Cold

Before the storm

The bell above the Hollow Martket door rings as a scraggily looking old man wanders in.
Summer walks out from a room in the back of the store and smiles at the old man.
"Hey there Batholomue." Her smile is cool, and her voice sweet as ever.
"Howdy there Ma'am. How's the day been?"
"How  many times have I got to tell you, it's Missy!"
Within a month of living with her new family the name Summer had been forgotten. Just like much of her past it was irrevevent and she rarely thought of it. "It's been very uneventful actually, M. has an ill stomach again. It's a hot one today ain't it?"
The old man nodded his head feverently. "Yes Ma'am it is, an absolute scorcher!"
Missy shook her head again and laughed. "It's Missy, I'm beginning to think that I'm wasting my breath trying to tell you that." Batholomue looked at her in a sideways fashion, and winked. She just laughed.
" Where's Roger?"
"He's out back at the house cutting up fire wood, we've been feeling this storm coming for a couple days now." She looked out the window by the door. "I've learned to never underestimate these skies. Hopefully it won't come in until it's time to close. The fog brings in some pretty crazy people." The smile had fallen slightly from her lips, she looked rather far off and sad, remembering about a month ago, during another storm, when a young man had come in threatening an yelling. He had grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her out of the store. Luckily Roger had heard the ruckus and met him at his truck with a shot gun.
"Sir I suggest that you take your hands off of my little girl before I help you too it."
The crazy drunkard had dropped her arm in fear, and gone to his drivers side throwing out obscenities the whole way. However as he went to get in his vehicle he had looked Missy directly in the eyes and made a solid vow.
"I'll have you. You stupid-"
A gun shot broke his sentence and he left at full speed immediately. Leaving tortured rubber in the gravel.
" Don't worry Miss." The sound of Bartholomew’s voice brought her back to the now. " Roger and Mrs. Margot will take care of ya."
Missy nodded her head as her smile returned to her lips. " Of course they will. They have since the day that I showed up!"
With that said Missy reached under the counter and grabbed a white paper bag and a brown paper bag and handed them to  her friend.
"Here ya go, the white has jojos and two  burritos. The brown has some more Tylenol, water, and of course your clean blanket."
The man happily grabbed the bag and threw two one dollar bills. His smile grew to cover his face from ear to ear.
"Miss, I will never be able to repay the kindness you show to this old man."
"Of course their is." A deep voice came from the back door as Roger entered the building. “You can come and help move the wood into the woodboxes."
"Rog I can help."
"Kid, I ain't keeping you around for nothing. I need you to keep watch on the store."
"But M. is watching the store. Please, I feel so useless."
"No Missy. I need you to stay here and watch the market." He looked at her with a very serious face. "I love you, and I know that your not helpless, but there are certain things that are just a mans job, and this is one of those things. Besides, Mama needs you here, just in case." He shut the door after himself, and he and Bart went off to load the wood into the two woodboxes that were connected to hteir houses. Missy walked out from around the counter to the window at the front of the store. Along the top of the trees the black clouds were coming in fast, she could feel it coming. It was something that she had adopted from Roger in the eleven months, almost a year she had lived here now. With not a peep from her mother, Missy had become a completely different person. It had been since her ribs had healed since she had gone numb. Thanks to the love shown to her from Margot and Roger. She was strong now, both internally and physically. Her arms were not overly muscular, but they held a nice tone now from carrying her weight around the place. Stocking shelves, and chopping wood, fixing the roofs and painting the walls. She had grown a lot since passing out on their front step, with sufficient food and water, her body had bloomed from a scrawny, scraggily, bruised child, to a beautiful young lady with the strength to hold herself up. She shook her head thinking of how she had been.
She put her hand up to the glass, it was cool to her touch and helped her too cool her temper. She took deep breaths standing in front of the window, and decided that she stepping outside would be better.
The air outside was warmer than normal and so humid she felt like a mermaid swimming in the sea. Still she took deep inhales and closed her eyes. Imagining that she was in the creek floating amongst the fish and snakes.  As she stood there slowly spinning, her eyes closed  she heard Margot calling for her and gave into the fact that she was standing in the middle of a gravel parking lot beneath dark looming storm clouds. She turned back towards the store to see her surrogate mother with hands on hips looking at her.
Missy stepped inside the door.
"Girly, don't be going out all quiet like that. You had me scared half to death-" She put her hand on the counter, and took a few quick breaths. “Now, I have to go back to the house, I can't stand to be in here anymore, my head is just pounding." She grabbed Missy's hand. " Please be careful baby. Something doesn't feel right today."
Missy nodded. "Don't worry M. I'll be careful, Rog has been telling me that same thing all day. Won't even let me go outside. That's why I snuck out real quick. I had to get a breath of fresh air."
"Just be careful." She kissed Missy on the head and walked out of the back door.
Once Margot was out she returned to the window, she stared out at the darkening sky. Something was coming and she knew it.