The Night of the Storm – – – a tragic true story

The Night of the Storm

In the crowd one girl stood out. She wore a bright yellow sun dress, plain 60's style, round neck and sleeveless – just a bright splash of yellow. I was surprised to see such a bright colour in a funeral crowd in a churchyard. I felt edgy, unsure of myself, sad, shocked and uncertain. Doris clung to my arm on one side and Wendy’s arm on the other side. I was surprised that she stuck so closely to us – wouldn’t she want to be with her family members?

But they were in disarray. Dan was in the pub, too bereft from alcohol and grief to cope with his family in their devastation. Doris had never got on with her older sister and apparently the rift was too great to be overcome, even at a time like this. The mother was in a hotel room in the town under deep sedation cared for by the local Dr – and Barney – where was Barney? He’d just lost his brothers. Why wasn’t Doris clinging to Barney?

Three days before, we’d all been on duty. I was the youngest of ten nurses, the newest recruit of the little band of staff that manned the tiny district Hospital. There were also three of four registered nurses and the matron, a very strict supervisor who ran a tight ship. Doris was one of my senior nurses and a good friend. Their farm was not as far out of the town as ours. Doris, Wendy and I became close friends.

***

On that morning the alarm had gone off at 5:30 AM and Wendy and I had met in the big kitchen with the others to start the day shift. The news was just spreading amongst the staff – there’d been a terrible accident the night before. Three of Doris’s brothers were dead.

Over the following days, the story details gradually fitted into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Hushed whispers passed the news around, a word here and a word there. No one laughed out loud, no one shouted. A heavy blanket of grief subdued all activity. The whole town had slowed, as friends contacted friends, neighbours checked on neighbours, making arrangements, discussing times, discussing transport et cetera.

My parents arrived at the nurses’ home with my brother, and we all clung to each other, wordless and disbelieving. My older brother played football with – had played football with Kelvin, the eldest of the brothers.

It happened in the evening when the family was just sitting down to dinner, the family minus Dan who was on his usual stool in the pub. An electrical storm was raging. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled and at the Elliott's farm, wind was rattling the shed roofing iron.

Kelvin, who loved the farm, decided to go check on the new tractor in the shed. When he didn’t return, his high-school-age younger brother, Dudley, was sent to ‘help Kelvin with the tractor.’ They were taking so long to return that their mother sent her youngest son, Nathan, to hurry them along before dinner got cold. Nathan too, did not return.

Some months before, the mother had had an argument with an electricity authority about erecting a huge pole too close to her front gate. The pole went ahead.

Alone in the house with the meals growing colder, the anxious mother, accompanied by the family dog, braved the storm to investigate.

Approaching the gate, she spied through the rain, the three boys lying on the ground. Her first instinct was to run to their aid, but the dog got in ahead of her and ran to sniff the bodies, only to be electrocuted and killed in front of her. She drew back in horror and ran to the house to call the ambulance.

***

In the first pew at the front of the church, Doris stood strong and straight, clutching hard to Wendy and me.  With her head held high, and in a clear voice, she sang Abide with Me.

My eyes strayed to the three coffins. I could not sing.

THE END


Author's Note: The boys were electrocuted because sheets of iron were blown off the shed roof in the storm, severing the electrical wires which came down and electrified the wet grass.