Free The Parting Glass by Emilie Richards

of Rooney’s illness it was possible he had found places to live all over the city, places where he could escape and feel secure. Niccolo just hoped those days were over.
    He and Rooney worked at moving the rock out of the way until they were joined by Josh, Winston and Tarek. Megan had asked the other kids to help her bring people downstairs and through the tunnel. The boys were on an adrenaline high. This was a day they would talk about for the rest of their lives.
    With the help of more strong arms, the rock rolled away easily. They worked at another, widening the space until Niccolo could squeeze through. Outside, a fine rain fell, and the skies were still dark. But the wind had died down, and the air felt fresh and clean. There was no traffic on the Shoreway, which was only yards down the hill. He motioned for Winston to join him. Winston squeezed out the hole and gazed around.
    “Well this part of C-town’s not looking so bad,” he said.
    “Can you find your way along the hillside and back up to the street? See if you can find a working telephone and report what happened at the saloon?”
    “Then I gotta call my mom.”
    Winston wasn’t such a tough guy after all. “Make that your first call, okay?” Niccolo said.
    “I’ll find somebody’ll know what to do.”
    “Watch carefully for wires on the ground. Treat them like deadly snakes. Be very, very careful.”
    “I’ll come back and let you know.”
    “No, don’t. Go home.” Niccolo paused. “If you can get there.”
    Winston nodded. “You think that twister did lots of damage?”
    From the hillside, Niccolo couldn’t tell. Nothing looked out of place, except for the fact that no traffic was moving on the Shoreway. “Tornadoes are funny. They’ll take one house and leave everything else around it unharmed. It may have touched down on Lookout Avenue and no place else.”
    “Hey, man, I’m ghost.” Winston raised his hand in goodbye and started across the hill.
    “Good luck,” Niccolo called.
    “Got my finger on the trigger.”
    Niccolo, ignoring that imagery, turned and gazed up the hill. From the rear, what he could see of the saloon appeared undamaged. He was too far below the street to see anything that had happened there. He headed back into the tunnel just as Josh and Tarek led the first group of guests to the opening.
    Niccolo explained how they would be exiting. “Is everybody okay to climb down to the road?” The climb wasn’t steep, but some of the older guests would need to take their time, since the path would be slick from the rain, and no one had worn hiking boots to the wedding.
    “Apparently they’ve blocked it off, because there’s no traffic,” he continued. “We’ll gather down there as a group and walk along the road to the first exit. I’d rather do that than risk going up to the street. I don’t know what the rest of Lookout looks like.”
    Everyone seemed in agreement. He ushered them outside, comforting and questioning each one about injuries.
    For the next twenty minutes he consoled and assisted his wedding guests. Peggy came through clutching Kieran. He counted Andreanis until the last one came through. The rain had nearly halted by the time the last group arrived. Megan brought up the rear, with Casey and Jon just ahead of her. Megan didn’t mince words. “Nick, the gas smell is stronger.”
    “Everybody’s out?”
    She hesitated long enough that he wasn’t reassured.
    “You don’t know?” he said.
    “Did Josh come through? Aunt Dee thought she saw him opening the door to the apartment. One of the flashlights died, and earlier he’d said he was going to look for another.”
    Niccolo had seen Josh come through at least twice, but he wasn’t sure if the young man had gone back inside to escort more guests or gone down to the Shoreway. He tried to remember, but the afternoon had become a blur of faces and situations.
    “I went to the bottom of the stairs and yelled for him before I left, just in