She ended the call and watched the rain fall, straight and steady. How much longer did she have before it would be too dangerous to drive?
She went inside. “Susie, do you have a radio?”
“Sure.” She went to the kitchen to retrieve it.
Ellen put on the local weather station and kept the volume low, just loud enough so she could hear it. She checked Margery’s blood pressure again and was relieved that it had dropped to 135 over 80.
Now, it was heading in the right direction.
Penny McKenna checked on Millie’s casserole and wrinkled her nose. She didn’t want to feed bad-tasting food to her family, but she also couldn’t waste it, either. That would be a greater sin. Gravy… yes, she’d warm up some of her own gravy, which would at least make the shepherd’s pie edible.
She walked into the well-organized pantry—that was all Avery, not her. The girl had even labeled the shelves to make things easy to find. Avery enjoyed helping Penny can—they made jams, syrup, canned whole fruits, pie filling, gravy, and more. Avery had even made Penny pretty little labels for Christmas two years ago:From Grandma Penny’s Kitchenwas printed on the top, with enough space to write what was inside and the date of canning.
There were several jars of gravy left, so she took one and used the jar opener her grandson John had bought her years ago. She used to be strong enough to open anything in the kitchen, but these days her hand just didn’t grip as it used to.
She dumped the gravy into a saucepan and turned it to low. Then she was rinsing the jar when she glanced at the phone.
She needed to call Rose and have her send Avery and Bobby home.
She dialed the number. It took four rings before Rose answered.
“Hello?”
“Rose? It’s Penny.”
“Hello, Penny.”
“Can you send Avery and Bobby home? Ellen had to go up to Rock Creek to check on the Sutton girl, and the rain is coming down hard, and she’s worried that little bridge between your place and ours will flood and they’ll get stuck.”
“Oh. Bobby left; he’s on his way. He was going to tell you that Avery is going to spend the night. She’s been a big help.”
Penny frowned. “Did she ask Ellen?”
“No, she told Bobby.”
“When did he leave?”
“Not long ago.”
Penny sighed. It wasn’t her place to make these decisions. “Avery needs to talk to Ellen. She can’t assume this is okay.”
“I’ll have her call.”
“Her cell phone. She’s up at the Suttons. I’ll keep a lookout for Bobby.” The boy was probably still out looking for that cat, and Penny hoped he didn’t get himself stuck. Still, he had nearly thirty minutes until his twoPMcurfew.
“Okay. Thank you.” Rose hung up.
Penny stared at the phone. Rose didn’t sound like herself. Usually she was chatty—far more chatty than Penny preferred—and it was Penny who had to find an excuse to hang up.
She looked out the window. The rain fell in steady drops. If the ground wasn’t already saturated, the water would be more welcome.
It was going to get worse, she thought as she went back to the stove and stirred the gravy.
Thunder rolled in the distance and Penny frowned. That boy had better be back sooner rather than later.
After Bobby got off the radio with Avery, he sat against the barn wall for a long time trying to figure out what to do.
Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. He didn’t know why Avery was lying to him about helping with the sheep, because she wasn’t in the barn doing anything. And he didn’t know who that man was.
