Rushing Waters by Danielle Steel

ground, as long as we don’t get caught somewhere, or smashed into a wall.” Nothing that Peter was saying was appealing to Ben, but the sound of things breaking in the building and outside was unnerving, and they watched a tree come down a few feet from their front door and the rushing waters sweep it away like a twig.
    “That’s what we’d have to watch out for,” Ben said thoughtfully, and as he said it, they heard a crash and the sound of breaking glass somewhere in the building, as the wind blew a window in. Theirs had been rattling for hours. “I think maybe we should get out of here,” Ben said, looking worried, and then glanced down at his dog. “I guess we could try to leave Mike here.”
    “What if something happens to the building? We might not be able to come back for him for days,” Peter said, and Ben nodded. It felt as though they had no choice. Anna had been right. It had been dumb to stay, and they both regretted it now. The two boys looked at each other and nodded. They were young and strong and in good shape, and figured they could make it to safety, or be rescued by a passing boat. It was better than sitting there waiting for the building to come down around their ears, which sounded like what was about to happen. The groaning sounds had gotten worse just in the last few minutes.
    “Let’s make a run for it and get the hell out of here,” Ben said as he stood up, wondering what they should wear so they wouldn’t get dragged down by their clothes. In the end, they decided on jeans and T-shirts, which was what they had on.
    They let themselves out of the apartment a few minutes later, and Mike followed them down six flights of stairs to the front door. There was a steep staircase up from the street, and a foot of water in the front hall, which they waded through to get to the door.
    “It must be about twelve feet deep out there,” Peter commented as Ben nodded and patted the dog, and Peter opened the front door. Ben had put Mike on his leash so he could control him better and wouldn’t lose him in the fast-moving water. He could always let go of it if he had to, but it seemed a better way to start out so Mike didn’t swim too far from his reach.
    Once Peter opened the door, the wind was so strong that it pulled the door right out of his hand and slammed it against the wall behind them. The glass broke and fell into the water they were standing in, in the hall. The two boys looked at each other and exchanged a smile. They both were nervous but sure now that they were doing the right thing and should have done it hours before. But the tide was lower now than it would have been the night before, and it was better trying to escape in daylight, where they could see what was around them in the water.
    “Good luck,” Peter said to Ben, then walked out onto the front stoop and stepped into the floodwater, and an instant later he was gone, swept away with the force of the current, moving at high speed as he tried to stay on the surface and not get pulled down. He didn’t have time to turn around and watch Ben jump in behind him, holding tightly to Mike’s leash. Peter was already out of breath from the struggle when he saw a lamppost coming toward him, and thought it might help slow him down. He tried to maneuver himself toward it, and with a superhuman effort, he grabbed it and hung there for a minute, fighting the powerful forces that tried to tear him from it. Then he saw something dark race past him, and instinctively he reached out with one hand and grabbed Mike’s collar. It was the Lab hurtling through the water. Peter turned and tried to see what was behind them, but there was no sign of Ben, just the dog.
    “It’s okay, boy!” Peter shouted at him, holding tightly to his collar, keeping his head above the water with one hand and his other arm wrapped around the lamppost with all his strength. He didn’t even feel a piece of metal slice through his arm as he saw a boat heading