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The air was oppressive, and still the rains would not come. Jericho feared that all their work would be for naught without it.
“The crops need rain,” Isaiah said to Sarah Beth as they sat in the corn, hidden from view. “You think we can try again?”
Sarah Beth grabbed his hands. “All right. Let’s bring on the rain.”
“Rain, rain, rain,” they intoned, louder and louder till it was nearly a shout, and then Isaiah felt them joining, the vision coming on. In it, rain clouds rolled over the countryside. He could practically smell the iron of a deluge. When he came out of it a minute later, though, the sky was still blue, and Isaiah was disappointed that their gifts were not sparking as he’d imagined they would.
They abandoned the corn for the river, where they took off their shoes and stuck their toes in the water. Sarah Beth showed Isaiah the fish sidewinding between the rocks. They took turns tossing sticks and pebbles into the water and watched them float downstream. That morning, Isaiah had noticed a fine peach fuzz budding along his upper lip. In a few days, he’d be eleven, not quite a man but no longer a boy. He stroked his upper lip, hoping Sarah Beth would notice. Instead, she palmed a rock and raised it overhead. “I’m strong,” she said and slipped in the grass, nearly tumbling into the river.
Isaiah pulled her back from the brink, remembering the vision—the river, the rock, the blood. “You got to be careful, Sarah Beth.”
“I will. Thank you, Isaiah.” She looked down at his arm, the ropey muscle trying to come into being.
Isaiah felt proud. “Getting a mustache,” he said.
“That so?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Sarah Beth grinned with mischief. “Duck!” she shouted.
Isaiah dipped just as Sarah Beth tossed the rock. It sailed over his head and hit the water with a splash.
She started to go after it. Isaiah stopped her. “We ought to be getting back now or I’ll hear about it.”
They tromped back toward the farm through the tall grass, the two of them giggling over some private joke. But when they reached the edge of the yard, Memphis was there, and he looked unhappy. He took Isaiah by the arm and pulled him behind the barn.
“Where’ve you been?” Memphis demanded.
“Fishing,” Isaiah said sulkily. “I was hoping to catch something for supper.” It was his first lie to his brother, and it was surprising to him how easily it came.
Memphis let out a long exhale. “All right, Shrimpy. But you’ve got chores to do. We’re guests here, remember? You can’t just go running off whenever you feel like it.”
“Look!” Sarah Beth shouted.
Memphis and Isaiah came around the barn. Sarah Beth was pointing to the sky.
Overhead, storm clouds were rolling in above the prairie wheat. The wind had picked up. Isaiah could taste the wet in it. In the field, Mr. Olson stopped the tractor and took off his hat. Two fat drops hit his upturned face. “Rain,” Mr. Olson said, as if on a prayer. Two drops became two more until it was a downpour. Rain had come at last to Bountiful.
“Grab the buckets!” Mr. Olson ordered.
Sam, Memphis, and Henry hauled out every tin pail and wooden bucket they could find. Bill and Jericho helped lead the animals back into their pens. Isaiah and Sarah Beth ran in tight circles, whooping and hollering. Theta stretched out her arms like a scarecrow and let the rain soak her. Ling and Mrs. Olson came out from the kitchen to see.
“Have you gone crazy?” Ling asked.
“Yes! We are rain-struck!” Theta called back. Drenched to the skin, she Charlestoned in the softening earth.
Mrs. Olson put out her hand. “I’ll be! Rain at last!”
The crops bent with gratitude under the weight of the water. It was a proper blessing of rain.
“I reckon you all are good luck,” the farmer said. “First real rain we’ve seen in ages.”
“Sarah Beth! Come in out of it, honey. You’ll catch cold,” Mrs. Olson called.
Sarah Beth rolled her eyes so that only Isaiah could see. “What did I say? Always bossing us around.”
Isaiah grinned. Before she left, Sarah Beth looked right into Isaiah’s eyes. “We brought down the rain, Isaiah. You and me. We did that. By sharing our moon glow. I always believed you and me would be special together, but now I know it’s true.”
