Scent of a Mystery

Chapter One-3

Hearing noises from the kitchen, Megan realized that she was not the only one up. It sounded like Janice was in there trying to use the old coffee percolator that Megan used on her gas stove during power outages. Grinning to herself, Megan headed to the kitchen to see if the younger woman would be able to make coffee without an electric coffee maker. Sure enough, Janice had the filter basket in one hand and the stainless-steel carafe in the other looking confused.

“Want some help?”

Laughing, Megan nudged her assistant out of the way and proceeded to measure the correct amount of coffee into the basket. She then filled the carafe with water, put the basket on its stem, and assembled the inner workings of the percolator for a freshly brewed pot. Soon the sound of the water percolating over the coffee grounds was heard, and the smell of strong black coffee filled the room.

“Oh, that sure smells good! Did you get any sleep at all, Megan?”

“No, I didn’t even try. Looks like everyone else did. What about you?”

“I did, once the eye passed and the storm resumed. I was either exhausted or getting used to the noise, because I don’t remember much after we hunkered down for the second half of Mother Nature’s show.”

“Well, as the forecasters predicted, the back side of the storm was stronger. I’m glad we got a chance during the eye to take the dogs out and double check some of the windows and doors. I don’t know how you all slept through that wind.”

“I think we can just have a light breakfast with our coffee,” said Janice as she held up a plate of muffins.

“I don’t want any of us to rush into anything today. We have procedures in place just for this type of emergency. Our priority is to get a hold of all the staff and make sure they’re okay and see if they need any help. If the cell phone service is working, it’ll be temperamental. I’m sure some of the towers received damaged. We don’t need to be in the way of the authorities when they are trying to get things up and running either.”

“At least we have enough of us here that we could run the office and set up jobs as soon as we get the go ahead. And what’s even better is that thanks to your generators and gas appliances, we’ll be able to go about our daily actives without too many interruptions.”

“You’re so right. And to think that I almost talked Paul out of installing them when we bought the property and made all the renovations. I wouldn’t want him to hear this, but he was right.”

“Ah- hah! I did hear that, and you can bet I’m not going to let you forget it either.” Paul’s laughter could be heard behind them as he wandered into the kitchen, following the smell of coffee.

Lucy was not too far behind him, looking half-awake as she pushed her hair out of her face with one hand and tried to hide a wide yawn with the other. “Good morning,” she mumbled as she headed straight for the cupboard that held the coffee cups. Lucy, unlike her husband, was no morning person, and it took her a good twenty minutes to wake up once she was out of bed. Megan usually shared her misery, but this morning she was anxious to see what the storm had left behind as a reminder that it had passed through the area.

“Morning, Lucy. Janice has coffee started, and it’s going to be a ‘help yourself morning.’ Paul, when the girls get up, I’m going to put them to work opening the house so we can get some air flow. I don’t want to use the a/c until it gets hot this afternoon. Janice and I can head over to the office.”

“You know, I think it would be better if you let Eric, Zack and I take the truck around the property first. We need to check for any down power lines, and we’re going to have to open the front gate manually. With no power, it is in a closed position, keeping us inside. We can check the buildings for any damage and move the larger branches that are blocking the airstrip and major drives on the property.”

“That makes sense. If anyone takes the dogs out, let’s keep them on their leashes. There are going to be all kinds of new scents out there. Although Fred is pretty good about staying on command, I’m not sure how Barney is going to react to his first storm aftermath.”

Hearing their names, both dogs pulled themselves away from the comfort of their beds and came out to the kitchen to investigate who was up and who might have some food. Paul knew the morning routine and grabbed both leashes that were on a hook by the kitchen door. Fred took to the leash calmly, but Barney acted as if he was offended.

“Come on, Barney, it’s for your protection and just for a short time. Look at how good Fred is being.” Securely attaching the leashes, Paul opened the door. “Ready, fellas? I’ll take them for a quick walk around the house. Be back shortly.”

Barney shot out the door once it was open, nose to the ground sniffing out all the new scents around his home. The heavy rains had washed away most of the scents he was familiar with and left behind all kinds of exciting things for a dog to explore. Fred meandered at a more casual pace, but he kept his nose to the ground as well. Paul let them explore for a few minutes as he took inventory of the damage caused by the high winds. At a quick glance, it looked as if most of the casualties were to the gardens and large trees around the house. Megan had made sure to secure as much as she could before the winds had started to pick up yesterday and what she couldn’t secure, she’d had some of the guys store in the barn. Most of the tender foliage planted throughout the garden bed had been ripped and shredded by the force of the rain and the unrelenting pull of the strong winds. Some of the shallower rooted plants had been pulled right out of the ground, like an angry child had grabbed them by their tops and yanked. Large branches of some of the oldest trees were broken off and crushing whatever plantings where under them.

As Paul turned the corner of the house, he saw that the yellow Tabebuia tree was so badly damaged, that it appeared to be almost snapped in half. Other trees looked damaged as well, but none as severely. There would need to be a lot of trimming and cleanup work, yet Paul didn’t doubt for a minute that Megan would get her gardens back in shape and probably with improvements.

Cutting the dogs exploration short, Paul headed back to the kitchen door and his breakfast. Judging from what he had just seen, there would be plenty of work ahead for everyone today. Walking back inside, he found that the kitchen was now full, and everyone was up, talking about the newscast they were listening to on a portable TV now setup in the center of the kitchen island. Grabbing a muffin from the basket Janice had set out, Paul sat down beside Lucy, thanked her for the coffee she automatically pushed in front of him and listened with the others to the report of the local damage from the storm.

“We remind everyone, please stay off the roads and allow emergency vehicles and cleanup crews to access the damages first. There are downed power lines, and many areas are underwater. At this time, there is no traffic allowed across the causeways. As soon as roads open, we will advise our listeners. We urge you to be extremely cautious as you begin to clean up your own properties. Stay away from standing water. Wait until the water recedes before you attempt any outdoor activities. Citrus Power and Light is reporting widespread outages. We urge all to use proper safety measures when operating generators. Citrus Beach has heavy wind damage and some local flooding. Our reporters are on their way to investigate the hardest hit areas. Kim Heart, our associate with the Journal, will be joining us in about twenty minutes from Lady Fish Bay, where Hurricane Arlene made landfall. As a reminder, please stay off the roads and allow emergency vehicles and cleanup crews to access the damages to our area. All local government buildings and schools will be closed until further notice.

We will be broadcasting continually until this emergency has passed. We urge our listeners to call in if they can report to us what they see at their location in terms of power outages, downed trees, and flooding. Also, if you have a special need that cannot be handled by our local emergency crews, we at the station will be starting a needs list. Once roads are passable, we will start listing these needs and hopefully another listener will be able to help. For instance, the high school football team has just been notified that they are to be meeting at the library after lunch, and from there are going to a nursing home to begin cleaning up once they have the all clear from the sheriff that it is safe to do so. Folks, this is the type of community effort that makes Citrus Springs so unique. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help, or offer it. We will all work together to get through this, and be stronger for it.”

As the newscaster continued his broadcast, Megan and Lucy looked at each other and knew just how lucky they were. Damages could be repaired, but if they were all safe, well how could you ask for more? They broke off into three groups to start the work ahead of them: Lucy, Emma and Ashley oversaw getting Megan’s house opened. Getting the roll-up shutters open and the clear panels taken down and stacked was part of this task. They would not be putting them away, since it was early in the hurricane season, and chances were that the shutters would be needed again before the summer was over. Paul, Eric, and Zack had gotten in the pickup truck, after hooking the trailer behind it, and were going to work their way around the airstrip, picking up the largest of the debris as they found it. There was now plenty of wood to be stockpiled and cut down later for firewood. The three of them would also check for any damages on the property. Megan, Janice, and Debbie were going to make their way over to the central office building and start trying to contact the other employees of both companies to find out what their needs might be.

Morning turned into afternoon without much notice. They found plenty of work and cleanups to keep them busy, and lunch was a simple meal of sandwiches and chips as each of them found time to take a break. The damage to the property was not as bad as Megan had first feared, but they had plenty of debris to haul to a designated area out by the back gate. The front gate had been manually opened and the road into the office was cleared first. These activities kept the three men occupied for most of the day.

Lucy and her two helpers got the house opened, and most of the outdoor furniture put back in place on the wrap-around-porch and around the pool terrace. Emma took the dogs for a walk along the footpath to her mother’s private office. The small building was on the other side of a wooden bridge Paul had built over the spring-fed creek that connected Megan’s original property to the additional acres they had purchased for the business. Emma was pleased to see that there was very little damage to this area; the heavy plantings of tropical foliage had served as a natural buffer to the more delicate plantings Megan had added.

Once Megan, Janice and Debbie got to the office, they had quickly divided up their tasks and gotten to work. Debbie worked on opening the office and checked for any damage or rain leaks. Janice had pulled out the client list and started a “to do” list for each property, and Megan had taken on contacting each of the employees of both companies as best she could to be sure that everyone had made it through the storm safely. Making these phone calls involved some old-fashioned technology. With cell phone service unreliable, the women pulled out the emergency supply kit with two rotary phones inside. If the land phone lines were still standing, these tools would be the most reliable means of communication. Megan had long ago made rotary phones part of her hurricane kit, as did most of the residences in Citrus Beach.