Chapter 35
Celia's Tornado Safety Rule #1: Don’t go outside.
When you live in the South, you don’t have to deal with snowstorms or ice - for the most part. Hurricanes are destructive, but you generally have a few days to prepare for them. You see those coming miles away.
Tornadoes, on the other hand. Those can spring up right beside you. One minute there’s nothing. The next minute, a tornado wipes out an entire town.
So, when the tornado siren went off, my Momzilla Mode kicked in. That pushes every other thought out of your head, except for saving your family and dealing with the emergency in front of you.
I hopped across the console and into the driver’s seat, slammed the car into drive, and high-tailed it toward the MOM Ranch barn. A few spots on the barn road were flooded over, but I didn’t stop to think about how deep it was. I just pressed forward, splashing through the flooding.
When I got to the barn, there was no sign of Flint. All of the ranch hands were busy securing the rest of the herd. More tornado sirens went off in the fields. Then the alerts blared out of everyone’s phones. I looked at the screen.
Tornado touchdown in your area. Take shelter immediately.
I was still in Momzilla Mode, but I could feel panic begin to edge toward me.
“Ma’am, we need to get into the tornado shelter,” a ranch hand that didn’t look a day over 12 shouted at me.
“Have you seen Flint Mendota come into the barn yet?” I yelled over the sirens.
“No, ma’am,” he shook his head. “If he’s out in this, he’ll need to get to shelter. And that’s what we need to do right now. Come with us!”
I shook my head. “No way I’m leaving him out there. He went after a wandering calf.”
A second ranch hand shouted for us to follow him into the safe room, but I shook my head and grabbed a rain jacket by the barn door. I threw it around my shoulders, then quickly pushed open the door, which was a mistake. The howling wind ripped it out of my hands, slamming it back against the wall.
Ranch Hand #1 was right behind me. “Ma’am, this isn’t safe! Please, come back inside!”
“Shut the door behind me and get into the shelter,” I ordered, then took off toward the last place I’d seen Flint. A rumble of thunder was the only warning I had before a crack of lightning split the sky and landed on a nearby tree. The concussion knocked me on my butt. The roaring blast was so loud. My ears were ringing. For a moment, I blanked out as I watched flames shoot into the sky.
Lightning must have struck a nearby tree, setting it on fire.
Dread rolled in my gut. Those flames were in the same direction as Flint.
