Page 11 of North

“Trust me, Selah. Please.”

She studied his face—the steady eyes, the set of his jaw.

“Okay.” She turned and headed back to the family. “We’ve got a ride.”

James came with her, stood over Grant. “Okay, so…”

“I can help.” David had hobbled over. “I’ll take a leg.” He held the metal in place even as he grabbed Grant around the ankle.

Selah took the other ankle, and they struggled up the hill, finally putting him into the back of the pickup.

Grant wore panic in his eyes. Selah climbed in beside him, and Tommy sat next to her. She put her arm around him as James got into the front with Sarah and Amy.

David climbed into the back. “This is going to hurt.” He made a face.

She banged on the cab and James took off, leaving behind the chaos and fire and smoke and…

Behind them, as they cleared the train, an explosion shook the sky. She screamed, ducked her head, and put her arm around Tommy.

What? A black cloud plumed from the front of the train.

Tommy had started to cry.

“Hey, buddy.” Selah smoothed his hair back from his sweaty forehead. “Want to hear about the baby elephant I saved in Nigeria?”

His eyes opened. “A real elephant?”

“Yep. She’d gotten caught in a trap—a wire wrapped around her foot. Her mama was going crazy, trumpeting and stomping around.”

The truck bounced over another rut. Tommy pressed closer.

“What happened?” David said.

“Well, we had a veterinarian with us. And he had this special medicine to help the mama elephant calm down. But we still had to be really brave to go near her, even after she got sleepy.”

James took a sharp turn onto a narrow dirt road. Tree branches scraped the sides of the truck.

“The baby—we named her Grace—she was scared, just like her mama. But sometimes when we’re hurting, we have to trust people who want to help us, right?” She adjusted the cold pack on Tommy’s wrist. “So I sang to her while the vet worked on her foot.”

“You sang to an elephant?” Tommy’s voice held a hint of a smile.

“Yep. ‘Baby Mine’ from Dumbo. And you know what? She stayed so still, just looking at me with those big brown eyes. When we got the wire off, she jumped right up and ran to her mama.”

“Did they stay together?” Tommy asked.

“Last I heard, they were still living in the sanctuary, happy and safe.”

They passed a few farms, then more and more houses. A couple churches. Then the truck turned and she spotted a sign.

Cashmere Urgent Care.

A small white brick building, no bigger than a house. Oh, this didn’t bode well for Grant, but who knew⁠—

James pulled them up to the curb, got out, and ran around to the back. Blood had dripped into his collared shirt, his sweater ripped, his face bloodied…

Reminded her too much of a guy she’d left behind. Same hero type, same dedication.

He pulled Grant right off the truck bed and over his shoulder in a fireman hold and ran him to the clinic.