Twice Blessed by Jo Ann Ferguson Page A

somber as a judge.
    Suddenly she heard a crack like a cannon firing. Sean shrieked as the board broke beneath him. He vanished, and she screamed in terror. In those wild waters, he could be swept away and drowned.
    â€œSean!” she cried, stepping onto the bridge. “Sean!”
    â€œGet back!” Noah shouted. “Get back off the bridge. You may fall through, too.” He dropped to his knees. As he reached into the black hole with one hand, he motioned her back with the other. “Stay where you are!”
    â€œBut Sean—”
    â€œI see him. Hold on, boy.”
    Emma sank to sit on the damp grass near the road and watched, one hand pressed to her mouth while she held up the lantern with the other, as Noah’s calm voice drifted to her. The words were lost in the rush of the water, but that did not matter. Sean must be able to hear them.
    She jumped to her feet again when Sean’s head appeared through the hole. Noah yanked him up and tossed him onto the shore. She caught Sean, who clung to her, his face wet with his tears. In amazement, she realized that was the only part of him that was wet.
    â€œHow …” she whispered.
    â€œI caught onto the boards.” He gulped back a sob. “Just like we used to catch onto the trolley back home.”
    She smoothed his hair as she had Toby’s mane. Looking over his head, she raised the lantern again and called, “Noah, get off the bridge!”
    â€œI’m trying to do that.”
    Trying? Her breath caught again in horror. “What’s wrong?” she cried. “Do you need help?”
    â€œStay back!” He tested the board next to the one that had broken. When it screeched like a beast in pain, he ran.
    The board crumbled into splinters that raced away on the torrent. He jumped to his left. That board wobbled, and he leaped away just before it dropped into the water, dragging down the railing, which was consumed by the maw of a raging whirlpool. He flung himself toward the shore. Within seconds, the bridge had disappeared, leaving only the naked supports jutting out from the bank.
    â€œStay here,” Emma whispered to Sean, handing him the lantern. “Make sure Toby doesn’t take it into his head to go now.”
    â€œYes, ma’am.” His voice shook.
    She squeezed his shoulders once more, then ran to where Noah was rolling over. She knelt beside him and put her hands on his shoulders to help him sit. “Take it slowly. Are you hurt?”
    â€œJust my pride that your old Toby has more sense than the three of us put together.”
    â€œAre you all right?”
    â€œFine. I thought the boards looked rotten.”
    â€œSo you tested them by trying to kill yourself?”
    He laughed as he looked up at her. “That wasn’t my intention.”
    â€œYou scared me near to death! I thought you would be drowned. Both you and Sean.” Her bottom lip trembled, and she held it still with her teeth. Then her teeth began to chatter. When Noah put his arms around her, she leaned her face against his chest.
    â€œIt’s all right,” he murmured against her bonnet. “Sean and I are both safe—although maybe not sound. I’m not sure I can say we are of sound mind just now.”
    She laughed. She could not halt herself, even when she still shook with fear. “Do you always do such stupid things?”
    â€œNot always. Sometimes I do smart things.” He clasped her face between his strong hands and captured her mouth.
    The tender persuasion of his lips swept away her protest at his untoward behavior more swiftly than the water in the creek. As her arms curved around his shoulders, he deepened the kiss until her breath grew rough. Her fingers clenched on his shirt when his tongue slipped between her lips to caress each responsive spot in her mouth. He allowed no mysteries to hide within her mouth, setting each slick shadow alight with his tongue, until she