Page 7 of Magic Blooms
And just as fast as he shot off, Joshua and I were chasing after him. As much as I didn’t want to fall again, continuing this conversation of lies would prove far worse. Besides, I was already just about as dirty as a person could ever get.
Ranger led us to a dilapidated shack that looked as if one more strong gust of wind would knock it down for good. It was small, hardly bigger than the room I’d been assigned back in the warm, dry inn.
CRACK! A bolt of lightning struck a not-so-distant field, illuminating the inside of the building and revealing our lost family of pigs. I could barely make out the small babies gathered around a much bigger and far less cute version of themselves. I was going to hazard a guess that this was our full-grown Oinkers.
I smiled in victory and shouted, "We did it! We found them!"
"Yeah, we found them. Well, Ranger did anyway. Now it’s up to you and me to get them back.” Joshua handed me a bundle of wet rags, and I was frozen for a moment, staring at them questioningly.
"It's a bag. You put the three little ones in the bag and carry them back, I'll take care of Momma Bess."
I took a step back in surprise. "You expect me to carry them in a bag? That's not going to be comfortable for them."
I could barely see anything, but I could still tell he was rolling his eyes at me. "They lost their claim to a luxury ride when they ran off in the middle of the storm. Now if they want a nice warm, comfortable barn that’s not about to collapse at any moment, then they're going to have to live through a brief period of being uncomfortable. We’re not taking multiple trips to come back here to get them. Who knows if they’re going to run off after we take one or two back? So we’re doing this in one trip. No matter what it takes. And it’s for their own good. Got it?"
I tightened my lips in a straight line to keep myself from arguing. He did have a point. And besides, this wasn’t my world, nor was it a place where I got to make the decisions. The sooner I accepted that, the better off I’d be.
Maybe, though, I could use my elemental gifts to make the ride a bit more comfortable for the wayward piglets. Given the intensity of the storm, they’d already been punished enough, anyway.
"I need you to be on alert,” Joshua continued as he pushed his soggy sleeves up to the elbows. “Catching all these little critters is going to be hard. The second you pick one up, they’re either going to panic or to think it's playtime. Either way, they’ll start running all over the dang place. I’ll take them one at a time. You guard the door while I do the wrangling. Got it?"
I shook my head, hoping to avoid this calamity before it could even start. Joshua had a plan, true, but it didn’t need to be so hard.
"But they're so small,” I argued. “They’re hardly a running risk. If you're gentle enough, they shouldn’t be a problem at all."
To prove my point. I took a few steps into the shaky building, my feet actually sinking into the wood just the tiniest bit because of its age and decay. This most certainly was not a good spot for Momma Bess and her babies. I held out the bag and smiled at the little ones as they regarded me curiously. "C’mon, loves,” I cooed. “Let's get you back home."
One by one, each of the piglets stood up and waddled obediently into the sack I held open in invitation. As soon as they were all secure, I picked them up and held the bag close to me, trying to allow some of my body heat to seep through, as I left the shack behind me and returned to Joshua’s side in the pouring rain.
He gawked at me as if I’d sprouted a second head. Then he let out a low whistle of disbelief. "Wh-wh-what was that?” he stuttered.
Before I could even think of a lie, he shook his head and rushed into the building to grab Momma Bess, leaving me outside to wait. I held my precious clutch tighter as a boom of thunder shook the very ground we stood on.
I thought back to how nice the day had been before this. Sunny and warm. Hot, but not unpleasantly so.
It wasn't until I'd begun wallowing in self-pity that the storm had reared its ugly head. What could cause the weather to shift so drastically?
That’s when it hit me.
Me.
The storm had been caused by me. Not on purpose, but…
All of my elemental abilities seemed to be amplified in this new world. The flowers following me, the skies shifting along with my emotions. If this is what I was capable of when I wasn't even trying, what could I do if I actually wanted to put my powers to use?
CRACK!
A second bolt of lightning filled the night, even closer this time.
I jumped back from the shock of it, and at the same time, the old shack folded in on itself, collapsing right before my eyes.
Ranger immediately started to bark, and I stood there in shocked silence for a few moments, totally unsure of what I should be doing.
Joshua. He was inside there somewhere. I tied up the entrance to the bag tightly to keep the creatures safe and bundled up together, and I set them next to Ranger. "Keep them safe," I told him as I ran into the wreckage.
"Joshua!" I called out in desperation, searching, hoping.
A low moan rose to meet my ears. It was barely audible above the storm and yet provided just enough direction to help me find him amidst the debris.
