I had to slow again to drive over a power line, broken and wiggling like a snake. Yikes. “Ask her if they found Gordon.”
“... yes, we’re going there,” he said. “Trinity is very upset and Gordon... well, she’s probably hiding. We’ll find her. What? No, we just left the hotel. We should be there... what’s in the road?”
I waited to hear the answer to this question, but there was none: the line went dead, and he lowered the phone, looking worried. “Sounds like there might be a problem,” he said. “We’ll see.”
A couple of miles later, we did: a tree had fallen across both lanes, bark and leaves scattered all around it. The sky was as dark as I’d ever seen it in my life, and suddenly, probably much later than I should have, I felt my heart begin to race. I was scared.
“Dad,” I said as we stopped. “Now what?”
He took a breath. We’d gotten this far—extracting the car, dealing with the weather—and now it was all for nothing. I thought of Trinity, crying in the dark of the TV room. I was about to turn to him and say we should just run the rest of the way when I heard it.
Music.
It was distant, and barely audible above the whipping wind and the rain. But it was there, tinkling piano music, growing louder and louder. It seemed nuts I didn’t put together that it was the Yum truck until it appeared on the other side of the tree, its lights blinking.
“Roo,” I said, feeling a rush of relief. I pushed my door open.
“What?” my dad asked.
“Just come on.” I jumped out and started to run, going around the tree with him following. The rain stung my skin, the howl of the wind filling my ears: it felt like the storm might just carry me away, like Dorothy whenThe Wizard of Ozis in black and white. But then Roo was holding open the door, and I was climbing in. The music was still going.
“It’s stuck,” he said by way of explanation as my dad piled in behind me. I moved to the cooler, my spot, while he took the front seat, putting on his belt as Roo backed up. “But at least people can hear us coming.”
We started driving the final stretch, passing Conroy Market, where the power was also out. Roo stuck his hand out the window and gave a thumbs-up to Celeste, who was standing outside, her phone to her ear. Then she, likeeverything else, was lost in the wind and rain behind us. But still the music kept playing.
“Apparently, there’s a huge tree down on the highway,” Roo said as he leaned forward, trying to see through the windshield. The wipers were going full speed, but only pushing the water around. “So Trinity can’t get to the hospital.”
“She’s not in labor, just scared,” I said. “And Gordon—”
“Is going to be insomuch trouble once I find her safe,” he finished for me. My dad glanced at him, saying nothing. “Okay, we’re almost there. Once we are, you go find Trinity. I’ll look for Gordon.”
“You take cover,” my dad said. “I’ll handle looking for Gordon.”
Roo jerked the wheel to the right, suddenly, to dodge a branch that was in the road, and I almost slid off the cooler, catching myself at the last minute. The music made it sound like a wacky caper, not an emergency.
Finally, we were at Calvander’s, where all the windows facing the water were boarded up, debris from the beach—a shovel, a plastic bag, a beer can—blowing across the yard. Roo jerked to a stop and we all jumped out, running to the main house. The tree that had so scared Trinity was across the porch, water pouring in the one window it had hit, reminding me how serious this actually was.
“Trinity!” I yelled as I came up the steps, throwing the door open. The house was quiet except for the wind, wheezing through any and all cracks. “Where are you?”
“In here!” she said.
I pushed open the door to the TV room to find her on the couch, holding a pillow, tears streaming down her face. “She’s not anywhere!” she said. “I’ve looked all over the goddamn place.”
“It’s okay,” I said, going to her as Roo and my dad took off to the kitchen and the rest of the house. I heard them yelling Gordon’s name as I grabbed a blanket from the couch, shaking it out over Trinity, who was trembling. “We’ll find her.”
“Don’t leave me!” she yelled, but I had to, running down the hallway to the kitchen, where the windows were all rain: I couldn’t even see the lake. Outside, I could still make out the tinkling music of the Yum truck, or at least I could until another sound grew loud enough to drown it out: a humming, like an engine. Growing closer.
My dad, coming back down the stairs, heard it too. “Tornado,” he said. “Into the middle room, both of you. Now!”
I hadn’t even realized Roo was there, behind me, until he said, “I can’t. We have to find Gordon.”
“I will find Gordon,” my dad told him. “GO.”
I looked at Roo, who nodded and then ran back down the hallway, me following. In the TV room Trinity was rocking back and forth, her eyes squeezed shut.
“Oh, my God,” she said as I sat down beside her, taking her hand. Her grip was like a vise, tightening with each boom of thunder from outside. “Where’s Gordon? If she’s outside, she’ll—”
“Shh,” Roo said, taking her other hand. “Emma’s dad is on it.”
