“I hope so,” Flynn said as he and April emerged from the cellar at their house. Hard rain had continued to fall for more than an hour, and hail the size of marbles had turned the yard white. Then, as suddenly as it had blown up, the rain had stopped, and now the stars danced around a lover’s moon.

April gasped and pointed. “The quilting shed is gone. All I can see that’s left are the file cabinets. We’ve got to get to Jackson’s and see about Nessa.”

Flynn started for his truck. “God, I hope they’re all right.”

April beat him to his truck and was fastening her seat belt when he slid in behind the wheel. “Her message did say they were stuck in his cellar, right?”

“Yep, and then she asked for help before something kept her from finishing the text.” Flynn gripped the steering wheel so hard that his hands started to hurt.

They made it to the fork in the road, only to find an uprooted tree blocking their way. Flynn stopped the vehicle and got out, with April right behind him. “Guess we’ll be walking from here.”

She nodded and started jogging toward Jackson’s place.

Flynn was in good shape, but his stride wasn’t any longer than hers, so they ran side by side until Jackson’s house came into view. He stopped and put his hands on his knees. “The shop and house are still there. We might have to replace the shingles, but they’re still standing, thank God. Now we just have to find them and hope to hell they’re all right.”

“Amen.” April huffed right beside him. “Now let’s go see what’s going on that they need either hell or help.” She circled around the house and gasped. “Flynn, there’s no way we can get that tree off the cellar door. The roots are taller than I am.”

“I’m going to the shop for the chain saw,” Flynn said. “We don’t have to get the whole thing off. We just need to saw a section off big enough to . . . No, wait a minute.”

“What?” April asked impatiently.

Flynn pushed aside some tree branches and took a better look. “Forget taking part of the tree away. There’s enough room below the tree trunk for them to crawl out if I can saw through the boards that make the door. Jackson and I can make a new door later.”

April followed him to the shop. “What can I do to help?”