They walked their horses along a fence, reaching the edge of the marsh. The road to the uplands was at last within reach.
Suddenly a low, thunderous roar stopped all of them in their tracks. Charlie, behind them, called out, “Father, what’s that noise?”
They could see little through the gray, turbulent dusk, but the noise continued, like the terrifying rumble of the sea. Adam turned in the saddle. “Hurry, Charlie, we’ve got to reach the road!”
His son was farther back, his horse laboring through the shallow waters that had gradually covered the entire marsh around them. “Dante can’t go any faster!”
“Try!” They all continued toward the road. Adam was the first to reach dry, higher ground, with Madeline close behind him. “Madeline, take my horse with Diana and go home. I have to help Charlie.”
“But I can’t leave you here!”
“You have to. Your sister’s life depends upon it.”
Madeline reluctantly changed places with him.
Charlie called out, “Father!”
Both Adam and Madeline turned toward the marsh. From their height just above, they saw a wave sweeping toward them at great speed from the river, taking with it whatever stood in its path: hay, fence rails, cattle and sheep. The dykes had all but disappeared beneath the great tidal surge.
Panic welled up in Adam as he watched his youngest son turn to look over his shoulder. Adam ran down the hill. “Charlie! Ride!”
He heard Madeline calling out to him but couldn’t stop. He ran splashing into the water just as the wave swept up behind Charlie and lifted both him and his horse off their feet.
Chapter Sixteen
Adam continued to sprint toward Charlie, finally being swept off his own feet by the waves. Ice-cold water covered his head. He pushed himself to the surface and swam toward his son, who was flailing in the frigid, rough waters, calling for help.
Reaching Charlie at last and gathering his coat collar in a tight fist, Adam hauled him through the water in the direction of the ridge. “Swim, Charlie!”
Frigid waves crashed over their heads; Adam gasped frantically for air. His heavy coat, tangling around him, made it almost impossible to move and stay afloat in the dark waters, let alone swim to shore. The sound of the water surging all around them was deafening and the water was filling his ears and nostrils. He could taste the salt in his mouth, feel the grit of the marsh mud between his teeth.
Adam heard Charlie make a low cry of defeat behind him. He shouted again, “Swim!” and struggled harder against the weight of his clothes. His fingers, in a tight fist around Charlie’s coat, ached from the cold, but he would not let go. He would never let go.
Then, by some great gift of fate, another surge swept them both toward the edge of the marsh and Adam grabbed onto a fence pole, the top barely visible in the gray waters. They made their way along the fence and climbed upward to dry ground, where they collapsed in heaps of exhaustion.
Adam turned to look at Charlie. “Are you hurt?”
Charlie shook his head.
From somewhere outside his muddled consciousness, Adam heard the faint sound of Madeline’s voice. “Adam! Adam!”
He sat up. The wind gusted past him, pressing his cold, wet clothing hard against his skin. He managed to wave at her.
“I must take Diana home!” she shouted.
He could barely make out what she’d said beneath the roar of the flood. She rode the horse up the hill toward the house.
Adam gathered Charlie into his arms. “Thank God, you’re all right.”
Charlie sobbed. “What about Dante?”
Adam gazed out over the waters, looking for the horse. Farther out, he could see the heads of his cattle, drifting toward the sea. He saw an entire barn floating away and breaking up. “I can’t see him.”
Charlie stood. His teeth chattered, and his voice trembled from his shivering. “What’s going to happen to him?”
Adam managed to stand, also. “I don’t know, Charlie. We’ll just have to wait and hope he makes it to dry ground. But for now, we’ve got to get you home.”
Madeline rode into the yard, her muscles aching from the strain of keeping Diana’s limp body on the horse. Just as she approached the door, John Metcalf came galloping in behind.
