Setting aside her coffee, Evie wandered back to the window. Water rushed like a river through the alley. A crate slammed against the side of the hotel, narrowly missing the top of a first-floor window. A rooster sat dripping and bedraggled on the livery roof. Her gaze drifted idly to the little house in back, and she screamed.
"Tyler! There are children out there. On the roof. They're going to drown!"
As she gathered up her skirts and ran for the door, Tyler jumped up and grabbed her by the arm, shoving her back to the chair.
"Don't leave this room. The place is filled with rats, both the four-legged and two-legged kind. Daniel, keep her here." He glared pointedly at the boy in the bed. "Ben and I will see what we can do."
Ben was already checking the window and whistling a dubious note, but like Tyler, he grabbed his hat and headed for the door.
Chapter 18
"What are they doing now, Evie?" Daniel leaned toward the window, as if he meant to join her there.
"They've got a ladder, and they're tying it between the roof and some room down on the second floor. They're all going to get themselves killed." Panicking as she saw Tyler's head peering out that second-story window, Evie headed for the door.
"Don't you dare, Evangeline Howell! You heard Tyler. He can't be worrying about you and those kids, too. You're the one who sent him down there. You can't stop them now."
Frustrated, Evie knotted her fingers into fists. "There has to be a better way. Men are such foolhardy idiots." She strode back to the window and glared down.
She had recognized the children by now, if just by their sizes. There was fourteen-year-old Carmen clinging to the toddler in her arms, and Manuel, the eleven-year-old, helping Jose, the youngest boy, hold on to the slippery tiled roof. They had been edging their way toward the livery when Tyler had yelled at them. Evie glanced at the big barn and the loft door. They could never have reached it unless they were skilled acrobats. With a baby in arms, there wasn't a chance.
She gasped as Tyler tested the ladder by crawling out on it. The water pouring down the alley was already swirling past the first-floor windows. If he fell, he could be swept away in a minute. Evie clenched the windowsill and prayed.
The ladder held and Tyler continued across. The children sat stunned and uncomprehending until he was almost there. Then Manuel excitedly slid down the roof to meet him, holding on to his six-year-old brother and pushing him toward Tyler.
Evie gave a cry of relief as the normally rebellious Jose willingly crept up on the ladder with Tyler. Crawling was the only means of progress, and they needed both hands and knees. Tyler wrapped a rope around both their waists before setting out over the water again.
"He's got one across. Ben's untying him and lifting him in the window. The ladder's holding!" Evie reported events to Daniel as they happened. She knew his frustration at having to stay in bed while others acted, but more hands weren't needed. She had seen John from the restaurant lean out the window, and Phil, the hotel owner. There were more hands than could be used.
Manuel crawled across rapidly, but getting the toddler across was a difficult task. Tyler had Carmen strap the child firmly to his back, then waited for the girl to start across before following. Evie held her breath as the ladder sagged beneath their combined weights. Tyler hesitated, making himself available if the girl should miss a step, not daring to go too far out and risk them all. She could see Ben jerking Manuel through the window before the lad could go back out and help. She wanted to go to them, to reassure them, but she couldn't add to Tyler's worries. She remained where she was.
She cried out in relief as Carmen crawled in the window and Tyler followed. She hadn't realized how terrified she had been until she saw how her hands were shaking. She knew what she had to do now, and she threw Daniel a look of defiance. "I'm going to get those children. I don't know what happened to their mother but they know me. I can't leave them down there alone."
* * *
The youngest was screaming, and Carmen was trying to comfort her while Manuel and Jose yelled at each other about somebody's cat