Murder in the Marsh (17 page)

Thirty-Seven

By the time Rachel reached the foot of the levee, the weather had worsened considerably. The eye wall filled the sky around her, like a giant, black phantom sweeping across the face of the earth, looking for opportunities to wreak death and destruction. She hobbled up the embankment of the levee, falling twice before she reached the top. She had little hope she could traverse the full two miles before the hurricane struck, but she was determined to try. She started off down the earthen barrier, trying to establish a steady pace, but finding each step a laborious and painful task. After forty minutes, she figured she had only covered half a mile. Not nearly as far as she needed to go in that amount of time.

The breeze picked up, and shortly afterwards a light rain began to fall. Out across the marsh she could see heavier curtains of rain following behind stiff winds ripping across the flats. She increased her speed as fast as she could without falling, putting more pressure and pain on her injured ankle. Twenty more minutes passed, as she fought to make progress. A quarter mile ahead, she could make out the Hayes pumping station.

Suddenly, the bottom fell out of the sky, and the rain fell in lashing torrents. The winds strengthened by the second; to the point she could no longer stand upright on the top of the levee. She dropped down to the protected side facing the drainage canal and the inhabited land. She could barely see ahead of her. Ten more minutes passed, then suddenly she felt a massive rush of wind rip across the top of the levee. Even using the levee as a windbreak, it nearly blew her into the drainage canal. Just minutes after the sudden and sustained increase in wind velocity, she heard a massive roar of water steadily growing louder. The levee trembled as the surge slammed into the marsh side. A spray of water blew over the top, attesting to the crushing volume of water that had smashed into it.

She only had a hundred yards to go to reach the pumping station. She knew a bridge crossed the drainage canal from the levee to the protected land. She now had no hope she could make it all the way back to her apartment. Wondering how much danger she was in, she inched to the top of the levee to look over. The closer to the top she climbed, the fiercer the wind gusts blew. She would only be able to take a quick glimpse over. Finally, reaching a point she could lift her head up for a look, she was shocked by the scene before her. The whole marsh had turned into a calamitous sea of churning water, and wasn’t far from overtopping the levee. She felt certain it was only moments until water came flooding over, washing her into the dangerously full drainage canal.

She scrambled back down the levee ridding herself of the makeshift crutch. She didn’t care about the pain in her ankle anymore. Further injuring her ankle was a small price to pay to save her own life. The adrenalin kicked in, and she began to hop and skip as fast as she could toward the pumping station. Fifty yards away, streams of water began channeling over the top of the levee and down the backside. She realized in a few more moments, a full-fledged deluge would occur. Fifteen yards away from her destination, that was exactly what happened. She bent forward to the ground driving her hands into the grass and soil on the side of the levee trying not to let the flow of water knock her backwards. If that happened, she would have little chance of surviving. She crawled sideways trying to avoid chunks of wood debris now cascading down the levee embankment.

Finally, after much effort, she reached shelter behind a wall of corrugated metal sheets that had been driven straight down into the levee as support for the pumping station. They stood higher than the levee, so the water wasn’t yet coming over them. The corrugated sheets ran along the levee about thirty feet to the pump house. She fell to the ground, gasping for breath, completely exhausted. Just a few feet away, the water continued flooding down the side of the levee, around the edges of the corrugated sheets. Resting for just a minute, she picked herself up and limped to the pumping station. The only way past it was to take the wooden crosswalk built up and over the two immense metal drainage pipes, which drained the canal. To do so would mean exposing herself to the full force of the hurricane’s fury.

Knowing that time was limited, she lowered herself to her belly and began crawling up the crosswalk over the pipes. Even in her horizontal position, the wind nearly blew her off. She grabbed hold of the guardrail and kept going, finally sliding down the other side. Her knees were skinned up and bleeding, but she barely noticed. Now all she needed to do was to make it a few more yards to the wooden bridge that crossed the drainage canal. She edged down behind the corrugated metal sheeting, finding some protection from the wind and overflowing water. Before she went any further, she tried to contact Adele to let her know where she was. She might not have a chance later.

Pressing the transmit button on the two-way radio, she called Adele’s name. No response came at first, but then she heard Adele’s voice crackle over the static.

“Rachel…Rachel…are you dere?”

“Adele. Yes, I can hear you. Listen, I’m not able to make it back to the apartment. I’m caught in the storm by the pumping station. I’m going to try to take cover in a home across from it.”

“Rachel…what…where are you?”

“By the pumping station. I will take cover in a home nearby.”

“OK…Can ah do anything?”

“No, it’s best to stay with Michelle. I’ll be all right. Don’t come.”

“Rachel…you be careful. We’ll pray for you.”

“Thank you, Adele.” Rachel finished and snapped the radio back onto her shorts.

Satisfied Adele was okay, Rachel made her way to the wooden drainage canal bridge. The corrugated sheeting provided protection most of the way, except for the last few feet. Reaching it, she found the water flowing over the levee threatened to wash her feet out from under her. Once she started across, the surging water was less of a problem, as it flowed into the drainage canal below it. Unfortunately, so much water filled the canal, the pumps were unable to keep up and the canal was rapidly filling. When it was full, the water would flood the rest of the land.

The hurricane force winds remained a factor, so she resorted to crawling on her hands and knees once again to cross the bridge. Twice she had to lower herself to her stomach as powerful gusts nearly toppled her into the canal. After a few minutes, she reached the other side and now faced down a street she knew to have a number of houses located on it. In fact, there was another street off to the left and to the right making up a small neighborhood. Trees had fallen across the street and power lines were down. As she limped her way forward, she avoided standing water due to the power lines running through them. Looking back, she saw the water continuing to pour over the levee at an ever-increasing volume. She looked back down the street searching for a home that would serve as the best protection. She spotted a two-story yellow brick and vinyl siding home, three houses down that would provide her an extra floor in case the flooding became a serious problem.

Rachel approached the house, shielding her eyes and head from flying debris. She tried the carport door, but it was locked. The front door was the same. It appeared deserted, but she knocked loudly. No one answered. She looked around and found a brick lying near the porch. Some of the houses had boarded up windows, but not this one. She hoped the owners would understand how desperate she was. The window shattered easily under the force of the heavy brick. She located a broken limb and cleaned out the jagged edges of glass and crawled through. She found herself in a well-furnished living room. The light was dim, but she managed to find her way to an inner hallway and slumped to the carpeted floor. As she lay shivering, the nightmare she had just lived through played over and over in her mind.

Thirty-Eight

By the time Daniel reached the location where the levee should have been, he was completely exhausted. His arms felt like lead, and he didn’t believe he could swim and drag Claude one foot further. The expanse of water and debris in front of him seemed to fall off a table as it dropped down the backside of the levee. It created a powerful current that pulled him and Claude towards its flow. Daniel used his feet to feel underwater for the earthen levee that he knew must be there. Soon he felt it, but it was deeper than he expected, and he couldn’t brace or stand as they floated helplessly over. The current had now become so strong that to resist it was fruitless. He and Claude picked up unwanted speed as they floated to the edge. Right before they tumbled down the backside, Daniel noticed they were heading toward a dangerous mass of wood debris had collected at the base of the levee.

Daniel pulled Claude closer as they plunged over the edge. Instinctively, he put his left arm out to brace against the impact, while holding on to Claude with the other hand. The speed of their acceleration was too great for his arm to halt against the wooden wall of debris. First, his left arm slammed into the obstruction, then the rest of his body. Claude also collided, but he did so limply and his body seemed to take the force of the impact better. Daniel felt his left arm collapse upon impact and his body jarred against the wood. The collision knocked his arm out of socket with his shoulder, but he didn’t have time to do anything about it. The force of the water behind him continued to propel the two men around the debris pile and further away into a flat expanse of knee-deep water. In the tumult, Daniel released his grip on Claude in order to maintain balance as the water pushed him further away from the levee.

Once he drifted to a halt, he pulled himself over to Claude who was floating face up. With his right arm, Daniel lifted Claude’s head up above the water. His left arm hung painfully by his side. The wind and rain continued to blow, making it difficult to see at any great distance. The only thing Daniel could determine for certain was that the land between the two levees was rapidly filling with water, endangering anyone who remained behind.

Daniel checked Claude again. The head bleeding had slowed and his breathing had stabilized.

“Claude! Claude!” he said, trying to awaken the limp shrimper in his arms. Claude stirred a little, a faint moan coming from his lips.

Daniel looked around trying to identify anything that was not below water. Nearby he spotted a large oak tree that had toppled over, the length of its trunk still above water. Wrapping his right arm under Claude’s, he began to pull him towards the tree. Finally reaching it, he struggled to position Claude’s body on top of the thick trunk.

Claude continued to moan and stir, but his eyes remained closed. Daniel used his body to shield him from the stinging rain and flying debris. After a few minutes of calling his name and trying to communicate with him, Claude finally muttered in response.

“What…happened?” Claude strained to pronounce his words.

“Claude. You were knocked unconscious again, and you’ve been bleeding. The back wall of the hurricane struck. We’re still in it.”

“Where…are we?”

“We made it out of the marsh. We’re inside the levees, but the surge is coming over the top and is flooding everything in between. I still don’t know anything about the girls. They left the note saying they were going to Rachel’s apartment. We’re a couple of miles from there, but I don’t know how we can get there. The water is already up to my knees and it’s rising fast.”

“We need…to…find dem.”

“I know. We need to go as soon as possible before the water gets too high. But I don’t think you’re in any shape to travel.”

“Don’t worry… about me. Give…me a minute. Ah’ll be ready to go.”

“Are you sure, Claude?” Daniel asked, disbelieving his companion could make it through a flood and hurricane in the shape he was in.

“Ah’ll be awright. Help me… sit up,” Claude said, straining painfully to sit erect.

Daniel put his good arm out for Claude to hold on to.

“What de matter with your arm?” Claude asked, noticing Daniel’s left arm hanging limply and awkwardly at his side.

“It is out of socket. It happened when we came over the levee.”

Sitting up, Claude examined it as best he could in the driving rain and wind.

“Yeah. It’s out of socket.” Claude took hold of Daniel’s arm and shoulder, and giving it a quick tug popped the arm back into its shoulder joint. Daniel winced in pain, but now had better movement of his arm.

“You saved me in the marsh,” Claude said somberly, but gratefully.

“Not me, Claude. The Lord. Neither one of us would be here without his intervention.”

“Then thank God! Maybe we should pray for His continued protection before we start out.”

“Good idea. What better time than now.”

Daniel draped his good arm over Claude’s shoulder and Claude did the same. As they prayed, their bodies were lashed by endless waves of wind and rain, but for that short moment in time, they didn’t notice and didn’t care.