Snap by Ellie Rollins Page B

I’m going to think of that every time I put my hair in a ponytail,” Pia said. Danya giggled again and ran a hand over Pia’s short, wiry curls.
    â€œWhen do you ever put your hair in a ponytail?” she asked.
    â€œGood point. Look, we’re almost there!” Pia said, smiling her wide, missing-tooth smile. Eventually the little dirt road merged with a busy, paved street, and the dried grass and trees became buildings and fast food places and streetlights. The smell of fried food drifted out of the restaurants and made Danya’s mouth water. She swallowed her hunger, thinking of all the money they—no,
she
—had lost. Along the way she and Pia counted up what change they had left. It came to just seventy-three cents, and that was including a Canadian quarter and a button that kind of looked like a penny.
    â€œSnap? Hey, Snap? Are you in there? Can you hear me?” Pia snapped her fingers just inches from Danya’s face.
    Danya shook her head. “Sorry. What did you say?”
    â€œWhat do you think this means?” Pia held up the Ferdinand and Dapple book and pointed to the next item on the hero’s task list:
6. Offer your service on a royal mission
.
“It can’t mean real royalty, right?” Pia wrinkled her nose. “There isn’t any real royalty in Memphis.”
    â€œPia . . .” Danya pressed her lips together, trying not to let her frustration creep into her voice. “I think it’s more important that we find something to eat, don’t you?”
    She was sure Pia was going to argue, but instead Pia sighed and nodded. “You’re right. I’m starving.”
    Danya pulled Sancho’s reins, and the three of them started down the street, peeking into the windows of every fast food place they walked past. Danya’s stomach rumbled every time she caught the smell of french fries or fried chicken, and several times she ducked inside to see whether she and Pia could afford to buy anything. But even the cheapest items at the cheapest places cost at least a dollar.
    The good news was that no one in Memphis had recognized them, and Danya didn’t see any Amber Alerts anywhere. Maybe news of their disappearance hadn’t reached Memphis yet. Or maybe Pia was right—maybe Simone thinking she recognized them was a fluke and Danya really was being paranoid.
    â€œMaybe we can search the street for quarters?” Danya suggested after peering through another three restaurant windows.
    Pia shook her head. “Snap,
look
!” She pointed to the fluorescent white sign glowing next door, the words WHITE CASTLE written in blue across it.
    â€œWhat, the sign?”
    â€œThe
sign
—exactly!” Pia said. “The next item on the list is about royalty, and that place is called White
Castle
. It’s a sign!”
    â€œThat’s a fast food restaurant, Pia,” Danya said. The building was squat and grayish, surrounded by trim, rounded shrubberies. Cheesy turrets were carved into the low roof. It didn’t look very royal to her.
    â€œIt’s better than nothing,” Pia said, dragging her toward the entrance.
    A man pushed open the door to the castle, and the heavy, greasy smell of hamburgers and french fries wafted out. Danya closed her eyes and breathed in the scent. Her stomach rumbled painfully.
    â€œFine,” Danya said. “You never know, right? Maybe we can split a small fries.”
    They tied Sancho up just outside, and he immediately plopped down and started munching on one of the shrubberies. The girls walked into the castle. It was empty, except for a table of Japanese tourists just next to the door. Or at least Danya assumed they were tourists because of their cameras and maps. They all looked like they were sixteen or seventeen, with multicolored hair gelled and sprayed into the strangest shapes. They wore platform shoes and shiny black pants. Their table was covered with