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.Anyway, none of them are going to do us any damage.Now, you folks staying to supper?""I think we'll get on back while we can," Neal decided."Thanks anyway.""But you'll remember we're here if you need us," Babs reminded him."Tell you what," Mike said."Your generator running?""I was going to put it on when I got back," Neal said."You do that.Then give me a shout on your CB, so we can make sure we hear each other."Neal nodded, and as it was not actually raining at the moment, escorted Meg outside.Mike closed and bolted the door."They're scared as shit.""So are we all," Babs pointed out."115 miles an hour.That sounds one hell of a lot of wind.""We'll ride it, Babs," Lawson said reassuringly, and rumpled Tamsin's hair; the little girl had been strangely silent all evening."Won't we, Tammy?""I wish Mommy were here.And Daddy," she added as an afterthought."Think of all the exciting things you'll have to tell them," Belle said."Now, let's get supper." She looked at the door."What's that roaring noise?""That's the sea getting up," Lawson told her."The surf pounding on the rocks.It's going to be a wild night, folks."The CB was spluttering."Can you hear me, Mike?" Neal was asking.Mike thumbed the handset."Sure.Loud and clear.Well, maybe not all that loud or clear, but I sure can hear you.Keep in touch."Park Avenue — 7.30 pm"Well, hi," Jo said, opening the door."I didn't expect you so early.""I came as soon as I could get away," Richard explained."And I'm glad to see you." Jo stepped back, and shrugged."Owen Michael," she said."This is a friend of… of your father's and mine, Richard Connors.You must have seen him on TV.""Say, are you really the guy on TV?" Owen Michael shook hands, impressed."Will you write in my autograph book?""Any time," Richard agreed."I'll get it." He ran for his bedroom,Richard stared at Jo."It's okay," she said."It doesn't really matter now.""I wasn't thinking of that."She frowned, suddenly realizing that he looked as if he'd seen a ghost."Richard? What's the matter?""I came over to tell you." he hesitated."What?" she almost screamed at him."Faith's done a dirty on us," he said."What do you mean?""Well, she maintained her course until she was past the southern tip of Eleuthera… Eleuthera is damn near a hundred miles long, you know.”"I know," she said."I holiday there, remember? It's just a glorified sandbank, hardly a couple of miles wide anywhere.So where's the storm gone?"He swallowed."She's turned due west.""Due west? But… oh, my God!""Yes," he said miserably."Her new track will take her right over central Eleuthera.That means North Eleuthera will be in the dangerous semi-circle.The most dangerous quadrant, in fact.And Jo… she's increased in strength again; winds at the center are blowing over 200 miles an hour.""Oh, God," Jo said."Oh, God." Her knees gave way and she sat down."Do you think they know?""Well, surely they'll be listening to the radio for an update every hour," he said."And they'll be taking every precaution.""But there's nothing any of us can do," she moaned.He sat beside her, put his arm round her shoulders, ignoring the boy who stood in the doorway."Not a thing.Except pray."Dolphin Point, North Eleuthera, Bahamas — 9.00 pm"Why do hurricanes always come at night?" Tamsin asked."Well, honey." Belle, engaged in tucking her in, looked at her husband for an explanation."They don't," Lawson said."They just seem more scary at night.Anyway, we don't even know this one is going actually to reach here tonight.These are just the first squalls.""But maybe it will, and by the time you wake up tomorrow, it'll be all over," Babs said reassuringly.Tamsin buried her face in her pillow."I wish the thunder would stop.""Thunder can't harm you, sweetheart.Now try to get some sleep."Big Mike stood looking out through one of the sliding glass doors; there was a board for this too, but they had left it off until they knew the storm was close, to give them some light and occasional air."First squalls, huh?" he remarked, and Lawson joined him."What do you reckon it's blowing out there?""I reckon it's gusting about 70 miles an hour.If the forecasts are right, and the storm is out to the east, we shouldn't get much more than this.Say, there's a forecast on radio in a few minutes; we'd better listen.""Forget it.We're in the middle of it.I don't want to listen to some kid in a snug studio telling me what I'm experiencing."The thunderstorm was fierce, the flashes of lightning so bright they gleamed through cracks between the shutters and lit up the glass in the door as if someone had switched on the outside lights; the wind whined and the rain squall slashed at the house, but it passed over quickly enough, and it was obvious that the storm had not yet in fact arrived, but Lawson preferred not to argue with his father-in-law who, he could tell, was distinctly nervous.And it was coming closer, as even after the squall had passed over and the wind dropped somewhat, the thunder continued to growl in the distance.Around the supper table the atmosphere had been one of tense joviality, tempered with apprehension, as they had eaten various leftovers which would go off first.Although, by mutual consensus, the Donnellys had decided against taking Lawson's advice and had topped the generator up with oil and water to keep it going – Big Mike having calculated there was just enough fuel to last the night and claiming that it was absolutely necessary to keep in touch with the Robsons – they knew that from tomorrow they would be without electricity, and probably for some days.Big Mike continued to stare through the door."I guess we should put this final shutter up.""Not necessary, yet." Lawson shook his head."Faith is still a long way away.Relax."Mike glared at him, suddenly irritated by the casual confidence in the younger man's voice."How come you know so much about it, eh?""I was in Martinique when David struck, oh, must have been more than ten years ago.""Was that a big one?""He carried 100 miles an hour plus winds just like this one is supposed to do.Come on, Dad, settle down and let's talk about what we're going to do with all of that money lying just up the road."It was the sort of chaff the entire family indulged in all the time, but Big Mike felt like hitting him.Then he remembered Korea.He could picture all the boys sitting around a tiny fire in the native hut laughing and leg pulling in whispers, no one giving a hint of his inner terror that at any moment a bunch of Commies might burst in on them after silently dispatching the pickets.Fear is exhausting, it saps your strength, and you can't live with it, only alongside it.To survive, you must constantly deny it, boost your morale and your determination to win – and boost those around you as well.So he grinned, and said, "Well, let's see now."There was a particularly loud bang, which brought Tamsin upright in her bed, weeping with terror.Mike and Lawson jumped to their feet, ran to open the glass door and peer out.They were between rain squalls, although the air was damp with the spray thrown up by the sea on the outer side of the point, so they ran outside in opposite directions, buffeted by the wind, which was now a sustained 50 miles per hour.Dale followed them, and Belle and Babs stood on the patio, Tamsin between them, wind whipping their hair and clothes, to look over the garden down at the dock [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]