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

Daddy say if I come back without you?"
    "What's going on over there?" Charles called. "Go to sleep right now!"
    "
¡Silencio!
" yelled Orlando.
    We lay still for a few minutes. Then I whispered to Amy, "As soon as Phillip fakes his attack tomorrow, run outside and hide."
    Amy didn't answer, but I hoped Phillip and I had convinced her to go with us. If Grace helped, we could escape,
I was sure of it. 1 stole another glance at her, but the cave was so dark I couldn't even see her sleeping bag. There was nothing to do but wait for morning and hope Grace wouldn't let us down.

13
    While we were eating our morning porridge, Orlando started yelling at us in Spanish.
    He looked worse than ever. His shaggy hair and beard were uncombed, and his eyes were bloodshot. When he got no response except a terrified moan from Amy, he beckoned to Charles. They talked for a few minutes, and then Charles walked over and squatted down be- side us.
    "Orlando's going into town now to see about the ransom," he said. "While he's away, you must behave."
    Scowling at us, Orlando handed Charles his gun and said something else.
    "I am in charge." Charles looked at everyone, including Grace. "Do you understand?"
    When none of us said anything, Orlando nodded grimly. Turning to Grace, he spoke to her rapidly and she mumbled something. Not satisfied, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her roughly as he yelled at her. No one needed to understand Spanish to know he was threatening Grace.
    Letting her go, Orlando tucked in his shirt, smoothed


back his hair, and left the cave. Outside, we heard the Volkswagen start and then roar off down the road.
    ***
    Without Orlando, the cave seemed almost peaceful. Charles sat by the entrance, drinking coffee and smoking. Señora Perez tended the fire, sighing from time to time and shaking her head, and Grace sat alone, glancing at us occasionally, her forehead creased with worry.
    "I think you should have your asthma attack now," I whispered to Phillip, "before Orlando comes back."
    "Don't do it," Amy told her brother. "Charles will know you're not really sick, and he'll shoot you."
    "Huh." Phillip glared at Amy. "I fake being sick all the time to get out of going to school, and Dad never suspects a thing. Even you believe me. Anyway," he went on before Amy could interrupt, "I'd rather take my chances with Charles than Orlando."
    Without looking at his sister, Phillip started coughing, softly at first, then louder. As he began gasping for breath, Grace and Señora Perez looked at Charles.
    "The boy," Grace said. "I told you he has asthma."
    Carrying the gun, Charles walked toward us. "Where's his medicine?" he asked me.
    His face a convincing shade of purple, Phillip fell to the floor, still coughing.
    "It's not here," I told Charles. "He must have left it in the Citroen."
    "Do something," Grace said to Charles. "Hold his head up so he can breathe."
    Grasping Phillip's shoulders, Charles heaved him up
right, but he was hampered by the gun in his hand, and his movements were clumsy. While he bent over Phillip, I shoved him backward as hard as I could.
    Taken by surprise, Charles dropped both Phillip and the gun. After kicking the weapon as far from him as I could, I ducked into the tunnel, praying Phillip and Amy were right behind me.
    Without looking back, I plunged out of the cave into a gray wall of fog and rain. Unable to see where I was going, I ran blindly, stumbling over rocks and stones. For all I could see, the world ended a few inches ahead of me. Suppose I ran right off the side of the mountain and fell thousands of feet to my death? Suddenly a boulder rose up before me, and I ducked behind it. Crouching down, I felt the strength drain away from me. My arms and legs trembled, my heart thudded, it was hard to breathe. What if the others hadn't followed me? And I was all alone?
    Somewhere behind me, I heard Phillip yelling, but the fog hid everything, and I had no idea where his voice was coming from. At