CHAPTER 28Seconds after the bone-shaking crash, a wall of dust, water, steam and air blew Mara out the back door of the mill, flying across a patch of high wild grass a few feet from the edge of the river. Landing on her hands and knees, she sunk into the wet ground halfway up her forearms and well past her knees. Momentum rolled her to her side, but the boggy soil refused to release her.
A cringe-inducing scream of metal filled the air. The roofline of the mill’s power plant collapsed, and the giant wheel that had loomed over it minutes before lurched to a halt against the rear of the building, tumbling with a loud crash into the pile of what remained of the mill. Mara felt the wet ground ripple and shake.
Ping and Sam ran to where she lay on the ground.
“What happened?” Sam asked.
“Y
