Thunder from the Sea (9 page)

“No. Thunder will be all right,” Margaret comforted her.

Tom stayed on the ground, his arms around Thunder.

Fiona bent down and inspected Thunder's wound. “We'll get him to a doctor as soon as things quiet down.”

“How?” Tom cried, getting up. “The bridge is gone! And the boats are all busted up!”

Thunder lay still as Margaret examined the blood-matted fur on the dogs back. “It looks like the bullet just grazed him; there's no bullet hole.” She stood up and put her arm around Tom. “I'll take care of Thunder, Tom. Don't you worry. He may be a bit sore for a while, but I'll fix him up just fine.” She patted the dog's head. “You wise, clever dog.” Thunder's tail wagged slowly.

“He was tryin' to warn us, Pa,” Bert said accusingly to his father.

“Never mind the dog now,” Amos said gruffly. Then he yelled, “There's another wave comin' into the harbor!”

Ruby gasped. “Not again!”

Fiona leaned into Enoch's arms as they turned to see the oncoming danger. Tom knelt with one arm around Thunder and said a silent prayer as the rumble of water grew louder. Rowena put her hands over her ears and screamed. They watched in awe as the ocean wall pressed through the narrow gap between Back o' the Moon and the mainland. The mountain of water swelled, then tumbled into the dry bed of the harbor with a roar. Again the monstrous wave lifted the boats and houses that had been left stranded and broken on the waterless inlet. With the echoing crash of breaking glass and ripping wood, the wave heaved the wreckage onto the shore.

The water receded more slowly this time, dragging with it the debris it had left scattered and destroyed. And this time, the harbor stayed filled, but overflowing with rubble.

“Our house!” Nancy cried out. “The wave took it this time!” The square green house bobbed in the waves like a toy, its roof and top story still visible.

“By great Neptune's tongue!” Amos yelled. “Every bloody thing we own is gone!”

“What'll we do? Where will we live?” Ruby moaned.

Tom saw Enoch give a questioning look to Fiona, who nodded back to him.

“You and your family can stay with us for now,” Enoch offered.

Tom clutched at Fiona's arm. Surely Amos wasn't being invited to stay with them! Not after shooting Thunder!

By the time night arrived, the waters in the harbor had gone back to their normal level, and the ground tremors were slight and came far apart. It was time to make decisions for shelter. Amos and Bert were to stay with the Murrays. The Rideouts' porch had broken off the main house, but otherwise they found only minor damage inside, so Nancy and Ruby were to move in with them. People who lived down by the bridge and had lost
their homes, quickly fashioned tilts—lean-tos of wood scraps and canvas—to shelter themselves for the night, and built campfires to keep themselves warm.

“Our boat is gone,” Enoch groaned. “How can I make a livin' without a boat?”

“Perhaps we'll need to work for a fishin' establishment somewhere,” Amos said.

“Never!” Enoch said. “I've been independent all my life!” He looked at Fiona, whose lips were trembling. “Now, my girl, we'll be all right. We still have our home and enough food to get us through for a while.”

“We have a baby comin' in the spring,” she said with a sob.

“We'll hang on. And we do have each other,” he reminded her. Tom had never seen Enoch look so distraught and haggard.

“We can always shoot game birds,” Amos said. “And moose.”

“You should be good at that,” Tom spat out, “after shootin' my dog!”

“Shut up, you prate-box!” Bert bellowed. “Don't you talk to my pa like that!”

“You chucklehead!” Tom screamed back at him. “If I had a face like yours, I'd walk backward!”

“Mind your mouths, both o' ya!” Fiona snapped. “We've had enough hateful talk.”

“Stop all this cross-'acklin! We've got us important things to be thinkin' about, like survivin' the winter ahead!” Enoch said sharply.

Tom bit his lip. Fiona and Enoch had never yelled at him like this before. A surge of fear overcame him. The Murrays had lost everything. Now, with winter coming and a new baby on the way, he'd be one added burden. He'd only made things worse by yappin' at Amos and Bert. No wonder Enoch and Fiona were right mad at him. Maybe now they'd send him back to the mission!

He couldn't bear the thought of leaving Fiona and Enoch, but hadn't he known that it was all too good to be true? They had opened their home to him, but had they really opened their hearts?

If Tom were sent away, what would happen to Thunder? Tom would probably never see him again!

t
he nights were cold in late November, and the supplies of coal on the island were dwindling. Women collected scraps of wood and kept the stoves burning. The men chopped up what was left of stages and houses too damaged to repair. They piled the wood by the two remaining island houses—the Rideouts' and the Murrays'. The other houses, built close to the shore, were destroyed.

Most folks from Back o' the Moon Island whose homes had been demolished decided to take what belongings they had left and cross over to the mainland in a rescue boat. They hoped to find shelter with friends or relatives in Chance-Along. The boat would come back periodically for more passengers.

That first evening after the quake, Fiona boiled up fish from the buckets and made chowder with onions, potatoes, and canned milk. The Rideouts and the Bosworths crowded around the Murrays' kitchen as Enoch said grace. “We thank you, Lord, for our families, for our friends, and for the provisions you've given us.”

“And for Tom and Thunder, who've enriched our lives,” Fiona added.

“Don't know what we would've done without 'em,” Ken Rideout agreed.

Tom swallowed hard as he felt tears welling up. See? he told himself.
Fiona still wants me, despite my blat mouthin Amos and Bert
. He hoped Enoch wasn't still mad.

“Oh, my!” Enoch quipped, as Fiona spooned out the chowder into bowls. “This is a fine kettle of fish we're in!” Everyone, including Amos, laughed.

“Yes, our lives were all spared, thanks to that dog!” Ruby gestured to Thunder, who was curled on his rug near the stove. She gave a meaningful look to Amos, who concentrated on his soup.

“I hope Thunder will be all right,” Tom said.
“He was tryin' so hard to tell us the earthquake and the tidal wave were comin'.”

“Thunder will be all right,” Margaret assured him. “After supper I'll clean the wound and bandage it.” Thunder seemed to understand and thumped his tail.

Margaret brought bread pudding with currants, that she had made the day before, and after a brisk cup of tea, life seemed almost normal again.

Before Margaret went home, she tended to Thunder, who whined as she cleaned and poured antiseptic on his wound, then bandaged his shoulder. “He never even tried to nip at me,” she said. “He knew I was tryin' to help him.” She put her arm around Tom as she left. “I'll be over tomorrow to change his dressing.”

Thunder curled up and put his head between his paws. His big brown eyes closed and he fell asleep.

Later, as Tom went up the stairs to his room, he asked Enoch, “What if we have another quake? Will the house cave in?”

“I think the worst is over now,” Enoch told him.

“Just the same, I'm glad I'm sleepin' down here in the parlor,” said Bert.

Enoch stuffed more wood into the stove and Fiona made the couches up with sheets and blankets.

“We'll be fine. Good night,” said Amos. Then he added, “And … thank you.”

Tom couldn't sleep. He wished he had his grandfather's watch with its comforting
ticktock
. But even his pocket watch wouldn't be able to drown out the terrifying images of the earthquake. With his eyes shut he could still see the great wall of black water bursting through the narrows and carrying his world away. He thought of Thunder, and how the dog had stood in front of Prince, keeping them at a safe distance from the belfry of the church when it fell. His wonderful dog. Now Thunder was in pain and hurt—all because of that Amos Bosworth.

Amos was sleeping in the room next to Thunder! Tom rolled and tossed in his bed. Surely Amos must realize by now that Thunder saved the whole town. But still …

Tom decided to stay with Thunder all night. He grabbed his pillow and blanket, then treaded softly down the stairs. In the parlor Amos was snoring loudly. Bert had a pillow over his head and his arm flung over the edge of the couch.

Tom tiptoed into the kitchen. In the glow of the wood stove, he saw Thunder look up and wag his tail slowly. “I'm stayin' with you,” he told the dog. “Just in case.” Tom placed the pillow on the floor and pulled the blanket around him. To the rhythm of Thunder's soft snores, Tom soon fell into a fitful sleep.

Outside the window the northern lights were flickering in the sky when Tom heard footsteps. Someone was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Amos! What was he doing?

Tom waited silently, certain that Amos hadn't seen him in the corner. Amos picked up a log from the pile near the stove. Tom made ready to spring up and tackle him, when Amos opened the stove and heaved the wood into the embers. Tom didn't move, trying not to breathe.

Once the log began to spark and burn, Amos
closed the stove and walked over to Thunder. He bent down. “Good boy,” he whispered, patting Thunder's head. “I'm right sorry.”

Thunder's tail thumped a few times in response. Tom watched through half-closed eyes as Amos once again patted Thunder and then went back to the couch in the parlor.

Soon Tom could hear Amos's even breathing. Had Tom been dreaming? Amos had sounded truly remorseful that he had shot Thunder.

Tom closed his eyes and was almost asleep when he felt the earth shake again. He sat up, trembling. This time it was only a small rumble, as if the series of earthquakes had reached a finale and the little island had finally won its struggle for existence.

a
t the Murrays' dinner table the second night, the conversation was mostly about the visit from a mainland ship. Since there were no docks left, a dinghy from the steamer came in to shore to share all the news about the mainland and to see what help was needed.

“I heard tell that the earthquake was felt as far south as Delaware in the States,” Enoch said.

“According to the captain of the steamer, Chance-Along had substantial damage too,” Fiona added.

“But the good news is that my brother and his family made out all right in Chance-Along,” Amos said, gulping down the chicken stew Fiona had made.

“That
is
good news,” said Ruby, “because we're
takin' the steamer tomorrow. Well stay with your brother and his family, at least for now. He has a nice apartment over his store.”

“What are you say in' woman?” Amos asked with a frown.

“I'm sayin' that we're goin' to Chance-Along. We can't stay here.” She glared at her husband. “We have no house, or have you forgotten?”

“Well, maybe we can stay at my brother's place … but just for the winter,” Amos mumbled.

“It'll be fun to live in Chance-Along,” Nancy said. “I could even go to school there. I could learn to read real books and … Oh, it would be right wonderful! I could go places … anywhere.”

“What do ya mean ‘go places'?” Bert snickered. “Where ya gonna go?”

Nancy crossed her arms. “When you read you can go anywhere … in the stories, you chuckle-head!”

“We'll be busy enough without you spendin' all your time readin' books,” Ruby scolded.

Bert snickered. “Besides, you'd be tired of school in a week!”

Nancy scowled at her brother. “Would not!”

“We don't know if there's a school left standin' over there,” Amos interrupted. “So why argue about it?”

“Tomorrow we'll move to Chance-Along for the winter, see,” Ruby declared. “We're not imposin' on the Murrays another day. We're leavin'!” She shook a finger at Amos. “And not another word about it!”

Tom saw Fiona exchange glances with Enoch and the shadow of a smile pass between them. Tom wanted to cheer that Amos and his family would be leaving, although he was convinced that Amos was truly sorry he had hurt Thunder. In fact, Tom had seen Amos even take scraps of meat from his own plate—food that was now scarce—and feed it to Thunder when he thought no one was looking.

“We'll come back in the spring and rebuild,” Amos insisted. “My father and grandfather homesteaded on our land, and you can bet your miserable life I'm not about to give it up.”

“And just where do we get the money to rebuild?” Ruby asked.

“The people on the rescue boat said the government's sendin' along aid for those who lost their homes,” Enoch told them.

“They're takin' collections in churches and schools all over Newfoundland,” Fiona said.

“I'll believe it when I see the money in my hand, maid,” Amos grumbled. “But I'll find a way to rebuild. You'll see.”

“If we do, it won't be that close to the water, let me tell,” Ruby sputtered. “We've had storms before that nearly washed us out. They should have been warning enough.”

After dinner Margaret and Ken Rideout came over. “We put Rowena to bed and Eddie's watchin' her,” Ken told them.

Margaret tended Thunder's wound. “Good boy,” she murmured, gently removing the bandage.

Tom couldn't bring himself to look at the ugly red slash on Thunder's shoulder.

“How's the dog doin'?” Amos asked Margaret.

“The lesion is fillin' in nicely.” Thunder lay quietly, as if knowing that Margaret was trying to help him. She dabbed the gash with something from a bottle and Thunder whined.