Keeping Faith (Book 3 in the Red Valley Series)

Chapter 18

Lightning flashed again as thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows, and shaking the very chair Faith sat in. She got up from the table, making her way to the front window. It hadn't started raining yet but she could see it coming. Over the last two years, she had come to love the storms that blew up out here; however, this one was proving to be especially violent and beginning to make her nervous. She opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. A gust of wind hit her in the face, bringing with it the fresh scent of rain. The trees were swaying so hard, they looked like they were about to snap into. Faith looked up at the sky noticing the strange greenish color, a shiver of apprehension ran down her spine.

That's odd, she thought. She loved storms, but she had never seen the sky quite this color before. Faith looked back up to the sky again, and noticed the clouds were moving fast, really fast. Another shiver racked her body. Automatically she ran her hands up and down her arms. Lightning streaked across the sky giving off a bluish light and thunder boomed overhead sending her back inside the comfort of her home to finish her dinner.

Cade got up and walked over to the window in time to see Faith turn and go inside her house. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed shaking the bunkhouse and rattling the windows. The storm had held off longer than he thought it would. He stared off into the distance wondering where in the hell Jack, John, and Yancey were. They should have been back by now, after all he'd been back from seeing Andy a good two hours.

Something in the distance caught his eye. He walked over to the door, snatching it open to get a better look, that's when he noticed everything had gone completely still. Not more than two minutes ago the trees looked like they were about to snap with the wind gusts. Now, it was deathly silent. The only sound was the distant sound of a train. "SHIT!" Cade took off running to Faith's house. In seconds he burst through her door causing her to scream.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you have a root cellar?" Faith stared at him with her mouth open. "Answer me now!"

She nodded and pointed to the floor on the other side of the table. Outside she noticed the distant sound of a train. That was odd she thought, she had never heard a train out here before. Cade didn't give her a chance to think about it any further, he ran over to the root cellar door and snatched it open. It was only about four feet deep but it would have to do. He grabbed her by the waist and shoved her through the opening, all the while, the train was getting closer.

Faith landed flat on her back, the air whooshing from her lungs. Cade threw himself on top of her, closing the door behind him, leaving them in almost total darkness. "What are you doing?" She gasped out struggling to bring air back into her lungs.

"Shut up and hold on to me and whatever you do, don't let go!" He said with his lips pressed against her ear, sending tingles coursing down through her body robbing her of the ability to speak.

All hell broke loose and Faith wrapped her arms tightly around his sides, squeezed her eyes closed, and held on for dear life. It sounded like a locomotive was coming through her house. The dank damp smell of earth engulfed her as particles of dirt began to pelt her in the face. The wind howled, wood creaked and snapped like someone stepping on hundreds of twigs. The roar became deafening, her ears popped and she thought she may have heard herself scream but she wasn't positive.

It felt like hours went by before the house stopped shaking and shuttering. It was so quiet Faith could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Slowly Faith opened her eyes to see grey light around the cracks in the floorboards. The soft patter of rain fell on the wood just above her head.

"Are you all right?" A husky voice whispered in her ear.

"I – I think so. Cade, what was that?"