Lady Adalyn (The Saga Of Wolfbridge Manor Book 1), Sahara Kelly [the best e book reader .TXT] 📗

“Yes, Adalyn. Those are at great risk if the river floods.”

“They aren’t exactly on the bank…” She worried her bottom lip as she tried to comprehend the danger.

“No, but these markings here…” he pointed out some lines, “this is how flat the land is. Over here, you can see how the hills are marked.”

She blinked, then traced the river as it emerged from the hills down past Wolfbridge land and on to its final destination—the sea. “The land doesn’t rise very much, does it?”

Jeremy shook his head. “No, it doesn’t.”

“Has it flooded before?”

“A couple of times, yes. Once after some heavy spring snows, I think. Not since I’ve been here though. A lot depends on when the rain stops up in the hills. If it stops there first, then we can all breathe a sigh of relief since the river won’t get any higher. But if it keeps raining up there, then that water will add to what we already have and swell the torrent over its banks.”

“And the bridge?”

“We can only hope it doesn’t fail…”

Evan peered around the door. “May I enter?”

“Of course.” Adalyn barely glanced at him. “Come here and look at this, Evan.” Her attention was glued to the map. “Jeremy is showing me what might occur if the river floods…”

The three of them looked down where Adalyn’s finger rested.

“It will be bad,” muttered Evan.

“What can we do?” Adalyn asked again. “I know we cannot stop the rain, but isn’t there something we can do just in case?”

Evan shook his head. “I can’t think of anything.” He looked at her. “If the worst happens, we can house some tenants here. I have sufficient supplies, I think.”

“All right, well that’s something, anyway.”

A clatter outside distracted them, and Daniel appeared, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes. “It is awful out there. Just bloody awful. No other way to describe it.”

“We know,” replied Adalyn. “What do you think about the bridge?”

He ran his hands through his hair with a groan. “It’s holding. For now. But the water is so close that if debris gets swept up in it, I fear for the structure.”

“So the first thing we do is pray for the rain to let up,” she said, more to herself than anyone else. “Daniel, are there children in those cottages? The ones at risk?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure of a number. Perhaps as many as half a dozen.”

Adalyn glanced from the window. “It’s getting dark, and the heavy clouds aren’t helping. Do you think we can relocate those families with others? Just for tonight?”

“It’s a good idea,” said Evan. “If we go now, I can take the bread I made today. And soup. I have soup. We can move them and give everyone a decent meal. Then tomorrow…”

“We can get a better grasp on the situation…” Jeremy’s voice was sombre. “If it hasn’t improved any…”

“Yes,” agreed Adalyn. “And with luck Giles will be back. He’ll probably have some good suggestions as well.” She straightened. “In the meantime, let us take care of the most pressing matter—those families too near the river.”

“It means going back out, Adalyn…” Daniel frowned.

“Can you drive the carriage?”

“Of course.” Daniel nodded at her.

“Then we’ll fill it with Evan and his food, and I’ll sit on the box with you. Jeremy can ride alongside. And yes, before you even say it,” she raised her palm, “we’re all going to get horridly wet. But nobody died from a trip out in the rain. At least not that I know of. So I will go upstairs and find something practical to wear, and I suggest you do the same. Evan…” she turned to him, “thank you for your suggestion. It’s the right one, I know. It’s up to us here at the Manor to take care of our people. So let’s get to it.”

Three surprised faces watched her as she strode from the room, then they recalled themselves and took off to get ready.

It was, as she had predicted, horribly wet. In fact, she wondered some time later if there were any adjectives left as she carried a small dog in her arms and popped it into the carriage on the lap of a little girl whose eyes were wide and scared.

“There you are, little one. The pup is quite safe. You take care of him now.”

“Yes’m,” whispered the little girl.

“Right, that’s this house clear, Jeremy…” She called up to the box where he had just picked up the reins. “To the Frosts, at the end of the lane, past Mrs. B.’s cottage.”

“On our way.” He clicked up the horses, leaving Daniel and Adalyn to walk up after him. Evan was with Mrs. B., distributing what food they had brought with them. Since the Barnsley cottage was the acknowledged centre of the little community, Evan had a much easier time working from there than he would have done trying to get food where it was most needed. He’d been able to leave most of it in her capable hands, and there’d been time for him to move two cows to safer ground. Their owners were going to be very relieved to hear that.

“The bridge, Daniel. What do you think?” Adalyn asked as they ducked their heads against the driving rain.

“Not good.” The drips formed a small waterfall off the brim of his hat. “The water is too close to the pilings for my liking. It might erode the bank enough to reach them, which is a recipe for disaster.”

“If the bridge fails…”

“We lose access to half the damn county. The nearest bridge after ours is several miles downstream, and the river widens too, so there’s no fording it or anything like that.”

“All right, well we cannot change that situation. At least we’ve removed our people from the worst of the danger.”

“Indeed we have.”

They reached the Barnsley cottage, and the front door was open, light shining out in welcome. Several people were leaving, covered dishes or pots in their hands, or tucked