Cloudburst

By the time the town alarm went off to announce Ronan’s return the next day, Reagan no longer flinched at the sound. He and Elisa had finished walking through the marketplace, purchasing a new stock of fresh yarrow, sage, and mugwort and storing them in his satchel, when the first raindrop fell onto the tip of Reagan’s nose.

“You’re in luck, young man,” the stallkeeper said as she wrapped the herbs in separate sheets of wax paper. “With the storm expected tonight, I doubt I’ll have new stock for at least a week.”

“Will the storm be that bad?” Elisa asked, looking up at the deep gray clouds hanging low over her head. She shivered and wrapped the coat she’d borrowed from Aislinn tighter around her shoulders.

The woman nodded solemnly. “It’s s’posed to be the worst one this year, if rumors are much to go by. Barring an emergency, no caravans’ll be leaving until the earth has dried out somewhat, so this is all we’ll have to go on for a good while.” She sighed. “T’is bad for business, weather like this, but that doesn’t stop those clouds, now does it?” Throwing a sour look up at the sky, she shrugged and turned to the next customer, an old man asking for valerian root.

Reagan walked away with a similarly sour look on his face, drawing a laugh from Liam. “What’s so bad about staying here one more night?” he said. “You could use the rest.”

“It would be impossible to navigate the forest in complete darkness, and it would be even more dangerous to fight anything,” Elisa said. She raised a hand to catch a few water droplets in her palm. “Plus, we promised to play toy soldiers with Braiden before dinner. He was so excited this morning. I’d feel bad to leave without indulging him.”

“Alright, alright. But only one more night, then we head for Leixhorst,” he said, naming a town to the east of Vierdorth. I’m running out of time. He looked at Liam. And I don’t know where else to look besides Omstadt, but we can’t go there with Dietfried around…

Catching his worried look, Liam gave him a comforting smile and said, “I’m sure we’ll find something there.”

He led the way back to Aislinn’s home.

By the time the trio arrived at the dark, empty house, a pattering of rain was watering the plants along the pathway. Only silence greeted them at the door.

“I’ll make a fire,” Reagan said, shedding his damp coat and lighting the nearest oil lamp. “You should dry off.”

Aislinn burst through the front door just as Reagan finished lighting the fire in the living room. Rain pounded in behind her. “Is Braiden home?” she asked, breathless, her hair dripping.

“No,” Reagan said, standing. He exchanged a look with Elisa, who shook her head from the other end of the room, and Liam, too, who dipped in and out of Braiden’s room before confirming the boy’s absence. “He isn’t here.”

Aislinn clutched at her chest. “The flour delivery never arrived, so I sent him to the market, but he should have returned straight to the inn. He’s a good boy. He wouldn’t-” She cut herself off. “He’s done this dozens of times, but never… I have to go find him.”

She spun on her heels to head back outside when Elisa spoke up. “We’ll go. You should wait at the inn for his return. We can cover more ground with the thre- two of us.” She shot Reagan an apologetic look.

“Elisa’s right,” Reagan said, hoping Aislinn wouldn’t notice the slip. “We’ll bring him to the inn.”

Aislinn looked from Elisa to Reagan then back again, conflicted. Her wide, worried eyes brimmed with tears, but she nodded. “I’ll send someone here to wait for him, too,” she said. “Thank you so much.”

Reagan and Elisa rushed out without another word. Liam pulled ahead and floated up to get a higher view of the town.

The rain poured down in sheets around them, soaking Reagan’s head and back as he rushed away from Aislinn’s front door. “We’ll split up,” he yelled to Elisa. Even squinting, he could hardly make her out. “I’ll head toward the general store, in case he went there. You go to the marketplace. Liam will search from up there.” He pointed to Liam, who was the least fazed by the rain, and waited for him to nod before taking off.

None of the oil lamps could be lit in such heavy rainfall, making the town dark and hard to navigate. Only the lightning strikes offered any illumination, paired with deafening bursts of thunder.

Reagan took two wrong turns before finally reaching the main street. He slipped on the slick cobblestones, but ran forward anyway. “Braiden!” he yelled. His voice sounded so small, so weak, against the constant roar of the storm.

“Braiden, where are you?” Liam called from above. He stayed within earshot of Reagan, dipping in and out of homes and stores.

When they arrived at the general store, the doors were closed and shuttered, but Liam went through them anyway. Reagan waited outside, peeking down the two alleyways with the faint hope that the little boy had tried to find shelter between the buildings.

Both were empty.

“He’s not in there,” Liam said. A worried grimace crossed his face. “I hope Elisa’s having more luck at the marketplace, but…”

We would have seen him if Aislinn sent him out before the rain started, Reagan thought. He didn’t dare to voice the thought.

Instead, he continued down the street, looking for any sign of the little boy or other passersby who could have seen him. Every few seconds, he yelled, “Braiden!” and paused to listen for a response, but none came.

Only the rain pounded relentlessly around him.

A few houses down from the general store, he caught a shape outlined in a lightning strike -- about the right height as the little boy -- and his heart skipped a beat. “Braiden!” he yelled, sprinting toward the short figure.

The relief was short-lived.

As he approached, Reagan saw a man kneeling between two flower beds, his legs hidden by the brick planter. He struggled to close his shutters against the storm.

The man looked at Reagan as he approached. “You should be inside,” he said, finally succeeding in fastening the shutters. “This storm is only going to get worse.”

“I’m looking for Braiden,” Reagan yelled back. His voice was going hoarse, and he worried the man wouldn’t hear him.

“Aislinn’s boy? I’m sorry, I haven’t seen him.” The man frowned and stood, pausing. “He spends a lot of time at Old Man Lawson’s, the toymaker. I think he’s closed tonight, but…”

“Thank you, I’ll check there.” Reagan bounced from one foot to the other, trying to stave off the cold as he listened to the man’s directions before sprinting off.

Liam flew ahead, guiding Reagan through streets he could barely see. As they approached the location, he dropped into each building, shaking his head every time he announced one was empty.

Two buildings away from the toymakers’, Reagan slipped on the soaked cobblestones. He grabbed for the nearest lamppost but missed by a few millimeters. The force of the impact reverberated up his spine, and he winced.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked, peeking his head out of the closest wall.

“I’m fine.” The wound on Reagan’s arm throbbed, reminding him that it hadn’t fully healed yet, and a cold gust of wind threw the rain directly into his face, but he didn’t have time to shiver as he scrambled to his feet.

“He’s not in any of these,” Liam said. “I’m going to check in with Elisa.”

Reagan nodded and continued down the street, praying to find the little boy hiding in one of the alleyways. He checked every shadow but saw nothing beyond the sheets of rain cascading off the rooftops.

“Braiden!” Each time he called, he paused to listen for a response. More than once, he mistook the sharp twang of raindrops on metal for a high, childlike sound, only to deflate upon finding the shutter that had blown open in the storm and was making the noise.

Every lightning strike cast new shadows, new hopes, only to dash them as the bright white light faded, and he saw the faint outlines of plants and debris.

Without Liam to check the empty stores, Reagan tried every door. He held his breath at each one as though this would make them magically open, and the little boy would have taken shelter inside, scared but safe.

Each building disappointed him.

Where could he have gone? Reagan thought as he reached the end of the street.

As if in answer to his silent question, Liam returned. “Elisa finished checking the market. She’s going to the lake.”

The seashells.

“I’ll meet her there,” Reagan said and took off running.