Page 95

“I’m at the house, but where are you? Are you and Ammy safe?”

“Yes, we’re stuck just outside the village. I got Ammy from school okay, but a tree has come down across the road, and all the traffic has built up behind us. We’re stuck. Someone is on the way to move it, but we’ll be here for a while.”

“Okay, keep me posted, and stay safe,” Josh said.

“Josh, I left Kitty to get the animals in before the storm hit. Is she there?”

Josh’s heart lurched. There’d been no sign of Kitty in the yard.

“I haven’t seen her. Which animals?”

“The sheep and the horses. All the others were safely inside.”

Josh groaned to himself. The horses. Getting two spooked horses inside would be Kitty’s worst nightmare.“I’ll find her. Keep in touch,” he said, hanging up the phone. Josh settled a trembling Wendy under a blanket on the couch and headed back into the tempest.

After checking the sheep and finding them all safely penned, Josh headed over to the stables. Simon was happily munching on some fresh hay, apparently oblivious to the chaos going on outside, but there was no sign of Madonna or Kitty.

Josh ran down to the paddock with the air vibrating around him and his boots sinking into the earth. The enclosure was empty. The gate was closed, but there was nowhere else Kitty could’ve taken Madonna. A sick feeling crept over him, and something elemental drove him to jump the gate and navigate his way across the boggy field.

Josh fought a losing battle against the mud. Though the thunder and lightning had lessened, the rain was still relentless. He finally reached the fence, but there was no sign of them. Absolutely exhausted, Josh leaned against the sodden wood and scanned the tree line ahead. Where the hell could they be?

His eyes raked the fields beyond, and as the sky lit up momentarily, he spotted something in the distance. Squinting against the sting of the rain, Josh saw something so hearteningly familiar but so out of place that he had to blink a few times to ensure he didn’t imagine it. Sure now, he sucked in a breath and ducked through the fence, heading down towards the culvert running between their field and the next farm’s.

As he’d thought, Kitty’s pink polka-dot boots lay abandoned in the grass. They were coated in mud and spewing water, but she couldn't have gotten far if she’d left them here. Josh shielded his eyes and headed down through the trees towards the ditch at the bottom.

“Kitty! Kitty!” he shouted, his desperation growing with every reply of silence. God, he hoped she was okay. That nothing had happened to her. The thought of her getting hurt sent dread through his body. He needed to tell her what an idiot he’d been.

The ground fell away from his feet, and it was then that Josh saw them. Kitty was standing thigh-deep in a torrent of muddy water at the mouth of the culvert, clinging to a wild-eyed Madonna. Josh’s breath caught, and his only thought was to get to them.

He ran the short distance to the edge of what was usually a gentle stream, coming to a slithering stop before he joined them in the water.

“Kitty!”

Her head flipped towards the sound of his voice, and her eyes found his. His heart clenched at the fear in them.

“She jumped the fence,” Kitty shouted as if on autopilot. “I couldn’t stop her, and now she’s stuck here. I can’t move her. I’m not strong enough.”

Josh wiped his eyes. “It’s too dangerous to move her yourself,” he shouted, resisting the urge to jump in and touch Kitty. To run his hands over her and make sure she was okay. She heard him and nodded.

“The water’s rising. I’m struggling to keep upright.” The desperation in her voice sprung Josh into action.

“The edge is shallower over there.” Josh pointed to where the culvert edge was lower and met the grass at a gentler angle. “I’ll get a halter and rope.”

“There’s one hanging on the gate,” Kitty shouted above the rush of the water. Josh nodded. He’d noticed it as he’d jumped over. Kitty must have brought it down with her when she came to get Madonna.

“I’ll be right back.”

59

KITTY

Kitty had never been sopleased to see anyone in her life. She heard Josh before she saw him. With effort, she turned towards his voice. Was he really there? An urgency filled her chest as she stared at his beautiful face, rivulets of water racing down its planes. Every time she saw it, her heart lost a few beats.

Now, as Josh scrambled up the muddy bank to get the halter, Kitty turned her face into Madonna’s coarse coat and gave in to her racking sobs.

The horse’s slide down into the culvert was terrifying. But without hesitation, Kitty had followed her into the water. She immediately realised her mistake, though. The current was too strong, and the horse was too frightened for either of them to get out.

Now Josh had found them. Kitty’s heart hammered as she clutched Madonna’s mane and cried into her neck, the shield of it a respite from the cold water battering her face. Though still scared, the horse calmed under her touch and stood perfectly still as if stoically accepting their fate in the flood.