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“Alrighty, ma. We’ll be back in just a bit,” Barley had said, smiling, before the two brothers walked out of the door to saddle up in Guinevere.
“Be safe boys! Please,” Laurel couldn’t stress this enough, her boys somehow always found their way into trouble, such as that one time when they were younger and Ian nearly got hit by a passing car when he was on a skateboard, even after Barley had promised both Ian and his mother that it was safe. Tough luck.
However they always managed to make it through even the toughest of situations, which is why Laurel had asked her sons to run a quick errand for her as she got the house ready for a small party she was throwing. The things she needed for the party were a rarity to find at the stores nearby, but the boys didn’t mind going on a little 45 minute drive, especially since the scenery was lovely on the way up to the mountains.
That morning the small family had watched the weather channel, as they always did. The broadcast said that there was bound to be a storm sometime later that day, meaning more in the evening time. But as Barley and Ian were on their way, the clouds didn’t look too promising.
“Say,” Ian began, clutching the small pocket notebook he held in his hand, “How gnarly did the weatherman say the storm was gonna be?”
“I think he said… ah Ian I don’t remember these things.” Barley laughed. “I’m sure it can’t be too bad. The clouds don’t even look too menacing. We’ll be in and out of the store, and back home in no time.”
“I sure hope so. You’re probably right.” Ian replied; Barley was right about most things, and Ian started to trust him more. “Uh, is your gut telling you that?”
“Huh?” Barley glanced over. “Oh, uh, no. It’s not really speaking to me. It usually doesn’t if nothing’s happening.”
Ian nodded, looking out the window. The clouds were coming in, and a little bit too fast at that.
“And here we are, dear brother!” Barley exclaimed. “The supermarket that was far away!” It didn’t really have a name, no one was sure why, but it gave it that mysterious vibe. That and the prices were low.
“Okay, let’s hurry up and get to Mom. I wouldn’t want her to worry. Can we give her a call to let her know we’re here?”
“Sure thing,” Barley took out his cellphone, and with one look, he shoved it back into his pocket. “Ah, no service. It’s okay, let’s just be quick.”
And they were. They’d been to the market many times growing up, and they knew where everything was. Their mother had only given them a short list, so they were definitely “in and out” as Barley said they would be. But it wasn’t the store that would keep them out long.
Barley set the things in the back of the van, and the brothers sat back in their seats, ready for their adventure back home. But after about 15 minutes or so, rain came out of nowhere, and it was heavy, too. The rain was blinding; Barley found himself squinting his eyes to even see just a little. It wasn’t helping much, and neither were the windshield wipers that were beating back and forth so hard that Ian kept flinching anytime they moved toward him.
“Hey Barley?” Ian spoke, “Do you think we should pull over? I doubt you can even see with this weather.”
“No no, brother. I can see just fine, and I’m sure the storm will die down in no time. Besides, we have the trusty ol’ windshield w-”
Right as the older Lightfoot brother was mentioning them, the windshield wipers snapped off of the van, and flew to space, it seemed. Both brothers’ eyes were wide, and they looked at eachother wildly. Ian opened his quivering lips, but Barley shushed him.
“Okay okay, it’s gonna be okay. We just need to pull over as soon as we can.” Barley reassured his little brother, who seemed to have shrunk in his seat.
However, as Barley was trying to squint his way through the storm, a large gust of wind spiked and sent Guinevere soaring off of the road, causing the brothers to shriek and grab onto anything they could as they went flying down into the trees of the woods around them. Soon enough they rolled into an open area, and Barley slammed his foot on the breaks, and the two of them were smacked up against their seatbelts, and the airbags knocked the wind out of both of them.
“Well, slap me silly and call me a liar. This is a pretty gnarly storm.” Barley turned to Ian, out of breath. Ian was slouched over, breathing shallowly, his hands gripping the seat. “Hey, Ian? Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah,” Ian’s voice was hoarse, and he pulled his hand up to his nose and when he pulled it away, blood covered his fingers. “Just a small problem.”
Barley’s big brother instincts kicked in, and he pushed the airbag away and unbuckled his seatbelt, moving to the back of the van to the first aid kit he kept in there. He pulled out some gauze and handed it to Ian.
“Hold this up to your nose and-”
“Tilt my head back, yes, yes, I know.” Ian gave a halfhearted smile. “This happens too
much, and you know that.”
Barley laughed. “Here, come over here and sit down. I’ll get us some water before I check to make sure everything’s okay out there.”
Ian took Barley’s advice and unbuckled himself from the seat, and he sat on the bench in the back.
Barley gave him a glance, and he knew the instant he saw his little brother’s face that he wasn’t feeling great. He knew that Ian did poorly in these sorts of situations. Yes, they went on a whole quest together to bring their father back for a day, and while that boosted his confidence a whole bunch, some areas needed working on. Ian had always been deeply attached to their mother, which is nothing to be ashamed of, because besides Barley she was everything to Ian since the day he first breathed. And when he was away from her for a little too long he would start to feel like he would never see her again. It works the same way when he’s away from Barley, too. It had gotten much better from when he was a little kid; now he was 16 and it wasn’t as bad of an issue as it was, but it’s still a thing he deals with. And now he’s sitting here, traumatized that he nearly just died due to a gust of wind. What an anticlimactic way to die.
“Hey.”
Ian looked up at his brother, who had a genuine look of sympathy on his kind face.
“I know you’re stressed, but we’ve only been stopped for a few minutes, and we’ll be out on the road again soon. I promise you.”
Ian nodded, and Barley handed him the water he mentioned a few moments earlier.
“Now, I’m gonna go out and make sure everything is intact, alright? I’ll be just a second.”
“Wait, it’s pouring out there. Can’t you just wait?” Ian asked.
“Well, if something needs to be fixed I gotta be able to do it before we can get back on the road, right?” Barley shrugged, and Ian nodded. “I’ll be back.
It was indeed pouring. The second Barley stepped outside, all of him was drenched. He quickly walked around Guinevere, making sure she was okay, and he popped the hood to check for any possible internal damage. Everything seemed to be just fine, so he headed back inside of the van.
“Oh my gosh, you’re literally soaked.” Ian frowned. “It could’ve waited.”
“Yes, but it didn’t.” Barley said with a smile.
“Well, how’s everything look?”
“Oh, everything's A-okay, brother. Nothing seems to be out of place.”
Ian visibly relaxed. He looked around a bit, his eyes going everywhere.
“Got any games in here?”
Oh, of course he did. Barley had an old VHS system in there too, but he didn’t have the TV yet. However, he did in fact have a lot of board games, and he was way too quick to get up to show his brother.
The two of them played games to pass the time and to ease their minds. They had put on some music, keeping it relatively low so they could hear the storm; they had liked to do that since they were kids. When it was storming outside, Laurel would open the windows for them and they would sit at a window together for hours listening to the beat of the rain. This time was no different.
After a few games, Ian did in fact settle for a nap, and he found the stack of pillows and blankets in the corner of the van, and this is where he laid to rest. Barley remained awake, in fear of Guinevere toppling over due to the severe winds. At least if he was awake, he could sense the pulse of the wind and wake up Ian in time for them both to get out of the van before they were squashed with it. He sat in the driver’s seat that was swiveled to face backwards so he could keep an eye on his brother (what was gonna happen to him? Barley didn’t know but he was still cautious) while reading- well, rereading- the Quests of Yore guide.
An entire hour passed before the rain subsided and it was down to a small sprinkle. Barley went over to his sleeping brother to wake him up. He could just let him sleep while he drove but he was pretty positive that was illegal. He got Ian up, and the brothers buckled up and set up on the road again.
“I had this crazy dream,” Ian shook his head. “I think it was set in Ancient Rome? I’m not entirely sure. But I was a famous wizard and you were a spell writer, right? And mom was like, I dunno, a queen.”
“Was dad there?” Barley asked.
“I think so? It was such a blur. The only part I remember is when I was eaten by a dragon.”
Barley laughed. He always told Ian he should make his dreams into stories but Ian always told him that they weren’t interesting enough.
Soon, the boys were finally home, and Laurel was more than relieved to see that her boys came back in one piece, even though Guinevere had some patches that needed to be fixed up. She freaked out a bit when she heard the story, but all in all she was just thankful her boys were alive. The guests were already at the house, seeing as about three hours had gone by, and she told the boys to clean up and meet everyone downstairs.
The party was great, even if they were a little late to it. It’s 100% better than not showing up at all.