They Are In Texas!

 Aaliyah had never been more terrified in her life. The wind was blowing, the sky was getting darker and darker. The little camper she was pulling was all over the road. Then a car appeared out of nowhere behind her and had started honking the horn. Finally even though she knew she shouldn't stop, she did. A younger man came running over to her window and was shouting, "Tornado coming! Tornado! Pull your rig over there into that corncrib. It's not the best but it should help a little. "She understood what he was saying even though the wind was raging and the rain had started to pour. She couldn't believe her luck there was a little drive that she pulled into. The guy behind her kept yelling, "Pull it all the way in! I'm coming right behind you." Well, the whole thing was her rig took up all the space. Josh had nowhere to park his rental car, but he jumped out and ran inside the corncrib and got in the front seat of the Jeep. "Hi, I'm Josh. We are about to get the ride of our lives. Get your head down. Let's hope and pray that funnel doesn't touch down and goes on about it's business."

The noise was deafening. They could hear loud banging noises. Something or things were hitting the side of that old corn crib. It held steady, but it creaked and groaned with the strength of the wind. Then there was nothing but quiet. Aaliyah sat up and looked out the back window of her Jeep. She could see a fire flying up into the sky; then nothing. She had never seen or heard of anything like that in her life. Otherwise everything was as it was before. She looked at her new friend and said, "Where did you park your car? I don't see it." They got out of the Jeep and cautioned the dog to stay inside. They looked all around the old building. There was debris everywhere. Ears of corn and cornstalks, branches and pieces of metal and shattered glass. The Oklahoma red dirt had embedded itself into the corncrib making it look as if it was bleeding. It was injured indeed.  It was the biggest mess she had ever seen. But they were alive and unhurt; thanks to Josh. After a few minutes of searching they both agreed he no longer had a car. He was her newest passenger.

Josh told Aaliyah to go ahead and start the Jeep. He was going to walk the drive to make sure that there was nothing blocking the way. As he looked down the road there was nothing to interfere with their trip. He did not see his cell phone anywhere. The wind had sucked his phone out of his car and had taken it down the road about two miles to live the rest of its life in a farmer's yard. Never to be seen again except perhaps by two little children that thought it would make a great toy many days later when they were climbing trees for fun.

Aaliyah said, "Well, I guess I had better introduce myself. I'm Aaliyah, but you can call me Allie. So where are you headed, Josh?" Josh thought a minute before he answered. He could go two ways with this; his father's way or his way. "Well, I quit my job and thought I would go to Texas and look for work. You can take me as far as you want to. I'll see if I can get another car." Allie thought a minute and said, "What kind of work do you do? I might need somebody on my ranch. That's where I'm headed. I'm going to the Double D ranch a little ways north of San Antonio. It's up to you. I have no idea what is needed or maybe nothing, but you are welcome to ride along as long as you aren't a crook," she chuckled. "You know a person is not supposed to pick up hitchhikers." Josh grinned back at her and for the first time he felt free of his father's dubious ways. "Nope, I'm not a crook, so let's go to Texas. It's not all the far. I think we should be there in just four or five more hours. I'm starving. You got anything to eat in that camper?" When the dog heard the word "eat" he barked in agreement with the stranger. Allie and Josh both laughed. She pulled over to a rest area. They got out of the Jeep and got into the cooler. There was enough bread and lunch meat to make a couple of sandwiches. They had bottles of water to take along. They gave the dog a little bit of meat and some water.

"Do you think you could find something on that old radio of yours besides boot skootin' music?  Let's see if we can't find something fit to  listen to. Backstreet Boys is good, Adele is cool, how about some Madonna? " Allie looked at him and said, "What are you eighty? I've been listening to nothing but Blake Shelton for hours. I mean country is okay, but enough is enough." Josh continued to turn the dial to suit himself. When he found a Morgan Wallen tune, Dangerous, he said, "Well this guy is country, but kinda pop country. Is that okay, Miss Heiress?"

Allie turned her head so fast towards him her neck snapped. "What do you mean by calling me heiress? What are you talking about?" Josh quickly caught his mistake, "Oh nothing. Good grief you have kind of a short temper there, girl. I'm just talkin' that's all. Now listen to your tunes, I'm gonna see if I can't take a quick nap. It's been a long day."

Allie was getting really tired; tired of driving and tired of thinking. Did Josh know that she had inherited the ranch?  He couldn't have. Shed' never seen him before. He actually saved her life. She had been thinking so hard she had missed the Welcome to Texas sign a few miles back. Before she knew it she would be driving through the gate to her new home along with the young man who was needing a job. Two more hours, maybe more maybe less. She had forgotten to set the GPS after the tornado. Instead she had taken directions from Josh. They needed to stop soon anyway. 

"Hey wake up! We are in Texas and it's time to stop and stretch our legs. That sign back there said, Smidgemore, Texas. Funny name. I don't have much money left. Do you have enough for gas and something to eat? Josh sat up and looked around and said, "Sure. Looks like a little town, but maybe they have a cafe around here somewhere. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. He knew they were much closer to the ranch than Allie thought. His guess was they were about ten miles away. "That girl must have broken a few speed limits or I slept really hard. I have a feeling Dad is having sixteen fits back in Illinois. Good for him. I'm finally free. Man it feels good to be out from under his thumb and not tied to a cell phone. "Allie, look over there! Says they have chili. Sounds good to me. What do you think?" She nodded her head and pulled over to a tiny hole in the wall cafe. Chili wasn't her favorite, but she was hungry. They found an empty booth and reminded Josh that he needed to order a hamburger for the dog. As she was looking around the cafe, she noticed that the waitress seemed to be taking special interest in them. She mentioned it to Josh. "Yeah, we are strangers in this little town. She probably knows everybody's name and birthday in this little backwater. Go ahead and read the menu so we can order. Then we can eat and get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

 The waitress whose name was Lill quietly walked back to the office. She dialed the old phone and said quietly, "She's here and she's got company. Now what do you want me to do?... Your son, that's who!"