As they got closer to the storm, the temperature dropped. Goosebumps riddled along Lando’s arms and the back of her neck as Diane kept her speed up on the dirt roads. The crunch of gravel was loud as Violet rolled down the window to snap a few more photos and get a better view of the sky.
“I see funnels!” Violet called.
“How many?” Diane responded.
“At least two, maybe a third one starting.”
No one said anything else as Diane drove. They were in the calm before the storm, literally and figuratively. Lando was going to have to start getting supplies ready to try and catch a tornado, and Violet would have to take over navigation soon. Still, they had made it that far and Lando had given Violet a bit of a break. That was as much as she had wanted that day.
Violet settled into the seat, a smile on her lips that Lando wasn’t sure she’d seen since that day in her office. It seemed like months ago even though it was only a few weeks at that point.When had so much changed?Shaking the thought, Lando checked the maps. The good thing about Kansas roads was they were largely in a grid pattern. The bad part of that was it made it harder to catch the tornados sometimes as they decidedly did not follow a grid pattern.
“Turn north at the next intersection. It should be coming up in about half a mile.”
“Got it,” Diane answered.
She had been relatively quiet the entire drive, which was not like her, but then again, the last few times they had truly chased a storm, Violet had been in the front and the two of them had snapped at each other back and forth. She’d almost never seen the two of them together and had it be this quiet.
“We’ve got a fourth and fifth funnel.”
Lando craned her neck to see out Violet’s window and catch sight of the twisting clouds as they stretched from the sky downward. She’d always been amazed by the power and beauty in the strength of mother nature. It was something that fascinated and terrified her at the same time. Lando shuddered.
“One’s getting ready to touch.” Violet’s voice rose along with her excitement. Lando pushed forward, trying to get the moment that it touched, but she missed it when Diane turned the Hummer at the next road. Now it was right in front of them, the rope of the tornado twisting as it moved from heaven to earth, connecting the two.
“It’s so beautiful,” Lando murmured.
“It really is.” Violet grinned, moving her gaze from the front windshield to Lando, her eyes lighting with joy.
Lando couldn’t help but echo the sentiment. Diane drove, the tornado getting close to being right on top of them. Lando handed Violet the computer as she scrambled in the back to grab the box. She turned the devices on while Violet connected them to her tracking system. Within minutes, Diane parked off the side of the road and grabbed her camera. Violet put a hand on Lando’s wrist as soon as Diane was out of the car.
“Remember. Don’t lose track of where it’s at.”
“I won’t.” Lando winked. “Same goes for you.”
Once they were outside, Lando ran around the back end of the Hummer. She’d left the box inside as she figured out exactly where she was going to run and when. Violet stood next to her, camera still locked in her fingers as they stared across the open field. Violet pointed.
“Another one is forming.”
“A double?”
“See? A third funnel.” Violet turned east, not answering Lando’s question.
Sure enough, a third funnel moved closer to the earth, daring to touch the ground and start a rampage on its own. A small white house stood lonely out in the field. Lando squinted, trying to see just how close the tornado was to it, but the distance was hard to navigate when it wasn’t on the ground yet.
“How much damage do you think it’ll do?”
“No way to tell right now,” Violet responded, turning when Diane came around to join them. “I think we need to move farther up the road. We’re too far from where it landed.”
“I was just thinking the same.” Diane gave Lando a pointed look. “Not my usual navigation, so understandable if we made some mistakes.”
“No mistakes,” Violet quickly responded. “No one’s hurt, we’re only too far.”
They all piled back in, and Diane picked the speed of the car up again as the wheels spun through the dirt. Lando watched as Violet navigated, trying to pick up on any little tips so she could do it better next time. She wanted to be a useful part of the team, and today was the first time she’d felt worthy of being there, that she wasn’t a nuisance who had to be taught every little thing.
By the time Diane stopped again, they were right in the middle of it. Luckily all the tornados were on the east side of the vehicle. Lando grabbed her box this time as they got out and stood at the edge of the fence. The wind whipped around them, Violet’s hair wildly moving around her face.
Lando stepped up next to her and pointed with her free hand after settling the box on the edge of the fence line. “There’s another funnel.”
“And one more still.” Violet shifted directions. “Don’t think that one will touch down, though. It’s rare for so many at once.”