Faith couldn’t be sure when Ben had entered the room, but there he stood, smiling and offering his advice.
“Good morning to you too.” Faith smiled at Ben. “Thank you for letting me know about the weather. I have no desire to be drenched.”
“It’s gonna be a bad one.” The old Indian shook his head. “Bad like when I was a boy.”
Faith frowned. “Then I’d best hurry.” She had no doubt Benknew what he was talking about. “Thank you for your hospitality, Captain.” She gave him a smile and grabbed another biscuit. “I’ll take this to sustain me in case the rain starts before I get home. I’d love to continue our conversation another time.”
Andrew followed her outside, where they found the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped. The sky was heavy with rain-laden clouds.
“It looks like we’re in for it, just as Ben said.” Faith secured her coat’s top buttons and then pulled on her gloves. “Hopefully I’ll see you again soon.”
“Be careful,” Andrew said, his dark eyes narrowing. “I’m sorry if I upset you in our discussion.”
She shook her head. “Not at all.”
“I’d walk with you, but I need to make certain the ship is secure.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine. I meant it when I said I would like to pick up our conversation another time. You’ll find I’m not easily frightened away when it comes to defending my beliefs.”
He smiled. “Or supporting them, as you suggested.”
They were standing so close, and to Faith it felt natural to offer him a hug. Had they been close friends or promised to each other, she might have.
But she didn’t, because they were neither. Andrew was a fine man, and the fact that he seemed to enjoy her company as much as she did his blessed her. She knew it was dangerous to allow such feelings, but for the life of her, she couldn’t force them aside as she’d always done in the past.
“Good-bye, Captain Gratton.” She took a bite of her biscuit and walked away.
“Good day to you, Miss Kenner.”
She glanced back when she’d gone nearly a block, but Andrew was already gone. No doubt, with the storm he had a great many tasks to see to. Faith turned to make her way home. She had wanted to stay and hear Andrew’s perspective on God.
A blast of cold air almost knocked her to the ground and put her thoughts on the impending storm. The wind lessened almost as soon as it delivered the punch, but she picked up her pace. This close to the docks, there were few places a lady could seek safe refuge should the storm cut loose in the next few minutes.
She wasn’t all that far from theMorning Star, however, when another gust came, and then another. Before Faith could steady herself, the wind was blowing steady with gale-like force and whipped the biscuit from her hands. It was just as well. She needed to hold on to her hat and skirt. She placed her hand atop the hat and put her head down in order to press on, but it was like fighting against a giant’s hold. All around her, merchants were battling to get their wares inside. Customers and dock workers were running for shelter.
The wind’s roar seemed to grow ever louder, and a terrible screeching of metal on metal sounded from her right. Faith glanced up just as a huge piece of roofing pulled away from a store. Debris appeared all around her and swirled in a strange sort of dance. It was almost mesmerizing. Merchants continued battling to retrieve various items, but it was a hopeless task. The wind was too powerful.
Faith hesitated. She wasn’t at all sure which way to go. The ship was closer. Perhaps she should return to theMorning Star. There was no possibility of reaching home in this gale. The streetcars wouldn’t be running, and no cab driver was going to risk his horse and carriage. She saw a large basket careeningdown the road, seeming to take direct aim at her. Faith sidestepped it at the last minute, but mud stung her eyes, making it impossible to see the other things coming at her. How was it possible for mud to be picked up by the wind? Yet there it was, smeared against her clothes and no doubt her face. Faith struggled to wipe her eyes. She was pelted by a variety of debris, none of which she saw. Putting her arm up to shield her head, she wasn’t surprised to find the wind had ripped her hat away.
She tried to cry for help, but the wind choked the words back and not even the tiniest sound came from her throat. Things were getting desperate, and she decided to head back toward theMorning Star. It was just a few blocks away. Surely she could make it.
But before she could move, another cacophony of tearing metal and wood rose above the wind’s roar. It sounded like an entire building was being ripped apart, and when she managed to look to her left, it seemed the entire block was dissolving.
Faith saw the sign from O’Brien’s Warehouse rip off its hinges and fly directly at her. She turned to run but found it almost impossible to move, as the wind seemed to blow from every direction. The sign hit hard against her back, sending her forward into the muddy street as it flew over her and moved on down the road. Before Faith could assess herself for damage and get back to her feet, however, something hit the back of her head.
She fell forward onto the street. Rolling to her side, she reached her gloved hand up to where she’d been hit. The ground seemed to whirl beneath her. Were they having an earthquake as well as a storm?
She touched her head. It didn’t hurt, so she hoped the damage was minimal. When she withdrew her hand, however, there was blood on her glove. A lot of blood.
She tried to get up but found she hadn’t the strength. All around her, the world was coming apart piece by piece, and all she could do was lie in the street and ponder what she was going to do. How she wished Andrew would come searching for her. She imagined him finding her and saying something sarcastic about her having to tend herself. She could almost see him smiling down at her—promising her she’d be just fine, that he’d see to it.
And then the roar of the wind grew even louder, and the light faded from the sky. Faith closed her eyes, giving in to the darkness, wondering if Andrew and theMorning Starwould survive the storm.
CHAPTER10
Nancy heard the rise of the wind but thought little of it until one of the shutters began banging wildly against the house. She went in search of the culprit and found that one of Mimi’s windows was to blame. Opening the window, Nancy leaned out as far as her belly would allow and grabbed the wooden shutter as it came flying toward the house. The snap of the wood against her cold fingers hurt, but Nancy was determined to secure it. When the wind tried to rip it from her grasp, she heard a cracking sound, and for a moment she thought the shutter was ripping away from the house. Instead, she glanced up in time to see the neighbor’s large fir tree fall across the street and yard.
She froze. She looked heavenward and saw the heavy gray clouds that swirled and roiled. She couldn’t remember ever seeing such a storm. The wind picked up again and blew a steady gust of icy air. Nancy wrestled the shutter into place and locked it, then brought its counterpart forward to hook them together. It would provide the window with a minimum of protection. She hurried to secure the rest of the shutters. Itwas the first time since she’d moved into the house that she’d ever needed to worry about such things.
