Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale Read Free Book Online Page B

north wind blew great plumes of steam over her bow, and I watched till she became a dark spot on the horizon, all but lost in the wide green gulf. Then I heard voices.
    The men were here, and it was time to go to work.

Chapter
8
    The north wind had swept clouds into thin wisps across the sky like fine white silk, and other than being hotter than usual, the day was turning out well. Like before, Mr. Farrell put me to work with Josiah and Zach, and again the three of us fell into that indefinable rhythm. Hammers rang, saws rasped, and the hours slipped away.
    By evening, I heard a girl’s voice and looked over the balcony railing. My heart gave a wild thump and jumped into my throat. The girl was Ella Rose.
    She stood below, talking to Henry and Mr. Farrell, but her face looked clouded and serious. Zach and Josiah walked down with me to see what was going on, and Frank and Charlie followed.
    “The storm flag went up this morning,” Ella Rose said when she saw me. “I wasn’t sure if any of you had heard.”
    Her hair billowed in the strengthening breeze, andbright tendrils caught on her lashes and in the corner of her mouth.
    “Are you planning to work tomorrow, boss?” Henry asked.
    Mr. Farrell nodded. “If it rains, we’ll work inside.”
    I glanced at the clouds tumbling in from the northeast. It was a good thing Frank and Charlie had finished the shingling today.
    Mr. Farrell squinted toward the sun and checked his watch. “I guess we’ll call it a day, boys, and hope for the best tomorrow.”
    “Are you walking?” I asked Ella Rose.
    She nodded. “And you?”
    “Every day,” I said. “If you don’t mind waiting while I put away the tools, I would be happy to keep you company. Josiah goes that way, too.”
    A startled look swept across Josiah’s face. He helped put everything away, then took off north with Zach and his brothers.
    “Where are you going?” I called after him, but he either didn’t hear or didn’t want to hear. I turned to Ella Rose and shrugged. “Want to follow the beach for a few blocks?”
    She nodded, and I took her books.
    We walked past the Midway and the giant bathhouses where only a few souls braved the waves this evening, riding huge swells that seemed to almost touch thelamps suspended over the surf. There surely wouldn’t be any nude bathing beyond the lights tonight. Then it hit me. With a storm coming, there probably wouldn’t be any bathing tomorrow, either, of any kind. I glanced at Ella Rose, wondering if she’d already thought of that. Of course, we hadn’t made a real date, but even so, it would be a dark disappointment if a whole week passed before I had a chance to see her again.
    “The waves look strange, don’t they?” she asked.
    A strong wind pushed against my back as I looked out over the rough surf. I tried to see what was different, but I hadn’t been here long enough to know what was strange and what wasn’t.
    “Usually, a north wind pushes the tide out, leaving hardly a ripple on the water. Mr. Farrell told me this evening that the whole gulf should be looking so shallow you’d think you could walk all the way to Cuba if you wanted.” She shook her head. “That’s not happening this time.”
    I squinted out over the waves, wondering why this north wind was different. “But storms happen here all the time, so they can’t be all that bad, can they?”
    She shrugged. “About fifteen years ago, a little town not far from here called Indianola was completely washed away, scattered all across the prairie. But everyone says it couldn’t happen again, and certainly not here in Galveston. We get storms and overflows all thetime, and they never last long or do much damage. It’s kind of exciting, really, watching the waves and seeing the water rise up in the streets and yards.”
    I looked at the way her eyes shone and realized that there was nothing I’d like better than to experience my first island storm with Ella Rose.
    We turned back toward