Death Wind

William Bell

O
rca S
o
undings

Copyright © 2002 William Bell

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be
invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Bell, William, 1945-
Death wind

ISBN 1-55143-215-3

I.Title. PS8553.E4568D42 2002  jC813'.54  C2002-910138-7

PZ7.B41187De 2002

Summary:
When Allie fears she is pregnant, she leaves home with Razz, a skate-board
champion. Returning home she is caught up in a tornado that threatens to
destroy everything. She learns to believe in herself and face her future.

First published in the United States, 2002

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:
2002101408

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing
programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP), the
Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council.

Cover design: Christine Toller
Cover photography: Eyewire
Printed and bound in Canada

IN CANADA:
Orca Book Publishers
1030 North Park Street
Victoria, BC Canada
V8T 1C6

IN THE UNITED STATES:
Orca Book Publishers
PO Box 468
Custer, WA USA
98240-0468

04 03 02 • 5 4 3 2

Dedicated to those who suffered through the
Barrie Tornado, and to those who helped
.
WB

Other books by William Bell:

Novels

Crabbe
Absolutely Invincible

Five Days of the Ghost
Forbidden City
No Signature
Speak to the Earth
Zack
Stones

Picturebooks

The Golden Disk
River My Friend

ALLIE'S PARENTS were arguing again.

Allie slammed her bedroom door, rolled onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.
Eight o'clock in the morning and they're at it already
, she thought. She tried to block out the noise, but the harsh words made their way upstairs and through her door. Her mother was a shrieker. The madder she got, the higher her voice went. Her father was a rumbler. When he got mad,
his voice got deeper—and he would have the Hurt Look on his face.

They were arguing about Allie again. It was the old story. Her mother said her father was “too soft” and let Allie get away with too much. After she shrieked for awhile, Allie's father would say her mother was “too stiff” and she should give a little.
Right on
, thought Allie as she lay on her bed.
I wonder what you guys would think if you knew the mess that I'm in now
.

Allie climbed out of her bed and plunked herself down in the chair at her little desk, leaning on her elbows and cupping her hands over her ears.
Stop!
She cried, inside her head.
Stop arguing!

The report card lying on the messy desktop caught her eye. She groaned, flip-ping the stiff yellow booklet open. There were three bright red circles on it. She had failed three out of four subjects. Last year she had stood near the top of her class, but this year, since she started going out
with Jack, her marks had dropped. Her nickname used to be “Brainy”—Razz had given it to her in grade seven—but no one was using it lately.

Allie looked across the room to the calendar. There was a big photo of a pink kitten batting a ball of blue yarn with its tiny paw. The yarn was all tangled around the kitten's legs and head. Below the photo the days of the month were arranged in neat rows. May 1 had a red circle around it, drawn in crayon. Today was May 6.

Allie was five days overdue. She was afraid she was pregnant.
Wouldn't that be just my luck
, she thought. Jack had dumped her three weeks ago. He had told her in the cafeteria at lunchtime, while stuffing fries and gravy into his mouth. He told her he didn't want to be pinned down anymore. But they could still be friends, he had said.
Yeah, sure
, thought Allie,
you'll be my buddy if I'm knocked up, won't you, Jack?

Allie wondered now what she had ever seen in Jack. He was cute, sure, and a lot of fun. And it had made Allie feel good when she stole Jack from that snob, Angela Burrows. But for the last couple of months he hadn't paid much attention to her. Except for sex. Allie knew she could never tell him about the red circle on her calendar.

The shrieking and rumbling downstairs got louder. Her parents were arguing about money now. Allie looked down at the three red circles on the report card, then back at the red circle on the calendar. She could imagine what would happen when her parents found out. Her father would put on the Hurt Look and make her feel super guilty. Her mother would put on the I Told You So Look and start to wind up the shriek machine. Worst of all, Allie admitted to herself, they would be right.

Allie wished she could disappear. She wanted to be like that soft white fluff on
a dandelion and float away on the wind. Somewhere, anywhere but here.

Then Allie made up her mind. Maybe she
could
disappear—get away from her parents' arguing and from the four red circles.

She went to the dresser and got a scrap of paper out of her purse. She stepped outside her room to the upstairs phone and punched in the numbers on the piece of paper. Allie cupped her hand around the mouthpiece of the phone.

“Hello.”

“Hello,” said Allie. “Is that you, Razz?”

“You're talkin' to him.”

“This is Allie,” she said.
Will he remember?
she thought.
I hope so, or I'll look like a total goof

“Hey, Brainy! How are ya?”

“O.K., I guess.”

Allie took a breath.
Say it
, she said to herself. “Umm, I was wondering if your offer still stands.”

William Bell “Well, sure, Brainy, but I thought—”

“Things have changed,” she cut in. “I'd like to go with you now. When are you leaving?”

“In about two hours. Can you be ready?”

“No probs,” she answered.

“O.K., where?”

“Umm, park around the corner. Ten o'clock, right?”

“See you then, Brainy.” He hung up.

Razz and Allie had been friends since forever. He lived on a farm outside of town now, but he went to the same school as Allie. Last week, she had been complaining to him about how her life was falling apart. Razz had been really concerned about her. He had even offered to take her on tour with him. The skateboarding season was starting, and Razz was leaving today.

From downstairs, Allie heard some more shrieking and rumbling. Then the kitchen door slammed. As she went back
into her room and closed the door, she heard the Chevy roar to life in the driveway. She knew her mother was taking off in a fit again. She always raced the engine like that when she was throwing a fit.

Allie got her little suitcase out of the closet. It was pretty banged up—the result of a few summers at camp. Soon, the bag was packed. She sat on it so she could close the snaps. Then she got her backpack and threw in her hair dryer, brushes, combs, can of mousse, toothbrush, and makeup. Next came the Walkman and a dozen tapes, along with a couple of movie mags. Finally, she stuffed in a new box of maxi-pads.
Here's hoping
, she said to herself. When she was packed, Allie went to her desk and ripped the report card into shreds. She dropped the pieces into the waste can.
Only one red circle left
, she thought.

Then she put a tape in the deck, turned it up high and settled down at her window to wait.

Just before ten o'clock, Allie yanked at the window. It creaked and groaned as it slid up. She dropped the suitcase and the pack out first. Then she climbed out and dropped to the flat garage roof. Allie looked around. She tossed her stuff into the backyard and slid down the drainpipe, scraping her hands.

Allie slipped between the garage and the hedge and was soon headed down the street. Before she turned the corner, she looked back at the house. The bright morning sun blazed in the windows. Her dad would be in the kitchen, working. He'd be going over the accounts, shaking his head and worrying. Behind the house, the big maple swayed in the wind. That tree was the only thing she liked about the house.

When her mom got home, Allie wouldn't be there. They would find only the note she had pinned to her pillow:

   Dear Mom and Dad
,

I'm going away. You'll be better off without me
.

Love, Allie

The first thing Allie noticed when she climbed into the van was the mattress in the back.

“Hey, wait a minute,” she said.

Razz was dressed wildly, as usual. Green running shoes, unlaced. Yellow pants and a cherry red shirt. A green painter's hat.

All of her friends thought Razz was cute. He was seventeen, tall and dark.
Allie thought so too, but she had known him too long to be interested in him that way.
Besides
, she thought,
I have enough of that kind of trouble as it is
.

“Relax, Brainy,” he laughed. “I'm not putting the move on ya. Take it easy.”

He started the van and pulled away from the curb. Looking around, Allie's eye was caught by the skateboards. There was a rack along each side of the van and at least eight boards hung from them. They were all different colors, with wild graphics on them. The decks were different shapes, but each one had the name
RAZZ
in big letters on it. Behind her seat was a big wooden box with dozens of stickers showing company logos plastered on the lid. Behind the driver's seat was a blue SkyGrabber BMX cycle. Razz had been a BMX racer in grade nine, but now he spent all his time on a skateboard.

“Better buckle up, Brainy,” Razz told her.

Allie turned around and snapped the seat belt on. “New van?” she asked.” Just picked it up last week,” he answered. “Like it?”

Allie checked the interior. The red carpet felt soft under her feet. The seats were covered with real sheepskin throws. There seemed to be a thousand dials and gauges on the dash. Music thumped from a tape deck that was covered with buttons.

“What kind of music is
that
?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Skunk music.”

“Huh?”

“Skunk—you know, skateboard punk. Like it? No? Well, there's some other stuff in the rack.”

She flipped open the box on the console between the seats and got a Killjoy tape. She put it into the deck.

“Hungry?” asked Razz. He pointed to a giant jar of peanut butter and a bag of
red twisters on the dashboard. “They taste great together.”

“No, thanks,” said Allie, trying not to screw up her face at the thought of the taste. She settled back in the soft bucket seat.

They were turning onto Highway 400. The van picked up speed. Allie kicked off her shoes and put her feet up on the dash. She watched the scenery flash past, wondering how long it would be before her parents noticed she was gone. Would they phone the cops?

Hours later they were on the outskirts of Ottawa. They stopped at a restaurant to eat. Razz had a big plate of fries with hot dog relish and ketchup on them. The green and red mess on his plate looked like one of those dumb modern paintings Allie's art teacher raved about. Allie ordered a hamburger but couldn't eat it. When they were finished, Razz pulled a wad of
money from his pocket—all twenties. He peeled a bill from the wad and handed it to Allie.

“How about you pay and I'll bring the van out front?”

“O.K., but I can pay for my own,” she said.