White House White-Out (10 page)

“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.