Free Ask No Tomorrows by Rita Hestand

She must be a powerfully good woman.” Riley smiled.
    Sam stared at
Riley for a long moment then slowly smiled. “She is…”
    He talked for
a long time, until Riley closed her eyes and went to sleep. He went
to hide the horse and get his gear. When he came back he found
Riley in the corner, snuggled with her knees up and her arms
wrapped around them. He covered her with a blanket and went to set
the coffee toward the back of the stove. It wasn’t cold, but the
wind whipped up so strong it felt like a norther had blown
in.
    He glanced
down at Nodog, checking his leg and rewrapping it. He realized how
good a job Riley had done on the dog. It tickled him that Riley and
Nodog got along so well, and for a moment he pondered that. Nodog
accepted her; why couldn’t he? But then if he examined that too
much he’d have had to acknowledge that he already cared about Riley
to some extent.
    He sat
opposite Riley and closed his eyes.
    It was dusk
when he stirred again.
    Nodog had
curled up beside them and kept watch. He particularly liked to lay
beside Riley for some reason. He whined as his head came up and
sniffed.
    Sam heard a
ruckus outside.
    He heard the
wind pick up and felt the stillness of the air, and then the door
flew open with a bang. This time he went outside and looked about.
It wouldn’t do for his horse to be hobbled in a storm; he was a
good horse, he’d come back, so he unhobbled him and took the
canteen and dream catcher inside.
    Sure enough, a
storm was blowing in from the north. The clouds were so dark it
looked like night. He heard the roar long before it reached him. He
knew what it was, and he knew he had to get them to
safety.
    “ Damn,” he mumbled to himself as he ran into the house and
gathered Riley into his arms and ran outside to the storm cellar.
She kicked him several times and tried to free herself, but to no
avail. Sam let her down long enough to unhobble his horse and the
horse took off. Then, throwing open the door, he let Nodog go ahead
and check the cellar out. After Nodog sniffed the area, Sam went
inside, pulling the door shut behind him.
    Riley was
struggling against him.
    “ Why did you bring me here? You know I hate it in
here…”
    “ Tornado, won’t be long now…hear that?”
    The roar was
like a train headed straight for them.
    “ I
hate these cellars…” Riley yelled. “They always have so many crawly
things inside them. Oh God, do we have to stay in here?”
    “ It
isn’t pleasant, but it’s safer. No matter, Nodog checked it out
first. He can sniff a snake at two yards. Besides, it is as safe as
anything you could find right now,” Sam insisted. “Before this is
over, you’ll be glad of this place. I ain’t too fond of them
myself, but I shore don’t want to be caught in that tornado. That’s
one mean lookin’ son of a gun.”
    “ I’ve never been in a tornado, Sam,” Riley cried out and pulled
Sam toward her. Nodog settled down and curled up at their
feet.
    “ Hey, you’ll be fine here, Riley. No need to fret.” Sam
chuckled. “You gotta have some faith.”
    “ Faith? Faith in what?”
    “ Why shore, in the Lord.”
    “ You sure do talk about Him a lot…” Riley whispered. “If I
didn’t know better I’d think you was a preacher.”
    “ I’m a Christian, Riley, aren’t you?” Sam asked.
    “ I
wish you wouldn’t ask me that. I don’t rightly know…”
    “ God takes care of his own, Riley, and we…are his
own.”
    “ People die every day…”
    “ That’s right, they do. And if they are Christian they go to a
better place, Riley. Don’t you know that?”
    “ Of
course I know it, I just ain’t sure this ain’t the day.”
    “ Cain’t be sure of the day for dyin’, but you can have
faith…”
    “ Sounds like you got enough for both of us…” Riley answered,
looking about and not liking what she couldn’t see. “Maybe you
should have been a preacher.”
    “ I
thought on it, once. But reckon I wasn’t headed in the