Free RUNAWAY TWINS (Runaway Twins series #1) by Pete Palamountain Page B

can.”
    “We might not find such a good place later,” said Justin. “But I know what you mean. I want to get as far away as possible, too. What do you think, Janie?”
    “Whatever you guys think.”
    “Then let’s keep moving,” said Justin, “for another hour, hour-and-a-half. If all else fails, we can dig a snow cave and crawl inside.”
    But a snow cave proved unnecessary, for when the time came to take advantage of the last remaining rays of daylight, a real cave presented itself. It was a neat little hole in the side of a limestone hill. It was eight feet high, five feet wide, and eight feet deep. The latter was important, Justin explained, because bears and other large creatures would likely find it not deep enough for their needs. Best of all, there was a large gap in the rocks above, about a foot inside the entrance.
    “We can build our fire inside the cave,” said Justin, “and the smoke’ll go up through the gap—like a natural chimney.”
    “What about crawling creatures?” Janie asked.
    Justin laughed. “They’ll always be with us. We just have to be on the watch for the dangerous ones, like scorpions. That’s one of the first things we do wherever we bed down. Check for creepy crawlers and sweep them out of our space. After that, the fire should keep them away.”
    Both girls grimaced. They shuddered at the thought of scorpions and because of the cold evening air. “J.J. Flack might not be so bad after all,” said Janie.
    “A scorpion is a scorpion,” said Rachel, “and some are human.”
    Justin was already busy preparing to start a fire. As they hiked, he’d found a small flexible limb for a bow, and now he removed his shoelace to serve as a bow string. He also carried two other pieces of wood: a hickory stick about a foot-and-a-half long, and a flat, dry piece of softwood he’d found under a fallen pine. He notched a hole in the softwood, wrapped the bow string around the hickory stick and then strung the bow. Finally he laid the stick near the hole and looked up at the girls. “How many pairs of socks are you guys wearing?”
    “Three,” they both said at once, “like you said.”
    “Good, one of you unravel a ball of yarn from the top of one of your socks.” When he was met with two puzzled expressions, he added, “For tinder, to start the fire. Then both of you go out and gather kindling—small, thin, branches. It’ll probably be damp, but maybe you can find some that was protected from the snow. If we can get the fire going, we can dry out the rest. Then we need larger pieces of wood, all you can carry. There seems to be a lot of downed trees and broken limbs. It shouldn’t be a problem. But first the ball of yarn, and then I’ll help you get more wood.”
    After the girls had gone, he spread the small tarp on the floor of the cave and went out to search for a rock or a flat piece of hardwood to serve as a socket to hold the hickory drill. He found a small round rock with an indentation in the center and returned to the cave about the same time as the girls who had their arms full of kindling.
    “Janie’s got the dry stuff,” said Rachel.
    “Good, good,” said Justin. He then inserted the hickory drill into the yarn-filled hole in the soft pine, capped the drill with the socket for stability, and began to twill the entire apparatus with the bow string. He twilled faster and faster, stopping occasionally for a rest. When he realized no spark was forming, he got to his feet and said, “It’s never easy. Let’s go out and get some logs. I’ll try again when we get back. Probably better to have some logs on hand anyway. Might burn through the kindling faster than we think.”
    When they returned, they all carried chunks of wood of various shapes and sizes, and they dumped them just inside the mouth of the cave. “Now, let’s get this thing started,” said Justin. He knelt and readjusted the ball of yarn tinder and then grasped the socket with his left hand and