I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Author:Holly Goldberg Sloan
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781848122901
Publisher: Piccadilly Press Ltd.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

22

The gravel road was impassable for half the year.

Originally built for logging, it was one of the mazes of Forest-Service-only tracks that were maintained now purely for seasonal fire use. Dirty patches of snow still dotted the wet ground.

Clarence had no idea where he was or where he was going, but he kept his foot on the gas, chugging in low gear higher up to nowhere.

The rust-coloured rock of the jagged mountains had given way to scrub pine, which had turned into taller, towering trees. The road now clung to the side of an imposing peak. Uphill was more rock and trees; down below was a sheer drop.

After they’d been at it for almost three hours, Clarence rounded a bend to see that the chunky gravel had completely washed away and a heavy stream of runoff flowed straight across the road, dumping down the mountainside in an icy waterfall.

Clarence threw the truck into park and got out. The boys wordlessly exchanged looks. They were still in the back seat and, as they both had to pee, they opened the doors.

It was cold outside. Much colder than in the truck. Sam tried to shake it off but then turned around to get his coat. And then he remembered. What coat? Almost all of their stuff had been left in the motel room.

Riddle swung his feet down and as they landed on the lumpy rocks he took a breath. The cold air was actually easier for him to inhale. He put his hands on his cheeks and held his head as he sucked in the chill.

There had been so many times when it had been awful. So many times when he’d felt like he was in a box and someone had closed the lid and wouldn’t let him out.

But this day, even by those standards, was bad.

Riddle took his hands away from his face and realised that Sam had come around to his side. He was holding out an old sweater that he’d found in the way back of the truck. He motioned for Riddle to put it on, and he did.

While Clarence continued to stare at the stream as if a defiant glare were going to cause the water to change directions, the boys moved together to the edge of the road to take a leak.

Sam looked down. Way below, through the dense pine trees and sharp rock, he could hear the wild rushing water of what sounded like a real river. But he couldn’t see it. He and Riddle finished up and turned back to the truck.

Sam could feel his stomach rumble. He’d been nauseous since they’d left the motel hours ago, but now that was wearing off and his body was asking to be fed.

Clarence suddenly reeled around, his face twisted in anger. ‘So what do you boys think we should do?’

Sam and Riddle were both silent.

Clarence was louder now. ‘I asked you a question.’

Sam didn’t look at him but finally said, ‘There’s no room to turn around, so I guess we have to back up down the hill .

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.