Flint glanced out of the window, watching the thunderclouds come rolling toward the little town he called home. Clouds meant rain and rain meant crops. Everyone wished for rain than anything else. It hadn't rained for three months, the drought remained everlastingly, without a drop of fresh water touching the ground from a dark cloud. But now, the darkness was nearing, and he could already hear the roar of the clouds, their battering yells towards each other, creating a competition which cloud sounded the more scariest.
KABOOM! The loud crash sounded much more closer, but it wasn't a thundercloud's, for it came right in the room where he stood. A row of Greek curses, followed with some Gaelic and some Chinese? He assumed. He turned around and glanced at his nervous looking wife, who had 'mysteriously' barracked the door with the exam table. He knew his wife despised doctors, but more then anything in the world, she loathed— really loathed— needles.
"Alison! Let me out!" Dr. McCoy's voice came from the other side of the door.
Flint looked up at the ceiling and shook his head, before stepping away from the window and walking over to his pregnant wife, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Allie, do you think you can let Henry out of the closet now?" He pointed to the white door, which an pounding sound coming from behind it.
"Alison!" Dr. McCoy shouted again, this time with an angrier tone. "I'm going to give you ten needles for this!"
"Not now. He just threatened me with needles!" Jaye exclaimed and started to head for the exam room door.
"Don't even try it." Flint pointed his finger at her, his face already turning serious.
"Dash!" Dr. McCoy plead, his voice turning frightened, from his claustrophobia.
"Make him promise to not use any needles on him and I might let him out," Jaye said, crossing her arms.
"Dash...please," came from behind the door.
"First, you are not touching that exam table, am I clear?" Flint informed her with an unpleasant voice, the voice she knew when he was dead serious. "Second, you are getting a needle!"
Heavy breathing came from inside the closet, and a faint, "Faireborn!"
Flint hurriedly grabbed hold the exam table and wheeled it away from the door, opening it up quickly, and a panicky doctor escaped his prison.
Dr. McCoy rested against the warrant officer. "Where is she?" he asked.
Flint turned around, pointed to his wife, but his eyes turned wide with surprise, yet he wasn't surprised, not with Lady Jaye. He glanced at the now wide opened door. She was gone. "Blast!" He knew instantly, this was her plan to escape and he fell for it. He rushed out toward the hallway. "Alison!"
He strode out of the room, his face already turning red from anger. He spotted a nurse coming towards him. "Excuse me, have you seen a woman with short curly hair and green eyes?"
"Yeah, she was heading towards the exit," the nurse told him.
"Thank you," Flint replied, continuing down the hallway, toward the side exit. When he was going to get his hands on her, he didn't know what he would do with her! But she would be getting one of his nice lectures all right!
He banged opened the side door, glancing out to the half filled parking lot, trying to get a glimpse of anyone, and spotted none.
"Where are you hiding, my dear Alison?" Flint mumbled under his breath, turning around, leaning against the white wall, and looked around. His military training pheonixed from within and he glanced up and down the hall, spotting wheelchairs, several nurses and a few doctors walking up and down the corridors, but no Jaye. Then, his brown eyes narrowed at spotting a gray door, which had a sign on it. 'Supplies.'
He took two long strides, reached for the handle and pulled the door open with a swift move. A chuckle rose to his throat, spotting the mops, buckets, and other supplies, but the chuckle became a victorious laugh, getting glimpse of the brown hair in the corner with one angry looking wife who had been 'seeked.'
"When are you ever going to learn?" he scolded her, walking inside the closet, grabbing her by the wrist and waist, pulling her upwards and then over his shoulder. He walked out of the closet, carrying Jaye and ignoring her curses and who knows what else, while the shocked hospital staff watched them speechless.
Flint strode all the way back to the exam room, his face hard. He ignored the feeling of vibration on his lower leg, knowing that Duke was calling in for another mission.
"Found her, Henry," he announced to the doctor, walking into the room, finding it now back to normal, as if Jaye had not even been there!
Jaye crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll behave as long as there are no needles involved."
Henry shook his head and stuck his head out the door. "Bring in the Sonogram machine."
Flint walked over to the exam table and settled his wife down. "Do that again, and I'll take Brutus away from you for a week," he teased, kissing her cheek.
The nurse whom Flint had asked before walked into the room with the machine for the examination. "Here you are, Dr. McCoy," she said, rushing out of the door faster than a Cobra B.A.T. entering the room.
"Now, just lay still," the doctor said.
Jaye laid down and watched as the doctor prepped her for the ultrasound.
"See, no needles," Flint stated, stroking her hair with his hand.
The doctor put the gel on Jaye's stomach and started to move the device over her stomach while she watched the monitor.
"See, there's your baby," Dr. McCoy said with a smile.
Jaye looked from the monitor to her husband.
"It looks like a peanut," Flint pointed out to the screen on the monitor.
The doctor chuckled. He looked at the progress of development. "It appears that you are three months along."
Jaye looked at Flint with a shocked look on her face.
"Really?" Flint asked, taking his wife's hand in his. "Everything looks all right?"
"The baby is rather small. We'll have to monitor it. But otherwise everything looks normal just on the small side," Dr. McCoy told them.
Flint nodded. "Thanks Henry," he said. "Does she need to do more blood work at the moment?" He felt Jaye's hand squeeze very hard against his, knowing of her phobia of needles.
"No, no. Not this time. But I want her to eat more. She needs to increase her caloric intake by half," the doctor told him knowing that he needed to tell Jaye's husband as well as let her know.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Jaye asked, still looking at the screen.
The doctor moved the device around some more. "I'm sorry but the baby is to small to really tell at the moment."
"Well, whatever the little peanut is, I'm sure he or she will have a great life, and probably learn every Gaelic curse there is!" Flint chuckled, leaning down and kissing Jaye's forehead, then looked at the doctor once again, turning serious. "Henry, what about the dangers of Allie's age?"
"The good thing is that she's had a child before. But we will have to do an amniocentesis when she is about five months along to see if there are any genetic abnormalities or down syndrome," Dr. McCoy explained. "You'll have to be ready for that possibility and what option you are going to take."
Jaye looked at her husband. "No matter what Dash, I'm going to have this baby."
"All right, I'll take both of your words right now," Flint agreed to both the doctor and his wife.
The thunder began to roar from outside the window as it began to get darker inside the room.
"Looks like the storm is coming closer," Flint pointed out.
"We should head home. We can do the shopping later," Jaye told him, worried about the farm and her child.
Flint agreed. "Let's go." He helped her down from the examination table just when a bolt of lightening struck close by the Hospital, causing the lights to blink on and off. "Henry, I'll talk to you soon," he promised the old family friend, while leading his wife out of the room. They rushed out of the door when the powerful wind smack right into them. He wrapped his arm around his wife protectively, leading her to the car.
Making sure she got in the car first, he raced around the vehicle and jumped into the driver's seat. Another flash of lightning and a roar of thunder made chills run up and down their spines on the summer's day. Flint drove out of the parking lot and headed toward the farm, both of them barely talking. They've been through enough storms to be ready, for anything.
Just then the cell phone rang and both of them exchanged worried looks if anything had happened to their fifteen-year-old son. But they knew that Cayden had been with Nancy during the morning, checking on the south fence to be sure that this time none of the cattle could get lose, like several weeks ago when the entire south fence was damaged and most of their cattle had managed to escape.
Flint pulled out the cell and answered it immediately, "Cay-" he went to say into the phone when the other voice interrupted him.
"Dash, it's me," Ace said frantically into the phone.
Jaye looked at Flint worried.
Flint mouthed "Brad." to his wife, then calmly asked on the phone, "Brad, is something wrong with Cayden?"
"No, Cayden's here with me," Brad said, strong winds could be heard from the other end. "I can't find Nancy and there are tornadoes heading our way."
"Is Cayden all right?" Jaye asked, worried for her beloved son.
"What do you mean, you can't find Nancy? We left her with Cayden!" Flint spoke with a slight fear in his voice. He glanced at his wife, then back on the road.
KABOOM! The thunder roared above their heads and Ace's answer came in bits and pieces.
"Brad, what was that again?" Flint asked, trying to calm himself down.
"She left Cayden with me while she went home to get the casserole for Mrs. Peabody," Ace told Flint.
Flint nearly ran off the road. He grabbed hold the wheel tightly in his hands and gained control of his car. "Sorry, Allie," he apologized, then said into the phone, "Brad, did anything happen?" He didn't want to scare the younger man by telling him that Mrs. Peabody was not only dead for the past ten years, but also a cat.
"We had a little argument," Ace admitted sadly. "I didn't think it was anything big at the time. I don't know what to do. Does Allie know where she would have went?"
Flint sighed. "Let me ask her." He turned to his wife. "Allie, Cayden's fine, but Nancy is missing. She told Brad she went to Mrs. Peabody's! Got any clues?" he asked, driving faster, wanting to get home and fine his missing sibling.
Jaye shook her head. "Tell him to try the south pasture. She maybe with Pegasus."
"Brad, Allie says to try the south--" Flint stopped talking on the phone, and then cursed under his breath. "Blast! We were cut off!" He looked at his wife. "Don't worry. I know Nancy, she won't be out in this storm."
The thunderclouds roared, the rain started to drop and the wind blew fierce against the car, shaking it from its mighty strength. They drove in silence for the rest of the trip, taking note on any funnel cloud near by, and thankfully none were close. Driving onto the gravel road to the farmhouse, Flint scanned the area in any sign on Nancy, but the only thing that his eyes could see was the pounding rain, falling fast to the ground.
"Get in the house!" Flint said to Jaye, opening the door, running around, and trying to keep his balance. He opened the passenger door for her. "Hurry." He took her arm, and led her onto the porch where they found both Cayden and Ace pacing.
"No, I want to help find Nancy," Jaye yelled over the roaring winds.
Cayden rushed over to his father.
"Allie, stay here, just in case she comes back," Flint told her, trying not worry her more then she already was. He glanced at his son. "Cayden, keep your Mother company." He patted him on his shoulder. "Uncle Brad and I are going to go and search for your aunt."
"Dash, find her. This storm is coming on us fast," Jaye called out over the wind.
"Come on, Mom," Cayden said, trying to lead her into the house.
Ace looked around worriedly.
"We will," Flint promised, giving her an assured hug before walking over to his brother-in-law. "Brad?" he asked, glancing at the younger man who kept searching around in an lost state. "Ace?" he tried once again, this time touching Ace's shoulder. "We will find her."
"We have too," Ace nodded and followed Flint around as they began their search.
"Brad, check the south barn, I'll head for the stables!" Flint shouted as loud as he could toward his brother-in-law. He saw Ace send him an thumbs up signal as if he got the message, and raced toward the south barn, while he ventured toward the stable battling the strong elements. "NANCY!!!"
The wind was his only answer and the rain pounded on his clothes, damping them.
"NANCY!" Flint cried out again for his sister, his heart pounding at its fullest. He grew intensely worried. She knew the storms, she knew not to get caught in them, then why on earth did she do this? Questions whirled in his head, but he shoved them away, heading toward the stable.
The greeting of frightened animals came to his ears. The horses had become restless, and he knew that meant trouble. The wind picked up, creating a sound that chilled his very soul. He checked the stalls, while he passed each one. "Nancy?" he cried out again in the barn, and again no answer came.
A neigh came from his right and he turned his head to get a glimpse of Wilma who shook hers repeatedly.
"Easy girl," Flint soothed, walking over and petting the horse to calm her down. But his eyes widened, catching glimpse of the stall next to his beloved horse. Empty! Pegasus's stall was empty! Fear filled his eyes. She had gone out in this weather! He was going to kill her! If he had Cover Girl's Wolverine at that same moment, she would have been run over five times! Walking into the stall, he grabbed Wilma's saddle and placed it on her back, buckling it, He had to find her! He had to find his sister!
Mounting the mare, he felt the horse's muscles tense from underneath him, knowing that she did not want to venture out in this blustery weather.
Wilma suddenly reared up, frightened from the thunder that came crashing down from outside.
"Easy girl." Flint tried to gain control of the animal. He turned his head around, getting ready to meet the floor, but didn't. His quick eye caught on something brown in the next stall and his heart rate raced. "Nancy!" He jumped off Wilma, and rushed to Pegasus's stall, opening the gate and dashed inside, finding his sister curled in a small ball, fast asleep on a small mount of hay. He bent down, touching gently her cheek. "Nan?"
Nancy slightly began to stir. "Brad?" her faint voice cried out.
"Nancy, wake up, please," Flint gently gathered her in his arms, holding her close.
"Dash?" her raspy voice came like music to his ears.
"I'm right here," Flint said gently, kissing her on the head, holding her tighter. "I'm right here."
Nancy slowly opened her brown eyes and looked up at his identical ones. "Where's Brad?" she asked faintly, trying to stir fully awake.
"Out looking for you," Flint answered her, "Nan, he's worried sick!"
"I didn't mean to get him worried," Nancy told him, closing her eyes and leaning against his dampened shirt.
"Shh, it's all right now." Flint cradled her in his arms, like he used to when she was only three. He glanced around and then looked right into her features. " What were you doing out here? Where's Peg?"
Nancy's entire body stiffened. "Dash, please don't ask me that question," her voice gave off a frightened tone.
"Nancy, this is me, Dashie. Tell me what is going on?" Flint asked her softly. "Something is wrong and I can feel it."
"I sold her," Nancy answered him, a tear sliding down her cheek.
The thunder once again roared and the horses became more frightened of the storm.
"What! Why?" Flint asked again, trying to get to the bottom of all this. The vibrator on his cell phone started once again and once again he ignored it.
"II needed to pay off the farm's bills," came the answer, so soft, so far away, as his sister clutched him tightly. "Please, don't be mad. Don't get mad at him, please."
Flint held her closer and kissed her forehead. "Mad at who? Brad?" He felt her stiffen at the mention of her husband's name. "Nancy, has Brad been gone a lot?"
"Yes," Nancy answered in a small voice.
"Has he been gambling?" he asked gently, already wanting to bury the ex-Joe member.
"Please, don't let me answer that," Nancy plead, looking at him straight into his eyes.
Flint glanced down at her and right into her eyes which betrayed her answer. He knew it! Ace was dead meat! He then dared to ask one more question that had been in his head for weeks. "Did Brad take Wilma?"
Nancy was quiet, withdrawn, and barely now looking at him.
He kissed her on the head once again, and picked her up in his arms. The wind blew fierce against the stable and they listened to its power in silence.
"Let's take you home," he told her gently, walking out of Pegasus's stall, and headed out of the stables. His features turned hard and his own muscles tensed. Quickly he raced out of the stables and toward the farmhouse, the large droplets of rain falling on them both.
"Dash, ple-ease don't be angry," Nancy requested, holding on while he marched on the front porch steps. "It's my fault!"
He didn't listen to her, but banged the door open with his boot. "Allie!" He cried out into the house, walking inside.
Cayden rushed up to them. "Aunt Nancy, are you all right?" Jaye was no where to be found.
"I'm fine, if Dashie finally puts me down!" Nancy said, still in her brother's strong arms.
Flint placed her on the ground, rubbing her back. "You need to change," he requested, glancing up and down her wet clothing.
"So do you!" She pointed to his damp clothes.
"Allie will have something for you," Flint replied, then looked at his son. "Where is she?" he asked, before he called out his wife's name once more. "Allie!"
"She went out to open the storm cellar. There's a tornado headed our way. She also said something about letting the horses out of the stable," Cayden said urgently. "She wouldn't let me go with her."
"Damn it!" Flint growled, starting to head out the door. "Cayden, get your Aunt Nancy some warm clothes! And some for me and for Uncle Brad too! Then head for the shelter! Got it?"
"Dash—" Nancy touched his shoulder. "Let me—"
"No," he said strictly. "I don't want you sick." His eyes turned soft. "Now go."
Nancy nodded, turned and raced up the stairs, Cayden following her.
Flint opened the hallway closet, grabbed some rain gear and once again set out on foot. He glanced to his right and left, seeing if he could spot Ace or Jaye, and found no trace of either of them. He raced toward the stables first, checking there. Nothing. He rushed in and started opening stalls. "Yiahh!" He slapped the horses, getting them at a run, and letting them loose. He kept opening, stall after stall, letting all of the animals out. Finally, he let the last horse free from its small home.
Heading out of the barn, toward the storm cellar, he collided with a mass, sending both to the ground. Mud covered his eyes. "Allie!" he cried out, his eyesight blurry.
"No," Ace said. "Don't tell me your wife's lost too?"
Flint wiped the mud off his face and found the air pilot's muddied one. He buried his anger he felt inside for the other man at that moment. More was at state. "Cayden said she went out to the cellar," he growled. "When I get my hands on her, Mrs. Faireborn is dead meat!" He frowned, standing up. "I found Nancy, she's fine."
Relief flooded out of the pilot's face. "Come on. I'll help you look," Ace told him and helped him up which was hard in this weather.
"Let's go," Flint grabbed hold of the pilot and pulled him along, keeping each other from falling down from the strong winds. He wanted nothing more then to have his fist thrown on the handsome face next to his, but he kept his anger in check. "She could be looking for that mangy cat too!"
Sure enough, Jaye came out of the south barn carrying the kitten and had the bottle-fed calf on a leash, trying to lead it to the storm cellar.
Cassie and Donatello were following her.
Flint raced toward his wife, half dragging Ace with him. "Alison!" he cried out. He picked up the calf in his arms. "Move!" He commanded, the wind turning deadly, while they headed for the shelter.
Ace helped Jaye get into the cellar. "Nan..." Ace said and rushed over to his wife, holding her tightly.
Jaye soaking wet, placed the kitten down, glancing about her.
Cayden had turned on the police scanner-weather radio, listening to the newscast.
Flint came down the steps, letting the calf down gently. The dogs rushed right behind him. He turned and started shutting the door.
"You're soaked!" Nancy stated to her husband, letting him go. She reached and grabbed the extra clothing provisions. "I brought plenty." She handed Ace some of Flint's P. T. G. I. J.OE clothing, "Allie," she called over to her sister-in-law. "Here, you'll get sick if you don't change!"
Jaye went behind the partition they had set up there years ago and quickly changed.
Ace quickly changed while Jaye was behind the partition.
Cayden handed his father a set of clothes and pointed for him to go behind the partition and change.
Flint nodded. "Thanks." He sneezed and walked towards the partition. "Got room for one more?" he teased, peeking from the corner. "Hmm, I like what I see." A towel flew through the air and smacked him right in the back of the head. "Nancy!" he scolded, shaking his head.
Jaye laughed and moved over to make more room for her husband.
Ace changed and then went to make sure all the batteries for the lights worked.
Nancy took out some food provisions, and Cayden helped take care of the animals. Soon, they all settled in for the long wait until the sky turned blue once again.