The Ridge Farm Summer

Romancing the Storm Part 1

Okay, to avoid a really, really long chapter; I have divded this one into two parts. This is the first of the 2 parts and is a bit short. The part 2 will be quite a bit longer and far more eventful than this one so hang in there with me :)

There was a breeze moving quickly across the pastures. I stopped Helix where he was and listened to him snort a bit. I looked up to the sky and inhaled deeply. “There’s a storm comin’.” I said to Vivienne, still looking to the sky.

“Huh? Why do you say that? It’s perfectly clear.” Vivienne said.

 “You can feel it. It’s looming in the breeze. You can smell it. Helix can sense it. Look at the way he acts, he’s restless. C’mon. We need to get these horses in.” I assured her.

 “Really? But we…” I cut Vivienne off.

 “We need to get them in. Trust me on this one.” I said turning Helix around and leading him toward the barn. There were seven other horses out that needed to go in. There was another recording session going on this afternoon. Veronica, Chrissie and Mary were in the house having tea with Norma and Greg. I trotted Helix toward the barn as the breeze continued to blow. Vivienne’s hair was being whipped around as I approached the concrete pad in front of the horse barn. “Come on, pretty boy. Time to hunker down for now.” I jumped off him and gave him a pat on the rump to show him what a good boy he’d been and that I was listenin’ to his signals. Vivienne was shortly behind me.

 “I don’t understand how you are so certain a storm is comin’.” She said dismounting her horse and walking him over to his stall.

 “Vivienne, you need to pay attention to the signs. When a breeze starts blowin’ like that and you can smell the air change…there’s somethin’ on the way. When a horse starts to snort like that and prances it feet, it’s trying to talk to you. I’m goin’ to get another.” I told her. Vivienne watched me dreamily before tending to her own horse again. As I went outside of the barn, the breeze wasn’t a breeze any longer…it was an all out sweeping across the farm. You can see the white backs of the oak tree leaves, a sure sign that a storm was on the way. The clouds were beginning to move across the sky. I whistled for the next nearest horse to me.

 Inside the house, Norma looked up from the table at the apple tree outside the kitchen window as its leaves blew around. “Girls, a storm’s on the way.” She shared with the table.

 “A storm in the country. Well, I’ve never experienced that.” Mary smiled and took a drink of tea while she held her cigarette.

 “Storms out here make for a peaceful rest.” Norma said. “You could get a nice nap in when it hits. I can assure you, that’s what I’ll be doin’. Usually, once a summer storm hits out here, they set in for the day. Besides…between us girls…what’s better to do on a stormy afternoon than to be in bed with your man?” Norma raised her eyebrows. Chrissie blushed all over…but she sheepishly agreed. The storm was getting closer as I took the third horse into the barn. You could almost taste the rain in the clouds and the horizon began to become a tainted gray in color. The first rumble of thunder could be faintly heard far off over the rolling grasses. If you counted the seconds between the thunder and lightning strikes, one could estimate the distance a storm was from hitting. Since there was no lightning, the storm was still a ways away.

 “You were right!” Vivienne said as she walked the fourth horse into the barn.

 “I know. Come one. Two more.” I said as we hurried out of the barn. There was another rumble of thunder. The air was beginning to cool down and the winds changing direction. “Shit…” I looked at the darkening horizon. I had just remembered there were 385 more horses to put away. “Vivienne, you gotta’ get the last two. I gotta’ pull the Ferrari under the carport in case there’s hail in these storm clouds.” I said. I didn’t really wait for her to respond, I took off toward the house to get the keys.  The thunder was moving in closer.

 The sound engineer in the recording barn threw his hands in the air. They couldn’t record during a storm. The rain on the tin roof of the barn would interfere with sound quality and so Mike, the engineer halted things. One thing I dearly loved, and hoped I could share with Roger was what a country storm looked like as it swept across a farm. It was a mesmerizing sight and a day like this was perfect. I went into the house to get the keys to the Ferrari. Naturally, they were all the way upstairs in mine and Rogers’ room. When I walked in, I took a moment to go open up the bedroom windows. The only way to watch a storm roll in; was with the windows open. I met Norma in the hallway.

 “Here ya’ go. In case the storm comin’ knocks the power out.” She said handing me a couple of candles.

 “Oh, thank you. I’m gonna’ pull the Ferrari over underneath the carport.” I threw the candles onto the bed and hurried down the hall and down the stairs. Once back outside, I noticed Freddie, Brian, John and Roger heading toward the house. In the distance, Vivienne was bringing the last horse into the barn and the edge of the storm clouds loomed at the horizon. Faint sprinkles were blowing around in the air. It was close now. I waited a moment until the four of them came into earshot. “Roger!” I motioned him toward me. He walked over toward me.

 “What’s up babe? We had to stop, there’s a storm on the way.” He said.

 “I know. Watch it blow in with me.” I asked of him.

 “Alright. I’ll meet you upstairs. We’ll watch it from our room.” He told me. I shook my head. “Wait, what are you doin’?”

 “Pullin’ the car under the carport.” I said showing him the keys.

 “Here. I’ll do it. You go inside.” He insisted. I handed the keys over to him and went back into the house. Freddie, Brian and John filed into the house behind me.

 “Darlings! Our recording is postponed!” Freddie announced as he came through the door and walked into the kitchen where Mary, Veronica and Chrissie were seated. Another roll of thunder rumbled across the landscape and the first shot of lightning could be seen on the edge of the clouds.