Billy Bob drove slowly through the harsh gale, windshield wipers flipping at high speed. A piece of corrugated aluminum soared in front of the truck, missing them by inches. Billy Bob had all the confidence in the world that nothing would happen to them, but Darryl was looking a little white, making the inch long pink scar running across his chin even pinker. This was the worst storm he had ever tried to pull a job in. But the good news was that there was not another car around for miles. Not even cops. The driver was leaning forward, his ice blue eyes unblinking as he concentrated on the road. The wind-whipped rain was coming down so hard that visibility was limited to just a few feet. The water on the road was about a foot high already, but for this monster truck, it was but a puddle.
"There's the store," Billy said. "Hold on!" and he pointed the truck with the front end protective bar straight at the picture window. Darryl reflexively held up both arms to guard his face as the truck barreled through the storefront.
"There, now we won't even get wet as we pick up our goodies," Billy Bob said triumphantly.
"Man, you are nuts, ya know that?"
"Just get out and start grabbing the jewelry."
Most of the glass cases exploded on impact from the truck, so neither crook had to break anything. They scooped up pearls and 18 k gold rings, precious gemstone necklaces and diamond tennis bracelets. Darryl made a point of finding a navel ring just for his girlfriend. He held it up and yelled over, "Hey, BB, ya think Tiffany would like this?"
"Yeah, yeah, let's finish up and get outa here."
Once they were back in the truck, Billy Bob backed the truck out into 2 ½ feet of water. "Damn! It's rising faster than I thought. Let's get the hell out of here."
In that much flooding, even monster trucks lose some traction and Billy Bob was finding it hard to control the vehicle. In this part of Florida, there were no hills but there was just enough of a small incline that they were able to get to shallower waters. It took them an hour to get out of a town that usually took five minutes. And although there was debris flying all over and hidden under the water, the thick heavy duty tractor tires were able to handle it all. But it was when they got out onto the country roads that the trouble started.
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Peter's spider sense was in full alarm. He jumped up, grabbed Josh who was sitting on the floor next to him, and tackled Belle as she was coming over with more food. Cheese and grapes went flying through the air at the precise moment a huge tree limb crashed through the shuttered window behind him. Shards of glass and wood splinters spewed throughout the room and a heavy chunk of tree occupied the space where Peter, Josh and Belle had just been seconds earlier. He was unable to twist under his two charges to take the brunt of the landing and ended up half on top of Belle and half on Josh. Quickly rocking back off and sitting beside the two people he saved, he subconsciously grabbed at his chest as he asked them, "Are you two ok?"
"I'm fine Peter, just a little winded," Belle said as Judge was already by her side helping her up.
Josh was up in a flash. "Wow, Peter, how did you do that?"
Belle was the first to notice that Peter did not get up immediately and that he was clutching at his injury, "Oh my, you hurt yourself."
"No, no, I'm fine really. It was just a bit of a jolt. I'm more worried about you," he answered as he slowly got up.
Belle recalled the question that Josh had just asked and questioned, "I'm fine, but how did you do that?"
Peter stammered a bit then answered, "I heard the limb cracking. I wasn't sure if it was going to come through the window or not. There's nothing spectacular about it. It's nothing, really. In fact I would probably be in trouble with you right now if the branch didn't come through the window."
Judge ordered, "Pete, you sit. Mr. Agars," referring to Josh's dad, Josh Sr. "would you come and help me push that limb out and nail a board over the window?"
The gentleman nodded and followed after Judge while Belle excessively fussed over Peter.
Really feeling very self conscious about all the attention, Peter tried to assure Belle that he was fine even though his shoulder ached from both the pre-hurricane work he did and the rescue stunt he just pulled. In fact, he was almost sure he pulled apart some of the deeper stitches. Mabel, one of the sisters, noticed his discomfort at all the pampering and nudged, "So, do you have any pictures of this Spiderman with you?"
As he looked over at the old lady, he heard a thump at the front door. Luckily others heard it as well.
"What on earth could that be?" Belle exclaimed.
"Judge! Judge, get your butt up here now." She yelled out.
At that moment, Judge appeared carrying a large particle board, being assisted by Josh Sr. "What is it?"
"I think I heard something at the front…"
The thump came again but it didn't sound like an object being knocked by the wind. Judge went to the door and opened it. He was sent flying back into the arms of Mr. Agars and the two fell against the front stairs. In stormed three people shoved by the powerful winds. Judge, Mr. Agars and one of the rain slickered individuals grabbed the front door and with all their might, shut out the gale. The people in the living room all stared at the dripping apparitions until one of them swept the hood back off her head.
"Deanna!" Peter cried. "What, how, where?"
Her father spoke up, more to Judge than Peter. We couldn't get out. Every road ended in a roadblock, either trees, powerlines or water blocked the access. We didn't even make it to the Interstate. We had no choice but to turn back.
"Hey Pete," she said cheerfully, then looking at the glass and wood splattered room asked, "What happened here?"
He just nodded towards the window. Then Josh piped up, "Yeah, you shoulda seen him. He saved our lives! He was faster than lightning. Before I knew anything was happening, he grabbed me and Mrs. Knapp and tackled us to the floor just as that big tree came crashing through the window." Deanna could see the excitement in the boy's face.
"Gee, Peter, you're quite the hero, first me, and now Josh and Belle." She said fondly.
Belle heard Deanna's comment and deep in the recesses of her mind, she was subconsciously calculating the two rescues and the unknown but hinted reason why Peter was down here to begin with. It would enter the conscious level later.
Pete tried to hide the unease on his face. Now he was sorry that he spent so much time talking about Spiderman. Suppose they start to put things together? The two rescues, him hauling up a very heavy load of candles, and just the fact that Carl sent him down here and wanted him to be treated special. Hopefully no one knew about the Spiderman shooting in NY. That would definitely seal his fate.
Luck was with him, however, as Belle went over to the three drenched guests. "Here, let me take your coats. You must be soaked to the bone. I have jambalaya cooking on the stove. Dinner will be served shortly in the dinning room."
Ever the astute girl, Deanna looked about, "But how could you be cooking if the electricity is out?"
"Gas, my dear. We're cooking with gas."
The guests headed into the dinning room and were prepared to dine by candlelight. Judge and Belle served the New Orleans style dinner over a thick bed of rice. The room was quiet as everyone dug into the food. The only sound being the gale raging outside. Peter was quieter than usual. He was tired and achy. But more importantly, he was worried that he may have given away too much. His identity would be in serious jeopardy if anyone sees that news broadcast from New York anytime in the near future. Viola broke the silence and asked Deanna about her adventure out into the hurricane. Especially from a Kansas girl who has never been in a hurricane.
"Oh, but we have tornados. They're kinda like a condensed hurricane. Their winds are much worse, but they also come and go much faster. No one in their right minds would go out with a tornado on the ground."
Belle raised an eyebrow, looking at the young woman and remembering the stern warning she gave the family about leaving so late. But she held her tongue. "Why don't we have coffee and dessert in the living room?"
While Belle had been preparing dinner, Judge and Josh Sr. had nailed a board over the broken window and cleaned up the debris so the room was once again presentable.
They were digging into light French pastries, when Josh Jr. said, "Tell us more about Spiderman."
Cringing Pete shook his head, "Josh, I'm storied out. I'm sure someone else here has interesting things they would like to share with us."
But he wasn't going to be able to shake his superhero alter-ego tonight. He heard Deanna asked, "What's a Spiderman?"
Josh was all too willing to retell all the stories that Peter had told just hours ago.
"That's just fairy tales," Deanna said. "There's no such thing."
Mrs. Agars spoke up next. "But apparently he is, dear."
Josh butted in, "Yeah, Peter's his unofficial photographer, right Peter?"
Pete just sat there. He felt like crawling into a hole.
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Billy Bob's temper was short to begin with but now with every road seemingly blocked, his temper was flaring almost out of control. He made a turn down a small dirt road which had storm channels flowing across it. Several areas of the road were in the process of getting washed away. Even the monster truck had problems with the trenches being created by the gushing waters. It was at one of these junctures that the left front wheel suddenly took a nose dive and sent the right rear end up in the air. The truck bucked and stuck in this position. Billy Bob got out in the pouring rain and high winds and fought his way to the front of his truck. Darryl, still in the safety of the dry insides watched as his partner in crime started to pound the hood with clenched fists and then kick it.
Darryl reluctantly got out to see what was wrong.
"Fckin' truck! The axle broke." Screamed Billy Bob as he landed another hard kick to the fender.
"Hey, Billy, if we can't get the truck out, then let's at least look for some place to hole up."
Still fuming, he realized that Darryl was right. "C'mon, let's grab the loot and start walkin."
They leaned heavily to the right to keep from being knocked over by the force of the gale. Turning away from the buffeting winds and pelting rain, they both held onto the hoods of their raincoats. Crossing one of the flooded sections, the dirt road under Billy Bob's feet gave way and sent him splat into the raging water. It wasn't deep enough to wash him away, but he was now thoroughly soaked to the skin and covered with gritty mud. Darryl helped his buddy up and even through the thunderous roar of the storm, could hear every word in the long intense string of curses pouring from Billy's mouth.
With night chasing them down, and no flashlight, they were desperate to find any building at all to take shelter in. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to even see a building once darkness fell. The visibility was so poor that they almost missed the house on their left.
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Viola noticed a small baby grand over in the corner, and realizing the young man's discomfort at continuing the storyline, asked Belle, "Is that playable?" nodding towards the piano.
"Yes, it might be slightly out of tune, but not too bad."
"Mabel, why don't you go over and tickle the ivories a little?" the sister urged.
Mabel looked at her sister and saw a slight nod towards Peter. She understood what her sibling meant. So she went over to the piano and sat down. She lifted the lid that protected the keys and studied them for a moment. Then in one fluid motion, she started a haunting rendition of "Somewhere My Love", which was the Theme from Dr. Zhivago.
"Oh for Pete's sake, Mabel, don't put us all to sleep!" cried out Irene.
Mabel looked back at her other sister, harrumphed, then started to pound out the 1940's big hit by the Andrew Sisters, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".
The two remaining sisters stood up and started to clap to the rocking rhythm, jiggling what their old bones could still wiggle. Judge and Belle started swing dancing, when Josh's parents joined in a jitterbug. Not to be outdone, Deanna's parents also started in. When Mabel seamlessly flowed into Johnny Be Good, Pete and Deanna looked at each other, smiled and got up to rock and bop to the music.
At some point, the energy level soaring, the elderly piano player stood up. She was bent over the piano striking the keys as hard as that wild, 50's rock star, Jerry Lee Louis could, her rear end swinging to the beat. Peter was waiting for the frail bones in her fingers to break, but she kept a-pounding out the rock and roll, her hands a blur. She quickly brushed a wayward strand of silver hair that had fallen in her face.
As Mabel flowed from one rocking tune flawlessly into the next Deanna noticed that young Josh was out of it. All of the adults were busy boogying away, but the 10 yr old had no partner. At the same time she also noticed that Peter, only a few days post-op, was starting to fade. "Hey, Pete, would you mind if I ask Josh to dance with me?"
Peter, all too happy to take a rest answered, "Not at all, I bet he'd like that."
He was surprised to see that the boy could dance the jitterbug with Deanna, but his attention was quickly drawn to a pounding at the front door.