Double Back

Swept Away

The movement from the old rusty wood cart, and the constant smell of cow manure, made the ride to town very uncomfortable for Sybil, not only that but she was squished between Jill and some bread that had to be delivered into town. Chase sat upfront guiding the horses down the old dirt road towards town, his hair that was flying out behind his head looked like a fox dancing in the wind. Chase looked nothing like his older sister Julia, her blonde hair stretched from her head to just past her elbows, and when it was newly washed she could see the smallest waves appearing. Her face was round and full and her eyes where perfectly centered in the centre. She had the biggest, bluest eyes Sybil had ever seen. The only thing that the two siblings shared was their lips, now what came out of those lips where completely different, but their lips where the perfect colour of pink, that where stretched into a thin long line across their faces.
When they arrived in town they began to stroll towards the general store to pick up the supplies they would need for the storm. The town was not as Sybil had expected, when she thought of this time she picture Cowboys riding right down the middle of the street to fight off the evil villains, that was not at all what she saw. Almost all of the buildings on the main strip where falling into dust and in the air was the fowl smell of sewage creeping up from the ground. The sun was no help, it's beating rays made everything sticky and smell in need of a wash. Everywhere she stepped she left a trail of dust that went up her skirt and rested on her legs for her to later scrub off, the heal on her boot kept catching on sticks and stones which would cause her to trip, just from the sound of this everyone on the Main Street would look at her in disappointment as her cheeks filled with red. When they arrived at the general store, Chase ran off in a hurry to grab what they needed before the rest of the desperate last minute buyers came in to snatch up their supplies. Jill and Sybil where left to read the paper and chat with the friendly man behind the counter. Sybil liked this man as he came from New York so his accent wasn't as dreadfully terrible as her friends.
"So Sybil, are you ready for the storm that's coming?" The cashier asked politely. Sybil was from England so she was used to the rain, being soaked to the bone was not an issue for her, she had yet to understand what all these Americans where so afraid of, at most a couple houses will be damaged.
"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be, being on lock down in my room for a couple of days shouldn't be so bad." She replied just to carry on the conversation. The cashier's face turned to a small frown, then he began to explain the following events as if to a small child.
"My darling, this isn't some small storm. This storm is the work of God. It will tear trees that have been standing for hundreds of year right out of the ground not even thinking twice about it, it will tear houses to pieces and will take children right out of the hands of their mothers. This is no joke... this is a warning."
The words of the wise cashier man were quite frightening to Sybil, she was not to believe him, no act of God could do such a thing. As a child in school people told her of large storms such as these, but they had told her that she would never have to face this as they could not terrorize her at home.
When Chase arrived at the front counter with a trolley full of supplies it all became very real to her. If she was not to prepare herself both mentally and physically, she was going to die. While the cashier began to ring Chase's items up, Jill escorted Sybil outside. When they looked up at the sky and saw the oddly coloured clouds that began to circle the sky. Jill called back in the store for her younger brother to join them and when they where all outside they ran back to their cart.
The wind was much stronger then when they had traveled on this dirt road last. It carried dirt and dust that sprayed their eyes causing them to water. In the distance she could here a warning siren coming from the town they had left, she saw a large gray funnel coming towards them, it destroyed anything in it's way. Chase stopped the cart.
"Ok everyone out! We need to get in that ditch!" He screamed over the wind. No one was against him, they all crawled out of the old cart and into the deep ditch which she now saw as her one and only safe place.
"Chase this won't help us, we need to be home in the cellar. Don't you remember when we did this with Ma and Pa?" Julia said with a croak in her voice. Chase looked at her with a sad face and answered.
"We have no choice, this is our best bet. Now don't you go disobeying my orders or I'll rip ya to bits."
They sat there in the ditch for what felt like hours but was really only a few minutes. They could hear the wind growing stronger and the sound of trees being ripped from the ground. Then suddenly the horses which had been pulling the cart, began to walk back towards town. The two siblings looked in each other's faces as if having a silent debate.
"I have to get them! They don't deserve to die!" Julia screamed over the wind.
"Jill NO! It's not worth it you'll get yourself killed! We can get other horses!" He responded worried.
"Other horses? You've seen how much money we have left, there ain't in there that will buy us two more horses. I'm not about to let whatever we have left walk right into the face of death." And with that she stood up and started to walk towards the cart. She grabbed the reigns of the first horse and began to walk them back to us. With a gust of wind her feet where lifted off the ground and her skirt was flying in her face, a scream escaped her lips. Chase jumped out of the ditch to grab her ankle before she flew away.
"Julia don't let go of those damn horse, you'll fly away." He screamed upwards, but he would never know if she heard him because during those last few words, they heard a pop. Her shoulder had come out of her socket and she screamed in pain, letting go of the horse, not expecting the sudden change in force, Chase lost his grip and she began to fly away, screaming and crying.
"JULIA! JULIA!" Chase screamed as he chased after her. He began to run right into the storm. Sybil then began to chase after him, when she caught up she grabbed hold of his arm and began to tug him back to the ditch.
"Let go of me you little bitch! It's all your fault, you killed her and now I have to go find her. Go back to wherever you come from." When these words hit Sybil's ears they stung. But still she couldn't leave him so she continued to pull with all her might until they where once again in the ditch with her holding his head softly and his mumbled threats that where covered by his large waves of tears.
"Don't you ever leave me." Chase mumbles softly into her sleeve, she assumed he was talking to Julia, but what she would never know was those words where meant for her.