Free Running Scared by Gloria Skurzynski Page A

promise they will.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    H ello! We’re here! Help!”
    Jack and Ashley took turns calling out, but their words seemed to get sucked away into nothingness, and after a while they decided to pace themselves and shout at intervals of ten minutes, no oftener than that, to keep their throats from getting raw. Minutes dragged as they waited. It felt to Jack as though they were marking time under dark, murky water. He shifted whenever his legs got numb from sitting. Even in the half-light he could tell his hands and his clothes had become encrusted with gray dust. He sighed and looked for the hundredth time at his watch, which cast an eerie green glow against his skin. 5:32. By now, his parents must have been told that the three of them were lost. In his mind he could picture their panicked reaction; his dad would insist every single ranger be sent to comb the cave, and his mother would probably call in the SWAT team. The fact that his folks would know exactly what to do to get them out of Left Hand Tunnel reassured him. Any minute now, they’d be found. Any minute. Patience was the key.
    â€œHello! Help—we’re back here!”
    Shifting again, Jack wrapped his fingers around the lantern, feeling its warmth but blocking some of the light. From the shadows, he heard his sister speak. “You cold?”
    â€œMaybe a little, but not as much as I figured I’d be. I thought caves were supposed to stay around 56 degrees, but this feels warmer than that. How ’bout you? Do you feel cold?”
    â€œI was warmer when we were moving.”
    â€œThen get up and walk around.”
    â€œMaybe I will.” But Ashley stayed put, sprawled on her side. With her cheek propped in her palm, she looked more like she was sunning on a beach instead of waiting in a cave. Her voice flinty, she asked, “How long now?”
    â€œTwo hours. Well, two hours and seven minutes and thirty-three seconds since we sat down, not that I’m counting or anything. The way I figure it, we got off the trail to look for Sam around 2:30. After we found him we walked around for about an hour, and then we’ve been sitting here for just over two. Not that long to get a rescue team together to find us.”
    â€œSoooo—three hours plus some minutes,” Ashley said. “Where the heck are the rangers?”
    Jack could hear the testiness in his own tone as he answered, “They’re out there.”
    â€œIf they are, they’re sure being quiet. Listen—I don’t hear a thing. You’d think rescuers would make a little noise.” When she stopped speaking, silence enveloped them once again. Jack heard a single drop of water hit a pool somewhere in the distance, an empty, hollow note, and then it was still as a tomb.
    â€œI already told you, sound might not travel too well in caves,” he told Ashley.
    â€œThen why are we calling out if the sound won’t go?”
    â€œBecause it’s better than doing nothing!” he snapped. At the tone of Jack’s voice, Sam raised his head, then dropped it back onto his arms. Taking a breath, Jack said, “Look, Ashley, the Park people, they’ve got to know we’re down here. They’ll find us. The rangers are probably making up a map—you know, figuring out their plan of attack. Bet they’re going in a certain order, tunnel by tunnel, one at a time. That way they won’t mess up.”
    â€œBut what if—”
    â€œHey, you OK, Sam?” Jack interrupted, deliberately changing the subject. “You haven’t been talking much.
    Not at all, really. You all right?”
    â€œI have to g-go to the b-b-bathroom.”
    Uh-oh. Now what? Jack wondered. “Can’t you wait?”
    â€œHow long is he supposed to wait?” Ashley asked irritably. “Another three hours? Just take him somewhere, quick.”
    â€œWhere? You’re talking like there’s a rest room right