The Journey Home by Brandon Wallace

maybe a better idea is for me to go tell my mom we’ve got two runaways in the house? She’ll be mad that I lied to her, I guess, but I could always say you threatened me.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t do that.”
    â€œTry me.”
    Kim shivered in the cold, and a puff of steam left her mouth. Jake had no idea what to do. She had him trapped.
    So he told the truth.
    â€œKim . . . if you leave your mom now, you’ll regret it. I know it seems like the right thing to do. But you’ll just hurt her.”
    â€œGood!” She barked a cold laugh. “Man, you are such ahypocrite, Jake. You left your dad, and you don’t regret it at all!”
    â€œYou’re wrong,” Jake said.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI do regret it. I wish we hadn’t done it.” He glanced over to Taylor. “I was stupid and impulsive, and I just wanted to teach him a lesson.”
    Jake could see that that was exactly what Taylor had thought.
    â€œBut it’s too late for us. We’ve got to keep going. It’s not too late for you.”
    Kim’s face sagged, and her eyes were wet. She impatiently rubbed them, then nodded.
    â€œIt’s not fair,” she said.
    â€œI know.”
    â€œYou’re both on this big adventure, and I’m stuck here. Trapped in the dullest place on earth. I can’t stand it.”
    â€œBelieve me,” said Jake, “it’s not an adventure. It’s tough.”
    â€œYeah,” said Taylor. “And it’s scary. I mean, if you hadn’t been here, I might be dead now.”
    Kim didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she said, “Will you send me a postcard at least?”
    Taylor grinned. “You bet. I left you a little present inside.”
    Kim pulled the carved wooden bear from her pocket and smiled. “I know. I found it. Thank you.” She took a deep shuddering breath and glanced at the sky. “You both betterget out of here before my mom wakes up. Do you guys even know where you’re going?”
    Jake searched the sky until he found Polaris. He pointed northeast. “I’m thinking that way.”
    Kim stifled a giggle. “Well, you could. But you’ll have an easier time if you just walk down the valley here, like we went on the snowmobile yesterday. You can’t see it, but there’s a road there. Follow it down to Thermopolis.”
    â€œThanks.” Jake grinned. “For everything. We’ll see you again. I promise.”
    â€œGo on, get out of here, you hobbits,” Kim said. She waved. “Good luck, Frodo and Sam.”

    Walking in the snowshoes took some getting used to, but they quickly realized that they never would have made it out of the valley without them.
    â€œMan, these things are great,” said Taylor. “There’s got to be three, four feet of snow on the ground, but it’s like we’re just gliding on top of it.”
    â€œI wouldn’t call this gliding. Scooting maybe,” said Jake.
    â€œWhatever. I’m just glad we have them.”
    Unfortunately, they didn’t have snowshoes in Cody’s size. The terrier did his best to leap from one giant footstep to the next, but after a quarter mile Jake called a halt.
    â€œWhat’s up?” Taylor asked, looking back.
    Jake picked up Cody and placed him in the main compartment of Taylor’s backpack.
    â€œHey,” Taylor objected. “Why do I have to carry him?”
    Jake grinned. “Consider it payback for almost getting yourself killed in an avalanche.”
    â€œVery funny,” Taylor huffed, but Cody barked happily from the top of Taylor’s pack.
    The boys continued moving quickly, trying to keep warm and cover as many miles as possible before Haiwee figured out they’d left. After about an hour they linked up with the road Kim had told them about and, without pausing, pushed east. As they trekked down a larger valley, they passed a few