“Is that all the voice said?”
“Yes — until I started to climb the hill. Then another funny thing happened. You know the path up the cliff?”
“Yes.”
“I was running up that, because it was the quickest way. I knew what was happening now, for I’d seen the big wave coming in. It was making an awful noise, too. And then I found there was a great big rock m the way. It wasn’t there before, and I couldn’t get past it.”
“The ’quake must have brought it down,” said George.
“Shush! Go on, Jeff.”
“I didn’t know what to do, and I could hear the wave coming closer. Then the voice said ’Close your eyes, Jeffrey, and put your hand in front of your face. It seemed a funny thing to do, but I tried it. And then there was a great flash — I could feel it all over — and when I opened my eyes the rock was gone.”
“Gone?”
“That’s right — it just wasn’t there. So I started running again, and that’s when I nearly burnt my feet, because the path was awful hot. The water hissed when it went over it, but it couldn’t catch me then — I was too far up the cliff. And that’s all. I came down again when there weren’t any more waves. Then I found that my bike had gone, and the road home had been knocked down.”
“Don’t worry about the bicycle, dear,” said Jean, squeezing her, son thankfully. “We’ll get you another one. The only thing that matters is that you’re safe. We won’t worry about how it happened.”