Crap!
The second rumble was closer. Louder. The tent walls rippled as wind picked up. She scrambled outside and immediately saw that this was serious. Palm trees thrashed. Th waves were much larger than she’d ever seen. The wind whipped in her face. Some tents unzipped with sleepy college kids peering out, bleary eyed.
The sky to the west was black. Not nighttime black. Storm black. Lightning flickered inside the clouds, illuminating them from within like a lamp behind dark fabric.
“Lizzie, come on.” Sarah’s voice came. Sarah was in a track suit, or maybe pajamas. Whatever it was, it was a striking difference from her usual attire.
“What’s up with the weather?”
“It’s a storm. It was supposed to move south of us, and we weren’t supposed to get anything, but it seems to have shifted over the past few hours. Damn. I told Stavros we should cancel.” She stomped one foot in the sand, a remarkable break from her usual composure. The wind blew her hair in every direction and her eyes darted around the space.
“Ok, so we call the ferries and get everyone back to Key West. I’m sure there’s insurance for the rest of the stuff?”
Sarah shook her head. “No can do. I already called. They’re busy securing the harbor. We’re supposed to shelter in place.”
“Shelter in place?” Lizzie’s voice came out more hysterical than she’d wanted. “We only have tents.”
“We don’t.” Sarah shook her head. “We have the house.”
“House?” Lizzie didn’t know what she was talking about but then it came to her. “The under-construction house at the far side of the island?”
“Yeah. It’s mine. Or Billy’s. He wanted to make it into a home for us. The previous owners started building it but didn’t finish it. We started on when we first moved here but after a while I realized I didn’t want to live so far from everything, so we got a house on Key Haven instead. Anyway, he meant to finish construction and turn it into a getaway house we could rent out, but he never finished.”
“Can we get all the kids in there?”
“Yeah, if we hurry.”
Around them, more tents unzipped and groggy spring breakers filed out. Carlos, Rita, and Maria stumbled over, all of them in track suits. Sarah filled them in on the situation.
“Dios,” Maria groaned. “This is exactly what you told Stavros might happen.”
“Yup, but fortunately, I ignored the board. I’ve been stocking up on emergency supplies throughout the year, and the second I saw there might be storm, I made sure to send extras of everything over the last week. Rita, pack up your stuff, take whatever you can over to the main house. Maria, same thing. Wake up your team. Take the grills, coolers, everything you can over there before the weather gets worse. Lizzie, help them.”
She spun around to Carlos.
“Get the rest of guests up, Carlos,” Sarah ordered and Carlos got right to it.
“Everyone up!” That was Carlos’s voice, loud and urgent. “Storm coming in. We need to move. Now!”
“What’s happening?” Someone called out from the back.
“Thunderstorm.” Sarah raised her voice, phone in hand. “Major one. It was supposed to pass south of us, but it changed direction. It’s coming right at us.”
“Is it a hurricane?” Emma’s voice cut through the noise, high with panic. “Hurricanes aren’t supposed to happen this time of year!”
“It’s not a hurricane,” Carlos called back. “Pack up your belongings. Don’t worry about the tents.”
“Are we heading back to Key West?” Cynthia called.
“No. Ferry can’t come in this weather,” Sarah explained just as the first drizzles of rain came down. Lightning split the sky. For a moment everything was bright as day. Thunder followed immediately, so loud Lizzie thought she felt the island vibrate.
Shouting erupted from the crowd as people packed up in a panic.
“Remain calm. We’ve all been through a thunderstorm before. The most important thing is to get into the house quickly,” Sarah said, exuding calm. However, Lizzie didn’t quite buy it.
“This is more than a thunderstorm, isn’t it?” Lizzie whispered to her.
“It’s more like an unseasonable tropical storm. The house can withstand it though. We’ll have electricity as long as the grid holds and after that we have to get creative,” Sarah replied.
