He peppered her with questions as they ate. Finally Gretchen said, “Enough. We’ll go out after we’ve showered.”
Jordan ran to the bathroom. At least they had hot water because of her gas hot water system. She checked her phone. A message from Penelope.All fine here.
Arthur’s phone rang and from his side of the conversation, it sounded as if he spoke to Sam. He glanced at Gretchen. “Sam says he’s cancelled the tour today.”
She wasn’t surprised. It wouldn’t go ahead tomorrow either if the weather stayed bad.
When Arthur hung up, he said, “Penelope has to go to work to assess the damage, but Sam wants to go to the Ridge after he’s called all the crew and passengers.”
“Jordan and I can come too, in case there’s a lot of work.”
Arthur smiled. “That would be great.”
She checked her phone. Still no response from either Holly or Amy.
They cleaned up from breakfast and then climbed into Sam’s four-wheel drive and headed out.
Gretchen scanned the road for damaged power lines, but aside from having to stop to remove broken tree branches or debris, this street was fine. Along the way, they spoke to neighbours who had various levels of damage.
At Cody’s place, the front fence had a gaping hole where panels were missing. Jordan knocked on the door, and Holly answered.
“How is everyone?” Gretchen asked.
Holly smiled. “We survived. A few broken fence panels and some overflowing gutters, but everyone’s fine.”
Jordan pushed past her and ran inside, looking for Cody.
“Do you want to come in for a chat?” Holly invited.
“No, we need to check on some others,” Gretchen said, knowing Arthur was concerned about his sister. She called for Jordan, and they headed to Sam’s, having to detour around some power lines. More fences were gone, and some houses had lost roofs, with people trying to cover the gaps with tarps. The State Emergency Service were visible in their bright orange clothing and Gretchen stopped to chat to Dot and Nhiari as they made their rounds to check everyone’s safety.
“Have you heard from the Ridge?” Nhiari asked.
“We’re heading there after we pick up Sam,” Gretchen said.
“Let me know. I’ve left a couple of messages.”
“Will do.”
They pulled up in front of Sam’s town house. All the buildings by the marina were new and were undamaged. Arthur knocked and then let himself in.
“What a night.” Penelope came forward to hug them, already dressed in her Parks and Wildlife uniform.
“You’re OK?”
She nodded. “Bit of water over from the canal, but nothing serious. Have you heard from Amy or Faith?”
Gretchen shook her head, and they exchanged worried glances.
Sam came downstairs and he and Arthur did that back slap hug thing men did.
“Have you checked the boat?” Gretchen asked.
“Went down at first light. Had to tighten a couple of ropes, but no damage there.”
Gretchen sighed in relief.
“I need to get to work,” Penelope said. “Assess the damage.”
