Valley of Death by Gloria Skurzynski Page A

my age, and he was feeling bad about everything they were putting me through. But when I asked him for water, he said there wasn’t enough, and he had to save it for himself and the other man. He wouldn’t give me any.”
    â€œDid either of them try to hurt you?” Steven asked, his grip tightening on Ashley’s hand.
    â€œNo. When they found out they had the wrong girl, they were mad at first, but not at me. They kept yelling at each other about how stupid the other one was. And that’s what really worried me because they had so many guns—the guns were standing up against the sides of the dugout where we were hiding, and some were lying on the ground. I wasn’t afraid they were going to shoot me, but I thought they might try to shoot each other, and I’d be in the way.”
    Olivia sat on the bed and put her arms around Ashley. “It’s all over now. No more guns.”
    They decided that Jack and Steven would share one room while Leesa would stay with Ashley and Olivia. “Can I sleep in your bed with you?” Ashley asked her mother, sounding so pathetic that any of them would have agreed to anything she asked for.
    â€œOf course,” Olivia answered. “Now, if Jack and your dad will leave us and go to their own room, we three ladies can get ourselves tucked in for the night.”
    â€œPlease keep the door open—the one between the two rooms,” Ashley begged. “If I can hear Daddy snoring, then I’ll know he’s right there.”
    â€œWho, me?” Smiling for the first time in 15 hours, Steven protested, “I don’t snore. I bet you’ll hear Jack snoring, not me. He snores up a storm.”
    â€œI do not snore,” Jack said, glad they were making a joke, no matter how feeble it sounded. Ever since Ashley’s rescue, their emotions had been running so deep, so painful, that even that silly bit of banter brought relief, especially when he saw a tiny smile curl the corners of Ashley’s lips.
    â€œI’m supposed to meet with the park people tomorrow to talk about the bighorn sheep,” Olivia said gently. “Would you like me to cancel, Ashley? Because if you’d like me to, I will.”
    Ashley shook her head no. “Every time I close my eyes I see those bad people and their guns. I need to think about other things. Can I go with you? That will help me think about sheep instead of kidnappers.”
    â€œOf course you can come. We’ll all stick together from now on.”
    Sheep. Darwin Falls. Jack remembered that there was some kind of connection, but he was too tired to call it to mind. It would probably come back to him in the morning.
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    The next thing Jack became aware of was a pounding on the door of the room. “Huh? What time is it?” he asked, groggy, and then remembered that he was wearing his wristwatch. “It’s nine in the morning. Are you awake, Dad?”
    â€œI am now. Who the heck is banging on the door like that?” Steven hurried out of bed, pulled on his jeans, and opened the door to the hall.
    Jesse stood there, leaning against the door frame, grinning. “Rise and shine,” he greeted them. In one hand he held two capped, insulated mugs inscribed “Death Valley National Park” and decorated with Indian symbols. In the other hand he balanced a cardboard tray holding three Styrofoam cups. “Hot coffee for the grownups, orange juice for the kids,” he announced, breezing past Steven. “At your service.”
    Jack let his eyes roam over Jesse from his curly black hair to his Kenneth Cole loafers. He was dressed in tan cargo pants with a brown leather jacket and a pale green crew shirt that accentuated his dark good looks. Everything about him seemed expensive—and careless, as though none of it mattered to him. Clean-shaven, bright-eyed, energetic, he might have just come from a spa rather than a harrowing nighttime raid in the