Desert Crossing Read Free Page B

seemed to be helping us, sort of, by calling the police and driving us back to Jamie. But she wasn’t treating us the way a normal adult would. She didn’t keep asking us questions to fill the gaps in the conversation. She just seemed eager to get rid of us.
    Then we saw Jamie, sitting where we’d left him.
    â€œThere he is,” I said softly, but Beth had already seen him and was slowing the truck, steering onto the shoulder.
    â€œStay here,” she said abruptly, slamming the door. I scooted away from Kit and watched through the window. She walked over to Jamie, pulling up her hood. He tried to stand but his legs were unsteady. He looked like he hadn’t moved since we left. He stumbled sideways and Beth grabbed his arm to keep him from falling.
    I could see him talking to her, her answering. He pointed at the girl. Beth squatted down and stayed there awhile, with Jamie gesturing and talking. When she started to get back up, he held out his hand to help her.
    â€œWhat are they talking about?” Kit asked.
    â€œI don’t know.” I glanced over at him. “Maybe the beer you didn’t drink.”
    â€œOh, come on. What was I supposed to say? We’re in enough trouble without her making a federal case out of that. It wasn’t even half a can.”
    â€œBut you can smell it in the car! It’s just dumb to lie about it now.”
    â€œOkay, okay.” He looked mad. “I didn’t hear you come up with any great ideas.”
    There was nothing I could say to that.
    I turned back to the window, and as suddenly as it had begun, the rain stopped. It didn’t taper off to a drizzle—it stopped altogether. We sat in the new silence, listening to the tiny trickling sounds of water streaming off the road. The windshield sparkled with a screen of droplets. The highway shone like a river in the headlights. I could barely look at the girl. What had she been doing out here, alone, on the road? I opened the door and the damp night air swept into the truck, making me shiver.
    We could hear Jamie’s voice, muted, talking to Beth. Maybe she was asking him about the beer. He’d tell her the whole truth, I was pretty sure. He wasn’t like Kit that way. He wouldn’t be thinking ahead and trying to guess the consequences.
    â€œLook,” Kit said, pointing. In the distance I could see tiny flashes of red and blue light streaking across the land. In almost the same minute, we heard the whine of sirens. My arms shook. I clutched my elbows to hold them still.
    What would happen to us? People went to jail for things like this. Drunk driving, hitting and killing someone. Wasn’t it murder? But Jamie wasn’t drunk. Kit was right. They didn’t drink much at all. I hoped Kit couldn’t see how I was trembling.
    Beth came back to the truck and rested her hand on the door. “Here they come. You might as well get out.”
    We walked over to Jamie. He was sopping wet, his T-shirt so drenched it stuck to his chest, transparent. His hair hung down over his eyes and he flipped it back, spraying water on us.
    â€œThere hasn’t been one car since you left,” he said. “It’s freaky out here.”
    We could hear the night rustling, close to us, except for the hushed patch of gravel where the girl lay.
    Kit jerked his head. “Can we stand over there? Away from this?”
    â€œHer,” I said.
    Kit walked a few yards away, and Jamie and Beth followed. I stayed where I was. I crouched down to really look at her. Her eyes were as shiny and light as glass. Her cheeks glistened. She had no expression at all. It was different from the way people looked when they were sleeping. So much blanker than that, with no flicker or twitch, no sign that her face would ever change.
    Her T-shirt was dark blue. Letters stretched across it in big, excited loops: THE ROCKIES ROCK! Maybe she was from Colorado. Or she’d gone there on vacation. Or