Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,77
wind grabbed them, trying to pull them back. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, let it win. A rock smacked into his back, jarring him. A whole scrub oak ripped from the ground, roots and all, hurtled past them.
The ravine lay about twenty yards away now. They had to make it.
The deafening roar vibrated his internal organs and sent a shock wave through him. Ridge kept his eyes glued to that bit of hope, lengthening his stride, pulling Addie along. Almost there, she stumbled and went down.
He cursed, set her back on her feet, and grabbed her hand again. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, praying to reach the ravine in time. If they could make it to that, they might have a chance.
Had he found the life, the woman, the love he wanted, only to lose it all?
No, he couldn’t let that happen.
The suction pulled them back, and at times he wondered if they were moving forward at all. The powerful wind tore at his clothes, sand stinging his eyes and filling his mouth until he could barely breathe.
The yawning edge of the ravine was now in sight. Just a little farther. Run faster! Ridge’s chest burned from pure desperation. They had to make it. He would cheat this monster of its prize.
As they closed the gap to the last five yards, his body shuddered. The roar behind them magnified, the tornado nipping at their heels. Panting, his heart hammering, he missed a step and crashed down on one knee.
* * *
Addie screamed when Ridge went down, but the wind gobbled up the sound. In that moment, she knew they weren’t going to make it, and she had no time left to bargain with God for their lives. At least if they were going to die now, she was going to do it by Ridge’s side.
Ridge recovered from the stumble and kept running. Addie clung to him with a grip of steel. She wouldn’t be the weak link, the one to kill them both.
The vicious wind whirled, lashing and ripping at them. Helpless in its grasp, she could see nothing through the sandy, choking air.
She kept moving, praying for some kind of miracle.
In the bedlam, unable to hear anything, she glanced at Ridge. If he spoke, it was wasted breath—she couldn’t hear or speak. He seemed to have something in mind, though, and she would follow him to the ends of the earth if it called for that. If it was to their deaths, so be it, as long as they left this world together.
She wished they’d had more time to be husband and wife, time to figure out these new roles. Maybe had a child of their own. She would’ve liked being a mother.
Her thoughts went to Bodie, and she prayed he was safe. Maybe he could take over the farm and live there. She’d like that.
Ridge’s hand gripped hers harder, as though he was preparing for something.
Jump!
Addie didn’t know where the word came from, but she pushed off into the air with her feet, and for a moment they were both airborne.
Then she was falling, falling, falling, the earth yawning big and swallowing them whole.
She landed hard, Ridge’s arms around her, shielding her with his body. The shrieking, angry wind moved over them, the suction of the powerful vortex trying to yank them up and out of the crack in the land. Terrified, she gritted her teeth and clung to Ridge with both hands, shaking and cold, her hair whipping about her face. She wished she knew what the outcome would be. Having that knowledge would’ve help her bear whatever she must for as long as she had to.
Then mercifully, the tornado passed. The sound began to fade, and rain and hail pounded them.
“Are we alive?” Addie asked.
Ridge grinned, his face inches from hers. “We made it.”
“It looks like we did.” She kissed him, grateful to be alive and in one piece.
A hailstone larger than a silver dollar struck her arm, the pain sudden and sharp, the hit sure to leave a bruise. If that was the worst injury she got, fine and dandy with her. She moved back a little from Ridge and saw they had leaped into the ravine. She’d been lying flat on the bottom, with Ridge on top to weigh her down. Once more, he’d saved her life.
The hail and rain fell around them as he stood and pulled her to her feet. “Are you hurt anywhere?”