Snap by Ellie Rollins

Sancho’s sopping-wet mane out of his eyes. She felt a rush of emotion toward him—gratitude, love, relief that she hadn’t lost him. Together the three adventurers swam to the other shore and climbed onto dry land, coughing up river water and gasping for breath. Danya collapsed onto the beach and spread her arms and legs, almost like she was making a snow angel.
    When she could finally breathe, she sat up and wrapped her arms around Sancho’s neck, her small fingers getting caught in the pony’s wet mane.
    â€œYou saved my life!” she shouted. Sancho licked her head—she could feel his scratchy tongue all the way through her wet curls. She hugged him tight, and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. There was only one other time Danya had come so close to losing Sancho—on the day of the fire, the day the ground in her backyard burned black. Danya squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force the memory out of her head, but instead it just became more vivid, almost like she was reliving it all over again. She remembered seeing the flames lick at the sky as she and Sancho raced for the stable. The fire had scared him and he’d reared—just like he had on the boat. But Danya could hear Jupiña whinnying. She’d slid off Sancho’s back and raced across the yard, but before she could reach the stable, she’d stumbled and fallen, scraping her knee on a root poking up from the yard. . . .
    Sancho licked Danya on the side of her face, drawing her out of the memory. Behind them, Pia had made a full recovery. She jumped to her feet and began bouncing in place.
    â€œMan, what a rush!” she shouted. “We should do that every week!”
    Danya didn’t exactly agree, but she was still so thrilled to be alive that she didn’t argue. She only knew that she was done with tiny speedboats and whitewater rapids, at least for now. Danya stood, and her hands went immediately to her back pocket to feel for the sandwich bag.
    The pocket was empty. Their money was gone!
    A sharp, raw pain cut through Danya like a knife. But even as the tears pricked at her eyes, she couldn’t help thinking . . .
    Suffer a great loss.
    Danya shook her head, wondering for the first time if Pia was right. Without the money, they certainly were lost.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Elvis Goes to White Castle
    D anya and Pia stood at the bank as Simone, Karina, and the rest of the Golden Girls Adventurers cut the engine of the boat.
    â€œThank goodness! Are you little ladies okay?” Karina flitted around the front of the boat and steered it toward them with the intention of docking. During the last portion of the trip, the river had grown considerably calmer, and the old ladies bobbed along in their speedboat, the light breeze tugging at the ruffles on their swimsuits. Danya felt like the breeze tugged at her heart, too. They looked so worried for her and Pia! Karina’s face was white as a sheet, and Simone looked like she was about to faint. Danya waved at them sadly.
    â€œWe’re fine! Go on without us!” she called back.
    â€œNonsense! We couldn’t leave you behind . . .” Simone yelled, fussing about with the ropes at the front of the boat. “Once you three get back on, it’ll be smooth sailing from here!”
    â€œWhat do you two think?” Danya asked, turning to Sancho and Pia. The river had slicked Sancho’s mane against his head so only his two little golden brown ears were sticking up. They shivered when the wind blew, and he whinnied softly.
    â€œYour call, Snap,” Pia said. “It’s an adventure either way. But there
is
undiscovered territory to be explored. . . .” She motioned behind them to the dirt path alongside the river. A sign sticking out of the dirt read MEMPHIS CITY LIMITS . “Besides, we’re already in Memphis—if we keep going, we could grab another ride in the