Stormy Weather

Rain has pounded Odyssey for three days, and Connie Kendall has had enough - of the weather, of babysitting little kids at Whit's End, and of the whole town. She snaps at Tom Riley, storms out, and finds her old school friends have made plans without her, so she begs her mother to let her move back to California. Whit goes out into the downpour to find her, and just as he hurries her back to the shop with a tornado watch on the radio, the front window blows in and a shard of glass tears into his leg. Connie panics, but Whit calmly talks her through the first aid kit, quietly reciting psalms while she reaches the sheriff on his ham radio. Eighteen stitches later, the two trade apologies at the hospital - Connie for panicking, Whit for taking her for granted. But almost losing Whit has shown Connie who her real friends are... and California can wait until Christmas.

Found on The Wildest Summer Ever Album 02 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0028 The Price of Freedom When a new teacher tells twelve-year-old Kirk McGinty that the soldiers who died in Vietnam died for nothing, the boy's cherished image of the father he never knew is thrown into doubt on the eve of Odyssey's Memorial Day picnic.

0029 Rumor Has It When a quiet family's odd habits set the school rumor mill spinning, two kids must decide whether to believe everything they hear about the mysterious boy in the window.

0030 Honor Thy Parents When a sixth-grader's carefully planned graduation party threatens to expose the parents she's ashamed of, she learns how little she really knows about them.

1 of 2 0031 Family Vacation A family road trip to Florida tests the Barclays' patience with backseat battles, breakdowns, and a mysterious gift that can only be opened at peak boredom.

2 of 2 0032 Family Vacation When their car breaks down in a tiny town far from home, the Barclays discover that a ruined vacation might turn out to be the best part of the trip.

0033 The Day Independence Came A history-loving boy's quest to retrieve a book about Benjamin Franklin lands him in the middle of America's fight for independence.

0034 Stormy Weather A restless Connie, convinced she has no real friends in Odyssey, plans an escape to California - just as a violent storm bears down on Whit's End.

0035 V.B.S. Blues A young Sunday school teacher's big theatrical debut is in jeopardy when the three lead roles in his Bible sketch fall to the last kids anyone would trust on a stage.

0036 Kids' Radio When every station on the dial disappoints him, a kid with radio in his blood convinces Whit to help launch Odyssey's first station run by kids, for kids.

1 of 2 0037 Camp What-A-Nut A small-for-his-age boy hoping to escape his tormentor's nickname arrives at summer camp only to find the bully in his own cabin - and the wilderness holds bigger dangers than either of them.

2 of 2 0038 Camp What-A-Nut While Mr. Whittaker helps young Donny cope with being the smallest kid at Camp What-A-Nut, a walk in the woods turns into a wilderness ordeal - and back at camp, a skunk, a mysterious carved heart, and a boy bent on revenge stir up trouble of their own.

1 of 2 0039 The Case of the Secret Room A dropped transistor at Whit's End reveals a hidden basement door - and behind it, a forty-year-old mystery someone would rather stay buried.

2 of 2 0040 The Case of the Secret Room When a skeleton and a decades-old bank robbery surface behind his basement wall, Whit refuses to let a forty-year-old case stay closed - even as someone tries to scare him off the trail.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 3 more roles

3 supporting roles

Debbie Angelique Adams Weatherman (a) Dave Arnold Weatherman (b) Phil Lollar

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer · Director Phil Lollar Director Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Steve Harris Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Rain has been falling on Odyssey for three straight days, and Whit's End is empty of customers. Connie Kendall stands at the window watching the storm and complaining, and Whit warns her to step back, since a window is a dangerous place to be when there is lightning. He offers to let her go home early, but home is not what Connie wants. What she wants is California. Odyssey feels small to her, and lately it feels like she has been stuck in it forever.

When Tom Riley comes in dripping wet, he mentions that he has heard Connie will help judge the Bible drill at the church the next night. Nobody had actually asked her yet, and the question lands at exactly the wrong moment. Connie snaps that she is tired of everyone preaching at her and tired of babysitting little kids, that she is fifteen and ought to be spending time with people her own age. She apologizes almost immediately, then takes the rest of the day off and walks out into the rain.

Her walk takes her to Debbie's house, where she learns that Debbie and the old crowd have plans for the afternoon and that there is no room in them for her. Connie has turned down so many invitations while working at Whit's End that her school friends stopped asking. She goes home and begs her mother to let her return to California and stay with her aunt, the way she did when her parents divorced. June Kendall refuses to decide on the spot. She reminds Connie that friendship has no age limit, and that some of her own best friends growing up were much older or much younger than she was.

Meanwhile the storm turns dangerous. June has already called Whit looking for Connie, and Whit has gone out into the downpour to search for her before the phone lines go dead. He shelters in a neighbor's shed, and Connie, guessing his route, finds him there. She tells him she is leaving Odyssey for good. Rather than argue in the noise, Whit hurries her back to Whit's End, warning her that a tornado watch is on the radio. Moments after they get inside, the front window blows in, and a large piece of glass drives into Whit's leg.

Connie panics. Whit stays calm, talks her through fetching the first aid kit, and sends her to find a battery powered ham radio in his workshop so she can reach the sheriff. While he bandages the wound himself, he quietly recites psalms, because saying them in trouble reminds him that God loves him and will do what is best for him. June arrives at last and drives Whit to the hospital, where he takes eighteen stitches and an unwanted overnight stay.

Visiting him the next day, Connie apologizes for panicking. Whit apologizes too, admitting that the thought of losing her showed him how much he has taken her for granted, and promising her more time off to be with kids her own age. But the fright has changed Connie's mind about the town she has been so eager to escape. Watching Whit get hurt made her realize that he is her friend, and so are the children who come into the shop, whether or not she had noticed it before. She postpones California, maybe until Christmas, offers to keep the shop running while he heals, and volunteers to judge the Bible drill in his place. Before she leaves, Whit asks for a hug, and Connie thanks him for being her friend.