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

“Calm down,” she muttered, breathing heavily. She took out her only other pair of shoes and shoved the unmatched one in her bag. No matter how many times she told herself to expect to meet freaks on the run, it never prepared her for when one showed up.


But Ash couldn’t sit around forever; she had to get going. She edged around trees, ducked under branches, and shoved her way through bushes and weeds. Her face was sticky with sweat. The scent of flowers filled the air as she toiled in silence.


When the sun went down Ash still walked, using her wind-up flashlight to show the way. She looked at her road map; if she kept walking south, she shouldn’t reach another town for quite a while, and that was fine by her. Finally, as her steps turned into staggers and stumbles, she collapsed in a clearing. Wrapped in a blanket and using her bag for a pillow, she curled up on the ground to sleep.


Chapter 85