When Max Regnery woke the following morning, the first thing he thought was Pine Hollow. He quickly dressed himself and hurried downstairs to the living room, where he switched on the television and went to the Weather Channel, wondering how everything was going in the rest of Virginia.

What he saw was quite alarming. There were trees out on roads everywhere, wind was gaining speed every moment, and there was even some minor flooding – and it was still going strong. Max took a deep breath to steady himself and rushed into the kitchen to grab the landline, leaving the TV blasting in the other room. He dialed the landline for Pine Hollow and prayed to God that Red would pick up the phone.

God was listening. "Yeah?"

"Red! Are you all right? How about the horses?" Max started to run one of his hands through his blonde curls, stopping in the middle and tugging on his hair instead. "Did you bring in the pasture board horses?"

"Yeah, yeah, I brought them all in." There was a long pause, in which Max distinctly thought he heard Red yawning. "I'm fine. The horses are a little spooky, but other than that, they're all great."

"Where are you keeping the pasture boards?" asked Max, picturing them running amuck in the barn aisle. He hoped Red had thought of someplace good to keep them. There weren't a lot of them – four, actually – but it could be disastrous if Red let them all hang around together.

"The second barn."

Max didn't hesitate. "You need to bring them into the main barn, okay? You can maybe put them in the wash stall area or the indoor ring – I don't like having them alone in the second barn. And if you're out there while I'm calling, I won't know why you're not picking up the phone."

"I was about to go out there to get them, Max. Look, you really don't have to worry. Everything is great."

"Okay, good," said Max with a great deal of relief. "How's Angelfire?"

"She's okay. Pacing and whinnying a lot, but other than that, she's fine."

"All right. I'll be out there in twenty minutes or so."

Red sighed audibly. When he spoke next, he sounded extremely tentative. "Max, you're not going to be able to get out here."

"What are you talking about?"

"I went out and checked the road this morning. There are trees down all over it. Nobody could get through there unless they've got a tank and an entire tactical force. It's okay though, I've got everything covered."

Max barely heard Red's reassurance. "Are you serious?" he barked into the phone. "Oh my God…"

"Don't say that," Red murmured.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't say 'oh my God'. God's all we got right now. I wouldn't insult him."

Max opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. Since when had Red been a religious guy? In fact, he hadn't known that Red even believed in God – but he was probably right. "Yeah," said Max vaguely. "Okay…but Red…do you realize that since it's still storming, there's no way anybody can get in there to pick up the trees?"

"Yeah, Max, I know."

There was something in Red's voice now, something that unsettled Max. Red was tense and tired and worried - and he usually never allowed any emotions to really show through. Max decided to let Red go. "Red, if you need anything at all, give me a call, okay? And I'll call once an hour to check in."

"Sure, Max," said Red. He yawned again. "Don't start calling me in the middle of the night though."

"I'll try not to," Max muttered. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

Red hung up before Max did. Max listened to the irritatingly shrill beep for a second before hitting 'end' and putting the phone back into its cradle. He flung himself onto a kitchen stool and buried his face in his hands, wondering what the heck he was supposed to do. He hated being helpless. He hated being away from Pine Hollow for a long time, especially when there were important things happening there – he hated this entire situation. Most of all, he hated not knowing what to do.

Max sat there for a few seconds before finally removing his face from his hands. He straightened up right as Deborah Regnery entered the living room, yawning. "Why is this turned up so loud?" she asked through her yawn, reaching for the television remote. She turned down the volume and looked around. When she caught sight of her husband, she started. "Oh – Max! What are you still doing here?"

"I can't get to Pine Hollow," he explained dully. "There are trees covering the roads everywhere. The river is probably flooding, too." There was a river that cut right across the only road into Pine Hollow. It was usually quite flat and no trouble to drive over, as there was a small bridge; but as Max thought about it, he figured that the bridge would be useless if it was flooding, and it most likely was.

"Oh," said Deborah. "Doesn't Red – Max, doesn't Red live there?"

Max nodded.

"I'm sure he'll be able to handle everything," said Deborah, as if by saying this maybe she could believe it. "It's only rain, right? And if the trees are already down, I'm sure most of the damage is already done."

Max started to say something along the lines of God, I hope you're right, but at the last second he changed his mind. Instead, he said, "I really hope you're right."

"Me too," said Deborah.

At Pine Hollow, Red was in the middle of leading the last two pasture board horses back to the main stable. The first two were cross-tied in the wash stall, and as Red passed them on his way back in, one of them snapped at him.

"No wonder you're on pasture board," Red told the gelding. "Can't get along with anyone, can you?" He shook his head and continued onward, in the direction of the little hallway that was attached to the indoor ring. The hallway itself seemed smaller than ever today, and there were tinny sounds of rain pounding on the roof overhead that echoed. Red took a deep breath – and it turned into a yawn.

He'd barely gotten any sleep last night. In fact, he'd gotten maybe half an hour before he jumped out of bed and hurried back to check on the horses – and he hadn't gone back to sleep after that. He'd just been too busy taking care of the horses. At the moment, they mattered far more than his eight hours of sleep did.

Red released the last two pasture boards into the ring and closed the gate. He hurried over to close the big garage-sized door that led outside; but before he did, he took another look out there to see if the storm was slowing down at all. To his horror, it seemed to be growing worse instead. Branches were whipping everywhere, and the rain was positively torrential. Lightning and thunder hit within seconds of each other.

Dear God, save me, Red thought, just before he pulled the garage door shut.

A/N: Enjoy it? I hope so. Tell me all about your experience with this story in a review. ;) Thanks a ton for the reviews, btw! They make me happy! :D

DISCLAIMER: Still in the prologue, as is the warning.