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

But Tom knew they really hadn’t. Where could they be? He gritted his teeth and clenched a fist. Dayna probably had a boyfriend. But if she did, and he was only a kid, she couldn’t have run to him. Unless his parents were in on it. That couldn’t be. And who would take Kevin? That girly brat would drive anyone crazy. Tom looked in the closet and opened the dresser drawers even though both he and the meddling cops had already been through the room a hundred times. Finally he gave up and walked into his own room to roll a joint, but someone knocked downstairs and he roared in frustration. He thumped downstairs and yanked open the door.


“What is it?” he growled. Then he realized it wasn’t a cop, but a young woman who looked like she was about twenty-five. Tom grinned and smoothed his hair.


“I’m a reporter for the Jade County Herald,” the woman said.


Chapter 53