White House White-Out (5 page)

“It’s a she, not a he,” KC said. “That’s lipstick, not blood. And I can see her breath. She’s breathing.”

The driver wore a white cap with a red pom-pom on top. She wore jeans that were tucked into tall, furry boots. Her red jacket was puffy.

“I saw her patting your dog when you took us inside the White House,” Dink said to KC. “She was carrying a wreath.”

The kids crowded around to get a look at the woman who had kidnapped Natasha. She looked like she was in her thirties, Dink thought. Strands of black hair showed at the edges of her hat.

“Look, she has a bump on her forehead,” Ruth Rose said.

“Yuck, it’s all purple,” Josh added.

“She must have hit her head on the
steering wheel,” Dink said.

“What should we do with her?” Marshall asked. “What if she wakes up?”

“We shouldn’t move her,” Dink said. “She might have a broken bone or something.”

“But we can’t just leave her here,” Ruth Rose said. “It would be warmer with the rest of us in the van. And we could check on her to make sure she’s okay.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Dink said. He stretched across the driver and popped open the glove compartment. Under a bunch of papers, he spotted what he’d been hoping for. A flashlight. He grabbed it and slipped it into a pocket.

Then he looked through the papers until he found what he wanted. “Her name is Josephine Payne,” Dink said, reading from one of the papers. “She lives on Q Street in Washington.”

“If she lives in the city, why drive way out here in the country?” KC asked. “Why wouldn’t she just bring Natasha to her house?”

“When she wakes up, we can ask her,” Ruth Rose said.

“Can we carry her?” KC asked.

“With all of us helping, we can,” Marshall said.

The five kids stamped on the snow, making a broad path from the driver’s door to the rear doors.

Dink unsnapped the seat belt, and they dragged Jo Payne out of the cab. “Everybody grab an arm or leg!” he yelled.

“I’ve got her head,” KC said.

Trying not to stumble on the uneven snow, they lugged the woman to the van’s rear doors. It was a struggle, but they finally managed to shift her into the compartment. At one point, the
woman let out a little moan.

“Cover her with some of these blankets!” Dink said. He flipped on the flashlight and shone it onto the pile they’d left behind.

The kids sat together in a bunch. Natasha plopped herself across KC’s legs. They watched Jo Payne, but the woman didn’t move an eyelash.

Dink switched off the flashlight. He pulled off his gloves and stuck his hands under his armpits. “Anyone have an idea?” he asked. “It’s getting colder and darker. It may be hours before anyone finds us.”

He wanted to add “If they find us.”

“Can you turn on that flashlight, Dink?” Josh asked. “I feel like I’m talking to ghosts.”

“No,” Dink said. “We might need it later. I don’t want to run down the batteries.”

“Maybe Jo has a cell phone,” Ruth Rose said. “We should probably check her pockets.”

There were two zippered pockets in Jo Payne’s jacket, but neither held a
phone. Ruth Rose patted the pockets in the woman’s jeans, but they were flat. No cell phone.

“Why don’t we walk up to that road we were on and hitchhike?” Josh said.

“Josh, it’s freezing cold,” Dink said. “It might be hours before a car comes along. Besides, we can’t just leave the driver here.”

“Well, what if two of us went for help, and the rest stayed here?” Marshall suggested. “There might be a gas station around the corner. Or a restaurant.”

“It’s dark and the snow is too deep,” Dink said. “You could get lost out there.”

“I agree with Josh,” Ruth Rose said. “Look, Dink, the road is just up that hill. If she was driving on it, other cars could, too. Maybe a snowplow will come along. If we stay here in the van, it would never see us.”

Dink thought for a minute. There
was a possibility that a car would come along. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s all go up and see what’s what.”

Dink spread another blanket over Jo Payne. He patted his pocket to check that he had the flashlight. Then the kids clambered outside again.

Natasha whimpered.

“No, Natasha, you stay,” KC said. “Stay with the lady.”

“Maybe Natasha knows the lady tried to kidnap her,” Marshall said.

KC shut the doors. Because of the busted lock, they didn’t close tightly.

The snow was still falling, but it had not filled in the wide path made by the van when it left the road. The kids walked single file, trying to step into each other’s boot prints. The hill was steep and they kept slipping.

Josh broke a branch and used it as a staff to help him get up the hill.

They stopped at the top, out of breath. Snow swirled into their faces, making them squint their eyes. A thick pine tree stood only a few feet from the road’s edge. Its branches were clotted with snow.

“This is where she went off the road,” Dink said. He pointed the flashlight at the snowbank where it had been flattened. They could barely see the van, down the hill about thirty yards away.

“If anyone drove by here, they’d never notice the van down there,” Marshall said. “And it’s getting covered in snow!”

“Guys, where’s the road?” Josh asked.

“I think we’re standing on it,” Ruth Rose said.

“But there are no tire marks!” KC said. “The snow covered them already.”

The road—if there was one beneath their feet—was flat and white, like a meadow.

“I don’t think this road gets plowed,” Dink said. He handed the flashlight to Ruth Rose. Then he got down on his knees and started digging through the snow. “Josh, give me your stick,” he said.

Josh handed the branch to Dink, who used it to dig deeper. Finally he stopped. “This isn’t paved,” he said. “It’s just an old dirt road. They probably don’t even use it in the winter.”

“Then why was she driving on it?” Marshall asked.

“Maybe she was taking Natasha someplace out here to hide her,” KC said. “Maybe she knew she couldn’t keep a dog in her apartment.”

“So what do we do now?” Josh asked.

“I say we go back to the van and get some sleep,” Dink said. “When it’s light out tomorrow, we can figure out what to do.”

“Stay here all night?” Josh exclaimed. “But we have to eat!”

“Josh, you won’t starve,” Ruth Rose said. She scooped up a mittenful of snow and ate it. “Yummy!”

“We don’t have much choice,” Dink
said. “I know my dad would have called the cops by now. They could get here any minute, guys.”

“I agree,” KC said. “And the president will have the army, navy, and marines all out looking for us. We just have to wait.”

“Come on,” Dink said. “Lead the way, Ruth Rose.”

The kids stumbled back down the steep hill. Ruth Rose and KC pulled open the van’s rear doors. The boys were right behind them.

Suddenly KC cried, “Natasha is gone!”

CHAPTER 5