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

began to twill the drill with the bow. This time puffs of smoke rose quickly from the hole and Justin squealed happily. When the smoke increased, a tiny red ember began to form in the tinder. He quickly reached down and plucked out the smoking tinder and cupped it in his hands. He began to blow on it until it emitted a soft puff and burst into flames. He carefully placed the fire under the driest kindling, and they all watched as the kindling converted the fragile fire into a significant blaze. They waited a few minutes and then added the smallest and thinnest logs to the fire; and after the cave was filled with light and heat, they added the heavier logs.
    “That’s the bow and drill method,” said Justin. “Think you guys could do it?”
    Both nodded. “I think so,” said Rachel.
    “Now five or six more trips for wood,” said Justin. “It’ll be a long night.”
    “And then we divide our tuna sandwich and chips three ways,” said Rachel, “and melt some snow for drinking water. Has anybody thought about what we’re going to use to hold the snow?”
    Justin smiled and reached into his coat and removed a bowl-shaped turtle shell about six inches in diameter. “I found this a ways back. The former occupant isn’t using it any longer. I’ll clean it out, boil it for a good long time, and we’ve got our pot.”
    “You’re amazing,” said Janie.
    “No, just trained.”
    Later, when they were curled up together for warmth, watching the smoke from their fire drift through the crack in the cave’s ceiling, Justin said, “This is the best it’s going to be. It’s going to get worse from now on.”
    “And we’re out of food,” said Rachel.
    “We can go quite awhile without food,” said Justin, “but I’ve got some ideas.”
    “Like what?” asked Janie.
    “How do you guys feel about grubs, termites, lizards, and snails?”
    “They sound delicious,” said Rachel.
    He chuckled. “And rabbits and snakes?”
    “Rabbits, okay,” said Janie, making a face, “but I’m not eating snakes.”
    “You will if you get hungry enough,” said Justin.
    “I thought snakes hibernated in winter,” said Rachel.
    “They do, but we might come on a winter den. If so, there might be hundreds of them—rattlesnakes mainly.”
    “Oh, no,” said Janie.
    “Not likely, though,” said Justin. “But we might see one or two out and about if it warms up.”
    “How do we stay away from winter dens?” asked Janie.
    “Avoid south-facing hillsides. That’s mostly where they are.”
    “I hate rattlesnakes. In fact, I hate all snakes,” said Janie.
    “They taste like chicken,” said Justin.

16
Pursuit
    Chuky shined his powerful flashlight into the pit at the back of the mine. The ancient downshaft seemed bottomless, but he knew it wasn’t. He had tossed a rock in and had heard it hit bottom; but it had taken a long time to do so, and he knew the hole was very, very deep. He turned the light toward the rocky ledge about thirty or forty feet down. Was that blood? Had the boy struck the ledge as he was falling? It was a possibility. But where were Karl and Brian? What was going on? What had happened here?”
    On the logging road, he had found the SUV with the smashed window. Not too hard to figure that out. The twins had done it, probably to get supplies. But supplies for what? Surely they weren’t trying to go up into the high country. They weren’t stupid, but maybe they were. And where were Karl and Brian? Had they gone after the girls?
    He knelt to examine the tracks at the edge of the pit. There were so many and they were so smudged it was impossible for him to determine what had gone on here. Surely the boy was gone—over the lip and into the shaft. He couldn’t have fought off two adults the size of Karl and Brian. Had the girls followed the trio into the mine? The tracks outside appeared as if they might have done so; but again it was difficult to say for certain because of the snow melt and the tramping