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  “Behind you, on the counter,” Kelly replied. She tossed some tomatoes slices into a salad bowl.

  “So it is.” Kate picked up the glass and polished it off. She poured herself another glass. She could smell the delicious aromas of crayfish steaming in garlic and the barbeque wafting through the open kitchen window.

  “Hmmm.” She took a deep breath and leaned against the counter sipping her wine.

  Once a week, Kate threw a barbeque for the neighbors. It was her way of showing her appreciation, an excuse to have an evening when she did not allow herself to fret about the resort.

  “This is a new look. What do you call it?” Kate asked, brushing Kelly’s blue hair back from her face while the teenager chopped up stalks of celery.

  “Boysenberry. You like it?”

  “It’s different. Think that color would suit me?”

  “Yeah, right. Next, you’ll be telling me you want to get a body piercing,” Kelly said, shaking her head.

  “Well, I had considered getting a diamond stud for my nose.”

  “I’m sure,” Kelly said.

  “Really. But then I decided against it. I was too afraid of sneezing one day and putting someone’s eye out.”

  “Like you would do that.”

  “Yeah, that’s silly. But a key chain wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Kate said, scrunching her eyebrows while pondering the thought.

  “No, think about it. You know how I’m always misplacing my keys. I would never have to worry about them again. They would always be right there under my nose.”

  Kate burst out laughing.

  “You had me going there for a second,” Kelly said, busting up.

  “We better set the table,” Kate said, grabbing the platter of wrapped corn.

  “I’ll get the cutlery,” Kelly said.

  Kate pushed the door open and went out onto the deck.

  The party was just getting started despite the rain. Everyone stayed dry under the patio cover.

  Jasper pulled on a Corona and watched Sean stir the pot of crawdads cooking on a Coleman stove.

  Jasper leaned over the pot to get a whiff.

  “Watch out, Mr. Joyner. You get a hair in there, everyone’s going to blame me,” Sean said.

  “It isn’t stew, boy,” Jasper said, but stood back anyway.

  Claude was sitting at the table, munching on tortilla chips. He grabbed a chip from the bowl, dipped it in a plastic container, and shoved the chip in his mouth.

  “Devon, honey, here’s the corn.” Kate passed Devon the platter. He lifted the lid on the propane barbeque. Pork spareribs were cooking on the bottom rack of the grill. He dumped the foiled corn on the top rack and arranged them in orderly rows with a pair of tongs.

  The trout Claude had caught that morning were cooking to a golden brown on the second rack.

  Max sat next to Devon, hoping that something might slide off the grill.

  Kelly came out with a plastic container full of forks, knives, and spoons. Nell was right behind her carrying a package of napkins. They began setting the table.

  “When’s this rain ever going to let up,” Kate said, easing down in a chaise lounge next to Liz Fallow. Rosie was asleep on the deck near Liz’s feet.

  Rain drizzled off the lip of the patio cover.

  “It’s enough to depress the hell out of anyone,” Liz said, bitterly.

  “Thank God, El Nino wasn’t around in biblical times or Noah would still be adrift.”

  “Kate, you amaze me.”

  “Oh?”

  “How do you keep your spirits up?”

  “I’ll admit things could be better, but there’s no point on dwelling on it. You learn to take the bad with the good,” Kate said.

  “You are something, raising these kids on your own, running this place. I have to hand it to you, Kate.”

  “Thanks, Liz. That means a lot.”

  “I don’t want you to get angry, but I have to ask.”

  “This isn’t about Max and Rosie again, is it?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Max, have you been a bad boy?”

  As soon as Max heard his name, he sauntered over next to Kate and sat by her side. Kate kneaded Max’s scruff while she talked with Liz.

  “Whenever I let Rosie out to do her business, she runs off with Max.”

  “Well, dogs will be dogs. Isn’t that right, boy?” Max leaned into Kate’s hand.

  “But Rosie always comes back looking such a fright and smelling something terrible. I hate to think what they get into. Is there any way you could restrain Max?”

  “Pen him up? I couldn’t do that. He needs to roam, don’t you, boy? If he doesn’t have the run of the place, he just becomes a pest with his barking and whining,” Kate said.

  “I thought you might say that.”

  “I wouldn’t worry. Hey, maybe some day Max and Rosie will—”

  “Kate! Bite your tongue!” Liz’s loud outburst woke up Rosie. The dog looked around in a panic as though a firecracker had suddenly gone off.

  Max trotted over and licked Rosie’s face to console her.

  “Max, you’re such the lover,” Kate said.

  Once Professor Stone arrived, they all sat down to dinner. Kate, Kelly, Devon, and Sean sat on one side of the long table while the professor, Claude, Jasper, and Nell sat on the other side. Max and Rosie were under the table nestled between everyone’s feet.

  The gloom of night slowly crept in, stealing away the view of the lake. A string of Tiki lights illuminated the patio.

  The rain came down steadily while they ate dinner.

  “I’d like to make a toast,” Claude said, raising his glass of wine.

  Everyone set their knives and forks down, lifted their glasses.

  “To great friends and food to boot,” Claude said with a toothy grin.

  “Yeah, it doesn’t get any better than this,” Jasper chimed in.

  “I’ll second that,” Kate said.

  “Let’s not forget the lake,” Professor Stone said. “You’ve got to admit, Lake Recluse does stand up to its name. I don’t think you could find a more peaceful place.” He reached over and clinked his glass against Kate’s.

  “Boring is more like it,” Sean piped in.

  “Maybe I’m not giving you enough to do around here, if you’re bored,” Devon said.

  “How do you figure? You work me like a dog.”

  “Yeah, and when we aren’t working, we got our noses stuck in a book,” Nell said.

  “Do I detect a little rebellion brewing?” Kate discerned.

  “When is the last time we had some fun?” Sean asked.

  “Well, the resort doesn’t run itself.”

  “Who cares,” Sean said, glaring down at his plate.

  “Why don’t you all go tubing tomorrow?” Kate said. She knew being cooped up and the dreary weather was giving her family a touch of cabin fever. Going out on the lake would be a nice diversion for Sean and Nell.

  “Mom, the lake is freezing this time of year,” Devon protested.

  “Wear your wetsuits. Just make sure Nell keeps warm.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “All right!” Sean shouted. “Can I be excused? Seinfeld is almost on.”

  “Take your plate in,” Kate said.

  Sean grabbed his plate and ran inside.

  “Can I be excused, too?” Nell asked.

  “Yes, you may.”

  “I want to get an early start in the morning, so I think I’ll be pushing off,” Claude said.

  “Me, too. Hate to eat and run,” Jasper said.

  “Kate, that was a great meal. But I must confess, I didn’t care much for the cheese dip,” Claude said.

  “Cheese dip? Claude, we only put out salsa,” Kate said.

  “So that’s where I left my bait. I was looking all over for that,” Jasper said, picking up the plastic container and snapping the lid back on.

  “What? Are you trying to poison me? You did that on
purpose,” Claude said.

  “Hey, if you’re stupid enough to eat it.”

  Jasper took off running. For being a big man, he could still make a hasty retreat especially when Claude was hot on his heels. Jasper fled down the steps and jumped in his golf cart and sped down the road.

  “Night, Kate,” Claude hollered back over his shoulder.

  “Those two are worse than a couple of kids,” Kate said.

  “Let me help you with the dishes,” Professor Stone said, picking up his plate.

  “You just sit and relax, Jonathan. We’ll clean up. There’s a bottle of scotch in that cooler,” Kate said, pointing to the icebox next to one of the chaise lounges.

  “You will be out soon to join me, won’t you?” asked Professor Stone.

  “Make mine a double,” Kate replied. Kelly and Liz helped with clearing off the table and they went inside.

  “Would you like to join me?” Professor Stone asked Devon.

  “I better not. I should go down to the marina and check the boats.” Devon waved and scurried down the steps to his golf cart.

  Professor Stone reached inside the cooler. He took out the bottle of scotch and a plastic cup, added some ice, and poured. He put the bottle back in the cooler and sat down on a chaise lounge. He held his drink on his lap and gazed out onto the moonlit lake.

  He glanced down and saw Max and Rose fast asleep together on the deck.

  It’s true what Jasper said. It doesn’t get any better than this!

  The professor sipped his drink.

  Crickets chirped in the night. He had read somewhere that crickets could predict the temperature. If a person counted the amount of times a cricket chirped in fifteen seconds then added forty, the total would equal the present temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.

  The professor was diligently listening to a nearby cricket when Kate came out and sat down in the chaise lounge next to him.

  Kelly and Liz stepped out of the mobile home. “Thank you for dinner. It was delightful,” Liz said, slapping her thigh for Rosie to follow.

  “I put Nell to bed. She fell asleep on the couch. Sean is still glued to the tube,” Kelly said. She came over and gave Kate a hug.

  “Stay safe in this rain,” Kate said.

  Kelly and Liz waved goodbye and left.

  Professor Stone poured Kate a drink and handed it to her.

  “Thanks.” She held the cup on her lap and stared out at the lake.

  The professor consulted his wristwatch, made a mental calculation, and looked over at the temperature gauge hanging on a patio post. The gauge read sixty-five degrees, same as the cricket’s prediction. He laughed out loud.

  “What’s so funny?” Kate asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” he smiled.

  All the millions spent on meteorology when a damn bug could do the job!

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “We need more sandbags down here,” Billy yelled over the deafening rain. Two halogen lamps were mounted on stands shining down on the foreman. He was standing in the gully with his boots submerged clear up to his shins in the mud at the base of the embankment of one of the ponds.

  “Gus, speed it up,” Jess said.

  “Going as fast as I can,” Gus said. He was working under a rain repellent canopy, filling sandbags with a shovel. An unlit soggy cigar poked out of the corner of his mouth.

  Gus Fern was one of Billy’s crew. Gus was strong as an ox and paced himself with the same temperament.

  “This is hopeless,” Jess said, staring down at the base of the pond fifteen feet below.

  Billy and Kyle were down in the gully, doing their best to fortify the eroding hillside, but their efforts seemed to be in vain. The muddy runoff kept seeping out through the ineffective sandbags like jam squeezing out the crusts of a P&J sandwich.

  “You two better get up here! We’re just going to have to wait until the rain lets up,” Jess yelled.

  “We’re on our way,” Billy said, motioning for Kyle to climb up first. Kyle reached for a secure handhold and dug the toes of his boots into the sandbags. Billy waited until Kyle was halfway up before beginning his ascent. He followed Kyle’s route like a trusting mountain climber scaling a precipice.

  Jess watched them struggle up the wall of shifting sandbags. Gus joined her, leaning down with his hands on his knees to get a better look.

  “You better hurry. This hill is not going to hold for much longer,” Gus said.

  Kyle was reaching for the next sandbag when it suddenly came down. Unable to brace himself, he fell backward. An avalanche of sandbags slid down after him.

  Kyle landed on his back, the thick mud and sandbags breaking some of the fall.

  “Kyle, are you okay?” Jess yelled.

  “Yeah, I’ll live.” Kyle struggled to sit up.

  Jess could hear the mud sucking at his clothes as he tried to scramble to his feet.

  “Where’s Billy?” she shouted.

  “He’s trapped under the sandbags!”

  ***

  Less than a mile away, Bud Warner, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, was standing on the Madison Levee. The heavy rain blurred most of his view of the nearby hatchery. He could just make out the Quonset hut and the cinder block wall beyond the field. He had to strain to see the rooftops and steeples of Madison.

  He shined his flashlight out on the Sacramento River. He had never seen the river so turbulent and swollen. The current was strong and fast enough to create white caps on the rippling waves sweeping by. Tree limbs and debris passed like hitchhikers stealing a ride.

  He redirected the beam of the flashlight to the single lane asphalt road on the crest of the levee. The service road had been paved a few years after the levee had been constructed, but was too difficult to maintain. Caltrans later engineered the frontage road.

  Bud proceeded down the road checking for structural damage. He shivered, the chilling wind cutting through his jacket.

  What the hell am I doing up here? I could be home with a tall one, catching the game.

  He reached into his pocket, pulled out his cellular phone. He held the flashlight so he could see the push buttons. He kept walking, pressing the buttons with his thumb.

  Bud was about to make the connection when he looked down at his feet.

  The road was gone.

  “Damn,” he said, stepping back. The asphalt broke off just where he was about to place his next step. He shined his light across the crevice. It was more than ten feet wide. Water was seeping through the thin wall that separated the river from the other side of the levee. Large clumps of mud toppled down onto the frontage road.

  Bud dialed his phone. He had to warn the town. The levee was breaking up. He looked over at the distant hatchery and prayed there was no one there.

  ***

  Gus tied a rope to a fence post then tossed the end down to Kyle. Jess drew a slack portion of rope behind her waist and rappelled down the hill.

  “Where did you last see him?” Jess asked, not sure where to start their search for Billy. There were over fifty sandbags piled up in the gully.

  “Ah jeez, judging where I landed, he must be under here somewhere,” Kyle said.

  “Don’t worry, Kyle. We’ll find him,” Jess said, lifting up a sandbag.

  “Billy! Billy, can you hear me?” Kyle yelled. He began dragging off the top sandbags.

  Gus made it down without disturbing the sandbags still meshed into the hillside.

  “Don’t worry old man, we’ll get you out of there,” Gus said. He lifted a forty-pound sandbag and flung it in the air like it was only a five-pound bag of sugar. He grabbed another sandbag and tossed that one even further.

  Jess heard a faint moan.

  “He’s under here,” she said, pointing.

  Gus and Kyle got down on their knees and pulled back the sandbags.

  Jess could see Billy’s mud-smeared face. He was grinning like a kid with a mouthful of chocolate.

  “Took you long enough,” h
e said. “If I wanted a mud bath, I would have gone to Calistoga. Mind helping me out of here?” Billy showed no signs of being injured except for his pride and the indignation of being buried in the mud.

  A siren began to wail from the direction of Madison.

  “What’s that?” Jess said. “I’ve never heard that before.”

  “This isn’t good,” Gus said.

  “What isn’t?” Kyle asked.

  “It’s the flood alarm.”

  “Hey, what the—?” Flowing water swept over Billy’s face. He gurgled to catch a breath.

  “Get him out of there, hurry!” Jess yelled, reaching down to pull Billy’s head above the water.

  They could hear a flood of water coming their way.

  “The levee must have broke!” Gus grabbed two sandbags and tossed them to the side.

  “He’s free,” Kyle said, pulling Billy up by the arms.

  The water steadily rose in the gully until they were standing waist-deep.

  “Gus, help Billy up,” Jess said.

  Gus threw Billy over his shoulder and began climbing the rope.

  “Come on, Kyle, you’re next.”

  “Ladies first,” Kyle said.

  “This is no time to fool around. If you haven’t noticed, we’re standing on low ground. Move it!”

  Kyle grabbed the rope and scampered up the sandbags.

  Jess waited until Kyle was halfway up then grabbed the wet rope and began her ascent. She heard a rumble, a sudden surge of floodwater.

  “Kyle, hurry!” Jess screamed.

  A hand snared Jess’s arm and yanked her up. Gus had come to her rescue.

  An enormous wave crashed along the outside slopes of the ponds.

  Safe for the moment on top of the embankment, Jess knelt over Billy.

  “Billy, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, and slowly got to his feet.

  “Jess, you better take a look,” Gus said, pointing toward the Quonset hut.

  “Oh, my God,” she said. The floodwater had undermined the foundation of the cinder block wall, causing it to collapse. The backsides of two ponds were completely washed away, releasing the catfish into the flash flood waters rushing down the gully.

  Hundreds of catfish leaped in the moonlight. Jess had never seen such a spectacular sight.