The Tornado Chasers

by Ross Montgomery

  ‘You live on Magnolia Crescent, Brenner,’ the man growled, swinging round to face him. ‘The other side of the village. Care to explain what you’re doing here two minutes before curfew is due to start?’

  Callum slapped his face with shock.

  ‘Two minutes!’ he gasped. ‘Well, I’d better get going right away, then! Thanks for your help, Officer Reade …’

  He made to walk away, but the man threw him a furious glare and Callum stopped in his tracks. The man looked him over as one would a dead rat in a trap, before turning back to me. I squirmed hopelessly in the light of his mean eyes. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he seemed somehow … familiar.

  ‘Do you know who I am?’ said the man.

  I shook my head. The man stepped forwards.

  ‘I’m Officer Reade,’ he said. ‘The Barrow Truancy Officer. That means that I’m the one who makes sure children in Barrow are either in school or at home.’

  I tried to ignore how much my legs were shaking, and the sickening hot-cold floods that were swelling up inside me.

  ‘And yet,’ he said, throwing a glance at Callum, ‘while I’m patrolling the village on my afternoon rounds, I find two children – two of my own daughter’s classmates! – walking around outside and climbing trees.’ He paused dramatically. ‘Trees! Outside! During an SW5!’

  Callum and I squirmed.

  ‘Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out here?’ Officer Reade cried, the pitch of his voice getting higher and higher. ‘The tornado could land any time! Bears are going to start roaming the valleys soon! Do you want to end up dead? Or in hospital? Or in the County Detention Centre?’ He darted his eyes between us. ‘Well, do you? Because that’s where you two are headed, as far as I’m concerned. Let’s see if you can explain to the Warden himself what you’ve been up to. Ha! I’m sure he’ll be very interested!’

  At the mere mention of the name, Callum let out a little squeak. His face had turned pale.

  The clock tower in the distance suddenly chimed – once, twice, three, four times.

  ‘Curfew’s started,’ snapped Officer Reade. He folded his arms. ‘So unless you have a very good reason to be here, then I’m taking the two of you home and explaining to your parents what happened.’

  I floundered, my mouth gaping and shutting like a fish on the floor of a boat. That was it. I was done for. My parents were going to kill me.

  ‘I …’

  ‘The Dewbridges’!’ Callum suddenly cried, leaping forwards.

  Officer Reade looked at him in surprise. I stared at Callum as he flailed his arms wildly.

  ‘He’s supposed to be staying the night at Ceri Dewbridge’s!’ he said. ‘That’s why we came this way! Owen forgot he was supposed to go to hers tonight, and he didn’t know how to get there, so I said I’d show him myself because he’s new, and we cut through the woods so I could get back in time, but we got lost, and so Owen said he’d climb a tree and find the quickest way out the forest, and …’

  ‘That true?’ said Officer Reade, turning to me.

  I nodded violently. Officer Reade kept his gaze fixed on me for a moment, before turning to Callum.

  ‘And you?’ he said. ‘Where are your parents?’

  Callum paused, and scuffed the ground with his foot.

  ‘They’re … they’re out of town for the week.’

  Officer Reade nodded. ‘Your babysitter at home?’

  Callum glowered at him. ‘She’s not my babysi—’

  Officer Reade made a growling noise in his throat, and Callum stopped. He looked at the two of us for a while longer, his brain ticking slowly over, his mean eyes flitting between us.

  ‘That was a very unsafe idea,’ he said eventually. ‘So consider this a warning. Take him to Ceri’s, and then go straight back to yours. Understand?’

  Callum nodded quickly. Officer Reade turned back to his car. Then he stopped, and glanced over his shoulder at me.

  ‘You should probably get out of those nettles,’ he said.

  I looked down. Maybe it was the fear, or the adrenaline of plummeting twenty feet to the ground, but I had somehow forgotten that I was standing chest-deep in stinging nettles. I clambered out. Officer Reade stepped back into his car, and quickly sped off through the trees. Callum and I stood in the billowing dust left by the wheels, watching him disappear.

  Callum waited until all was silent. Then he picked up a dead branch from the ground and threw it in the general direction of where Officer Reade’s car had headed. It landed with a thump five feet away. Callum turned round in triumph.

  ‘Ha!’ he bellowed. ‘That showed him!’

  I pulled a strand of stinging nettles from out of my helmet with red raw fingers. I couldn’t get Officer Reade’s face out of my head.

  ‘That man,’ I said. ‘He looked … he looked just like …’

  Callum nodded. ‘Yep! He’s Orlaith’s dad. Can you believe it? No wonder she’s such a dork! He’s the one who makes sure nobody leaves their house once curfew starts. He even drives around the village every single night, making sure no one’s on the streets. Honestly, he thinks he’s so hard. Everyone around here’s frightened of him.’

  ‘But not you,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah, not me,’ said Callum. ‘Obviously.’ He paused. ‘So, er … yeah. You’re in, I guess.’

  I looked back at him. ‘Pardon?’

  Callum scratched the back of his head. ‘My gang. The Tornado Chasers. You passed the test. I suppose you’re in now.’

  I looked confused. ‘But I wasn’t trying to be in your …’

  ‘Yeah, well,’ said Callum. ‘You seem to be able to take a lot of injuries without dying, and that could be pretty useful if I ever need a human shield. Might as well let you in, seeing as you’re so desperate for it. It’ll shut you up about it at least.’

  ‘Er … thanks,’ I said.

  Callum held out a hand.

  ‘Welcome to the gang,’ he said.

  I gazed at Callum. For all his faults – and there were lots of them – I had to admit that I’d never met anyone quite like him before. He was big and mean and full of rubbish, but then so are garbage trucks – and they’re pretty hard to ignore when they’re charging full speed ahead. And he had something I couldn’t put my finger on. I’d have never thought up starting up the Tornado Chasers again. It was all Callum’s idea, from the very beginning. Maybe he really was brave. Then again, maybe he was just stupid.

  Either way, only an idiot would have agreed to join a plan that was so clearly ridiculous. And unrealistic. And dangerous.

  And exciting.

  I took his hand.

  ‘The Tornado Chasers,’ I said.

  7

  How Two Became Five

  ‘Everyone off the bus!’ cried Miss Pewlish. ‘Stick with your partners!’

  Callum and I clambered outside and stood in front of the zoo gates. It was pretty hard for us not to stick with each other, seeing as we were tied together with bits of rope.

  ‘Stupid Storm Laws,’ Callum grumbled, picking at our bound wrists. ‘Can’t believe we have to go on this stupid surprise trip.’

  I shrugged. ‘Well, it’s nice to be out at least. I never would have thought they’d let us leave the classroom during an SW5.’

  Callum nodded. ‘Yeah … Weird.’

  I gave him a glance. ‘Plus, it means we don’t have to watch that stupid play again.’

  Callum laughed. ‘Ha! Yeah, exactly!’

  He suddenly stopped, and we glanced at each other. It was the first time I’d heard Callum laugh when he wasn’t laughing at me. There was an awkward silence as the rest of the children filed out the bus behind us.

  ‘So – everything go OK at Ceri’s yesterday?’ he muttered. ‘Her parents didn’t rat on you, did they?’

  I shook my head. Thankfully Ceri’s parents had believed my terrible excuses for turning up at their house without warning. After they had supervised Ceri making the salad and made us both wash
our hands several times, they had left us well alone so Ceri could interview me about my grandparents. It was – well, it was fun.

  A loud whistle suddenly silenced the crowd, and we swung round. Miss Pewlish was stood beside a stone wall up ahead. The wall dropped down into a deep pit. It was just big enough for a child to look over, and was lined on every side with enormous red warning signs. Miss Pewlish fixed us with a beady eye.

  ‘We have been invited here today,’ she said, ‘for a very important purpose. It’s not often the Warden allows groups outside during an SW5! It is so that you children can understand the very real, and the very frightening threat of bear attacks once the tornado has landed.’

  Miss Pewlish took a moment to clear her throat.

  ‘During a storm,’ she said, ‘when whole houses are ripped from the ground and villages destroyed, you’d think that bears would want to hide in their caves for safety … but you’d be wrong. You see, the tornadoes scatter all their other sources of food. The starving bears are forced to roam the valleys even more than usual. And when this happens, their primary source of food is reckless young children, wandering the streets at night on their own.’

  Callum shuffled his feet nervously beside me.

  ‘That is why,’ Miss Pewlish declared, ‘while the valleys are under SW5, it is even more important that you stick to the rules of the curfew. Barrow might be the safest village in the valleys, but the stormtraps won’t stop a hungry bear from waiting outside your bedroom window! Would you like to turn a corner and find this waiting for you?’

  Miss Pewlish stepped aside, and a gasp escaped the crowd. In the centre of the enclosure, in amongst the tufts of grass and stagnant blocks of still water, a single bear lay slumped asleep. It was very old. Its brown fur was shedding and patched with grey, and its huge chest billowed weakly with grunting breaths you could only just hear over the terrified whispers around us. It didn’t matter that the bear was old, or asleep. It didn’t even matter that there was a wall between us. It was a bear, the greatest threat in the valleys. No one felt safe.

  ‘Everyone line up!’ Miss Pewlish barked. ‘Each child will take turns looking at the bear! By order of the Warden!’

  I felt a sudden tug on my wrist. Callum was heaving at the rope linking us, his face turned away from me.

  ‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘This is boring.’

  ‘We can’t leave,’ I said. ‘Don’t you remember what Miss Pewlish said on the bus? We can’t leave the crowd or …’

  ‘She’s an idiot,’ said Callum, his voice suddenly striking a higher pitch than normal. ‘Come on, I need to talk to you. It’s important.’

  I frowned. ‘About what?’

  Callum groaned. ‘What do you think? The gang, stupid.’

  I beamed. The gang. I was actually in a gang, for the first time in my life. I wasn’t exactly thrilled that it was with Callum, but that didn’t really matter. I was finally going to be a daredevil – just like my grandparents. And climbing trees was nothing compared to what we had planned.

  Callum dragged me to a secluded spot at the back of the crowd, and leant in to whisper.

  ‘So, here’s what I was thinking,’ he said. ‘We’re going to need a hideout. A top-secret one. My mum and dad are away almost all the time so the house is pretty empty, but then my babysit … er, I mean, my cleaner’s always there looking after me. And we can’t go to yours because your parents are clearly mental.’

  I blinked. ‘They are?’

  ‘But get this,’ said Callum excitedly. ‘I’ve got a storm shelter in my back garden! A proper one, made of metal – it’s underground and everything. It’d be perfect – no one would ever think to look down there! Not even Officer Reade. And let’s face it Owen, that’s the last thing we want. That’s why we can’t tell anyone about our plans, obviously.’

  My stomach dropped.

  ‘We … we can’t?’ I muttered.

  ‘Course not!’ said Callum. ‘We don’t want any losers or wimps wanting to get involved, do we? This gang’s for the bravest. The strongest. The hardest.’

  ‘Of … of course,’ I squeaked. ‘But say, one of us accidentally mentioned it to someone else, say last night for example, and then …’

  ‘And on that subject,’ said Callum, cutting me off. ‘There’s one person I think we should invite.’ He quickly checked no one was listening, and leant in even closer. ‘… Murderous Pete.’

  I almost leapt back in surprise.

  ‘Murderous Pete?’ I said. ‘Isn’t he supposed to be a psychopath?’

  Callum shrugged. ‘Well, yeah. But a psychopath in our gang could be pretty useful. You know, in case we have to fight off any bears while we’re out chasing the tornado. I’m the leader, after all. I can’t afford to get my hands dirty.’ He tugged at my wrist. ‘Come on, let’s enrol him now!’

  He dragged me into the crowd before I could protest any further. Finding Pete was easy – he towered over the crowd like a brick wall. Orlaith stood at his side, tied to his wrist. Callum jabbed her shoulder and she spun round. Her face immediately took on the look of someone opening the fridge to find nothing but a pint of old milk and a raw fish.

  ‘What,’ she muttered.

  ‘We need to talk to Murderous Pete,’ said Callum.

  Orlaith fumed. ‘His name is not …’

  ‘Blah blah blah, whatever,’ Callum snapped. ‘Come on, we’ve got business with him and it doesn’t concern you! Go invent a machine that shuts you up for ten minutes. Something everyone can enjoy.’

  Orlaith considered saying something, then just turned her back to us, shaking her head and muttering. Callum turned round to Murderous Pete, who gazed back down at him blankly. I wondered if he was going to rip Callum’s head off and start playing basketball with it. Callum’s eyes suddenly flooded with panic. He pushed me forwards.

  ‘Go on, Owen,’ he squeaked. ‘Tell nice Mr Pete about the plan.’

  I looked up at Pete. It was like looking up the tree the day before, except this one could stamp your head into butter.

  ‘Er … Hi Pete,’ I said. ‘Well, we’re over here because Callum and I were thinking about starting up a gang. Remember the Tornado Chasers? The ones from my presentation the other day?’

  Pete stared at me. His brow unfurrowed, ever so slightly.

  ‘You mean … like in those planes you said about?’ he said. His gentle voice always surprised me.

  I smiled with relief. ‘Yes! That’s it! Well done, Pete!’

  I stepped forwards.

  ‘We’d like you to join us. We’re going to have meetings in Callum’s storm shelter, and when the storm lands we’re going to break out of the village and chase after it. We’re going to be daredevils. Real-life daredevils, Pete!’

  It felt exciting just to say it. Even my heart was beating faster. All my life I’d wanted to be like my grandparents – to laugh in the face of danger, to live without fear. And now here I was, planning to break the Storm Laws, and dodge bears, and chase a tornado, and …

  ‘That’s a terrible idea.’

  Our heads shot round. Orlaith was shaking her head beside us, deeply unimpressed.

  ‘Oi!’ said Callum. ‘Why are you listening? This is none of your business!’

  ‘How are you going to do it?’ asked Orlaith.

  Callum stumbled. ‘Er … what?’

  ‘How are you going to chase a tornado?’ said Orlaith. ‘You don’t have planes.’

  Callum was scuppered. ‘Er …’

  We looked at each other. We hadn’t really thought about that bit yet. Callum’s eyes suddenly lit up.

  ‘We’ll run!’ he said triumphantly.

  Orlaith nodded. ‘Oh, right! You’ll run after it. Well, that’s a load off my mind. For a moment I thought you two didn’t have a clue what you were doing.’

  Callum eyed her suspiciously. ‘That had better not be sarcasm.’

  Orlaith sighed, and turned to Pete.

  ‘Pete,’ she said. ‘I’m not
going to let you be led along by these two morons.’ She held up the rope that connected their wrists. ‘If Pete’s in, I’m in too.’

  Callum took a step towards her. ‘Oh, are you now? Says who?’

  ‘Says my dad,’ said Orlaith, stepping forwards to meet him. ‘That’s who. As long as he’s patrolling the streets, you can forget ever getting out of Barrow.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Unless, of course, you have someone in your gang who knows his routes round the village each night. Who knows how to get past him. Me.’

  I glanced at Callum.

  ‘She … she’s got a pretty good point, Callum,’ I said. ‘You saw what her dad’s like.’

  Callum’s eyes widened. He looked hopelessly from Orlaith to me, and then back again. His eyes struggled to process whatever was going on in his head. Finally he threw up his hands with frustration.

  ‘Fine!’ he cried. ‘Whatever! She can be in this stupid gang if she has to be, I don’t even care about it! God!’

  Orlaith beamed. ‘Glad to hear it. What shall we say: first meeting tomorrow afternoon? We might as well use your storm shelter, Callum. So long as your babysitter doesn’t notice us.’

  Callum trembled with frustration, and smacked me on the helmet.

  ‘Nice one, idiot!’ he hissed. ‘“Oh, let’s go invite Pete” … great idea that turned out to be! Any more of your loser friends you want to tell about our top-secret gang while you’re at it?’

  ‘Oh, what,’ said a voice behind us, ‘you mean the Tornado Chasers?’

  I froze. Callum froze.

  We turned round. Behind us stood Ceri, calmly changing a lens on her camera. Flossie stood linked to her wrist, weighed down with several bags of camera equipment.

  ‘W … what did you say?’ Callum managed to choke out.

  Ceri looked up. ‘Your gang. The Tornado Chasers. The one Owen told me about in our interview last night.’

  I had already started trying to scramble away, but Callum wrenched me back. He was making short spluttering noises, like the type an engine makes before it explodes and kills everybody.