Read Online The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster by Mary Downing Hahn - Free Book Online Page A

she went on, speaking hastily. "We would get money for the hungry children, the sad-eyed ones with nothing but air in their bellies. Then we would let you go. But now because of Orlando all the plans are changed, and I am afraid."
    My heart sped up and my mouth felt dry. "What are you afraid of?" I whispered.
    "Orlando is a dangerous man, more dangerous than I thought. He is wanted for robbery and murder, he is a fugitive," Grace said. "And Charles is weak. He will do what Orlando tells him and not argue. His love for me is nothing, no more than this." Grace snapped her fingers under my nose and I jumped. "He cares only for the money and himself. He is not the man I thought he was," she said.
    "And you?" I stared at her. "What do you care about?"
    "Me?" Grace sighed. "I make no matter in this. What I feel, what I think, is of no importance. To them, I am just a woman. Worthless." She spat into the dust and made a gesture at the sleeping men.
    While I sat beside her, trying to understand, Grace lit a cigarette. The match flared and lit her hair, her face, the tears on her cheeks. Was she crying for herself? Or for us?
    "If you really care about us, help us escape." I rose to my knees and seized her shoulders. "Please, Grace, please. You've got to help us!"
    She pulled away from me and bumped against Phillip. Still asleep, he cried, "Mom, Dad, help."
    Instantly Orlando was on his feet, yelling something in Spanish as he strode toward us.
    "
El niño,
" Grace said, putting her arms around Phillip. As she spoke to Orlando, I caught the word
asma,
and I knew she was trying to tell him about Phillip.
    But Orlando didn't care about anyone's health. Angrily he yanked Grace to her feet and slapped her hard. Then he turned to the three of us, wide awake now and cowering under our blankets. "
¡Silencio!
" he roared.
    Wordlessly, we watched him push Grace back to the fire. Then he sat down at the cave's entrance and made a great show of cleaning and reloading his gun.
    When I thought it was safe, I whispered to Phillip, "We're really in trouble."
    "I know," he murmured. "Should I fake the asthma attack now?"
    "No, not tonight, not while Orlando's here," I said. "Maybe he'll go somewhere with Charles tomorrow. When I think it's the right time, I'll tell you to start coughing and choking. If we cause enough confusion, we can run out of the cave and hide."
    "What good will that do?" Amy asked. "We'll just get lost in the mountains and starve to death."
    "At least we'll have a chance, Amy," Phillip said. "There must be a village or a farm near here where we can get help."
    "But Orlando and Charles have guns," Amy said tearfully, "real guns with real bullets, and we don't have anything."
    "Grace will help us," I told Amy. "She doesn't want anything bad to happen to us, I know she doesn't."
    We looked across the cave. All we could see of Grace was the hump of her body in her sleeping bag. Charles leaned over her, whispering, but he spoke too softly for us to hear what he was saying.
    Not far away, Orlando sat by the cave's entrance. Every now and then he coughed or shifted his position. Sometimes he mumbled in Spanish.
    "I'm afraid of him," Amy said. "I'm afraid of Charles too. And, no matter what you say, Felix, I don't trust Grace. You made a big mistake about her once. You could be wrong again." Then Amy lay down and pulled her blanket over her head.
    "Are you coming with us tomorrow?" I yanked her cover back and stared at her. "I have to know."
    But she wouldn't answer. She just looked at me. Then she rolled over, and all I saw was her back.
    "Amy," Phillip whispered. "You have to come. They'll kill you if you stay here."
    "They'll kill me if I go," she said.
    "Then it doesn't make any difference, right?" I leaned over her so I could see her face again. "If you go. If you stay. It's all the same. Except outside we have a chance of getting away from them. In here, we have no chance."
    "Please, Amy, please," Phillip begged. "What will