'You stupid cowboy.'

Suddenly a wall of water nearly two stories high sweapt across the shallow valley. Mitch hardly had time to blink let alone yell before the murky flood waves crashed into them. Cali was sweapt off her feet with a squawk that turned into a gurgle as they submerged, tumbling and rolling in the wake. Micth clung to the saddlehorn as dark water filled his nose and ears. He could feel Cali drifting rapidly then the thrashing quail gaze a massive kick off a submerged rock and both their heads broke free into the torrential downpour. Mithc coughed, water streaming down the brim of his hat, which for some miracle was still on his head. Nearby he saw Charlie, desperately trying to keep his chin above the churning waves while his quail snorted and squawked in panic. In front of Charlie Bo was trying to contol Cotten but the Scaled Quail was uncontrollable bucking and splashing, shreaking at the top of his lungs. Bo fell off the back of the saddle and got swept under the wake.
"BO!" Mitch called out in shock but Charlie was ahead of him, urging his quail on the dormouse thrust his head underwater and reappeared seizing the front of Bo's shirt, pulling the gasping ranch hand onto his quail while Cotton thrashed ahead riderless.
Mitch and Cali were spinning in the water as the flood swept them all along at a dangerous speed. Up ahead like a dark smear rising from the depths Mitch spotted a scrubby hill just high enough to make an island.
"Head for the hill!" he shouted to Charile and Bo. Jared was way ahead of them, kicking his floundering bird to swim faster until he scrambled out and claimed the tallest part of the hill. Cotton was smart enough to follow Jared and his quail onto the island while Mitch trailed behind Charlie as the flood pushed them right into the land.
Cali scrambled up out of the water with Mitch still on board, the hen was wild-eyed with fear and shook out her doused feathers making shrill chirrupping sounds of alarm as walls of water rushed past them. Her shrill calls were answered by a terrified shreik of another bird being sweapt passed the hills. Mitch twisted in the saddle to see the striped head of Bowie, fighting fruitlessly against the waves as the slip stream towed the frightened Bobwhite around the island. Riderless.
"June..." Mitch's eyes widened as he fumbled to uncoil his rope on the saddle and he spurred Cali along the strip of land and flung out his lasso, thanking the heavens his aim was true as he lassoed the bird's neck and around the saddle horn. Cali's feet dug into the much as he strained to pull June's quail into shore. Bowie clamered up the hill and huddled agaisnt Cali looking terrified. Mitch dropped the rope and whipped around.
"JUNE??" he shouted. "June's gone!"
Bo and Charlie's eyes seemed to bulge and they starting screaming her name into the rain.
Heart pounding in his throat Mitch raced around the perimeter of the hill and spotted the scrubby top of a sage brush sticking out of the water by the next partially submerged knoll. Grasping it vicelike to keep from being swept away was June, the water flooding over her head rendeirng her Deaf to their calls. Mitch slapped Cali's reins to spur her into the water. The hen snorted and gave him a wild-eyed 'are you mad!?' look before running into the swift shallows and floating to the next island. Mitch had no rope now and June was too far to reach. He leapt off Cali and bound her reins to his hand. He waded in up to his waste and was immediately knocked down by the current that ripped at his body. The reins held as Cali dug her feet in on the bank. Mith thrashed towards June and grabbed ahold of the sagebrush.
"June! Give me your hand!" he coughed as waves tried to silence him.
"No! I can't leggo!" June coughed through a mouthful of silt.
"You'll drown! Give me your hand!"
"I can't reach! You can't reach me I'll wash away!" she shouted.
"TRUST ME!" Mitch bellowed hoarsely reaching as far as he could.
June looked petrified as she tensely let go of the branch to reach for his hand when the branch snapped under the strain and she plunged into the water with a scream just as Mitch lunged and grabbed her sleeve, the current felt like it was going to rip him in half as he strained to pull her close and pull to shore at the same time.
Cali thrashed on the shore trying to pull backwards against the strain, moving them bit by bit onto the shore.
Mitch's boots found purchase below the water and he pushed against the ground, pulling June close they both fell onto the wet scrub grass.
Mitch fell flat on his back with exhaustion and June collapsed onto his chest, her fingers fixed into his vest and arm in a death grip. She was shaking uncontrollably and sobbing for breath.
"You-you-you STUPID cowboy!" she snarled pounding his chest weakly. "We could have ha all been ki-killed! You wouldn't li-listen to me!" she broke down shaking from the perils of the river and sobbed into his ribs.
Mitch flattened his ears. She was right. He'd gotten them into this mess, it was all his fault.
___________________

I was feeling stressed today so I took a break and did some me-art to calm me down.
Lately I've been working on turning Skytown into a novel so here's a sneak peak of one of the chapters I outlined last night Mitch is so intent on following the trail of his brother's captors that he ignores June's warnings and worries of flash floods in the area. They get flooded and nearly drown. Mitch blames himself for putting everyone in harms way.

Sketched, penned, colored traditionally, rain and BG effects done in PS CS5

Skytown is Copyright 2011 to Christine Ridgway