CHAPTER NINE

The day moved slowly. Story after story broke on the news channels. People were sick of listening to it, but they couldn't pull themselves away. As four became five and five six, some people finally pulled themselves from the television to put together dinner. Arthur watched his mother go through the motions in their kitchen while David sat transfixed. Kate was babbling in his arms, seemingly ignoring everyone, but Arthur knew if they tried to take her to her crib for a nap, or if they left her alone for a single moment, she'd scream as if something was taking her.

As darkness fell, tension rose higher. Rain continued to fall, but now people couldn't see much of anything when they looked out their windows. Muffy was comforted. At least she couldn't see the creek anymore, she thought, but then worry took over. She couldn't see the creek anymore, and neither could anyone else. It would continue to rise. She knew that. And it would continue to spread out from its banks. If it spread as far as their estate, would they know it was coming?

Around eight, Millicent decided they should go to bed. Muffy dressed and brushed her teeth diligently, careful to leave her shoes and a travel outfit of jeans, a long-sleeved thin t-shirt, and her favorite rainy day boots, next to her bed. Millicent noticed when she went to kiss her good night, and she knew she had to give her daughter some reassurance.

"Bailey has first watch, otherwise he'd be up here now. At midnight, he and your father will switch, then they'll switch again at four. Then we'll all be awake to keep watch," Millicent smiled, kissing Muffy's forehead. She smoothed her hair and whispered, "We would never let anything happen to you."

"I know that, but even Mr. Ratburn is being evacuated. He's my teacher and he's probably going to lose everything. It's terrifying!" Muffy cried.

"It is, even for us adults. But there's nothing we can do right now but wait. We'll keep on a television to know what's going on. I'd turn on the weather radio again but there are so many warnings that it's distracting. We'd never get any sleep," she smirked, careful to not to add 'as if we would sleep anyway.'

Muffy was slightly comforted by her words, but when her eyes closed, all she could see were images from the television. A lady and her dog were rescued around six that afternoon after waters rose quickly and disabled her vehicle, an image that haunted her almost as much as seeing the last update on Mr. Ratburn's neighborhood before sundown. Water was up to the base of most windows, and it was expected to keep on rising two inches an hour for every moment it kept raining.

Brain was doing the math himself, so much so that his parents were growing gravely concerned about their son's well-being. He muttered numbers under his breath and refused to eat anything throughout the day. Now that night was here, he was glued to his desk, his lamp on as his bloodshot eyes remained fixed on the paper he was using for his equations. His mother wanted to rip the papers from his possession and force him to sleep, but her husband decided they couldn't do that…yet. He promised to keep an eye on him and on the house. His wife trusted him and went to bed.

Across town, Binky was waiting up by the phone. His father was in the master bedroom with Mei-Lin. It was the only way to keep her calm, and a little after nine they both managed to fall asleep. Binky couldn't sleep yet, not until he heard from his mother.

Around ten, she finally called. She was surprised to hear Binky's voice instead of her husband's, but when he told her about Mei-Lin, she understood.

Before she got off the phone, he was told to leave the television on in the living room, but his room was to remain quiet. If he heard water rushing he was supposed to run. Binky wasn't sure what that meant until the call ended. He then turned on the television and saw the breaking news: A city north of them was getting far more rain, and a reservoir lake was rising steadily. It was rising so quickly that the dam holding it back was set to break within hours, sending thousands of gallons of water rushing south of the city and into the creeks and streams of Elwood City, creeks and streams that were already at their limits because of Elwood City's rain.

Binky wanted to turn off the television. If he couldn't hear it then it wasn't real. But his mother told him to leave it on, so he did. Like Muffy, he put his rain boots by the bed. Unlike Muffy he slept with his clothes on and a flashlight gripped tightly in his hand.