seth pushed the pencil and paper into his pocket before he began to scrabble pieces of brick away. Mrs. Lillian Scrivener, he knew, and where was Bert? Probably out in the fields where he had a plot of land which he farmed. Not large but it covered their needs.
“I’m here,” Seth called out. “Is anyone else in the house? Where are the children?”
“They’re with me but Luke has knocked his head and isn’t responding when I speak to him. We’re trapped in a sort of space caused by the wall falling round us. There’s hardly any light and it’s terrifying.”
“Keep talking to him,” the lady said. “And try to stay next to something solid so the debris doesn’t collapse on top of you all. We’ll get to you as soon as we can.”
“We’re under a beam,” Lillian said. “It seems to be jammed solidly above us but I’m not at all sure that it is solid. I’m frightened to try to move anything in case it all collapses. It would probably be too heavy, anyway.”
“We need to move things a little bit at a time,” the lady said to Seth. “She’s right. If we go too fast it could collapse.”
“We’ll do that,” he replied. “Though I really think you should go with Reverend Barnsley. This is man’s work.”
“This is a human being’s work,” she replied. “Are you one of the husbands to be?”
“Yes.”
“Mmm.” He couldn’t quite define the sound but it had a wealth of meaning, all of which he rather felt was not particularly flattering. Rachel would be more polite than that and was she alright? He started to slowly lift the pieces of debris and the lady kept calling down to the woman below.
It took an hour to move what was above the little family and by this time Robert her husband had arrived and was helping them. Slowly, the lady told him, or he would do more harm than good. If they worked carefully they should be able to free them without any injury to them. He slowed down but the sweat poured from him while he worked, more, Seth felt, from worry than exertion. When they finally managed to make a hole big and deep enough for the little family to crawl out he was virtually crying.
He rubbed his eyes impatiently. The lady put her hand on his arm for a brief second. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. “She’s a fortunate woman
.”
“I’m the one who’s fortunate,” he said.
“How is Luke?” the lady asked.
“He’s talking now,” Luke’s mother replied.
“Good.” She looked at Seth. “Where can they go? They can’t stay out here.”
Seth looked down the road to where Reverend Barnsley was directing people into his wagon then at Robert. “The Reverend’s house is still standing so you could all go with him. Take them there and settle them and then could you come back and help us with the search? Would you mind, Lillian? We need all the men we can get to help rescue people.”
“I’ll take them,” Lillian said to Robert. “Send everyone to the Reverend’s house.” She looked around. “Nearly all the houses are flattened.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Robert asked.
“I’ll be fine.” She looked at the lady who was beginning to walk towards the next house. “You could come with us.”
“No. I’ll help with finding people. We need everyone we can get but you receiving them will be good.”
“Are you one of the new brides?”
“Yes.”
The lady walked away and Lillian turned with the children. Luke appeared to be alright, Seth was relieved to see, and how was his bride to be doing? At least she had the sense to let the men get on with the work. The little family went into the Reverend’s wagon and he pulled off. As he started out of the village the stagecoach drove in.
“I can take people back to Lower Pine,” the driver said, getting out.
“Thank you,” the lady said and someone called from across the road to Robert.
“Could you give us a hand here?”
“Yes, of course.” Robert ran towards the house and Seth followed the lady to where she had fallen on her knees and had her head to the ground.
“I can hear something,” she said. “Though it’s very faint. Can you hear it?”
He put his face near hers and listened hard. She was outstandingly beautiful, he thought irrelevantly, and from the point of view of looks would be most acceptable by whoever she was going to marry. Was it Gavin Ridgewell? At least if it was him her looks would make up for the mundanity of his appearance. He heard a faint noise below and frowned. “It’s Esmé Long,” he said.
“How old is she?”
“About eighty, I think. She lives on her own and is a bit frail. She appears to be further down than Lillian and the children were.”
“Yes. Can you shout to her? Your voice is deeper so it will be louder.”
“Yes, of course.”
He shouted but there was no reply, just a groan, and he felt a bit desperate. The woman must be injured and how were they going to get her out quickly after the first house taking so long? How were they going to get round all the houses in time to rescue trapped people, and what was it like in Lone Pine?
“Most of these houses have one storey, don’t they?” the lady said.
“Yes.”
“That might give them more of a chance because there won’t be bedrooms on top of them. However, we have the roof to get through which will make it more awkward.”
“Yes.” Seth went to lift a heavy length of bricks but it wouldn’t budge, nor could he move anything else without shifting that. The lady pointed to a broken piece of doorframe.
“Would that help?” she asked.
He lifted it, pushed it under the adobe and pulled with all his might. She came to stand right against him and put her hands next to his.
“Sometimes two are better than one,” she said, and they pulled with all their might. The adobe shifted, they jumped back and it rolled a bit. Below were smaller pieces along with roof slates which they began to lift out between them.
Her face was very close and he was glad it wasn’t Rachel’s face. If it was he could have been sidetracked. Not because this woman wasn’t beautiful because she was even though by now her hair was a bit dishevelled and there was dust on her face.
But he had a lady to rescue and he must not think about the bride waiting for him. He started to pull at the rubble a bit more energetically and the lady put her hand on his arm.
“Slowly,” she said. “We don’t want it to collapse and totally hem her in or kill her.”
“There are so many houses,” he replied.
“Yes, but the other men are doing all they can. I’m sure they will cover them as soon as possible. What’s the lady’s name?”
“Esmé Long.”
“Oh yes, you said. I’m sorry. What is your name?”
“Seth, and yours?”
“Hannah. I’m meeting a Seth.”
“There are two Seths. How old are you?”
“Twenty three.”
“My lady is nineteen and her name isn’t Hannah. Your Seth went down the other end of the village.”
“How old is the other Seth?”
Thirty five at least, Seth knew, and not that good looking. He was beginning to bald though that, of course, didn’t make a man look less good looking or masculine. He was short but height didn’t matter. He was altogether nondescript but then Seth himself was not that much of a catch.
“Not much older than me,” he said.
Hannah pushed back her hair as it fell round her face. “Do you have any string in your pocket?” she asked.
“A bit of twine. Why?”
“Could you pull back my hair and tie it? I did have it pinned up but the pins have gone.”
“Yes, of course.” He smoothed it back and it was beautiful, he felt. Thick, wavy, the colour the deepest brown he had ever seen though not black. Pulling it together he wound the string round it and tied it, not used to doing such things and not sure if it was seemly to be doing it even in these circumstances. She turned to smile at him after he finished before bending over her task once more.
“Thank you.”
It was a nice smile but Rachel’s would be better and why did this have to happen just when she arrived? It was a terrible welcome for her and the other ladies. It was terrible for the people in the town. He pushed the thoughts from him and carefully and methodically moved the rubble while Hannah did the same.
“This is taking far too long,” she said after a while. “Can you think of a way to speed things up?”
“You said we should go slowly,” Seth replied.
“Yes, I know I did, but I can’t hear her anymore and I’m getting rather worried about her. Where do you think the sound came from initially?”
“About there,” he said, pointing.
“We have some spades,” Rex said, walking up behind them. “It will take far too long using just our hands.” He lay two beside them. “We’re also going to attach some of the larger piles of bricks to the horses so they can pull them away. Has Esmé said anything?”
“We heard something faintly,” Hannah said. “But she’s not saying anything now. Can she hear alright?”
“She is a bit deaf.”
Rex turned away. “I could send someone else, ma’am, and you could go to the church house. God must have been looking after them because it’s still intact.”
“I’m alright,” she replied, lifting the spade and pushing it under some rubble. “But thank you.”
“I’ll see you both just now. It’s a shame this happened just at this time.”
Rex walked away and Seth started to dig next to Hannah though it was more lifting bricks than actual digging. They worked silently for a while and Seth could see down the road the other ladies getting out of the Reverend’s wagon and walking towards a couple of houses further down the village. They all held spades and were obviously going to help in the rescue operation.
Probably encouraged by Hannah helping out but he was sure Rachel would do something like that. She had probably suggested it because she was the bravest lady he knew and the most resilient. He looked briefly at Hannah and she was smiling.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“You. Now they’re all going to help with
the digging do you think I’m more respectable?”
“I never for one minute....” He paused. “Thought you weren’t respectable,” he finished a bit lamely.
“I wonder what poor soul will get you,” she said. She smiled again as he looked at her sharply. “That was a joke. What is the lady like?”
“I haven’t seen her yet but she’s all a lady should be. We’re both really in love with each other.”
“That’s nice. What is my Seth like?”
What indeed, and how can I describe him without letting him down? Do you mind men with very little hair? Will it bother you that he is probably shorter than you are? Do looks worry you? I’m sure they must because you are so beautiful yourself which is something you must realise.
“He’s a very nice man,” he said.
“Is he tall? Is he short? Does he have a nice personality?”
“He....”
Seth was spared having to answer as Hannah lay her head on the ground to listen carefully. She looked up at him, her face a bit grubby, which did nothing at all to detract from her beauty.
“I can hear a sound,” she said. “Put your head down here and listen.”
He turned his face sideways and was within inches of hers. Her eyes were a nice colour, he thought irrelevantly, and below he heard a faint cry.
He shouted down. “Mrs. Long, we’re nearly with you. Just lie quiet and we’ll have you out in no time.”
There was no reply and they had to speed up, he felt. He leaned down, put his hands round a large piece of adobe and heaved at it. It moved but not enough. Hannah leaned down next to him.
“Let’s do it together,” she said and they pulled with all their might. The adobe moved, they rolled it away and there was movement of the earth.
An aftershock, Seth thought, and he had heard of those. Would it cause anymore damage? Hannah flew to the side as the earth humped and he grabbed her.
Lone Pine Bride (The Brides Of Lone Pine Book 1) Page 3
