Chapter 2

“I didn’t know you hated it there so much.”

“You didn’t?” Sammy brushed his hair away from his face, sending a tiny shower of water over Ed’s shoulder. “I thought that’s why you asked me to come with you.”

“No. I asked because I heard you were a good mechanic, and I was hoping to get some free labor out of you.”

“If you had told me that, I would have grabbed a few parts from the garage before we took off. Hey, you mind if I turn on the radio?”

“No.” Though Ed didn’t think that Sammy would be able to find any signal. “I have a few 8-tracks, too.”

The clouds around them were almost purple in their fury. They stretched down to the ground in long fingers, as though the weight of the water was so great, it could pull the very sky down. A bolt of lightning struck so close, and so hard, that for a moment, the entire world was nothing but white light. Ed reared back, away from the window, blinking rapidly to clear his vision.

“Oh, right,” Sammy said. “The radio doesn’t work. You okay?”