“Start it.” Nick jerked John ahead. “Let’s close that door. Where’s the knife?”
“Here,” John said.
While Ally jumped into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition key, Nick and John crouched in the doorway. Nick fumbled with the lever that pulled the door shut.
“Go!” Nick yelled.
The engine turned over and over but didn’t start.
“Go!” Ally shrieked. “Go!”
The door began swiveling to the right, shutting as Nick got a grip on it. Lug came around and grabbed the edge just before it closed. Nick and John pulled the door shut with all their might, smashing Lug’s hand. Lug jerked back in pain, screaming and falling backward onto the sand.
Nick pulled the door shut all the way.
The engine kicked in as Ally rammed the gear into drive and floored the gas pedal. She shouted in triumph. The RV pitched forward, rolling off the jack. Fortunately, the tire didn’t come off as it jolted and coughed forward, gradually gaining speed. Ally fought the steering wheel as it twitched and turned in her hands like a live snake. She looked for a way out of the clearing.
The access road was straight ahead, a good half mile. In the mirror, she saw Lug and Pack running from behind. Certainly they wouldn’t be able to keep up—even with an RV going twenty on a flat tire! Ally knew, because the fastest human doing a one-hundred-yard dash can’t even reach twenty-five miles per hour.
Ally bobbed up and down in the seat, yelling, “Yahoo! We’re making it.”
“But where are we going?” Nick yelled.
“Anywhere but here!” Ally answered.
The RV rocked and tilted. It felt like a ship in a storm.
Nick stepped back up the stairwell and looked around. A second later, he spotted a box of tools on the floor. He said, “Let’s see if there are any metal cutters in here. We can cut this handcuff and be loose.”
“Right,” John said, closing the knife and handing it to Nick.
They opened the toolbox and rifled through it. The RV bucked and pitched. The tools jostled around, and the boys could barely keep their balance. There were wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, a hammer, screws, nails, and bolts, but no metal cutter.
“Wait a second,” John said. “Can’t you cut wire with pliers?”
Nick looked at him. “I don’t know.”
Ally yelled, “Hold on! We’re coming into a curve.”
“Where are they?” Nick asked.
“Right behind us. Running like madmen,” Ally shouted.
“Try the pliers,” Nick said.
John pulled up the yellow-plastic gripped pliers and set the chain of the handcuffs in the slot at the back. He squeezed but made no headway.
“It’s too thick,” he said.
The RV swerved as Ally hit the curve. “The main road is probably up ahead,” she cried. “What should I do?”
“Turn right,” Nick said, knocking against the wall by the stairs with John sprawling onto the floor. “Come on,” he said. “Hurry.”
“I don’t see it!” Ally yelled.
“Where does this road go?” John shouted.
“I don’t know. I’m just trying to follow it,” Ally answered. The RV jumped like a fish on a line, but it was weighted by the flat tire dragging along.
“Let me hit the grip with the hammer. That might cut us free,” John said.
“Go ahead,” Nick answered.
Even with the RV jolting like a crazed moose, John somehow smacked the steel hammer against the pliers with one hand. Instantly, the handcuff chain snapped. In a second, Nick had it apart.
“They’re still close behind us. I haven’t been able to pick up speed. I keep shimmying all over the place.”
“Let’s ditch this thing!” Nick shouted to Ally. “Look for a place to stop, and let’s run for it.”
V
Mr. Tomoro—still in his robe and wearing shoes with no socks—ran toward the access road to the nature preserve. Molly came limping behind him. A moment later, they spotted the RV coming toward them through the trees.
“It must be them,” Molly cried. “We should hide!”
Mr. Tomoro yelled back, “Run into bushes anytime.”
Twenty-one
The Crash
Ally felt wet all over, hot and scared. The RV was like nothing she’d ever driven before. The combination of the deep sand in the dunes, the loose flat tire, and the winding access road made for a wild ride. The two thugs kept running after them. She and the boys would never escape unless she did something quick.
The road was straight for the next sixty feet or so, then it forked. She floored the RV, and the tires shot out sand as they spun ahead. Nick and John held onto the rail as the RV bucked and pitched.
“Be careful!” Nick yelled above the din.
“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Ally scowled as she swung toward the fork and the curve. She knew she should go to the left, back out to the main road—it was the only way.
Ally mashed the accelerator one more time as she screwed the RV down into the curve. The tire came off as she spun. The RV started grinding to a stop. Ally looked in the mirror and saw the two thugs gaining on them, gesturing and shouting. At the same time, a car was speeding down the left fork toward her.
“Car!” Ally screamed.
The driver tried to avoid crashing, but there was no way to avoid it. She smacked right into the center front of the RV. Metal tore. The three kids screamed.
Then all was quiet.
V
“A crack-up,” Mr. Tomoro yelled as he and Molly hurried along the path. He put his arm around Molly’s back, giving her some lift so her full weight didn’t fall on the twisted ankle.
“Who is it?” Molly asked breathlessly, leaning on the old man’s arm.
“I don’t see them yet.”
“Hurry. Maybe it’s Nick and Ally and John.”
Mr. Tomoro looked at her and grinned. “Like Ninja warriors.”
Molly pushed herself all the harder, wincing at the pain in her ankle and resolving not to let it bother her. “If something happens to them,” she said, “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
V
Kelly poured out Molly’s story in tears and didn’t get far before her parents, the Parkers, and the O’Connors were throwing on shoes and clothes to run out the front door. “Back to the crow’s nest,” she said to the emptied house. Kelly kept her backpack on and started to climb. “I’m going to show them all,” she said when she reached the top.
V
Nick pulled himself up from the stairwell at the front of the RV. His forehead was bleeding. He’d smacked the windshield. “John?” he asked.
“I’m all right,” John said, pushing himself up. He had fallen under the table and crawled out.
“What about Ally?”
There was a moan, and Nick found her to the left of the driver’s seat, draped under the steering wheel. “You okay?”
Ally looked up at him. “I rolled in here. Probably the best thing.”
“We’d better get out,” he said. He peered out the window, looking for the two men, but didn’t see them. He helped Ally up, and they swiveled open the door. Nick stepped out first, took a look, then whispered, “Come on.” He held out his hand for Ally. John followed.
They crept around the edge of the RV, looking for Lug and Pack, who were nowhere to be seen. Then they went to the wrecked car.
“It’s Mrs. Newton’s car!” Ally said with shock in her voice.
“Is she okay?” Nick asked, standing up and trying to look into her car. “Can she help us?”
The door was open. Mrs. Newton was gone.
“Where is everyone?” Nick whispered.
“Let’s get into the woods,” Ally said. “Something’s going on.”
“But what about my camera?” John asked. “The guys carried it back to the RV. I need to get that film.”
“We’ll have to get that later,” Nick said.
&n
bsp; John looked despondent for a moment then brightened. “But maybe my shots will get me the Pulitzer Prize!” John drew courage and darted back into the RV.
Ally heard voices from the woods. It was Mrs. Newton, talking to those thugs like she knew them: “What are we going to do?”
“Your car is wrecked and the RV too,” Lug said. “But we have to get out of here.”
“I have my Jeep at home,” Mrs. Newton said. “But everything…”
“You got us into this,” Lug interrupted.
Mrs. Newton’s voice hardened. “What evidence do those stinking kids have against us?”
“Plenty,” Lug said. “The RV. The hypodermics. The film in the camera.”
“Get the hypos and the camera and dispose of them,” said Mrs. Newton. “That’s our only chance.”
Lug led the other two out of the woods, keeping a lookout for the kids. Then he ordered: “Pack, go to the back and get the camera in the compartment. The injection equipment is inside the RV.”
“Don’t come back without it,” Mrs. Newton whispered harshly.
Just then John appeared again at the door of the RV. “It’s not here!” he shouted toward the trees where Ally and Nick were hiding. The two spun around.
“I told you, John, we can get it later,” Nick whispered.
Ally watched in horror as Pack came from the rear of the RV.
“Get out—now!” she yelled in a raspy voice.
John lunged down the steps and ran for the bushes.
Lug and Mrs. Newton, in their own hiding place, didn’t move. They were watching Pack pull out the Nikkormat from the compartment at the rear of the vehicle.
“They’re getting the evidence,” John said. “That’s what I’d do. See, there’s my camera. I’m sure the lenses are wrecked.”
“Look,” Ally said. “Pack got the rifle and drug equipment. You’re right, John.”
“We should follow them,” John said. “I want my film back!”
“Yeah, but look,” Nick added. Mrs. Newton was waving a gun in her hand then gave it to Lug.
“What can we do?” Nick asked.
“Hang in there, Nick,” Ally said. “God’s helped us so far.”
Nick grinned. “You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?”
“No way!”
Ally studied the scene as she, Nick, and John crept deeper into the trees. “Hope Molly got the police,” she said, looking down the right fork in the road back to the houses.
Twenty-two
Mustangs to the Rescue
Molly and Mr. Tomoro rounded the curve. Right in front of them was the smashed RV and Mrs. Newton’s car. “Someone may be hurt,” Molly yelled.
They were less than a hundred feet away when Lug stepped out of the trees and trained the gun on them. “Hold it,” he said.
Mr. Tomoro stopped and grabbed Molly. She yelled, “You hurt my friends.”
“Shut up and stand still,” Lug said. Mrs. Newton and Pack appeared behind them.
At that moment, Ally, Nick, and John stepped out from the trees. Lug swiveled around. “I’ll take all of them!” he yelled.
Mr. Tomoro shouted at Mrs. Newton, “Why you do this, Irene?”
“That’s none of your business, old man.” The woman’s jaw was set.
“You’re a murderer,” Molly cried.
“I’m just taking care of my property.”
“By trying to kill innocent horses!”
“They’re pests! Absolute pests, like vermin, like big rats!”
Mr. Tomoro squeezed Molly’s shoulder and said calmly, “Take gun away, Irene.”
“Be quiet, old man,” Mrs. Newton said. “We’ll do the talking here.”
Lug started forward, waving the cocked gun. Molly knew there was no outrunning a bullet.
Suddenly, hooves rumbled on the sand. The ground thundered beneath them.
Sixteen Mustangs, fury in their nostrils, streamed toward the small congregation of people. Pack dropped the camera and the injection equipment and began running. “I ain’t gettin’ kicked again!” he yelled.
Lug tore up the road toward the RV.
Mrs. Newton froze.
Nick, Ally, John, and Molly all yelled at the same time: “The Mustangs!”
Coming in from all sides, the horses overtook the crowd easily. The stallion barreled by, then swiveled between Mr. Tomoro and Mrs. Newton, nosing in Molly’s direction. Everyone could hear Pack beating a path through the woods, but it didn’t seem to matter. He wouldn’t make it too far.
Now the horses didn’t move or kick. For a second, everything was still. Then Ally, a few feet away from the stallion, sidled forward closer to the horse. “You came back!” she whispered soothingly. “You came back to save us all.”
The stallion twitched but didn’t move.
“It’s carrots and goodies that he and the Mustangs want,” Molly said, laughing and patting her backpack.
“They’re beautiful,” Ally whispered, locking eyes with the stallion and then a mare behind him.
“And smart,” Molly added.
Lug stood helplessly looking for a way out, a way to run. But everywhere he looked he faced large pawing hooves.
That moment, the blare of a police siren ripped the air. Lug dropped his gun, saying, “I give up. Welcome, Lady, to the real world.” Mrs. Newton wrinkled her nose and looked down at him with disgust.
Mr. Tomoro picked up Lug’s gun and dropped out the clip then pulled back the slide and ejected the bullet. “That takes care of that,” he said.
The horses seemed jittery from the sirens but didn’t move. They shuffled about anxiously but stayed in the road beside the kids until the stallion suddenly whinnied and leaped around. He led his harem off, disappearing into the brush almost as mysteriously as they’d appeared. As the sound of their hooves faded away, Mrs. Newton and Lug were taken away in handcuffs to the car where Pack was already waiting in the backseat. The police had picked him up on the way.
All four of the kids hugged and cried. “I was so scared they would hurt you, Nick,” Molly said. “And then I sprained my ankle, and Mrs. Newton trapped me in her house with that Doberman.”
“I thought we were done for, Nick, really done for,” John interrupted.
“If not for Ally,” Nick said, “we might have been.” He slid a bruised arm around Ally’s tanned shoulders. “You’re incredible, girl!”
Ally returned the hug then punched Nick on the shoulder. “It was all of us together,” she said. “I can’t wait to tell Kelly all about the excitement. If only she had seen this!”
The O’Connors, the Parkers, and the DeBarkses drove up then, all in one car, looking terrified and relieved at the same time to see the kids, the police, and everyone.
“The horses, Dad!” Ally cried. “They saved us.”
“Are you really all right?” her mom asked.
“We’re all perfect, well, except for some scratches!”
“And except for my sprained ankle,” Molly grinned proudly.
“Thank God,” Ally’s mom said as tears sprang to her eyes. “I never would have let you go if I’d known it would be dangerous like this!”
“You kids,” interrupted Nick’s mom. “You promised you’d come home at the sight of those men!”
Molly pleaded, “I never would have thought Mrs. Newton would try to kill the horses, though. We had to do something before it was too late.”
“Yeah,” John added, “we caught them red-handed. The girls stampeded the herd. I took pictures for evidence. Nick made sure those thugs couldn’t aim their injection needle on target.”
“We all worked together. If we’d waited, the horses would have been gone.”
Nick’s dad interrupted: “But you should have gone for the police immediately, like we said. You put your lives in danger.”
Nick shook his head. “Ally kept telling me to trust God. Once we got into trouble, we knew that was the only way out.”
“
You trusted God?” Mr. Parker said, looking surprised. “That’s the only way…. Still, next time I’m going with you to spot horses, crabs, beetles, or whatever it is you’ve taken into your heads to see.”
The police car radio crackled as one of the officers called in his report. Ally, Nick, John, and Molly each gave a version of their story. Before long, a reporter from the mainland arrived and interviewed the kids, promising to make it a headline for the newspaper.
V
Back at the beach house, a reporter was waiting, wanting to get a picture of the whole group. Nick, with John nodding nearby, spoke about how brave Ally had been to let out the air in the tire and then rescue them from the room in the back of the RV.
Ally smiled. “Only doing what you’d do, Nick.”
“Even John kept his humor going,” Nick said.
Everyone gathered together for a photograph, when suddenly John’s dad said, “Where’s Kelly?”
“I have everything on video!” Kelly shouted down from the crow’s nest ladder. “Molly and the horses! Mean ole Mrs. Newton. The car and RV crashing, the horses galloping up to save them! Everything! It’s a whole movie almost.”
“You’re all safe, and that’s what counts,” Mr. DeBarks said.
“But I’ll be the famous one!” Kelly triumphed.
Ally started for her room, and Nick followed her.
“What?” Ally said.
“Thanks,” he answered.
“For what?”
“For reminding me.”
“Of what?”
“Well, you know,” Nick stammered, “to trust God, I mean.”
Ally laughed. “Now that’ll get my attention!” She walked into her room and closed the door behind her, peeking out with one eye and smiling at Nick.
Nick gazed after her and laughed, saying, “Does this mean you’ll go out with me when we turn sixteen?”
Ally just smiled.
The Wild Horses of the Outer Banks
This herd of anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five horses is one of the only herds of wild horses left in the world. Over four hundred years ago, Spanish explorers left their horses behind in the United States, and these horses lived for many years on Assateague Island off the coast of Maryland. Some of the horses migrated to the Outer Banks and have been there ever since.
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