Danger on Midnight River (5 page)

“Hear that, Troy?” Brandon patted his shoulder. “Piece of cake.”

They stepped down into the water. Daniel moved to the lead and put his arm under Troy's chin to keep Troy's head up. Brandon
stepped to the side to help push Troy through the water.

“Sure beats swimming.” Brandon looked down at Troy. “We're almost there.”

Daniel turned to look back at them. As he did, he stepped into a bot-tomless hole. He lost his hold on Troy and sank below the water. Brandon reached for Daniel to pull him back up.

The current grabbed Troy. The upper part of his body was floating away. Troy's leg was useless, so he tried to use his arms to swim. He splashed frantically, trying to get turned around. Brandon snatched at him and managed to hang on to Troy's shoe for a second, but it quickly slipped out of his hand.

Daniel broke the surface of the water and gasped for air. He swam wildly in Troy's direction and grabbed the front of his shirt. “Gotcha.”

Troy hung on to him. His voice trembled. “I thought you guys said this would be a piece of cake.”

Brandon helped turn him around.

“We lied.”

“I see it. There it is.”

The boys had made it to the bank and were following the river back to the bridge. Brandon pointed excitedly. “We found it,” he announced to the others.

Daniel and Scotty followed him up a rise. They laid Troy down and walked to the bridge. Now that it wasn't raining, it was easy to see that part of the bridge was missing. There was a gaping hole in the center. The three boys looked over the edge and stared at the swift-running water below.

“It's amazing any of us are still alive.”
Scotty looked downstream. “It's too bad about the driver. I wonder if they'll ever find his body.”

“They'll find him.” Daniel stepped back. “When we get back we'll give them the approximate location of the van. It probably hasn't moved that much. It was stuck pretty good.”

Daniel reached for his end of the stretcher. “We better keep moving, it's getting late. With any luck we could run into a car sometime tomorrow.”

Scotty sighed and picked up his end. “The first thing I'm going to do when I get back is take a long, hot soak in the tub.”

Troy raised his head. “I'm going to the hospi-tal—and after that I'm going to have the biggest cheeseburger in town.”

“I'm going to fall into my water bed and sleep for a thousand years.” Brandon looked at Daniel. “How about you? What's the first thing you're going to do when you get back?”

Daniel looked embarrassed. “First I'm going to make sure my mom knows I'm all right.” He glanced up at Scotty. “She kinda worries
about me. Then I guess I'll go home and call my uncle Smitty and tell him all about our time up here.”

Scotty shifted the weight of the stretcher. “There's something I've been meaning to tell you, Danny boy.” Scotty hesitated. “All that stuff I said earlier. You know that stuff on the bus about your mom—well, I was being a jerk.”

“Me too.” Troy smiled. “But Scotty was the biggest jerk.”

“You won't get any argument from me.” Brandon thumped both of them on the back of the head.

Two tiny lights flickered in the distance. They moved closer.

“I see it, but I don't believe it.” Daniel moved to the center of the road. “It's a truck.”

The headlights grew larger until a lightgreen truck stopped in front of them. A forest ranger stepped out. “By the looks of things, Fd say you boys must be the lost campers.”

Brandon clapped Daniel on the back, “Are you kidding? Daniel here knew where we were all the time.”

The ranger helped them put Troy in the bed of the truck, “Looks like you had a rough time, son.”

Troy shook his head. “Naw. Not with Daniel around. He's the one who set my leg.”

The ranger looked at Daniel. “Sounds like these guys were lucky you were along.”

Scotty stepped up. “We probably wouldn't have made it without him.”

The ranger smiled. “There's a reporter from one of the big papers waiting back in town. I'm sure he'll be very inter-ested in how you boys survived the Midnight River.”

“Reporter?” Scotty slid into the front seat with the ranger. “Did I say we wouldn't have made it without Daniel? What I meant to say was that I was a big part of getting us out alive. Yes sir. A very big part.” Scotty was still talking as he slammed the door.

Brandon looked at Daniel and shrugged. “So he's still a jerk, what can I say?” He jumped up into the back of the truck. “With friends like us, you'll have to stay on your toes.”

Daniel stepped up into the truck bed. He
looked through the window at Scotty, who was still talking the ranger's ear off. Troy and Brandon were discussing what a pain Scotty was.

Daniel wasn't really listening. He had stopped at the word
friends…
.

Look for these thrill-packed adventures coming soon!

The Gorgon Slayer

Eleven-year-old Warren Trumbull has a crazy job. He works for Prince Charming's Damsel in Distress Rescue Agency, saving people from hideous monsters, evil warlocks, and wicked witches. One day Warren gets the most dangerous assignment of all: He must exterminate a Gorgon. Warren will need all his courage and skill—and a surprise weapon—to become a true Gorgon slayer.

Captive!

When masked gunmen storm into his classroom, Roman San-chez and three other boys are taken hostage. They are hauled to a run-down mountain cabin, bound with rope, and given no food. With each passing hour the kidnap-pers' deadly threats become more real. Roman knows time is running out. He and the other boys must pull together now and launch a last desperate fight for free-dom.