A Headstrong Woman(124)

“Come on, Alexandria,” Millie said gently as she took her boss by the arm and led her to a barrel and sat her there. “He’ll be fine; Lilly needs you now,” Millie instructed as she placed Lilly in her arms. Alexandria hugged Lilly to her. Why had Jonathon left her like that?

She was angry with him; furious even.

What if something happened to him?

The noise outside the house intensified, it sounded as though a train was coming close to the house, a low moan and a high screeching its terrifying companions. Alexandria could hear things hitting the sides of the house above and moaning, creaking, and the sound of breaking glass. The sound intensified and then moved further away. Alexandria felt like a limp rag by the time Millie suggested they emerge from their shelter.

The door opened freely and the two women slowly climbed into the pantry; they both eyed the door to the kitchen warily. The day had been unnaturally warm and all the windows open, were there windows left? Was there a home outside that door?

“Well let’s see how bad it is,” Millie opened the door. The kitchen was a mess, chairs scooted out of place, dishes and pots scattered over the floor, but the room intact. A quick survey of the rest of the home turned up two missing windows and a mess in almost every room from where the wind had tossed things around. The house was over all intact; she returned down stairs to share the good news with Millie.

“Can you watch Lilly?” she requested after she had relayed her findings.

“You know I will,” Millie assured her. Alexandria hurried outside and noted the mess around her. She could see the path the tornado had taken several hundred feet from the house. Several trees had been twisted and snapped and tin and other debris, from where she wasn’t certain, clung to the tops of the remaining trees. She noted the barn was intact and stopped Rusty as he rushed past her.

“Have you seen Jonathon?” she asked him.

“He’s in the barn,” Rusty related before continuing on his way. Alexandria stood rooted to her spot. She had intended to go see him but found she suddenly didn’t want to, instead she turned back to the house and threw herself into cleaning up the mess that was left behind.



Jonathon helped Sparky ease onto a bale of hay and examined the younger man’s leg. He had been the first to make a dash for the house to warn them the tornado was coming and had been rewarded with a large splinter of wood in his thigh.

“The wind just hurled it at me,” Sparky said on a gasp.

“Harold, could you go for Dr. Carver? Here, Chris; hold this cloth there would you? Has anyone seen my wife yet?” he asked the men who had gathered around him.

“She was just outside asking about you,” Rusty shared. “We’ll see to things here; you go on,” the older man offered.

“Thanks, Rusty,” Jonathon said with a hand on the man’s shoulder before he moved toward the house.

“You okay, Millie?” Jonathon asked as he poked his head into the kitchen. Lilly sat at the table a glass of milk untouched in front of her. She jumped up when she saw Jonathon and ran to him.

“We fared just fine,” Millie assured him.

Jonathon turned from the kitchen and checked for Alexandria down stairs before finding her upstairs in one of the extra bedrooms. She was cleaning up broken glass from one of the windows and had gathered several scattered items and piled them on the bed to be sorted through.

“I’m sorry, Alexandria; I was going to come back to the house after I helped loose the horses. They didn’t stand a chance if the barn took a hit. By the time we had turned them out the twister was on us,” Jonathon explained as he approached his wife.

Alexandria glanced up and he caught a glimpse of hurt and something else in her eyes before she turned her attention back to the mess in front of her.

“I’m fine,” she responded, though Jonathon could tell she wasn’t. He had caught a glimpse of the same desperation in her expression that had been in Lilly’s when she had hurled herself into his arms but Alexandria wasn’t allowing herself that comfort.

“Alexandria, I’m sorry,” he said again and watched helplessly as she continued to clean.

“I said I’m fine; there’s a mess to be cleaned up in case you haven’t noticed.”

“And it’ll still be there in a few minutes from now,” he reminded her. He set Lilly on the bed and moved to his wife. “Alexandria, don’t shut me out!” he pleaded as he took her by the arms and pulled her close. Alexandria remained stiff in his arms a moment before clinging to him.