White House White-Out (6 page)

All five kids stared into the rear of the van. The mound of blankets covering Jo Payne was still there, exactly as Dink had left them.

“Where could Natasha be?” KC cried. “She was right here a minute ago!”

“Maybe she had to go out to, you know, do her thing,” Marshall said.

“But where is she?” KC asked. “She’d stay near the van, Marsh.”

“Maybe she pushed the door open and came looking for us,” Ruth Rose said.

“But she’d have found us,” KC insisted. “We weren’t that far away!”

“Wait a minute,” Josh said. He climbed into the van and crawled on his hands and knees to the other end. “Guys, Jo Payne is gone, too!” He tossed the blankets aside to prove his point.

“Maybe she took Natasha!” KC cried. “Oh, why did I leave them alone together?”

“But she was unconscious,” Marshall said.

“Or faking it!” Ruth Rose said.

Dink stared at the pile of blankets. “She must have slipped out when we were up by the road,” he said.

“But where would she go?” Josh asked. “It’s not like she could call a cab and go back to D.C.”

“Guys, there must be a reason why she drove way out here on this dirt road,” Ruth Rose said. “What if she has
a friend who lives near here? Maybe that’s where she was taking Natasha when she had the accident. She must have regained consciousness when we moved her. Then, while we were outside, she grabbed Natasha and took off.”

“Would Natasha go with her?” Dink asked KC.

“She might, especially if the woman had any food in her pockets,” KC said. “Natasha would follow anyone for a treat.”

“But just because they’re both gone doesn’t mean the woman took Natasha,” Marshall said. “Maybe Jo Payne woke up and decided to take off while she had a chance. If she left the doors open, Natasha could have escaped that way.”

“But why would she leave Natasha in the van after she went through all this trouble to steal her?” Josh asked. “I think she took Natasha with her.”

“Marshall’s right,” Dink said. “They are both gone, but we don’t know if they’re together.”

“Will you help me look for Natasha?” KC asked.

“Sure,” Ruth Rose said. She closed the doors again.

The snow pelted their faces as they peered into the darkness. The wind made their eyes tear.

“NATASHA!” they all called over and over into the night. There was no returning bark. Natasha didn’t come bounding through the snow.

“Try using your whistle,” Ruth Rose suggested to KC.

KC blew on the dog whistle, but still no dog appeared.

“She’ll freeze!” KC wailed.

“Dogs are descended from wolves,” Josh said. “They know how to take care of themselves.”

“Maybe she went for help,” Ruth Rose suggested. “She might have run back to the White House.”

“But that’s miles away!” KC said.

“I saw a dog on TV who walked all the way across the country to get back home,” Marshall said. “Natasha is pretty smart, KC. And don’t forget, she’s wearing that sweater your mom knitted.”

“Hey, what’s that?” Dink said. “I see lights over there!”

The kids turned and looked to where Dink was pointing. The glow of moving lights could be seen through the snow and darkness.

“What are they?” Marshall asked. “Could they be cars? Is that a road up there?”

Dink shook his head. “No, they’re too slow, and the lights don’t look bright enough for cars,” he said.

“I’ll bet they’re snowmobiles!” Josh
said. He began jumping and waving. “Hey, snowmobiles! Yo, look over here!”

The other kids began to yell, too.

Dink turned on the flashlight and waved it over his head.

The lights continued moving, but they didn’t come any closer.

“Wait a sec!” Josh said. He leaped for the driver’s door and flung it open. He leaned in and pressed the horn on the steering wheel. Dink and the others heard a muffled sound. It wasn’t nearly strong enough to carry through the night. The lights they’d seen might be a mile away.

Dink continued to wave the flashlight over his head. He screamed until his throat hurt.

Then the lights were gone. The kids stared at the spot where they’d seen them, but it was all blackness again.

“Maybe they saw us,” Marshall said.
“Maybe they went for help.”

Dink knew Marshall was just trying to make everyone feel better. “Yeah,” he said. “For all we know, we’re right next to a town.”

“I have an idea,” Marshall said. “The keys are still in the ignition. Why don’t we start the motor? Maybe we can get the van out of the snowbank and drive away!”

“Marsh, you don’t know how to drive,” KC said.

“How hard can it be?” Marshall asked.

“I know how,” Josh said. “My dad taught me. I drive our tractor all the time.” He slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key. The van shuddered once, then went still. Josh tried again. They all heard a ticking sound.

“Josh, even if you could start it up, the van is tilted,” Dink said. “You’d need
a crane to pull it out of the snow.”

Josh turned the key again. This time they heard nothing from the van’s motor.

“It was a good idea, anyway,” Dink told Marshall and Josh. “Come on, let’s get back inside. My nose feels like an ice cube.”

The kids climbed into the back of the van and huddled together. They covered up with the quilted blankets.

KC began to cry. “I miss Natasha,” she said. “She always sleeps next to me.”

The others tried to comfort KC, but she kept on sobbing.

“You know,” Marshall said after a few minutes, “Natasha would hate to see you crying. She’d bark at you until you stopped.”

KC sniffed. “You’re right,” she said. “Okay, no more crying.”

“We need some entertainment,” Josh
declared. “I’ll sing to you! ‘
Dashing through the snow, in a
—’”

“Josh, shut up!” everyone yelled at the same time.

Dink smiled in the dark. Josh had a terrible singing voice, but at least KC wasn’t crying anymore.

“Do you want to be a singer when you grow up?” KC asked Josh.

Dink figured she was trying to get her mind off her dog.

“No,” Josh said. “I’m gonna be a chef in a restaurant in Hawaii. That way I can surf and cook at the same time.”

“Good, we can all come and visit you and get free food,” Dink said. “How about you, KC?”

“TV anchorwoman,” KC said. “But I’ll stay here in Washington, D.C., where the action is.”

Dink told the others he wanted to be a writer, and Ruth Rose announced that
she was going to be the first woman president.

“Cool,” KC said. “I’ll only say nice things about you on TV.” She nudged Marshall. “Tell them what you want to be, Marsh.”

“A vet,” he said. “But I’ll take care of strange animals, not just cats and dogs.”

“How strange?” Dink asked. “I mean, if Josh got sick, could we take him to you?”

“Ha-ha,” Josh muttered.

“No,” Marshall said. “It would be spiders, snakes, frogs, animals most people don’t care—”

“Guys, I heard something!” Ruth Rose exclaimed. “It sounded like an airplane!”

CHAPTER 6

The five kids got up on their knees and listened.

“There it is again!” Ruth Rose said. “Hear it?”

“I do!” KC said.