Vortex by Vanessa Acton

Author:Vanessa Acton [Acton, Vanessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Danger, Darby Creek, Day of Disaster, Disaster, Extreme Weather, High School, Hi-Lo, Natural Disaster, Natural Disasters, Realistic Fiction, Storm, Storms, Survival, Teen, Teenagers, Teens, Weather, Family, Storm Chasing, Tornado, Tornadoes
ISBN: 9781512435139
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Published: 2017-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

6

Blair half-stood, trying to see out the windows. “Where? Where is it?”

She felt as if her stomach was inside a washing machine, getting churned around. A fast, confusing, painful spinning. But also weirdly . . . exciting.

“We’re not in range yet,” said Ron. “Big wall cloud about fifteen miles north, guys.”

“Okay, let’s do it,” said Sam. “I’ll find you a road, J.J. Sit down, sweethea—” He paused when he saw the look Blair gave him. “Ahem. Blair. Make yourself comfortable.”

“We are comfortable,” David told him—not convincingly. “But we’d rather be safe. Can’t you just head straight to Hatchville?”

Blair could tell that Sam was only half-listening. “Aw, where’s the fun in that?” he said.

“We’re not having fun!” David exploded. “Nothing about this is fun for us! We’re shaken up—cut up. We’ve lost our car. And now our mom’s town could be in danger—”

“Look, I get it.” For the first time, Sam sounded truly annoyed—offended, even. “But my mission is to study and film tornadoes. And I’ve got a news flash for you. Everything that’s happened to you today? It’s happened to a lot of other people in this area. You’re not special. And you’ll be putting yourself in a lot more danger if you leave this vehicle now. So just sit tight. We’ll get you to Hatchville.”

David clenched his teeth but didn’t say anything else.

Sam hunkered down over his roadmap screen. “J.J., there should be a dirt track coming up in about five hundred yards. Turn right and stay on that . . .”

Blair watched as the three team members worked. Ron explained what he was seeing on his radar screen. Sam navigated. J.J. turned off the highway onto a path that felt much bumpier. And above them, the clouds hovered. Blair kept glancing up through the window in the roof. It was like watching the troublesome kids when she lifeguarded. She had no doubt that a disaster was looming. She just didn’t know when it would happen or how it would play out.

“Here we go,” said Ron.

Sam had a better view from his chair than the O’Neills had from the floor. He looked out the side window and whistled. “Check out these beauties. Hold it right here, J.J., I wanna get some wide shots.”

He flipped up the side door. Warm wind rushed in, strong but not overwhelming. Sam grabbed a handheld camera from somewhere and hopped out.

Blair followed him.

She barely heard David say, “Blair, stay in the van—”

She was already outside, staring at the view.

They were on a narrow dirt road now, far from the highway. Blair could see a cluster of buildings in the distance. A white-gray farmhouse, a red barn, a tall grain silo. The house looked about the size of her thumbnail, so she guessed it was at least half a mile away. And maybe two football fields to the right of the buildings, she saw—what, exactly? She wasn’t sure.

Mini-tornadoes. Or ghost tornadoes. Four or five slender white funnels. Rising out of the ground but not quite connecting with the swollen, churning cloud above them.

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