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

“You’ve got food in there?” Dayna asked.


“Well, yeah, I took a few things from the place I left,” she said.


She pulled out a squashed box of doughnuts. Kevin exclaimed in delight and even Dayna’s eyes lit up. Ash’s face burned. She let them eat as much as they wanted. When they’d had enough, Kevin walked to the toy box and rummaged around, humming. Dayna sat on the floor beneath the rain-smeared north window.


“Do you have any bags you can pack?” Ash asked, pacing. They sure didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave, and she wondered if they’d changed their minds.


Dayna pointed to the red duffle bag and green backpack she and her brother had been carrying the day before, still on the floor beside the tangled rope ladder. “That’s all we’ve got.”


Kevin emerged from the depths of the toy box, his mouth smeared with chocolate. He raced to his backpack and picked it up. “Why don’t we just go now?” he asked, green eyes glittering.


Chapter 88