Valley of Death by Gloria Skurzynski

Author:Gloria Skurzynski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Published: 2002-09-10T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

The radio was in two pieces, held together by wires. All the way back to the room Jack tried to jam the pieces together. At the same time he wondered how many years he’d have to save his allowance, shovel snow in winter, rake leaves in autumn, mow lawns in summer, and get a paper route to pay for this wrecked bit of expensive military equipment.

“At least you didn’t get hurt,” Leesa told him. “You were heading right in front of that horse. It’s better to have a broken radio than a broken leg.”

Jack wasn’t so sure.

The room he shared with his parents, 913, was right next to the one Leesa had shared with Ashley—915. “Like my dad said, lock your door when you get inside,” he told Leesa. “Just in case.”

“In case what?”

“In case that spy from The Unit might be hanging around—you know, the guy who followed us on the motorcycle? I mean, if he actually was a spy.”

Jack watched to make sure that Leesa had entered her room and shut the door firmly, then he let himself into his own room and flopped onto the bed. What a terrible day! Could anything else go wrong? His only (very, very tiny) glimmer of hope was that his parents would be too upset about Ashley to worry much about the broken radio handset.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he sat up and began to work on it again, manipulating the parts to see if he could fit them together. When the room phone rang shrilly, he jumped so hard the pieces flew out of his hands.

“Hello?” he said.

“Jack, it’s Dad. Are you OK?”

“Uh…yeah.” Jack hesitated, not wanting to blurt out just yet that he’d damaged an expensive military radio even though he knew he’d have to own up to it sooner or later.

“Is Leesa with you?”

“No, she’s in her own room.”

“Fine. Both of you stay put, do you hear? Your mom and I are still here at the hangar, and we won’t be coming back to the room anytime soon. The kidnappers have started talking over the two-way radio that Ashley had with her.”

“They have? What did they say, Dad?”

Steven spoke louder, raising his voice to be heard over the din of shouts and calls in the background. “They asked for water to be dropped to them by helicopter.”

“Are they going to get it? Are the park people going to give them water?”

“No.” The answer was curt, terse. “They think that if they do, it will just make the standoff last a lot longer.”

Jack’s mind raced. That meant Ashley would be suffering from thirst, even though the sun had gone down and the desert would be cooling off to nighttime temperatures. He swallowed hard, imagining her thirst, wishing the law enforcement people would just give in and send water.

“Jack, I want you and Leesa to keep your doors locked until we get there,” Steven told him.

“OK, we will. Dad—” Jack was about to inform him about the cell of The Unit in Darwin Falls, when Steven broke in.

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