As The Wind Blows -3

AS THE WIND BLOWS
©Copyright 3/2006
By: Kathy Priebe


Chapter Two

Mira looked over her shoulder, good they were almost to the main land. She glanced over at her mom to see if she was doing okay. They shouldn't have waited as long as they did, another swell rose the ferry and dropped it back down leaving her stomach to catch up with the motion. "You going to be all right Ma?"

Daffodil exhaled sharply. "This one's a rough one." She clutched tighter at the urn in her arms. "We should have left earlier." Her mother sat as still as she could and stared out the window of the car at the island they left behind. "Docking is going to be tricky. I'm glad were at this end, I don't want to watch!"

"Me either!"

Mira wasn't sure how they did it, but they managed to pull the ferry in and dock her. She didn't think she would ever look at the ship's personal the same again. These people deserve every ounce of respect given to a doctor or lawyer. They ended up pulling the ferry into a dry dock well and sealing her in. They unloaded the passenger’s from there. The ferry would ride the hurricane out in the well.

They waited on the dock for the rest of the traffic. A gust of wind pushed at the side of the car as the waves started cresting the dock. Mira hoped they didn't wait too long and would be trapped here. Navigating the Causeway to the main land was going to prove challenging. She watched as a man flagging a taxi started to get in as the wind hit him and four elderly people standing huddled behind him.

The man started to grab the car door for support and stopped. One of the elderly women dropped to her knees from the wind. He turned and helped her too her feet and motioned for the four of them to take that taxi.

"Nice man, but I don't see anymore taxi's." Daffodil pointed out the obvious.

"There's got to be a bus or something he could catch." She knew what her mother was thinking. Always one to take in a stray.

"This is not like any other time Mira."

A gust of wind blew a rather larger wave across the dock. Mira had to turn on the windshield wipers and caught a glimpse of the man turning up the collar of his jacket against the wind and salty spray of the ocean.

"Just think. It hasn't even started to rain yet." Daffodil needlessly pointed out.

"I got it Mom!" Mira sighed heavily. "But if he's a murder, it's your fault."

"Have faith, child."

"Hmp!" Mira rolled down her window as she inched through the intersection. "My mom and I saw what you did." She called out to the man, not knowing what else to say.

He turned at the sound of her voice. The salt water from the crashing waves stung his eyes and he squinted to see through his blurry vision. The woman framed in the car window appeared to have a halo. An angel driving a car, sent to rescue him from his own foolishness. He wiped at his eyes with his free hand. Ya. Right!

"We wanted to know if you needed a ride out of here, you can go with us as far as we're going."

The man smiled. Yeah, saved from his own foolishness.

Mira's heart did a little flip-flop. It didn't matter that his hair was a wet mess, the man was gorgeous!

"I'd appreciate it." Seeing the older woman in the front seat, he reached for the back door handle. "You know ladies, you can't be too careful these days." He spoke up from the back seat after he settled in next to his suitcase.

Mira nervously laughed. "If you turn out to be an axe murder," she pointed to her mother, "it's her fault."

She watched in the rearview mirror as the guy humorously smirked. "What was that?"

The vehicle behind them honked. "Never mind," and traffic started moving. "How far are you going?"

He unzipped the front of his suitcase and pulled out a red bandana. "I thought I would be able to ride it out," he wiped his face before any more water could drip off his chin. "Changed my mind. I thought I go to a shelter I know that the Red Cross set up outside of Homestead."

"We're heading to Homestead." She looked at her mother, "this is my mom, Daffodil and I'm Mira."

"Nice to meet you ladies. My name is Brad."