White House White-Out (8 page)

The two stopped where the van had gone off the road.

“Happened right here,” Jo Payne whispered. “It was like I was on ice. The next thing I remember was waking up in the back of my van with a headache. There were blankets over me. That was when I realized I had driven off with a bunch of kids along with the dog.”

The other person grunted, then Dink saw him pull off his gloves and light a cigarette. He tossed the match into the snow. Ten feet away, Dink smelled the smoke.

“I heard the kids talking,” Jo Payne went on. “When they all left, I made a leash for the dog and got the heck out of there.”

“How’d you manage to let the dog get away?” the man asked.

“Ace, I didn’t let it get away,” Jo Payne answered. “How was I supposed to know
that thing could chew through rope?”

The man coughed. “Well, it’ll be dead by morning. I heard the howling again last night,” he said. “The dog will be no match for a pack of hungry coyotes.”

Coyotes! Dink squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to remember what he’d seen on TV about coyotes. Did they eat people?

“I never meant to harm the president’s dog,” the woman said. “I just wanted the money.”

“Don’t sweat over the dog,” the man said. “The new plan will bring more money. We’ve got the president’s daughter!”

He pulled two ski masks from a pocket and handed one to Jo. “Here, put this on,” he ordered. “They’ll all be asleep. You grab the girl, since you know what she looks like. I’ll tie up the others.”

“Where will we hide her?” the woman asked. “We can’t put her in your cabin. By morning, there will be cops and FBI and who knows what else searching all over this valley.”

Dink felt himself shivering. His teeth chattered so loud he was sure the two kidnappers would hear him. He was freezing, but he couldn’t move.

“That old hunting shack by the pond behind my cabin,” the man said. “No one knows it’s there. It’s in some trees. Can’t even see it from my windows. A perfect place for the kid.”

“What about the other four?” the woman asked.

“I don’t know,” the man said. “Let’s just get the president’s kid and worry about the other brats later.”

“Ace, I don’t like this plan,” Jo Payne said.

“You got a better idea?” Ace asked.

“Yes,” she said. “We go to your cabin and get your truck. We drive it back here, take the president’s kid, blindfold the others. After we lock the girl in the shack, I’ll stay there. You drive the other four back to Maple Crossing—it’s only a couple of miles. There are phones there. They’ll deliver our message to the president: two million for the kid. That’s one million for each of us.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” Ace said. “Then I’ll bury the van in the snow with my plow. It’ll be six months before anyone finds it.” He laughed, coughed, and spit into the snow. “By then, we’ll be far away and rich. Different names, maybe even different faces. Good-bye, Virginia. Hello, Mexico!”

The man flipped his cigarette. It landed two feet in front of Dink’s face.

“Come on,” the man said. “We got stuff to do.”

Dink raised his head a few inches and watched the couple walk away.

Dink scuttled out of his hiding place. He found the half-smoked cigarette and put it in his pocket. Maybe Jo Payne’s fingerprints would get wiped off the van, but Dink had the man’s prints in his pocket!

CHAPTER 7

Dink plunged down the bank toward the van, tripping and falling every few feet. He leaped over the smoldering fire like an Olympic hurdler. He ripped the van doors open.

“Guys, wake up!” he yelled inside.

The lumps under the blankets moved.

“We have to get out of here!” Dink said as moonlight shone on four sleepy faces. “They’re coming to get us!”

“I was dreaming about cheeseburgers,” Josh said, blinking at Dink.

“Dream later!” Dink said. Then he told them about seeing Jo Payne and some guy
a few minutes earlier. “She did take Natasha with her, but your dog chewed the rope, KC.” He left out the part about coyotes prowling in the woods.

“Natasha got away?” KC said.

“Yeah,” Dink said. “But now they want you! They’re going to lock you in some shack and ask the president for two million dollars! We have to hide. They’re coming back pretty soon!”

“Hide where?” Marshall asked.

“I don’t know, anywhere,” Dink said. “In the woods. Then after they bury the van, we can sneak back and dig our way into it.”

“I have a better idea,” KC said. “Let them put me in that shack. You four will get away, and you can tell the president where I am.”

“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.