Red Rain: A Novel by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page B

protected, Lea. And our house is solid. Not wood. It’s thick Virginia fieldstone. We had it shipped from Charlotte when we built the house. We knew it could withstand hurricanes.”
    Lea shivered. “You’re both so nice to take me in tonight. I mean, a total stranger—”
    Martha laughed. “I feel like we’re old friends. So many emails.”
    “Well, you’re both very sweet,” Lea said. “I don’t know what I would have done. . . .” Her voice trailed off. She suddenly pictured Ira and Elena, so far away.
    Earlier, Martha had prepared a magnificent dinner. Conch salad and salt oysters fresh from the ocean that morning, followed by a spicy-hot gumbo of rock shrimp, scallops, and lobster. A true feast. Along with a very dry Chardonnay from a winery on Hilton Head Island.
    It should have been a delightful, relaxing time. But Lea kept glancing out the back doors at the flocks of birds flying frantically back and forth in the darkening sky, chattering and squawking in a panic, as if they didn’t know where to light.
    James was talking about Carolina wineries and how they had to import their grapes from all over. Lea tried to concentrate. He spoke so softly, she had to struggle to hear.
    After coffee, they watched the progress of the storm on the Weather Channel until the power went out with a startling pop . Then, in the candlelit darkness, they talked loudly over the roaring winds, straining to pretend all was normal.
    “I’m worried about my kids,” Lea said. “And my husband, of course. They won’t know if I’m okay.”
    “They’ll get things up and running soon after the storm,” James said. “You’ll be surprised. The army will be here. The national guard. Hurricanes on the Carolina coast . . . people have experience with them.”
    “Do you have kids?” Lea realized she hardly knew a thing about her two hosts. Her emails with Martha had been all about life on Le Chat Noir.
    “We have a son. In Phoenix,” Martha said. “He’s thirty. Not quite a kid.”
    Lea squinted at her in the candlelight. “You don’t look old enough to have a thirty-year-old.”
    Martha’s dark eyes flashed. “Flattery like that will get you a friend for life.”
    “He’s still ‘finding himself,’” James added, making quote marks with his fingers. “A lot of thirty-year-olds are still teenagers these days. He—”
    “ We’re the teenagers,” Martha interrupted. “Running away from home to a tiny island?”
    “I wanted more kids,” Lea said. “I come from a big family. Four brothers and two sisters. I really wanted a houseful of kids. But after Ira was born, the doctor said we couldn’t have any more. I was so disappointed. Heartbroken, really.”
    Her words were greeted by silence. Martha and James stared at her, their faces appearing and disappearing in the flickering light.
    Too much information.
    Rain pounded the house, as loud as thunder. The wind howled like a wild animal. But the house was solid as promised. The ferocious winds tried but couldn’t collapse it. James praised the strength of Virginia fieldstone. Martha spoke calmly about going down to the beach after the last hurricane and watching the incredible waves.
    Lea could hear things breaking outside. Cracks and heavy thuds. She fought to hold down a rising feeling of panic. She held her breath, as if she could will it away. Held her breath until her chest ached.
    It will be over soon. I think the winds are already slowing.
    She screamed at the cracking sound above her head. Plaster snowed down on the three of them from the high cathedral ceiling.
    “It’s trying to take the roof,” James said. His eyes were wide behind his glasses. Even in the shadowy light, Lea could see his calm was broken.
    Lea pressed herself against the living room wall, praying for the roof to hold, for the winds to stop raging. She shut her eyes tight and thought about Mark. And Ira. And Elena.
    Were they thinking of her? Were they horribly scared?
    She