Read Online The Hunted by Gloria Skurzynski - Free Book Online

expect?”
    â€œSo, you need to take off your clothes. But leave on your underwear,” Jack added quickly. In a flash, Miguel kicked off his tattered sneakers, then scrambled out of his shorts and began to wade into the water. From behind, Jack saw that Miguel was completely naked. “Ashley,” Jack sputtered, “stay up on the bank. Whatever you do, don’t come down here!”
    â€œBut I want to—”
    â€œMiguel doesn’t have any underwear.”
    â€œOh,” her voice floated down. “Never mind.”
    Great, Jack muttered. Now he was going to be the one responsible for following through with Ashley’s idea. Well, there was no way he was going to scrub another guy, no matter how bad the other guy smelled. Yanking open the bag, Jack rooted around until he found the shampoo, soap, and a washcloth. When he waded in, his breath was caught by the coldness of the stream, until he let out a loud yelp and chattered, “Man, this is cold.” Miguel didn’t seem to mind it. Laughing loudly, he splashed the water with his palm, spraying Jack with an arc that caught the light in rainbow crystals.
    â€œOh, so you want to play rough, huh?” With his fist, Jack hit the water, returning fire, and as the battle escalated, both of them slipped on the algae-covered stones and fell flat in the stream. Laughing, sputtering out mouthfuls of creek, they kept up the water fight until they were thoroughly soaked. With hair plastered flat against their foreheads in wet stripes—Miguel’s black, Jack’s honey blond—they signaled each other: Truce!
    Miguel then grabbed the shampoo and soap and cleaned himself until his brown skin was as smooth as a seal’s.
    â€œAshley,” Jack yelled, “we need towels. Bring that big blue beach towel and leave it up behind those bushes that have the pink flowers.”
    â€œOK, but it’ll take me a minute,” she called back. “Last night I gave the blue beach towel to Miguel.”
    â€œYou did? Why?”
    â€œBecause he needed something to keep him warm, and Mom would have noticed if I’d pinched one of the blankets. Hang on—I’ll run back for it.”
    Jack felt a hint of worry. Their parents had told them to stay together when they went anywhere, especially into the woods, yet Ashley seemed to be going off by herself constantly without coming to any harm. In a few minutes she returned, the blue towel trailing behind her shoulders like Batman’s cape. “Don’t worry,” she said, taking a halting step forward. “I’m looking only at the ground.”
    â€œLeave it on that bush. Good. Now, go away.”
    â€œHurry up. I didn’t mean for you and Miguel to have all the fun.”
    Back on the bank Miguel rubbed himself dry and dressed in the clothes Ashley had brought. Clean, dry, and sweet smelling, Miguel was a good-looking—dude. He seemed pleased as well. Rolling his old clothes into a ball, he was about to toss them into the creek when Jack stopped him. “No, this will go into the garbage,” Jack instructed, taking the bundle and jamming it into the plastic bag. “Don’t litter.” He launched into a short lecture about keeping the park clean, about why they’d needed to use biodegradable soap and shampoo to protect the environment—but after watching Miguel’s eyes glaze, he gave up. Jack had never realized how hard it was to get ideas across when there was no common language to build on.
    â€œ Now can I come down?” Ashley’s voice drifted from somewhere near the picnic table. “I want to give him his haircut.”
    Jack groaned. “She wants to—” With his index and third finger, he made snipping motions to his own hair.
    At first Miguel looked alarmed, but then he gave one of his shrugs—this time without the grin—and said, “Sí. OK.”
    When Ashley reached them, Miguel