Link:All of my netting is down in the guinea fowl pasture.It’s a tangled mess, and I think we’re gonna have to rip it out and start over.
Wilder:I’m headed to my place right now.I’m actually really afraid of what I’m going to find.
Mitch:We have broken windows on the third story of the house, and over in the Academy dorms. And look at how close this tree came to the house.
Ty recognized as the back corner of the huge plantation-style house where Mitch and Lacy lived, and his heart dropped to the soles of his cowboy boots.
Dawson:I lost the doors on the west side of my barn, and the roof there doesn’t have a single shingle anymore.
Ty’s heart hurt for the loss his friends had suffered. Everything felt more real when he knew the actual people who’d been impacted, and had been to those places which now bore damage.
Gun:We’re still missing several turkeys, a couple of sheep, three pigs, and a whole slew of cattle. Maybe more animals. I’ve got cowboys out trying to round up everythingwe can.
Rock:Several fences buckled, so our groups got mixed up, and of course, they sheltered wherever they could.
Link:Yeah, we have no way of getting them all to safety on such short notice.
Wilder:I was already behind on my construction due to figuring out the swampiness here, and this blasted dust storm tore off all of the plastic sheeting and has pelted the foundation. Look at it.
Ty stared at the picture of the crumbling cement, his chest tightening on Wilder’s behalf.
Wilder:It’s ruined the foundation. It’s going to have to be re-poured.
Condolences had come in after that, and Link had said that he and Gun would come down and help Wilder assess what else needed to be done, as Wilder had reported “debris everywhere.”
Ty could feel the man’s frustration in his short, clipped texts, and he didn’t blame him. Wilder was set to get married in only a couple of months, and his future wife had two little girls that Wilder desperately wanted to provide for.
Finn:Based on the pictures and things you all have sent me privately, I think we should meet at Conrad’s tomorrow morning.
I know not everyone will be able to. No pressure.
He only has a section of fencing to be fixed, and one wall in his barn, and then his livestock will be back to normal.
In the afternoon, we can head to Signs for Success and help Mitch get his dog enclosure rebuilt and assess his window needs.
I think we should be able to fix Dawson’s roof on Friday and get barn doors back on his building, and then we’ll focus on Shiloh Ridge.
Link:Good plan, Finn. We’ve got tons of men here, though, so I’ll keep you updated, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to send anyone to help. I’m really sorry.
Rock:I bet we can send a few people. We can’t all ride around calling for pigs.
Wilder:Honestly, I’d love to get off Shiloh Ridge. This place is going to be the death of me. I can come to Conrad’s.
Finn:Chime in if you can come to Conrad’s tomorrow morning or Mitch’s in the afternoon. Let’s try to be there around eight-thirty if we can.
Ty quickly navigated over to Mitch’s text to see what he’d said about having a crew come toSigns for Successtomorrow.
Mitch:I hope you’re all right and accounted for. No one’s heard from you on the group text. Text me when you get a minute.
A little while later, he’d said,We’re gonna cancel dog training in the morning and wait and see what Finn sets up for us in terms of getting things put back together.
He hadn’t said anything else, and maybe hadn’t seen that Finn had said they’d have a group coming to help out atSigns for Successtomorrow afternoon.
No problem,Ty said.I’ll see you at Conrad’s.Then he realized he hadn’t told Mitch that he was all right, and he added,I’m fine. Winnie was stuck in Amarillo during the storm and had some car trouble, so I went there to help her and then brought her back here.
I’m glad you two are all right,Mitch said.
Ty navigated back over to the larger group text to add his voice to the conversation.I can be at Conrad’s by eight-thirty. I have to drop Winnie off at work, as she was stranded in Amarillo, and wehad to leave her car there after it incurred some damage from the storm.
