Free Hurricane Gold by Charlie Higson

had to cling on to each other so as not to be blown away. The air was loaded with flying rubbish and something gave James a nasty, stinging slap in the face.
    He put his mouth right next to JJ’s ear and shouted as loudly as he could.
    ‘Which way?’
    JJ pointed. They were going to have to move across an open stretch of lawn.
    This was suicidal madness. James knew it. He closed his eyes. The noise was terrible. The rain forced its way into his nose, his mouth, his ears. He felt like he was drowning.
    He held on to one of JJ’s hands and Precious took the other.
    ‘Lets go,’ said James, and they stood up.

7
    You Have to Laugh
     
    Half-crouching, half-crawling, leaning into the wind, they fought the storm inch by inch across the lawn. James and Precious had hold of JJ and they dragged him between them, the rain drilling into their faces, blinding them.
    James thought that if they could only just ignore the wind and rain and keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep moving slowly forward, they would eventually make it to safety. They had gone no distance at all, however, before they were blown off their feet and sent spinning and tumbling over the lawn like fallen leaves. They ended up tangled in a hedge that was somehow standing up to all that the elements could throw at it. They wriggled through to the other side and saw that if they slithered on their bellies and kept their heads down they could use the hedge as a windbreak. The bottom of the hedge was in a small dip where the rain was collecting. The ground had been churned into mud and the three of them splashed along on their elbows and knees.
    But the hedge soon ran out and when they reached the end James tried to see where they were. The rain was pouring down his face. There was so much of it, it was like being underwater. His body was bruised all over. JJ managed to crawl up next to him. The little boy was coming off worst of the three of them. He looked like he’d been put through a mangle.
    ‘Where do we go?’ yelled James and JJ tried to get his bearings.
    A lightning strike lit the garden bright as daylight for an instant.
    ‘There!’ JJ screamed, pointing across the lawn. ‘That dark patch. There are bushes.’
    The mound of shrubbery was less than 30 feet away, but it might as well have been 300. With no cover they would be exposed all the way. James looked to see if there was any other available shelter and spotted a white-painted gazebo that had until recently been covered in rambling roses. All that was left were a few tattered stems. The framework was set into a semicircular stone wall that looked just tall enough to offer some protection.
    The gazebo wasn’t directly on the way; it would mean zigzagging. They would first have to cut diagonally across to the left, into the wind all the way, and then come back to the right. But it was a better bet than striking straight out across the lawn.
    James gestured to the others.
    ‘Wait for a lull in the storm,’ he shouted. ‘Then we’ll make a run for it.’
    The wind was mainly blowing one way, but it kept swirling and switching direction. In these brief lulls, when it was making its mind up which way to go, there were moments of calm, lasting a few seconds at the most.
    James waited, listening for a dip in the deafening roar, feeling the hedge as it strained and flapped next to him.
    There.
    The noise dropped. The hedge fell still.
    ‘Go!’ he shouted, jumping to his feet and grabbing JJ’s arm.
    He ran for it, hoping that Precious was with them.
    Halfway there the wind came back with renewed fury and, to his horror, James saw the gazebo tear loose from its foundations. The whole structure came rolling and bouncing towards them. James threw himself to the ground, hurling JJ into the mud, and the gazebo flew over their heads.
    He looked round. Precious was by his side.
    ‘That was close,’ he yelled and she nodded. ‘Think you can try again?’ Once more she nodded.
    They struggled