When The Rain Falls

Chapter Six

The rain soaked my clothing within seconds of me stepping through the threshold. Water droplets ran down my face and into my eyes as I crossed the grounds, struggling to see what was in front of me through the rain and darkness. The wind whistled past me. Leaves and sticks pelted my legs from the trees. It was dangerous to be outside.

I pulled my dinner jacket tightly around me to shield myself from the wind, but it didn't work. Each flash of lightning illuminated the grounds just enough for me to see that I was heading in the right direction, but there was no sign of the stable hand that had been on the grounds only a few moments before. With the stable hand disappearing into thin air, I stepped into the woods, narrowly avoiding a falling branch.

In the darkness, I could scarcely see the low-hanging branches that dangled from the trees. Once or twice I walked into one as I stumbled through the woods in search of the stable hand and the girl, both of whom had to have been out there somewhere. I knew the woods like the back of my hand after spending my early years running through them, but even I struggled to find my way through the pitch black. The girl would have had no chance of finding her way out of the dark, but I was optimistic that the stable hand would have been able to find her before I could.

"Joseph? Are you out here?" I called, my voice disappearing into the roaring wind and thunderous rain that drummed down on the leaves above me. "Joseph!"

I knew it was fruitless to call out. The storm was far too loud for anyone to have heard me over the wind and rain, but I had to hope he was nearby. I listened out for the snap of a branch or a voice in the wind, but there was nothing. Part of me wanted to turn around and head back to the house, where it was warm, dry, and safe, but I couldn't. If I returned empty-handed, either without the stable hand or without the girl, then I would be sent off to London without so much as a second thought by Father. I had to find them.

With every passing second, the storm grew worse. The wind grew colder; the rain pelted down harder than it had before and somehow the darkness grew darker. I stumbled through the trees, small branches cutting my face and arms as the wind blew my sopping wet hair into my face. If we did not find the girl, the storm would most likely kill her and I had to hope that she had found somewhere safe to hide, but I doubted it. Had she had somewhere to keep hidden, she would not have been lingering in the trees so near to the house.

"Joseph!" I called again, but the word was lost to the wind.

Something tapped me on the shoulder and I turned, half expecting it to be a low-hanging branch being knocked around by the window. Joseph stood behind me, his dark hair clinging to his forehead, his cheeks red from the cold and his clothing just as damp as my own.

"Thank God, I thought something had happened," I yelled, hoping he could hear me over the raging wind.

"What are you doing out here, Master Nate? It's too dangerous!"

"Looking for you! I saw you take off across the grounds. I know you know about the girl. Where is she?"

"I don't know," Joseph said. He looked at me, a guilty expression crossing his face. "She promised she would stay close because of the storm. I told her she could take refuge in the stables until morning."

"Where does she normally hide?"

"There are some rocks, about halfway in. They act as a sort of shelter and she sleeps underneath them."

"Then we start there. She cannot have gone very far, not in this. You can lead the way. I will be right behind you." A flash of lightning travelled through the sky above our heads. "We must be quick. If the lightning strikes a branch, we could be in trouble."