Christine quickened her pace along the gravely path. She could smell the ocean and the impending rainstorm. She knew she was not going to make it back before the downpour began. All she had was her thin parasol to shield her from the sunlight on her walk out to visit her father's grave but it would not be much use in the rain. The air tasted salty and electric. There was little wind and the birds had ceased their chirping in the orchards that the path wound through on the hillside. The darkened clouds billowed and swept towards her from the sea. She could see flashes of light high up inside them, lighting them from deep within. They were too far out to hear the thunder, but they were moving very fast. She needed to find some sort of shelter or be drenched when the heavens opened up to drown the land in rain.

Erik left the shop late afternoon, giddy and flushed. The package in his pocket felt heavier than it ought to and he was very aware of it pressing against his thigh. He held his hand against it to reassure him it was not going to slip out and be lost in the street as he made his way back to the inn. As he walked north on the road, he saw the sky and his joy of the moment vanished as he saw the lightening streak across it.

"Christine!" he shouted and broke off into a run towards the Inn of the Setting Sun.

Marie was already standing in the doorway, anxious and rubbing her hands on her skirt. Erik knew Christine had not yet returned. Erik ran towards the old woman asking, "Where is the cemetery?" as she followed him toward the stable.

"Go south on the main road that leads from town. Look for an old abandoned church steeple half hidden in the trees on the right. The cemetery is on the path that leads behind it. You'll have to pass through a few miles of apple orchards before you see it," She said quickly as Erik bridled a young mare and led her outside. There was no time for a saddle and didn't need one anyhow since he had almost always ridden bareback.

"Hurry and find her, monsieur. This storm is going to be a very bad one, I can tell!"

And with that, Erik spurred the horse to a gallop and rode down the path to the road through town. He could hear the thunder getting louder behind him and smelled the rain's heavy scent in the air. The horse was young and fresh and could run very fast considering it was rather small. He urged it faster, holding on firmly with his thighs pressing down on the animal's shoulders. He loosened his grip on the reins and leaned forward to give her headway to stretch her stride and go faster.

The first of the raindrops came riding on the wind that was picking up increasingly fast. He looked up and the edge of the black clouds cut the sky in two, ahead of him a sunny and hilly landscape and behind him, the floodgates of hell unleashed. Thunder crashed loudly over him and he felt the rumble in his chest. The horse whinnied in fear and tried to fight Erik's firm hold on the reins. Erik was well experienced with horses so he pulled them in a little tighter and leaned across the shoulders with his head to the side in case she reared up and tried to throw him. The rain had picked up intensity and he felt his cloak being plastered to his back as the wind blew the storm against him. He was soaked in a matter of moments and the rainfall was so hard now it was difficult to see the path clearly. He desperately wanted to remove his mask but he feared he would lose it, having no place safe to keep it and still hold onto the reins. He knew he had to find her, and fast. They had to get out of this storm and someplace safe.

Christine knew as she walked, there were very few places to find shelter along the road until she reached very close to Perros-Guirec. As the raindrops began to pelt the ground she knew she only had one choice and that was to turn back and head towards the cemetery to the old church. It had been abandoned after a tree fell through part of the roof years ago, when her father was still alive, and since it was hardly used anymore after the new church was built nearby, the townspeople just left it as it was. Christine had just turned around to head back when the real rain hit. She felt like she was standing in the waterfall of an icy cold river. Her dress became unbearably heavy and her boots squelched in the mud as she tried to run faster along the road.

Erik heard the wind howling around him, the lightening cracking across the sky and striking the ground in the not to distant fields. His horse screamed at the sound and wheeled around. Now the entire sky was black and the ground was a river of rain and runoff from the hillsides, carrying with it all the dead undergrowth it picked up. He shouted against the wind Christine's name over and over again. He prayed he could find her, knowing that most likely she would have sought shelter from this deluge of water. The rain began to sting as it hit his skin. Then he realized that the cold water was starting to crystallize into hailstones. They were small but they were getting larger and hurting more as they pelted him and his mount mercilessly.

Erik somehow heard her shriek through the din of the wind and hail that was destroying the plants all around him. She was cowering under a large oak tree a small distance away from the road, which was now a river of churning mud.

"Erik!" she cried out.

He steered his mare towards her and dug his heels into her ribs to reach Christine quickly. He leapt off the horse, still holding onto the reins so she could not run off and embraced Christine as she ran into his arms with a sob. "Oh Erik, you found me!" she cried into his shoulder.

He quickly wrapped her into his sodden cloak as an added layer of protection from the sting of the pellets of ice that bounced off of them. He lifted her onto the terrified animal's back and mounted up behind her, holding her close to him and shielding her from most of the downfall.

"To the church," she shouted at him, "it's the only place that's safe!"

He urged speed at the mare, as much as she could manage with her double burden, back up the road and over the hill until he saw what was left of a steeple standing tall above the treetops. When they reached the church, Erik dismounted and kicked the doors open to lead the horse inside with Christine still on its back.

Inside, the roar against what was left of the roof was deafening. Up towards the altar, beams from the ceiling lay across the floor and the large trunk and branches of an enormous tree jutted through the hole it had made. Water was pouring in through it, but the front half of the church was dry enough and very sheltered.

Erik pulled Christine off the mare's back and cradled her sobbing, shaking body to his chest. "Shh, it's alright Christine," he comforted her. "I've got you."

"I thought I was going to be swept away," she cried, "The water kept getting higher and faster." He barely heard her over the roar of the storm.

Her arms came up around his neck and she buried her face in his shoulder. He settled them down to the leaf strewn floor and brushed her muddied hair away from her face.

He pulled his mask off his face so he could wipe the rainwater out of his eyes and pushed his hair back, shaking out the remaining ice drops that had stuck there; then replaced his mask since it felt warmer on his face than the open air. He kissed Christine's wet forehead tenderly without even thinking of it, it seemed such a natural thing to do. The relief he felt that she was alright was overwhelming and he had not even noticed how afraid he had been for her until she was safe. She was shaking in his arms quite badly, and then he realized she was actually shivering and that he was equally as cold. He hadn't even noticed his discomfort until now.

He looked around him. There was nothing to be had that was dry or warm to wrap her in. He gently deposited her on the floor, leaning her back against the wall and she curled knees towards her chest and shoved her hands under her arms, trying to warm herself. He lifted his cloak and wrung it out as best he could, getting most of the water free of it, and lay it down on the dirty floor.

He knelt by Christine and said, "We need to get as dry as possible." She nodded and stood and with shaking hands, began to unbutton her sodden dress. Erik meanwhile removed his shirt and squeezed the water from it then beat it against the rotted wood of a church pew. It was the best he could do for now. He removed his boots and drained the water from them then noticed Christine standing there, still dressed.

Erik could see her lips were slightly blue from the cold and he could hear her teeth chattering. "My dear, now is not the time for modesty. We have to get warm and I don't have the means with me to make a fire." She nodded her head in agreement and tried to finish undoing the buttons on her dress. Her frozen fingers fumbled with them, unable to feel what she did.

Erik stepped in and undid the last few that would require her to slip out of the dress. Despite being so incredibly cold, he could not help but think with a pang of regret that he wished he were performing this same service for her under more ideal circumstances. He pushed the dress down past her hips and along with it, the destroyed petticoats. They weighed ten times what they should with the amount of mud that clung to them.

"Now lie down close to me," he instructed, trying not to notice her near nakedness.

The cloak felt even colder than before on his bare back as he lay across it. Christine knelt down then scooted closer to him resting her head on his chest. He enveloped her in his arms and was grateful that she had not protested. He could already feel their body heat warming between them.

The poor beast that had carried them both clopped its hooves on the stone floor as it shook its mane dry. Erik felt badly for pushing the animal to exhaustion but was grateful for its speed. It too, settled down on the floor nearby, trying to get warm and dry.

Erik listened to the rain, the hail had ceased and the storm seemed to have lost its initial power. Water poured in and splattered against the stone floor through the hole in the rooftop. The storm had darkened the sky, but Erik could tell that it was nearly nightfall now. They would be here until morning, even if the storm blew itself out before then.

Christine's body gradually relaxed as her temperature rose. They were still wet, he wearing his pants and she in her thin chemise. He knew it would be dry in time. Her hands were closed into tiny fists against her chest and her jaw still quivered but slowly, she drifted off to sleep, safe in the shelter of his arms.