“Okay. You win. It is a funny story.”
I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to kiss her and I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t. I cupped the back of her neck and pulled her lips to mine. The kiss started off slow and gentle, but soon became hungry and full of need.
A loud crash broke us apart. Wide-eyed and panting, Annabelle cautiously asked, “What was that?”
My jaw clenched as I looked over her shoulder and stared at the space where my bike used to be. “I’m guessing it was my bike.”
She whirled around to see for herself. “Fucking fuck! What are we going to do?”
“Calm down, doll face. When it’s safe, we’ll go find my bike and see if it’s still drivable. If it is, we’ll ride to the closest town and get a room for the night. I’ll look over the bike and hopefully we can be on our way in the morning. If it’s not drivable, we’ll call for a tow truck. We’ll still get a room for the night and I’ll see about renting a cage and trailer to haul it back home,” I explained.
We stayed put for 10 more minutes or so before we ventured out of the culvert to survey the damage. We found the tangled mess of metal that used to be my bike about 100 yards from the culvert.
“I don’t think that’s drivable,” Annabelle observed. If that was my actual bike, my baby, I would have been losing my shit right then, but luckily it wasn’t. I kept a few bikes at the clubhouse as loaners when needed. I opted to take one that would provide a more comfortable ride across the country, especially if I found her and convinced her to come back with me.
I sighed. “Let’s see about getting a tow truck to come get us.”
After discovering that neither one of our cell phones had service, we grabbed what we could from the bike and started walking. I didn’t have a clue how far we would have to walk before we found people or cell phone reception.
It was hot as hell, we had no food and very little water. I was good to go for a while, but I was worried Annabelle wouldn’t be able to keep up and push forward. As if on cue, Annabelle said, “Phoenix, I need to stop for just a minute.”
I whirled around, ready to tell her she couldn’t start whining this early in our trek, to find her bent down, digging through her backpack. “Aha!” she exclaimed, pulling something out of her bag. She promptly removed her jeans and slid on a tiny pair of cutoff shorts. Then, she stripped her top half down to a tank top, crammed everything into her bag, and smiled brightly. “Much better. Continue on.” She looked sexy as fuck wearing her riding boots with that outfit. Yeah, she would be wearing that for me again when I had time to show her my appreciation.
We continued on for several miles, checking our phones every now and then for service. Finally, after almost three hours of walking, we saw a house in the distance. Hopefully, the occupants would have some means of communication.
When we were closer to the house, we saw that only the front half of the house was intact. The back was completely obliterated, as was a barn and another structure that was no longer identifiable. I told Annabelle to stay back while I walked closer. The house could collapse at any second and I didn't want her anywhere near it.
“Hello!” I called out. “Anyone there?”
Silence.
“Hello!” I called again.
“Phoenix, look!” Annabelle yelled, pointing at something. “I think that's a door to a storm shelter.”
I walked over to where she was pointing and, sure enough, there was a door in the ground. I assumed it led to a storm shelter, but after discovering the numerous hidden rooms and tunnels on the farm property, it could be a door to anything.
Annabelle reached for the handle and I immediately grabbed her wrist. “Don’t!” I barked sternly. “If anyone is in there, they’re likely not expecting company. You might open that door to find yourself face-to-face with the business end of a shotgun.”
She huffed but stepped back. I gave the door three sharp knocks and called out, “Hello? Anyone there?”
Moments later, a very young sounding voice answered, “Who’s there?”
“My name is Phoenix and I’m here with Annabelle. We’ve been stranded due to the storm and we’re looking for somewhere we could call for help. This is the first place we’ve come upon.”
Several beats passed before the child spoke again. “Um...we’re not supposed to open the door unless it’s Mommy or Daddy or Judy.”
Annabelle brought her hand to her mouth and took a step forward. “Are you in there by yourself, sweetheart?”
“No, ma’am. My brother is in here, too. Judy put us in here and went back to the house. You can knock on the door and ask to use the phone. And ask her if we can come out now. Please.”
“Who is Judy?” Annabelle asked.
“Our babysitter. Daddy’s at work and Mommy had appointments today.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. Things didn’t sound promising where Judy was concerned. She was probably somewhere in the house, which was on the verge of collapsing.
“Phoenix,” Annabelle whispered, “we have to go look for her. She might be hurt.”
