Charlie nodded. “That should do it.”
J.R. needed to make sure. “Anyone else got a beef about Blalock?”
No one moved or spoke.
“Good. Then the rest of you can grab some mops and supplies, and clean up the mess you just made.”
Thankful to have survived the purge, the remaining men scurried through the water to do as they’d been told.
J.R. shoved a hand through his hair, sending water droplets flying in every direction, then shook his head in disgust.
“Charlie, if you need me, I’ll be in the office. I have to call headquarters and get an ETA on our ride home. They also need to know to cut final checks for four men, not just one.”
“I’ll stay here and help out,” Charlie said. “We made a hell of a mess. If we don’t fix this place up, the cooks are liable to put us on cold rations for a week.”
J.R. headed for the office to make the call. The way things were going, there weren’t going to be enough men left on the rig to keep it running.
Thursday morning
When Katie Earle woke up, the first thing she saw was a framed painting of Jesus Christ hanging on the wall, which didn’t make sense. There was a mirror opposite their bed. What had happened to the mirror?
And then, like a wave crashing against the shore, everything hit her at once.
The fight with J.R.
The long, empty months sleeping alone in their bed.
The scream of the storm siren.
The tornado.
And living through it all when Bobby had not.
A tide of anger washed over her, flooding every facet of her being. Her body began to tremble as she stared at the painting. All her rage, all her pain, all her grief, was channeled toward the iconic image.
“How dare You?” she cried, her voice breaking with every word. “How dare You do this to me and then leave me behind?”
She started to get up, then realized she was bound to the bed by needles, tubes and monitors, which angered her even more.
“Why didn’t You let me die?”
But He didn’t answer.
The room blurred before her eyes. In frustration, she began yanking at the clips and needles and tubes. As she pulled off the heart monitor, a warning sounded, indicating that her heart had stopped.
Someone shouted out in the hallway. A sudden flurry of footsteps sounded as staffers came running toward her room. They thought Katie Earle had died, when, in fact, she’d just taken her first step back into the world of the living.
Penny Bates had spent an hour outside watering flowers, trying to put a bit of her own world back in order. As usual, her cat, Milford, had chosen to watch from a seat in an old wicker chair nearby. She’d been fighting a growing depression in the only way she knew how: by giving her attention to living things and trying to come to terms with what had happened to Bobby Earle.
Later, when she’d gone inside, she saw that the light was blinking on her answering machine. A message, telling her to come to the hospital.
In a panic, she’d grabbed her purse and made a run for her car. She didn’t know if Katie was coming back to herself or if her condition had worsened, but her obligation to the young woman ran deep.
At the hospital, she’d parked close to the front and hurried through the lobby. Once she came out of the elevator onto the second floor, she hurried toward Katie’s room. The door was ajar. She pushed it open as she entered the room, then came to an abrupt halt.
The room was empty.
The bed was made.
Penny gasped. What did this mean?
Had Katie died?
She ran out of the room and headed for the nurses’ station, praying with every step.
“Where’s Katie Earle?” she cried, as she came to a stop at the counter.
The nurse looked up. “Oh, hello, Mrs. Bates. Katie has been released to go home.”
Penny stared at the woman as if she’d just lost her mind. Even after she came out of sedation, Katie had been basically comatose since Sunday.
“Is she awake and talking?”
“Oh, she’s awake, all right. Doctor checked her over and signed her release. We called you because you were the only person listed on her chart, and she needs a ride home.”
Penny leaned over the counter and spoke slowly, as if trying to explain herself to a child.
“She doesn’t have a home. It blew away the same day her child did.”
The nurse frowned. “We understand that, but arrangements will have to be made elsewhere. This isn’t a motel.”
“Oh, for the love of God,” Penny muttered. “Have you been able to contact her husband, J.R.?”
The nurse scanned the chart. “I don’t see any mention of it.”
Penny glared at the nurse, but the woman was otherwise occupied and didn’t notice.
“Mrs. Earle just left a few minutes ago with an aide,” the nurse said without looking up. “She’ll be waiting in the lobby.”
Penny gasped. She must have been coming up in the elevator as Katie was going down.
“Is she okay? Was she talking?”
“She had herself a fit and unhooked herself from everything, which gave us quite a start. We thought her heart had stopped. She demanded to go home, and we had no medical reason to keep her.”
Penny bit back the angry retort on her lips and headed for the elevator. Her heart was pounding by the time she reached the lobby, nervous as to what shape Katie would be in, and what she was going to do with her.
Then she saw the younger woman across the room, wearing green hospital scrubs and a pair of flip-flops. Her face was devoid of makeup, and her long brown hair was loose around her face. From where Penny was standing, she could have passed for a teenager.
God help me, Penny thought, then lifted her chin and hurried across the lobby.
When Katie saw her coming, she stood and dismissed the aide.
“Thank you for coming to get me,” Katie said.
Penny sighed. Katie’s eyes were red and swollen, which meant she’d been crying again, but she couldn’t blame her. She still cried herself, at least once or twice a day.
“Sweetheart! It’s so good to see you up and talking again. I’m just glad you’ve come back to us. Are you ready to go?”
Reminded that she had nowhere to go to, Katie’s bravado suddenly slipped. “Penny?”
“Yes, darling?”
Katie’s body started to tremble. “I lost my little boy.”
Penny wanted to weep. “I know. I’m so sorry.”
“Have they… Did they ever…?” She stopped, took a deep breath, and then made herself look into Penny Bates’s eyes. “Have they found him?”
“No, darling, not yet.”
It was as if all the bones suddenly melted in Katie’s body. She went limp, then dropped backward onto the chair behind her.
Penny sat down, then reached for Katie’s hand and held it. There wasn’t anything else to say.
Tears pooled, then spilled down Katie’s cheeks unchecked.
“It’s all my fault, you know. If I’d moved with J.R., like he wanted, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Penny’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. So that was the reason for the separation! Everyone in town had wondered.
“J.R. was already mad at me,” Katie said. “Now he’s going to hate me.”
The poignancy in Katie voice was nearly Penny’s undoing.
“Honey…J.R. isn’t going to hate you. He loves you.”
“Not anymore,” Katie said, then leaned forward, her voice just above a whisper. “Penny, do you think I’m a bad person?”
Penny tightened her grip. “Lord, no, honey! You’re not a bad person. Why would you ever think such a thing?”
“I think God is punishing me.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because He keeps taking away the people I love.”
Penny’s heart felt as if it were breaking. How did one argue with such an overwhelming grief? Still, she had to say something.
“You know what Pastor William would say to that. He’d remind you that God didn’t cause any of this, but He’s there to lean on when the bad stuff happens.”
Katie shook her head. “I leaned on Him for weeks after Hurricane Katrina. I prayed and prayed for Momma and Daddy to be all right, and you know what happened to them. I leaned on Him when J.R. left me, thinking we would find a way to work it all out, but it didn’t happen. Then Bobby disappeared, and I prayed to God to help me find him. It seems to me that leaning on God is a huge waste of time.”
Penny frowned. Katie’s argument was far stronger than hers, which meant it was time to change the subject.
“God knows you’re entitled to your feelings, but we’ve got the here and now to deal with. So until we can get hold of J.R., you’re coming home with me. My house wasn’t damaged, and the power is back on.”
“Oh, Penny, I—”
“Don’t argue,” Penny said, and then her own voice broke. “If I could, I would have given my own life for your little boy, but it didn’t happen that way. Now all any of us can do is take life one day at a time. Besides…I’ve got the teddy bear.”
“Oliver? You found Oliver?”
Penny sighed. “No, honey, you did. They gave him to me in the E.R. He was pretty dirty, but I ran him through the washer and dryer, fixed his ear and his eye, and he looks almost as good as new.”
Katie was confused and weary, but too numb to argue. When Penny took her by the hand and led her out of the hospital, she didn’t resist.
Later, as they drove through Bordelaise toward Penny’s house, Katie realized a major cleanup was in progress. So this was what had been happening while she’d temporarily checked out.
She felt almost abandoned, knowing life had a way of going on whether one chose to participate in it or not.
People were everywhere, some removing downed trees, others cleaning up debris, or replacing windows and doors in an effort to put their homes and their lives back together.
She watched for a while and then looked away. If only she could rebuild her own world as easily.
Frances was putting the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher while Holly sat at the kitchen table with a pad of drawing paper and a box of crayons.
Frances had noticed that Holly wasn’t going through her normal routines—playing outside with her cat, Tigger, or riding in the swing Tommy had built for her under the big oak—and chalked it up to the splint she was wearing on her broken finger. Instead, Holly had chosen quiet games and indoor pastimes in order to stay close.
Frances understood Holly’s fears. They’d all endured an almost unimaginable trauma. It was going to take lots of time and patience to get past what had happened, and she was willing to give Holly all the time she needed.
She glanced over at her little girl’s bowed head, caught the intent expression on her face as she colored on the paper and decided now was a good time to start up a conversation.
“Hey, honey…what are you drawing?” Frances asked.
Holly laid down a green crayon and then reached for a blue one.
“Pictures of God,” she said.
A bit taken aback, Frances wiped her hands on a towel and then sat down at the table with her daughter.
“Why are you drawing pictures of God?” Frances asked.
Holly frowned. “I don’t know. I just am.”
“May I see?” Frances asked.
Holly pulled a finished one out from beneath her tablet and shoved it across the table.
“Thank you,” Frances said, as she smiled at her daughter, then looked down at the drawing.
It wasn’t what she’d expected. There were no heavenly beings. No angelic figures with wings and halos, or puffy clouds and shiny auras. Just the playground at the church and cars on the street.
“Honey, this is a nice picture, but I thought you were drawing pictures of God?”
Holly looked up and frowned. “I am.”
Frances pushed the picture toward Holly. “I don’t understand. Where is God in this picture?”
Holly pointed. “He’s right there.”
Frances frowned. “But that’s just a man in a blue pickup.”
“No. That’s God…when He came for Bobby,” Holly said.
Frances’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean…when He came for Bobby?”
Holly sighed. “Mama. You and Daddy both told me God took Bobby to heaven because He needed him to work, remember?”
Frances resisted the urge to argue. Instead, she took a deep, calming breath and then started over.
“No, baby. That’s not exactly what we said, but never mind. What I want to know is…why do you think God came for Bobby in a blue pickup truck? Is that how you think God takes people to heaven?”
Holly shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just what I saw, that’s all.”
Frances’s breath caught. “What do you mean…that’s what you saw?”
Holly shrugged. “Because that
is
what I saw,” she said with the pure logic of a child, then reached for a yellow crayon to color the slide in her current picture.
Frances was getting scared. This didn’t make sense.
“Tell me, baby. Tell me exactly when it was that you saw the man in the blue pickup take Bobby.”
Holly frowned. “God. You said it was God, remember?”
Frances’s head was spinning. Had her daughter been a witness to something more than a storm.
“I know, I know,” Frances said. “But maybe I was mistaken. I want you to tell Mama exactly what it was you saw and when you saw it, okay?”
Holly looked up. “Okay.”
Frances sat without moving, listening to a story that chilled her heart, and when Holly was done, she got up from the chair and walked into the other room. She called Tommy first; then, after a brief conversation, she hung up and made a second call to the police.
Hershel Porter was on his way to the office. He had a steaming cup of his favorite chicory coffee in the cup holder and was wolfing down the last of the three homemade ham biscuits his wife had sent with him.
Bordelaise had made lot of progress since the storm. The phones lines were working; the power was back on. After no clues had turned up, he’d called off the search parties looking for the prisoners a couple of days back. As for Bobby Earle, all he could do was hope that eventually they would find the kid’s body during the cleanup of the town. He was sick about it, but until more debris was removed, there wasn’t much else they could do.
On the plus side, he was finally spending nights at home. He couldn’t remember his wife ever looking any prettier or her cooking ever tasting as good. Last night he’d crawled in bed and passed out before she’d gotten out of the shower. When the alarm went off this morning at 5:00 a.m., he couldn’t believe it. He was still lying in the same position as he’d been when he’d closed his eyes.