The punishment for a seventh-grade dropout runaway is probably pretty harsh, but Ash Barker doesn't care. She can’t waste time or emotions on anyone but her brother, Matt. They were placed in separate foster homes, so Ash runs away to find him. If she fails, she’s headed back to juvenile detention. Everything is going right on schedule until two kids, Dayna and Kevin, barge into her hideout -- which just happens to be in their house. She ditches the pair fast, but can’t stop thinking about those bruised, skinny kids. Dayna and Kevin live with abusive parents who force them to stay in their room most of the time. If they go to the authorities for help, they’ll be split up, too. Ash knows how that feels, and she goes back to help, taking the two with her. With any luck, they’ll all help each other along the way. Meanwhile, as Matt waits for Ash, he can’t resist telling his foster brother and best friend, Jon-Allen, about the plans. They stash food, earn money, and keep watch for the night Ash appears at their bedroom window. Ash is so happy to be reunited with Matt and to discover she’s falling in love with Dayna that, at first, she doesn’t worry about what they’ll do next. But life on the road begins to take its toll -- they have to resort to shoplifting and scavenging to survive. Ash feels a growing sense of guilt at the disaster she’s made of everyone’s lives. Can she somehow keep her newfound “family” together despite hunger and sickness? Or will she be able to find the strength to reach out for help?

No Turning Back

“Yeah. I think they just want us out of the way so they can do whatever they want,” Dayna said. “After they got called to the school because of our black eyes we moved here; this used to be our grandma’s house. We have to stay in our room all the time, and now we’re not even supposed to go to school at all.”


“If they hate kids so much, I wonder why they even had us.”


Dayna shook her head. “I don’t know. And now Tom…well, Tom’s a jerk.” She stretched and her cuts stung. “They’re different people now. That’s why I can’t call them Mom and Dad anymore.”


Kevin grabbed an old toy car and rolled it across the floor.


“Well, your parents still didn’t win,” Ash said. She picked up her bag. “You want something to eat?”


“Shut up!” Tom yelled from downstairs.


Kevin smashed his car into the wall. Tom cursed and Dayna groaned. Then she heard the sound of a car rolling up the driveway. She put a finger to her lips and widened her eyes. They were about to be saved.


Chapter 8