It was thunder that drove us inside the cabin. Otherwise the deck was fine. But after the previous storm I’d lived through I wanted nothing to do with exposure to the one approaching. The sky had gradually turned from blue to an angry shade of purple with explosive fingers of lightning that squirmed across the sky seeking a place to burrow into the ground beneath. I witnessed hundreds of them covering the distant horizon until they met and gathered forming a fist of a billion volts that would make Thor shudder with fear while his father Odin spread his rage.

Inside the cabin, we found life vests and quickly donned them. Margaret’s made her look smaller as it basically enveloped her torso. As she fixed the fasteners, I fought mine. Finally, she assisted and while I felt mildly humiliated, I mostly felt grateful for her.

We could feel the approaching storm in the air, smell its awesome power and then the boat rose suddenly and rapidly. My heart was jolted with hot adrenaline and I felt the strong need to do something other than sit helplessly. Then the boat dropped for what I guessed to be twenty feet, maybe more.

I knew the storm generated waves, but these felt oceanic. Lake water ran down the steps into the cabin as rain battered the boat and then joined the lake water.

“Pumps,” I shouted as a memory popped into my head from some old time movie I viewed years earlier. “Bilge pumps, we need to find the switch to activate them.”

I looked at Margaret expecting a reflection of the fear vibrating throughout me but didn’t see it. She was standing with her feet in the water and seemed to enjoy its feel.