“Grab the kids!” Reva yelled, her voice nearly drowned out by the chaos. She scooped Lucan into her arms, her heart pounding as she scrambled away from the falling structure. Capri and Lila were already herding the children to safety, their faces tight with concentration.
The ark hit the ground with a thunderous crash, sending a cloud of dust into the air. For a moment, everything was still; the only sound the distant rustling of the aspen leaves in the breeze.
“Is everyone okay?” Pastor Pete’s voice cut through the silence, his tone shaky but steady.
Reva scanned the area, her eyes wide. “Is everyone accounted for? Capri? Lila? Charlie Grace?”
“Over here!” Lila called back, holding a little girl close to her chest. “We’ve got all the kids, I think.”
Capri’s voice came from the other side, slightly breathless. “I’ve got four over here. Everyone’s okay.”
Dorothy clutched Oma’s arm. “Wow,” she muttered. “That was a strong one.”
Charlie Grace scooted closer to where Clancy sat, a look of relief on her face. “Dad? You alright?”
Clancy nodded, though his hands were trembling on the armrests of his wheelchair. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Just… surprised.”
Reva clutched Lucan tightly, her heart still racing. “Pastor Pete, that’s two earthquakes in as many weeks.”
Pastor Pete’s face was pale as he looked around, his hands still gripping his Bible. “Yes, and these tremors… they’re getting stronger, and longer. That one shook the earth for several seconds.”
Annie, her own voice shaky, added, “We need to check on the chapel, make sure everything’s still standing.”
One of the Knit Wit ladies, Betty Dunning, who was usually the first to dismiss anything unusual, shook her head, her cookies forgotten in her lap. “I’ve lived here for seventy years, and I’ve never felt the earth move like this before. Not twice in a row.”
Gibbs wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes scanning the damaged ark. “We’ll have to rebuild it, that’s for sure. But first, let’s get these kids back to their parents. We don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
As the group slowly began to gather their bearings, the air was thick with tension, each of them glancing at the ground as if expecting it to shake again at any moment.
Lila, looking a bit shaken, helped guide the children away from the wreckage. “This is starting to feel a little unsettling,” she muttered, mostly to herself.
Reva reached over and squeezed her hand. “We’ve handled plenty of earthquakes, Lila. And there will likely be more. There’s nothing to get overly anxious about,” she said, keeping her voice steady and reassuring.
But, as she looked around at the concerned faces of her friends and neighbors and noted the way her phone was blowing up with text messages, Reva couldn’t help but join them in their concern.
The earth, in all its beauty and complexity, usually felt steady beneath their feet, grounding them in their daily lives. But sometimes, it shifted unexpectedly, reminding them that even the most tranquil moments could be disrupted.
While these earthquakes were part of the natural world’s rhythms, a reminder of the delicate balance they lived in—when the ground shook, she was no different than the others. She found it unsettling.
As Reva gathered the last of the children, her mind kept drifting back to the unexpected tremors. They were too frequent, too strong to ignore. She decided right then that she needed answers.
Later, she would reach out to Dr. Grant Marshall, the geologist from the University of Wyoming who had given a talk at the town hall last spring. If anyone could explain why these earthquakes were shaking their normally peaceful town, it would be him.
She had to find out what was going on and, more importantly, what they should be prepared for next.
15
Capri pulled up to Grand Teton Whitewater Adventures. She jumped out of her truck and hurried toward the building, her eyes scanning for any sign of damage.
It didn’t take long to find it—a thin crack running along the base of the wall, just under the front window. Capri knelt, running her fingers over the jagged line. It wasn’t major, nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a bit of mortar and some elbow grease, but her mind still churned with what could have happened. That tremor was strong—and she was hearing about minor damage all over town.
“Capri!” Bodhi’s voice called out, pulling her attention away from the crack. He was jogging over from where he’d parked his own truck, his usual laid-back demeanor replaced with a worried frown.
She stood up, brushing the dust off her hands. “Hey, Bodhi. You check inside yet?”
“Yeah, everything’s pretty much in one piece,” he said, his gaze drifting to the crack she’d been examining. “That looks like it could be fixed up easily. A bit of mortar should do the trick.”
Capri nodded, relieved. “Could’ve been worse, I guess. How’s your place?”
