Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Dr. Gage helped Dex up and practically dragged him to the car. By the time Dex was in his seat, the hail had stopped. Dr. Gage opened the glove compartment and took out a first aid kit. He fished out an ice pack, gave it a good smack, and laid it gently on the painful lump on Dex's scalp. "You sure you're all right?" Dr. Gage said, his brow crinkled up with worry. "I'm fine," Dex said, and luckily he was. He just hoped that Mom wouldn't find out.

"I am so sorry, Dex. I never should have put us in the middle of that field. From the radar, I actually thought the storm was going to lose power. I should have known better." "I think your car is in worse shape than me," Dex said. A hailstone had turned the windshield into a spiderweb of cracks. Dr. Gage laughed. "I've had it replaced twice this year already." They sat for a few minutes until the rain stopped. "It always surprises me," Dr. Gage said. "Nature can be so violent one minute, and so peaceful the next. And we humans have no control at all." Dr. Gage opened his door and stepped outside. A few seconds later he came back holding a huge hailstone, perfectly round and glistening. He presented it to Dex as though it was a priceless diamond. "A souvenir."

It was very light and smooth. Dex brought it up to his nose and sniffed it. It smelled musty, and he caught a whiff of something strangely familiar. Dr. Gage seemed to read his mind. "Mint, right?" "That's it!" Dex said. "I wish I could tell you why. We can put it in my little freezer until we get home." Dex had already decided he'd bring it to school tomorrow. He'd pack it in a small cooler and show it to the guys at lunch. Dylan would freak! Dr. Gage turned his attention to the weather radar map. He pointed at two red blotches pulsing across the screen. "Look at these," he said with surprise. "There are two new storms heading this way. Both are supercells." His face darkened. "It's going to get dangerous around here when all of these storms come together. Jimmy and Sara love this kind of weather. But I think it's too risky

to be out chasing. I can't tell where these storms are heading, and how strong they're going to get." He looked at Dex apologetically. "I think we should head back to Joplin, call it a day." "That's fine," Dex said, trying not to sound too relieved. That lightning had spooked him, and that hailstone had almost cracked open his skull. He'd seen enough bad weather for one day. Dex relaxed on the ride back to Joplin as Dr. Gage told him funny stories about himself and Dad in college. But as they got closer to Dex's neighborhood, Dr. Gage got quiet. He kept one eye on the radar map, and kept glancing warily into the rearview mirror. Was someone following them? Was Dr. Gage going to get a speeding ticket?

Dex turned around, expecting to see flashing police lights. There were no cars behind them. But there was something strange in the sky, an enormous gray cloud moving very quickly toward them. A shiver of fear jangled Dex's spine. "Is that a supercell?" "Could be," Dr. Gage said. "There's so much happening on the radar right now. It's hard to know. It's pretty far back. Let's see if we can take a better look." He made a quick U-turn so that now they were driving slowly in the opposite direction, toward the cloud. It was very dark, but with a hazy blur in the center. It stretched out across the horizon as far as Dex could see. Dr. Gage stared through the cracked windshield, scanning the sky like a SEAL searching for enemy shooters.

And then a flash of lightning flared inside the cloud, lighting it up from the inside like an X-ray. "Oh, my Lord," Dr. Gage whispered. In that split second of brightness, they had both seen what was hidden inside the storm cloud. It was a tornado. An enormous, churning tornado, the biggest Dex had ever imagined. It was on a path to destroy Joplin.