Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace
February 1999
This series of posts on each Friday, moving forward during 2016 will
continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical
fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at
the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began.
Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through
January 1999. We now pick up our story on February 4th of 1999, continuing in
episodic serial format…
Episode 28 - Thursday, Feb. 4th - Lori, at the
Construction Co offices - late evening
[From Episode 27:
Immediately after the next thunderclap, the
phone rings…]
Gary picked up the phone and listened: It’s for
you, Lori.
Lori [After listening a few moments]: Stay
where you are, I’ll be right there.
[To the men] That was Maria, at the Inn. She
said there was a very loud roar, then it sounded like the roof blew off. She is
afraid to look. I told her we’d be right over.
Gary: Trace, you take the Ram. Those floodlights
are still on it. I’ll take the half-ton, with the ladders. Lori, watch out for
debris on the roads… that wind has been pretty vicious. We’re right behind you.
Approaching the turn onto Highway 24, Lori
cannot believe her eyes, as she slows nearly to a stop. The familiar scene of
Virginia’s farmhouse on the far right corner is now a pile of twisted lumber,
it appears. Lori slowly makes the turn, avoiding some tree branches in the
road, and proceeds cautiously toward the Homeplace County Inn, just a half-mile
further down the road.
Turning in the drive, as the car lights sweep
across the Inn, everything looks reasonably normal, except for tree branches
strewn across the yard. She parks, notices there are no lights on, and starts
to go inside to talk to Maria. The lights of the two trucks following her, with
her friends, approach the yard as she approaches the front door.
There are no lights on in the Inn, but Maria
approaches her, holding the battery-powered lantern they always keep within
arms reach behind the main desk.
Maria: It seemed to end as fast as it started.
After I called you, it has been deathly quiet. I am so happy to see you. Thanks
for coming quickly.
Lori: Thank goodness you are all right. The
construction guys are right behind me. They’ll be able to tell us what
happened. [Lori could see their powerful flashlights flashing back and forth,
outside] It may have been a tornado. Virginia Hollingsworth’s farmhouse down
the road was destroyed. We’re really lucky you are alive.
Maria: I’m fine. Just scared. Nothing really
happened down here. But the noise up above was awful. You said to call, so I
just called you, and waited to see what happened next. Nothing did. That was
almost more scary!
Lori: Oh, you poor thing. Thank you for
calling, and being brave. Let’s walk out front, and see if they have found
anything yet. [They slowly make their way back out front]
Gary [on his way back to his truck to get the
first ladder]: The far corner of the roof on the second floor is gone. Blown
away. Looks perhaps like you just caught the edge of a twister. Did you see Virginia’s
place?
Lori: I sure did. It made me really scared to
come over here.
Gary: You have some severe damage, but in a
fairly confined area, it appears, on first inspection. Trace is setting up the
floodlights, back there, and we’ll get the ladders out and do a closer look.
You may just be very lucky, if you know what I mean.
Lori: Oh my, yes. The whole place could look
like Virginia’s, with Maria trapped inside.
Gary: Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Go back
inside, and relax, as much as you can. Stay out of this drizzle. Try calling
about the electricity… it is probably out all over. I’ll go help Trace.
As they turned to do that, a Deputy Sheriff's car pulled into the driveway…
[To be continued, next Friday]
"May
everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."
Dr.
Bill ;-)
