The Mystery of the Death Trap Mine - M. V. Carey [39]
Gasper gave them a menacing look. His fingers tightened on the handle of his gun.
Then Manny abruptly turned and stomped off across the desert.
Gasper looked from Pete and Allie to the determined figure of his crony. Then he followed Manny.
Allie and Pete watched until the two gunmen were tiny wavering shapes in the distance.
The sun was climbing fast, and heat waves were beginning to shimmer on the desert floor.
“Suppose they’ve stopped looking for us?” Pete said. His voice was hoarse with anxiety.
“We could die of thirst right here!”
Chapter 18
Stranded in the Desert
HIGH IN THE AIR, Bob and Jupiter watched the mountains turn pink in the dawn light.
Sheriff Tait clicked off the helicopter’s searchlight and yawned. After a night of searching the hills, their eyes were red-rimmed and sore. Jim Hoover, the pilot, shifted his weight and made still another turn over the mountains.
“I don’t know how they got over the ridge and off the mountain without us spotting them,” said Sheriff Tait. “But I’ll be darned if they’re still in these hills. We’ve combed every inch of them.”
“But where else could they be?” asked Bob. “If they’d come down on the main road the patrol cars would have caught them. And that other ‘copter pilot radioed that he’d checked out the highway.”
“Maybe they will stay in the hills,” said Jupe. “There are all kinds of abandoned towns down there, and plenty of trees to hide the truck under.”
“You could be right, Jupiter,” said the sheriff. “But my bet is they’ve come down on one of the unused roads and set out across the desert. After all, they don’t have any supplies, and they can’t go too long without food.”
“Could we find them if they’re in the desert?” asked Bob.
“Sure, if we look long enough,” the sheriff replied. “The desert’s big, but at least it’s open. Let’s try there.” Jim Hoover nodded and turned west. The helicopter left the hills and flew out over the desert.
**
Allie fished a bandanna out of her jeans pocket and mopped her forehead. The sun beat down with white-hot intensity. She was dead tired, but too anxious to sleep. She walked around the truck for the fifth time that morning, then plopped down next to Pete, who sat in the vanishing shade of the truck. “It’s getting late,” she said. “It must be close to noon.
Why haven’t they found us yet?”
Pete nodded glumly. “And we haven’t eaten since yesterday’s picnic in Hambone. I’m starved.”
“How can you think about food?” snapped Allie. “My mouth’s so dry it feels like a cactus!”
“If the radiator hadn’t cracked we could drink what was in there,” said Pete.
“Ugh!” said Allie, and she hunched her shoulders. Then suddenly she shouted, “Oh my gosh! What’s the matter with me?”
“What do you mean?” said Pete, startled.
Allie jumped to her feet and took the keys from the truck’s ignition. She opened the large glove compartment, rummaged around, and pulled out a first-aid kit. Inside it she found a pair of surgical scissors.
“What are you going to do with those?” asked Pete as Allie waved the scissors triumphantly.
She pointed to a barrel cactus nearby. “We can cut a couple of chunks out of that cactus over there,” she said. “There’s always water stored in cactus. They sop it up when it rains and hold it so they can live through the dry spells. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before!”
“Better late than never!” said Pete. “Boy, I could sure use a taste of something wet.” He took the scissors and ran over to the cactus. He whacked at the tough-skinned plant until he had cut out two chunks of moist pulp. Then he handed one to Allie and bit into the other.
They both screwed up their faces.
“I don’t know what’s worse,” said Pete. “Dying of thirst … or this! ”
Allie slowly chewed all the moisture from the cactus, then she spit out the pulp. Now the sun was almost directly overhead. “We can take cover under the truck,” said Allie. “If the helicopter is still looking, they’ll be able to spot it.”
The two crawled into the shade beneath the truck. “It really is cooler under here,” said Pete, as he stretched