Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 THE NEXT MORNING, SUNRISE SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1900 GALVESTON, TEXAS Sometime after midnight, the pounding rain had slowed to a drizzle. The wind's shrieking roar had dropped to a moan, and finally a whisper. With shocking speed, the water had drained away.

When the sun started to rise, Charlie and Gordon climbed down from the tree. They stood together in the mud. Charlie stared at the shattered land around them. He turned in every direction, staring at the mountains of rubble, the heaps of wood that covered the ground as far as he could see. Gordon gripped Charlie's hand. Neither of them spoke. Impossible, Charlie told himself. None of this was real. Not the wrecked houses lying like smashed eggs. Not the people, dazed, bloodied, weeping. No. This wasn't real. Charlie saw it. But he wouldn't believe it. Because what he was seeing was impossible. He and Gordon started to walk. Each time Charlie saw something new, that word screamed through his mind. The woman sobbing as she clawed through what was left of a house.

Impossible. The pile of stones where a church had once stood. Impossible. A mountain of wreckage in the distance, taller than any building, stretching for blocks and blocks to the gulf. Impossible. The hand poking out from under a pile of wood. Impossible. This was all a trick. An evil, terrible trick. A trick on his eyes. His ears. His heart. He thought only of his family. It was their faces he kept in his mind as he and Gordon tried to make their way back to Broadway. It took a very long time. But finally, there was Gordon's house—still standing, though sagging, with parts of the roof and walls missing. Mr. Potts was on the steps. He let out a sob of joy when he saw Gordon.

"Son!" Gordon staggered forward, and his father grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. Mrs. Potts appeared and rushed to join them. But Charlie just stood there. Where were Mama and Papa and Lulu? Charlie dropped his eyes. His mind started to spin. And then… "Chowie!" Charlie looked up. Papa was running toward him. Mama was right behind him, carrying Lulu. Charlie fell to his knees. It seemed he'd been floating through the air, twisting and turning in those dark clouds. But now somehow he'd made it back onto the ground. Arms came around him. They were all safe. It was impossible. It was true.