by Ron Roy
“No way!” Josh said. “We stick together.”
“Josh is right,” Ruth Rose said. “Those people sound desperate. If we stay together, it’s five against two.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Dink said.
KC was outvoted. No way were her friends going to let her be stuck in a cold shack while they went home to hot chocolate and cookies.
“He said he’s bringing his plow,” Dink said. “When we hear it coming, we’ll slip into the woods. Bring the blankets.”
“But won’t they just follow our footsteps in the snow and come after us?” Marshall asked.
“Not if we trick them,” Dink said. “Let’s all go out and make a lot of tracks going in five different directions. Really trample the snow up, all around the van. They won’t know which way we went.”
The kids stomped all over the snow, making it impossible for anyone to see a trail.
“Pick up branches for the fire!” Josh told everyone.
They came back to the fire and threw on whatever branches they’d found. Ruth Rose had stuffed her pockets with pinecones. They made a crackle as new flames shot up. The moonlight made the snow sparkle around them.
“I think they’re coming. Listen!” Ruth Rose hissed.
They heard a chug-chug. They all looked toward the road.
“I see the plow’s lights!” Dink said. “Let’s go, and stay together!”
He led the others into the trees, all dragging their blankets. Soon they were hidden in shadows. Dink felt sure that Jo and the man she’d called Ace wouldn’t be able to follow them.
The kids moved as quietly as possible. Dink pointed toward a giant pine tree. The lowest branches of the tree were half buried in snow.
“Under there,” Dink whispered. He got down on his knees and forced himself between branches until he saw the tree’s broad trunk. It was like being inside a hut. Dink had gotten sap all over his jacket and gloves. He tried getting rid of the stickiness by wiping it with snow.
The five kids crouched and waited. They were able to see the plow’s lights and hear the engine. Dink tried, but he couldn’t see Jo Payne or Ace. The engine noises stopped.
Minutes passed. Dink thought he heard shouting. Then the engine roared to life again. They all heard snow being moved and small trees snapping as they were crushed beneath the tires.
“He’s burying the van!” Josh whispered in Dink’s ear.
In less than five minutes, the van had disappeared. The truck with the plow on the front made a clumsy turn and lumbered back up onto the road.
The kids waited. When several minutes had passed, they crept out from beneath the pine branches.
“Did … did they try to kill us by burying the van?” KC asked.
“No,” Dink said. “They must have looked for us in the van and found it empty. They must think we ran away.”
“What will they do now?” Ruth Rose asked. “They don’t have Natasha anymore, and they don’t have KC, either.”
“I don’t know,” Dink said. “If they’re smart, they’ll disappear. Remember, we know their names and what Jo Payne looks like. And I saw Ace, too.”
“Do you really want us to dig a tunnel into the van?” Josh asked.
Dink checked his watch. The moon made it easy to see in the dark.
“I think that’s the safest place for now,” he said. “It’s almost eleven-thirty. Tomorrow we can walk into town. I heard Ace say there’s one a few miles down the road.”
“In which direction?” Ruth Rose asked. “The road goes both ways, so which way do we walk?”
“I don’t know,” Dink said. “Maybe we …”
“But what about Natasha?” KC asked. “What if she comes back and we’re not here?”
The other four stared at KC. Dink thought they’d never see the dog again, but he wouldn’t say so.
“You’re right, KC,” Dink said. “We wait for Natasha. Let’s get busy digging.”
“What do we use, our hands?” Marshall asked.
“Yeah, and break off some tree branches,” Dink said.
Armed with broken branches, the kids approached the mound. Dead leaves, stones, and small trees were embedded in the snow. If Dink hadn’t known better, he would have thought he was standing next to a huge, snow-covered boulder.
“How do we know where to dig?” Ruth Rose asked. “I mean, where are the van’s rear doors?”
“On this end,” Dink said. “Ace didn’t move the van. He just covered it.”
The five kids began picking at the mound with their branches. They soon discovered that chunks of ice were beneath the surface. This made their work even harder than they thought it would be.
When they came across sticks and branches, they tossed them into the fire, now nearly out again. After fifteen minutes of hacking away at snow and ice, they’d only managed to remove two feet of the difficult snow.
“We need shovels,” Josh said.
“You’re right,” Dink said. “Why don’t you send a text message to your local hardware store and order a few for us.”
“Okay, give me your cell phone,” Josh said.
“I’d give a million dollars for a cell phone,” Dink muttered. “Keep digging.”
A half hour passed. They had created a cave. All five were in the cave, digging on their hands and knees.
“Guys, I think I hit the van!” Marshall cried.
They all began clawing wildly at the snow and ice with their hands, like five dogs digging in the sand.
“You’re right!” Dink said. “It’s the rear bumper!”
Suddenly they heard the roar of engines. A strong beam of light lit their snow cave. When they turned, the light blinded them.
Dink backed out and stood up. He put up a hand to keep the bright lights from his eyes. He saw two snowmobiles parked next to the weakly burning fire.
Dink swallowed. He felt his stomach lurch into a knot. A man sat on one of the snowmobiles. The other rider looked like a woman. Ace and Jo. They’d come back!
“Run!” Dink screamed.
CHAPTER 8
Josh, Ruth Rose, KC, and Marshall all tried to back out of the cave at the same time. They tripped over each other’s feet as they tried to escape. The snow mobiles’ headlights created frantic shadows on the snow.
Dink was knocked to the ground. He felt Josh crawling over him.
Then he heard a bark. Were they being attacked by wolves, too?
“Natasha!” KC cried. More barking.
Dink sat up. Natasha was lying on top of KC, covering her face with kisses. The dog’s red sweater was caked with ice and snow. As the other kids watched, Natasha stopped licking KC’s face. The dog whimpered once, then rolled over into the snow.
“Something’s the matter with her!” Marshall said, crawling over to KC.
The man and woman climbed off their snowmobiles. Dink realized that they were not Ace and Jo Payne after all. The man was too short, for one thing. And his voice sounded young when he said, “Your dog is awesome. She led us here from a mile away.”
He was wearing some kind of padded snowsuit that zipped up the front. Ski goggles and a helmet covered most of his face. Only his eyes showed.
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were kneeling in the snow next to Natasha, who wasn’t moving. KC was stroking Natasha’s icy fur and whispering in her ear.
“What’s wrong with her?” KC asked.
“Probably hypothermia,” the woman said. She was dressed like the man, in ski goggles and a helmet. Dink realized they were teenagers. “I’m Loren, and this is my brother, Tinker.”
“Hypothermia can be pretty bad,” her brother said. “One of my buddies got lost in the snow last year. It was real cold and he stayed out way too long. When he didn’t come home, his folks called the cops. They found him asleep in a snowbank. His face was blue, and his temperature was way down. He almost died.”
“Oh no!” KC cried.
“Don’t worry,” Tinker said. “We’ll get your d
og to our house. Mom knows a lot about animals. It’ll be cool. Let’s load her up on my snowmobile.”
“We can take you all,” Loren said. “But you’ll have to sit on top of each other. What’re you kids doing out here, anyway?”
“It’s a long story,” Dink said.
“Cool, but tell us later,” Tinker said. “Let’s hit the road!”
Dink and KC wrapped Natasha in one of the packing blankets. Tinker carried the bundle to his snowmobile and held her on his lap. Dink, Josh, and KC scrunched together into the passenger section behind Tinker’s seat. Marshall and Ruth Rose climbed on the other snowmobile behind Loren.
In moments, they were skimming over the snowy road. Dink’s eyes blurred as they whipped past trees and snow-covered fields. The moonlight made everything seem like a dream.
Ten minutes later, Tinker aimed his snowmobile up a long, plowed driveway. At the end sat a small house. Dink smelled smoke from the chimney. Lights were on, glowing through the windows.
Tinker and Loren parked their snowmobiles near the porch and the kids jumped off. Tinker carried Natasha up the snowy front steps. A Christmas wreath hung on the door.
Loren opened the door and everyone clattered in.
“Boots off, you two!” a voice called from another room. “And you said you’d be home by eleven!”
Tinker kicked out of his boots, then laid Natasha on a rug in front of the fireplace. Four stockings hung from the mantel. In the fireplace itself, a small wood fire crackled. Dink noticed a Christmas tree in one corner, with a few wrapped presents arranged on a red cloth.
“Mom, I have a surprise for you!” Tinker yelled toward the next room. He grinned at the others.
A tall woman stepped into the room. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with a parrot on the front. She stopped when she saw five strange kids dripping snow onto her rug.
“Usually he brings me baby squirrels or orphaned birds,” she said. “Who do we have here?”
The five wet, cold kids introduced themselves.
“We found them in a snowbank!” Loren said. “Their dog led us right to them!”
“What dog?” her mother asked.
Loren pointed to the blanket on the hearth.
Her mom knelt by the dog and carefully unwrapped the blanket. She forced Natasha’s eyes open, then her mouth. “Loren and Tinker, find some dry-clothes for your friends.” Loren followed her brother to the second floor.
“Will she be all right?” KC asked.
The woman sat back on her feet. “Yes, sweetie,” she said. “Your dog’s just exhausted and very cold. We’ll have her fixed up in a jiffy.”
She took a close look at the five kids. “Lordy, you all look like you’ve been through a war!” she said.
“We got kidnapped!” Marshall said.
“Wait, we want to hear!” Tinker said. He rushed into the room with an armful of sweatpants. Loren was right behind him. She dropped a pile of sweatshirts on the sofa.
“Okay, you kids all get into warm stuff now,” Loren and Tinker’s mother ordered. “Loren, why don’t you make a pot of hot chocolate? Tinker, we need more firewood.”
“Um, Mrs.—” Dink started to say. “I’m Molly Makepeace,” the woman said.
“Mrs. Makepeace, could we make a couple of phone calls?” Dink went on. “Our parents don’t know where we are.”
“Sure, sweetie,” Molly Makepeace said. “Use the phone in the kitchen.”
The five kids quickly pulled on too-large sweatshirts and pants. Dink and KC went to the kitchen to find the phone. “You first,” Dink said, then he went back to wait in the living room.
Everyone was gathered around Natasha, who was sitting up and licking faces.
KC stepped into the room with the phone. “Um, my stepfather wants to know what town we’re in.”
“Tell him Maple Crossing, Virginia,” Molly Makepeace said. “We’re number fifteen Fox Run Drive.”
KC repeated the address into the phone, then listened for a reply.
“He wants to know if there’s a place to land a helicopter,” KC said.
“Your dad has a helicopter?” Tinker said.
“There’s a big field behind the house,” Molly said. “Plenty of room to land there. Tell him we’ll have lights on.”
KC finished and hung up. “They’ll be here in a half hour. He promised to call your father at the hotel,” KC told Dink. “And your parents are at the White House already, Marshall.”
Dink smiled. He could just see his dad chatting with the president.
“White House? Kidnapped?” Molly Makepeace said. “What’s going on here?”
“Well, the president is—” KC started to say.
“Wait!” Loren said. “The hot chocolate. Don’t say anything till I get back!”
Soon they all had mugs of hot chocolate. Natasha was sitting up against KC’s knees.
“Okay, kids, tell us how you know the president,” Molly Makepeace said.
“He’s my stepfather,” KC said. “Last year, he and my mom fell in love and got married.”
“So you live in the … White House?” Loren asked.
KC grinned. “Yup.”
“And you got kidnapped?” Tinker said. “All five of you?”
The kids kept interrupting each other as they told the whole story. Natasha perked up her ears when they got to the part about her being locked in the crate.
When they were finished, Molly and the two teenagers just stared.
“That is the most amazing story I ever heard!” Molly said. “And you managed to get away from that man and woman. Do you know who they are?”
“Her name is Josephine Payne,” Dink said. “I found papers in her glove compartment. And I heard her call him Ace. I think the guy lives near here.”
“Ace Boyd!” Tinker yelled. “He’s a total wacko! He and my dad got in a big fight when Ace tried to shoot some wild turkeys on our property.”
“You know him?” Ruth Rose asked.
“Everybody around here knows Ace Boyd,” Molly said. “But no one wants to know him. He manages to make enemies wherever he sets foot.”
“I’ve seen him throwing his trash in our field,” Loren said. “Ace Boyd belongs in jail!”
“I guess he and Jo Payne planned to kidnap Natasha when Jo was hanging wreaths in the White House,” Dink said.
“Yeah, and we went along for the ride,” Josh added. “That’s the last time I do anything nice for you, Natasha!” Josh gave the dog a big kiss on her head.
“How did you find her?” Marshall asked Tinker and Loren.
Tinker smiled. “Dude, your dog found us,” he said. “Loren and I were out doing some night snowmobiling. It got too windy, so we decided to come back here. Next thing I know, this thing all covered in ice jumps in front of me. I almost fell off my snowmobile! I thought it was a grizzly bear come to eat me.”
“She barked at us and kept backing away, like she was trying to say something,” Loren said. “Finally we just followed her until we saw you guys.”
KC gave Natasha a smooch. “You’re my heroine!” she said. “I’m going to make you some Christmas doggie cookies.”
“Speaking of eating, when is the last time you five had a meal?” Molly asked.
“Yesterday!” Josh said.
“We ate around two o’clock in the afternoon,” Ruth Rose said. “But our friend Josh is like a baby bird. He has to eat every five minutes.”
“How do soup and sandwiches sound?” Molly asked, heading toward the kitchen. “And blueberry pie?”
“Can I come and live with you guys?” Josh asked.
CHAPTER 9
They ate in the kitchen.
“This table looks like a pack of wolves had a picnic here,” Molly Makepeace said. The seven kids had devoured all the soup, a plateful of sandwiches, and a whole pie. Natasha lay under the table, waiting for something to fall her way.
“We saw wolves at the National Zoo,” Dink said. “The puppies
look just like dog puppies.”
“We don’t have any wolves here in Virginia anymore,” Loren said.
“Really? I was sure I heard wolves when we were stuck in that van!” Josh said.
“You probably heard coyotes,” Tinker said. “My dad told me he sees coyotes around here all the time.”
“Where is your dad?” Dink asked. He remembered the four stockings hanging above the fireplace.
“In the army,” Loren said. “But he’ll be home in time for Christmas.”
“Yikes, what time is it?” Tinker said. He jumped up. “Come on, Loren, let’s turn on our snowmobile lights. The president is coming!”
Everyone put on hats, coats, and boots. Molly found a leash for Natasha. “We don’t want her running off again!” she said.
While Tinker and Loren started their snowmobiles, Molly found a few flashlights. Then she led the five kids out to a large, flat area behind the house. “In the summer, this is a pick-your-own strawberry field,” she said. “The kids run the business and save the profits for college.”
Tinker and Loren came roaring around the corner on their snowmobiles. They made a giant circle in the snow, then pulled up and parked next to their mother and the five kids.
“Let’s spread out around the circle,” Dink said. He still had the flashlight he’d taken from the van. Molly handed out the other flashlights, and they each took a position.
Eight faces were turned toward the sky. The snowmobile lights threw their shadows into the circle.
Suddenly Natasha let out a bark. She pointed her muzzle up and began to whimper.
A moment later, they all heard what Natasha had heard.
“It’s the helicopter!” Dink said. “Turn on the flashlights!”
A dark object flew in front of the moon. Tiny lights blinked on and off as the object flew lower in the sky.
“They see us!” Josh cried.
Everyone began waving their flashlights as the chopper came closer. Dink’s hat almost blew off his head from the wind made by the blades.