Many thanks to all who have read and enjoyed this new story - your reveiws have been amazing Disclaimer as Norm. The Finger of God.
The nearer they got to the cloud formation they were heading towards, the worse the rain and hail got.
"How can he even see where he's going Cal? The visibility out there is zero but he has barely slowed down"
"They're used to it Gill, they do this all the time, stop worrying luv" It was easy to spin it to her, but he was feeling just as nervous about the driving at the moment – you couldn't see the damn road let alone drive on it!
"Don't worry about anything back there folks, as soon as we get through this rain front we should be getting some really good views of what this storm is playing at"
Cal felt a whisper in his ear.
Cami had leant forward from the seat behind him "You should put your arm round Gill and give her a hug, she's nearly shaking, I can see that from back here you know – go on- give her a hug"
She prodded his arm – she kept prodding his arm until he realised that he only had two choices …turn round and break her finger! Or put his arm round Gillian.
For the sake of team spirit he chose the latter and wrapped his arm round her shoulders giving her a short hug and a confident smile when she twisted to look at him.
Gill felt like a small amount of the lightening that was dancing around outside the van had crept in and jumped into her veins.
This was crazy – it wasn't the first time they had hugged, for gods sake, she had woken this morning wrapped in his arms! Why did this feel so different?
She decided on the scientific explanation of high adrenalin to explain her response and, because that was so logical and plausible she allowed her hand to slip onto his thigh and give a 'reassuring' squeeze back.
Cami sat back in her seat felling happy with her efforts..so far!
xXx
The rain stopped as abruptly as it had started and now they could all see the heavy cloud cell that had been the cause of it.
"Ok, it looks like it is heading East so we are just gonna follow it at the moment, keep within a reasonable range until we start to see some rotation"
All eyes were on the clouds as the van turned Eastbound and tracked the quickly moving formation.
Cal was the first in the back to notice it.
"Is that movement there rotation? Is it starting?"
"Sure is Cal, good catch. Just a bit closer and we should be stopping to see what is gonna happen. Get your cameras ready folks"
After a few more miles the van finally pulled over to the side of the road and stopped.
The driver jumped out and opened the doors for them.
"Remember stay close, at the moment we are safe where we are but these babies can change direction as often as a woman can change her choice of clothes on the night of a party"
Cal and Tim smirked, Gill and Cami looked less impressed with the joke.
Armed with all their respective image capturing tools they climbed out and started moving around slightly to loosen their stiff limbs and to take in the scenery.
The wind took hold of Gillian's hair immediately and had it whipping round her face.
Instead of finding it irritating like she normally would, she found it refreshing and exciting.
"Ok- ok people – keep watching that formation, if you look it's picking up some real good rotation right now – you all see that?"
Reed (the main tornado specialist) was having to shout now to get above the noise if the wind, but they all heard him and watched the clouds he was pointing to.
"We are picking up high risk warnings on the local radio now, so it looks like this baby is definitely gonna come down somewhere" Reed advised the group.
Gill could feel her heart racing and she nearly dropped the camera that Cal was offering her.
"You ok luv?" he shouted
"I'm fine, don't worry about me Cal" she yelled back.
"There it is – people, that there is a wall cloud, keep watching that and start filming right now"
Cameras started clicking and camcorders were turned on.
Tim Caught it first "There it is – right there look! It's coming down – Holy crap look at that thing!"
Sure enough the start of the downward funnel had appeared, it was black and wide – it looked like it was going to be a big one.
"It's DOWN, it's made landfall! Look at that guys – that's a beauty, get that on your cameras – there it is, what you all came for, "
The finger of God"
Reed was nearly jumping up and down as his partner had his camcorder to his face and was moving towards the funnel.
The wind was making it hard for them all to stay on their feet and Cal had automatically moved to stand behind Gill.
He was still filming but he needed to be close to her.
Gillian felt the security of him behind her but was too busy snapping away to acknowledge the usual heat she would at this proximity.
Suddenly Reed started screaming at the to get back in the Van.
"IN Everybody NOW…She's changed direction again and it's coming right our way now – We have to move! Come on come on – IN!"
They scrambled at the intensity in his voice and nearly threw themselves back into the van.
As soon as the door was closed the vehicle sped off.
Spinning the van around they headed quickly back in the direction they had come from.
The four passengers all crammed to the back window and watched the tower of fury moving towards them.
"It's getting closer – it's gonna catch us!" Cami's voice pitch was getting higher and higher, Tim put his arms round her to try and calm her down.
"Just hang on back there, we are pretty sure she'd gonna switch back to the East any second now"
Cal could only hope he was as good as his website claimed he was because he could only see the tornado getting closer to them with no change of direction at all.
Then it happened! As the van continued down the road, the funnel veered off back towards the East.
"YEEEEHARRR" Reed and his driver were laughing and congratulating each other on the success of this first seasons chase.
There were multiple expulsions of breath in the back as they all started to relax.
The Van again pulled over and stopped.
"Ok, last chance today to get some shots then we are going back to the ranch kids"
Standing outside Cal and Gill just decided to watch the retreating storm.
Gill turned to face him.
"Thank you. Thank you so much for bringing me Cal, that was the most amazing thing I have ever…"
He had never seen hers eyes so alive, so blue. Her hair was a mess and her complexion was slightly ruddy from the wind – and he had never seen her looking so beautiful! Leaning forward he kissed her.
Her mouth opened for him almost immediately and she pulled him closer.
Cami dug her elbow into Tim's ribs and pointed to the clinging couple.
"I WILL have those two engaged by the end of this trip
"
The Finger of God