White House White-Out (4 page)

“Somewhere there’s food, I hope,” Josh muttered.

Marshall giggled. “Maybe Jo’ll stop for a burger,” he said.

Josh chuckled in the dark. “Right. He’ll go up to the counter and say, ‘Five orders of burgers, fries, and shakes, please. Better wrap ’em to go. I’m kidnapping a bunch of kids.’”

The kids stopped talking. Dink could hear the van’s loud engine. Beneath him, he felt the vibration and hum of moving tires. His stomach growled. “Thanks a lot, Josh,” he said. “Now you made me hungry.”

“At least we have these blankets,” Josh said.

The van slowed, then made a turn. Dink could feel the difference. They had been humming along smoothly, and now the road seemed bumpier.

“I think we’re on a back road now,” he said to the others.

“If you drive out of downtown Washington, D.C.,” KC said, “you can be in the country pretty fast. We could be well into Virginia by now.”

The bumpy ride continued. The kids had to grab hold of the shelves to keep their balance.

Dink checked his watch every few minutes using Ruth Rose’s penlight. “It’s almost six o’clock,” he told the others.

Suddenly the van swerved sharply to the right. It seemed to go over a huge bump. The kids were thrown into the air, then landed together in a pile. Then Dink felt another rough bump, and the kids were hurled toward the crate. They stopped suddenly with a sharp jolt. The floor of the van was at a crazy angle, as if they’d landed in a hole. Natasha was barking wildly.

“What the heck happened?” Josh asked. He was under Marshall.

“We’ve had an accident!” Dink said. “Listen, the motor stopped.”

“Is everybody okay?” KC asked.

“I banged my arm,” Josh said.

“How bad is it?” Dink asked.

“I don’t know,” Josh answered. “I don’t think it’s broken.”

The kids untangled themselves. Ruth Rose turned on her light. “Is Natasha okay?” she asked.

“I think so,” KC said. “She’s licking my face.”

“Josh, take the light and make sure your arm is all right,” Ruth Rose said.

Josh aimed the small glow onto his arm. “No blood,” he said.

“So we won’t have to cut it off,” Dink observed.

“Very amusing, Dinkus,” Josh said. “I’m almost laughing.”

They sat still, waiting to see if the van would start up again.

“Guys, what if the driver comes back here to check on Natasha?” Marshall said.

“If he does, we jump him!” Josh said. “If all five of us do it, he won’t stand a chance!”

“Then what?” Dink asked. “What do we do with him?”

“We can tie him up like a Christmas present!” Marshall said. “I saw some wire on one of the shelves.”

The kids waited. They sat awkwardly on the tilted floor. Dink expected to hear something or to see the van’s rear doors open. Nothing happened. Dink heard only breathing and saw only darkness.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Ruth Rose said after a minute. “What could he be doing up there?”

“Do you think he just left?” Marshall asked. “He could’ve decided to try to get help.”

“I didn’t hear the driver’s door open,” Dink said. “But he could be hurt. Maybe he hit his head when we stopped.”

“Oh my gosh, maybe he died!” Josh said. “We’re trapped in the snow with a dead body!” He switched on Ruth Rose’s light.

The kids looked at each other nervously. Dink told himself there was no way Josh could be right. “How could the driver have been killed?” he asked. “We didn’t hear a crash, so he didn’t hit a tree or another car.”

“This is creepy. I’m getting out of here,” Josh announced. He crawled uphill to the doors and tried the inside handle. “We’re locked in!”

Marshall moved up next to Josh. “I saw this in a movie,” he said. “We lie on our
backs with our feet against the doors. Then we all kick the doors at the same time. Together we should be strong enough to bust the lock.”

“Let’s try it,” Ruth Rose said. “We can’t stay here forever!”

The kids lined up on their backs close to the doors.

“Everyone get ready,” Josh said. “On three. One, two, THREE!”

Ten feet smashed against the doors. They flew open, letting a blast of snow and freezing air into the compartment.

The kids stared outside, squinting into the snow that flew into their faces. It was almost completely dark. There were no streetlights. Dink couldn’t even see the road they’d been traveling on. But he did see a path of crushed snow that the van had plowed through.

Dink saw tall, dark shadows not far from the van. He figured they were trees.

Natasha began whimpering. KC hugged the dog, keeping a hand on her collar.

“Where the heck are we?” Josh asked.

“Out in the middle of nowhere,” Marshall said.

“We should go check on the driver,” Ruth Rose whispered.

“Wait! He could be dangerous!” Josh said. “What if he’s got a gun!”

“Josh, he’s a florist,” Ruth Rose said. “A florist who kidnaps dogs!” Josh insisted.

“Maybe he has a glue gun,” Dink said with a giggle. He felt silly, and he knew it was because he was so scared.

KC jumped out into the snow. The other four kids followed. Wind howled out of the darkness, shooting stinging snow into their faces.

“Don’t shut the doors,” Josh said. “We don’t want to get trapped outside.”

Dink examined the lock. “This is busted,” he said. He tried both handles. “See? It doesn’t lock at all now.”

“The snow is over my knees!” Ruth Rose said.

Dink looked around. Maybe they had crashed near a house, stores, anything. But he saw nothing but snow and darkness. His eyes were tearing and his nose felt like it might freeze.

“Come on,” Dink said to the others.

KC left Natasha in the van, commanding her to stay.

The five kids struggled around to the driver’s door. The van had plowed into a ravine. Its front end was buried in deep snow. The driver’s door was buried, too.

Dink wiped the driver’s window with his glove. He peered through the glass. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel. He wasn’t moving.

CHAPTER 4

Josh put his face next to Dink’s and looked inside the cab.

“Oh gosh, I see blood on his mouth,” he said.

“We have to get this door open!” Dink said.

The kids kicked at the snow until they’d cleared space for the door to swing.

Dink grabbed the handle and turned. The door swung open. Dink felt a wave of warmth from the cab’s heater. An empty coffee cup fell out of the cab.

The kids huddled around Dink and
looked at the driver. “Is he dead?” Marshall asked.