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van. They won’t know which way we went.”
    The kids stomped all over the snow, making it impossible for anyone to see a trail.

    “Pick up branches for the fire!” Josh told everyone.
    They came back to the fire and threw on whatever branches they’d found. Ruth Rose had stuffed her pockets with pinecones. They made a crackle as new flames shot up. The moonlight made the snow sparkle around them.
    “I think they’re coming. Listen!” Ruth Rose hissed.
    They heard a
chug-chug
. They all looked toward the road.
    “I see the plow’s lights!” Dink said. “Let’s go, and stay together!”
    He led the others into the trees, all dragging their blankets. Soon they were hidden in shadows. Dink felt sure that Jo and the man she’d called Ace wouldn’t be able to follow them.
    The kids moved as quietly as possible. Dink pointed toward a giant pine tree. The lowest branches of the treewere half buried in snow.
    “Under there,” Dink whispered. He got down on his knees and forced himself between branches until he saw the tree’s broad trunk. It was like being inside a hut. Dink had gotten sap all over his jacket and gloves. He tried getting rid of the stickiness by wiping it with snow.
    The five kids crouched and waited. They were able to see the plow’s lights and hear the engine. Dink tried, but he couldn’t see Jo Payne or Ace. The engine noises stopped.
    Minutes passed. Dink thought he heard shouting. Then the engine roared to life again. They all heard snow being moved and small trees snapping as they were crushed beneath the tires.
    “He’s burying the van!” Josh whispered in Dink’s ear.
    In less than five minutes, the vanhad disappeared. The truck with the plow on the front made a clumsy turn and lumbered back up onto the road.

    The kids waited. When several minutes had passed, they crept out from beneath the pine branches.
    “Did … did they try to kill us by burying the van?” KC asked.
    “No,” Dink said. “They must have looked for us in the van and found it empty. They must think we ran away.”
    “What will they do now?” Ruth Rose asked. “They don’t have Natasha anymore, and they don’t have KC, either.”
    “I don’t know,” Dink said. “If they’re smart, they’ll disappear. Remember, we know their names and what Jo Payne looks like. And I saw Ace, too.”
    “Do you really want us to dig a tunnel into the van?” Josh asked.
    Dink checked his watch. The moon made it easy to see in the dark.

    “I think that’s the safest place for now,” he said. “It’s almost eleven-thirty. Tomorrow we can walk into town. I heard Ace say there’s one a few miles down the road.”
    “In which direction?” Ruth Rose asked. “The road goes both ways, so which way do we walk?”
    “I don’t know,” Dink said. “Maybe we …”
    “But what about Natasha?” KC asked. “What if she comes back and we’re not here?”
    The other four stared at KC. Dink thought they’d never see the dog again, but he wouldn’t say so.
    “You’re right, KC,” Dink said. “We wait for Natasha. Let’s get busy digging.”
    “What do we use, our hands?” Marshall asked.
    “Yeah, and break off some tree branches,” Dink said.
    Armed with broken branches, the kids approached the mound. Dead leaves, stones, and small trees were embedded in the snow. If Dink hadn’t known better, he would have thought he was standing next to a huge, snow-covered boulder.
    “How do we know where to dig?” Ruth Rose asked. “I mean, where are the van’s rear doors?”
    “On this end,” Dink said. “Ace didn’t move the van. He just covered it.”
    The five kids began picking at the mound with their branches. They soon discovered that chunks of ice were beneath the surface. This made their work even harder than they thought it would be.
    When they came across sticks and branches, they tossed them into the fire, now nearly out again. After fifteen minutes of hacking away at snow and ice,they’d only managed