Free Snap by Ellie Rollins Page B

hungry—but she couldn’t keep her eyes from shifting back to the door where the security guard disappeared and worried about what would happen when he found his manager.
    Kevin disappeared and returned a few minutes later with two cheese sandwiches, a real apple, and a couple of grape-flavored juice boxes. He arranged the lunch on a folding table next to the stools, then explained that he needed to start readying the props and costumes for the show and scurried off again.
    Danya ate her cheese sandwich quickly, then held out her hand to let Sancho finish her crusts. His furry lips tickled her palm, and when he finished eating, he nuzzled her on the shoulder. Danya patted his head as she slid off her stool.
    â€œHurry,” she whispered, nudging Pia. “Time to go.”
    Pia twisted around on her stool. “But it’s about to be the curtain call!”
    â€œPia,
come on
,” Danya hissed. “If that security guard comes back with his manager, he’ll call our parents for sure.”
    Pia huffed but slid off her stool. Danya scrawled a quick thank-you note for Kevin on a piece of paper from her notebook, and then the girls and Sancho slipped back down the hall and out the side entrance where they’d first snuck in.
    The farmer’s truck was long gone. Danya hoped he’d found the good luck jar she left him and that maybe one of his wishes came true. She led Pia and Sancho around to the front of the building but far enough from the main doors that the security guard wouldn’t see them if he poked his head out. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but the sun hung low in the sky, sending shadows over the parking lot. Danya slid the map out of her back pocket as Pia settled herself on the curb, propping her long, skinny legs against the tire of the station wagon parked in front of her. Sancho munched on the grass that had sprouted between the pavement cracks. No one was around except for an old lady in a yellow sweatshirt loitering near the Grand Ole Opry entrance, a stack of glossy brochures clutched in her hands. Danya stared at her from over the top of her map, wondering if she was the kind of person who’d call security on them. But the old lady just waved politely before looking back down at her brochures, so Danya decided she was probably safe.
    Turning back to the map, Danya traced a finger along their trail. They were still so far from Florida—in the past day, they’d barely covered any distance at all. It would take hours and hours to ride Sancho all the way to the next big city—maybe even
days
. Danya pulled the sandwich bag of money out of her backpack and counted through the bills, wondering if there was enough for a bus ticket or something. The forty-six dollars felt light in her hands and she frowned, realizing they’d probably need to save the money for food. They’d been lucky so far getting the free sandwiches from Kevin. She folded it up and tucked it into her back pocket.
    â€œHey,
Snap
!”
    Blinking, Danya glanced up from the map. Pia had her head cocked to the side, the Ferdinand and Dapple book in her lap. “I asked if you wanted to know what’s next on the list?”
    â€œI’m trying to figure out how we’re going to get to Florida, Pia. This is
important
.”
    â€œNot more important than this. The next thing on the list is
suffer a great sadness or loss
.” Pia looked up from the book, her brown eyes wide with concern.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter since it’s
not real
!” Danya said emphatically, turning back to the map. After that security guard scare she was starting to hear the ticking clock in her head again.
Tick tick tick.
Every second they wasted brought them closer to being caught.
    â€œYou aren’t even a little bit worried?” Pia wrinkled her nose and closed the book.
    Danya didn’t know how to answer that. She
was
worried—but she was worried about real things, like the