Page 42 of Quinn

Hanging onto Quinn for dear life, who hung onto the door handle, Eloise said her prayers as Finn quickly tied the rope around himself and shouted for Quinn to move forward.

With the winds blowing sideways with the strength of a bulldozer, they fought their way to the front of the vehicle. The small roof, twisted with other debris, was just big enough to cause a problem.

Positioning themselves around the top section, Quinn shouted over the wind, “On three!”

Even with three of them, they struggled to lift the first section. All Eloise could think was even if they succeeded in clearing the road, what would stop it all from blowing right back in front of them? For the hell of it, she stopped and shouted into the air, “Danny!” Nothing.

“There won’t be any hearing in this wind. Let’s shout on three. One, two, three.”

“Danny!” three voices echoed in the wind. Again, nothing.

“Let’s get this thing out of here and get on the road.” Quinn turned and gripped the edges again. This time they managed to clear to one side. Fighting the wind, they continued to toss the debris aside.

Just as they cleared the last obstacle, a sudden gust sent Finn stumbling backward.

“Finn!” Eloise screamed, watching a dark blob hurtle through the air straight toward Quinn’s cousin.

Clutching his shoulder, Finn went down—hard.

Rushing forward, Eloise could see a dark splotch—blood—seeping between his fingers. It took another minute to see a shard of metal had caught him.

“Get him in the car!” Quinn ordered.

Together they half-carried Finn to the back of the SUV. Inside, overhead light on, Eloise pulled out the first aid kit and said a fast prayer.

“Is anyone near-mile point twenty-two? Out.” Quinn stared out the window at the swirling mess. He tried one more time. Hearing only static, he gave up and put the radio down.

“How bad?” She gently fingered around Finn’s wound.

“Just a scratch.” But Finn’s pale face betrayed him.

“We need to pull out the scrap.” Quinn was addressing Eloise, but leveled his gaze with Finn.

His face ashen, Finn nodded.

Sucking in a deep breath and blowing it out slowly, Quinn gripped the exposed edge and tugged it out.

Blood gushed, and Eloise pressed gauze against it, putting all her strength into stemming the flow.

Quinn rummaged through a bag and pulled out a shop towel. “They’re clean. We can use this to help stop the bleeding.”

Nodding, Eloise placed the cloth over the bloody gauze, then taped his shoulder. Needing more pressure, she unrolled an ace bandage and wrapped him as best she could. “I’d better stay back here and keep the pressure on.”

Squinting, Quinn froze, staring ahead. “There!” He pointed through the windshield. “Something’s moving. Could be Danny.”

To Eloise, she couldn’t tell if it was her brother, a horse, a scarecrow, or wishful thinking moving ahead.

Quinn was already reaching for his door again.

Eloise caught his hand. “Together,” she said. “We go together.”

“No. You need to stay with Finn.” He quickly untied Eloise and Finn from the rope and leaving a good deal of slack, wrapped it around the driver’s seat.

“Be careful,” Eloise whispered.

Nodding, he smiled at her. “Always.”

It only took a few moments for Quinn’s back to completely disappear from view. How did things get so bad so fast? Still pressing on Finn’s shoulder, she could see some of his color returning. Not enough to be normal, but enough to tell her the pressure was working.

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