Read Online Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner - Free Book Online

beautiful.” It’s like I’ve fallen into one of the olden-days books Mom used to read to me.
    â€œYeah,” Tomas says. He looks a little sad.
    â€œHow long have you lived around here?”
    â€œSince I was born. It’s getting hard to take care of the farm, though, with my brother gone. My dad’s not sure . . .”
    â€œYou can’t sell, man,” Alex says. “No way.”
    â€œYeah, I know. Dad’s all talk. I don’t think he’ll ever leave this place.” He lifts the cooler onto the picnic table.
    â€œJaden, sit by me!” Risha pats a spot next to her on the splintery bench.
    I sit down and get a sandwich from the cooler. I’m starving, and for the first time since we left Eye on Tomorrow, I feel relaxed enough to talk about the Sim Dome. “Sure is nice to see blue sky after this morning.”
    â€œI know!” Risha takes a big bite of her sandwich and goes on talking through the lettuce. “That sim was crazy-real.”
    Alex sits down across from me. “Have you ever . . .” He pauses. “Never mind.”
    I take a bite of my DNA-ture apple and look up at Alex. “Have I ever what?”
    â€œWell . . . have you seen the equipment your dad has at work? I mean, you probably can’t talk about it if it’s classified and stuff, but I wonder if it’s the same.”
    I shake my head. “Never even been there.”
    â€œIt feels like . . .” Alex unwraps his sandwich but doesn’t eat. He turns it over and over in his hands, as if the bread and turkey and cheese layers hold the answer to some puzzle. “We have so much equipment at Eye on Tomorrow—and I’m sure your dad has evenbetter stuff up there.” He nods toward the StormSafe compound in the distance. The sun is reflecting off its steel and safety-glass walls, making it glow. “It feels like we should be able to figure this out.”
    I nod and look to the west, where the sky’s clouding up. I know exactly what he means. How could we know everything we know, have everything we have, and not be able to live in a world where you can go for a walk without watching the clouds?
    â€œI’m going to pick flowers.” Risha tips her head off toward the meadow. Before she goes, she bends down by the picnic table and plucks a dandelion that’s gone to seed. “Make a wish!” She blows on it, and silver stars swirl all around our heads as she runs off. Tomas picks up the bag of
nankhatai
, the Indian tea cookies Risha’s grandmother made, and follows her.
    Alex looks toward the clouds on the horizon. “They better not go far. This isn’t Placid Meadows.”
    His voice has an edge.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with Placid Meadows?”
    He shakes his head. “Nothing. I’d imagine it’s great if you can afford to live there. But you must know what those places cost.”
    I shrug, rather than admit that I don’t. I wonder if our picnic spot is part of the land Dad’s trying to buy for his Phase Two.
    There’s a rustling in the weeds then, and a golden retriever bounds out of the brush and up the steps to our table. It puts a paw up on Alex’s lap and tips its head.
    â€œHey, Newton.” Alex scratches the dog behind an ear, then carefully untangles a burr stuck in its long reddish fur.
    â€œSorry,” he says, looking up. “I didn’t mean to make you feel crummy. It’s just hard to take sometimes. But what Risha said before is right. If it weren’t for your dad, I’d be right here—and only here—this summer, pulling weeds and picking worms off tomato plants and running for the storm shelter every other day instead of spending half of it in a huge science complex.”
    We sit for a long time, watching the clouds. Alex feeds Newton scraps of turkey from his sandwich, and I listen to Risha laughing with Tomas.
    When Alex finally speaks, it’s so