“Give me a boost.”
He heaved her from below, and she was delighted to find a series of rungs leading up the airshaft.
“We are so out of here! Come on!”
The two began to climb, carefully testing each bar before putting any weight on it. They ascended through the lightless passage, their elbows and shoulders bumping up against a conduit that was barely two feet wide.
Whenever the claustrophobia threatened to overwhelm Meg, she would tilt her head, and there it would be — the star, beckoning from above. The air seemed purer and colder. It smelled like freedom.
“Bro, you are a genius,” she called down to Aiden. “How’d you think of the wind sock?”
“The Alaska Pipeline Caper,” Aiden puffed.
“You mean Mac Mulvey? Why don’t I know that one?”
“Dad never finished it,” her brother replied. “He was still working on it when he and Mom got arrested. Mulvey’s trapped inside a sealed pipe …”
The explanation went on, but Meg was no longer listening. There were three stars visible now, and she could clearly see where the black shaft gave way to lighter sky. She climbed faster, her arms and legs powered by the thought that they were actually going to make it.
Then she was out, scrambling into the deep snow and turning to give her brother a hand.
At last, the two of them were standing on the slope, laughing as if someone had just told the most hilarious joke in the world. Meg wracked her brain for an explanation of what was so funny, but all she could come up with was: We’re alive!
Below them, through the trees, they could see the clearing in front of the mine, lit by the Range Rover’s headlights.
“Let’s get down there!” Aiden exclaimed excitedly.
Meg did not have to be asked twice.
They descended the hillside as if the two feet of fresh powder didn’t exist. About halfway there, Aiden spotted their parents.
“Mom and Dad! They’re okay!”
Their pace doubled. Both were running full out now, scrambling, stumbling, and kicking up an enormous cloud of snow.
“We’re here!” Meg shrieked. “Mom! Dad!”
They jumped to the road and rounded the bend to the clearing, plowing through the drifts.
A wail of recognition burst from Louise Falconer, and suddenly the parents were rushing toward them. Harris was right behind them. And who was that? Mickey! Meg couldn’t believe she was actually glad to see him again.
Most amazing of all, a dark bundle of fur shot from a stand of trees and made straight for Meg — the bear cub, seeking out its old friend.
Meg slowed up. “Hold your horses, Junior. Keep your distance.”
Aiden frowned. “You’re right, Meg. It really is just a cub.”
A second animal rose from all fours out of the same thicket, and this one was no cub. It was a fully grown black bear, easily eight feet tall, ready to do battle to protect its baby.
Aiden’s description of Spidey’s injuries sprang to Meg’s mind: He looks like he was mauled by a T. rex. There was no question that this was the closest thing to a T. rex anyone was going to find in the state of Virginia.
Aiden and Meg stood like statues, willing the cub to back off.
If it leaves, Meg prayed, surely the mom’ll leave, too....
The huge bear advanced, plainly angry. A single swipe of its powerful paw might rip a person’s head clean off. Their escape from the mine was turning into a meaningless victory. This horror was greater than a killing bullet, or even a slow death in a dark tunnel. They were facing the mindless violence of a wild animal.
Agent Emmanuel Harris of the FBI used his long legs to leap forward and place himself between the Falconer kids and the bear. His gun was pointed, but he didn’t dare use it except as a last resort. Anything less than a perfect shot would bring disaster down on all of them.
“Back away, nice and slow,” he tossed over his shoulder at Aiden and Meg.
“I don’t know if that’ll work,” Meg quavered. “The cub has been following me — ”
“Will you do as you’re told just this once?”
The exchange agitated the mother bear. With a howl of fury, it drew back a massive paw. Just as the lethal claws were about come down on Harris, a brilliant light from above flooded the clearing, and a wild wind whipped up the snow. The clatter of rotor blades was deafening, and a large transport helicopter began to descend into their midst.
The terrified bear cub scurried into the woods. And, after a few seconds of indecision, the mother dropped down to all fours again and loped off after it.
The chopper set down, and out bounded Agent Sorenson. He found his victim rescued, the kidnappers in custody, and the ringleader buried under tons of rock.
Another case solved by Mike Sorenson.
FALCONER DAUGHTER SAFE AFTER MINE RESCUE
MONKWOOD, VA — AMALGAMATED WIRE SERVICE: In a showdown straight out of Hollywood, involving gunfire and a collapsing mine, federal agents rescued Margaret Falconer, 12, who had been missing for nine days. The incident at the abandoned Black River mine in western Virginia uncovered a plot by the notorious HORUS Global Group, a front for international terrorists. What was believed to be a straight kidnapping turned out to be an attempt by HORUS to eliminate Doctors John and Louise Falconer and have the murders blamed on a ransom exchange gone wrong. The Falconers are the noted criminologists who served fourteen months in prison for aiding HORUS until they were proven innocent earlier this year.
In a bizarre twist, the mastermind of HORUS’s plan was revealed to be Rufus Sehorn, 29, better known as the Internet’s popular Blog Hog. Sehorn was killed in the cave-in, buried under the collapsed rock ceiling. Mining experts say his body may never be recovered.
Charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, and treason is Sehorn’s accomplice, Marcelle Devereaux, 34. Two others are implicated in the kidnapping, but not the HORUS plot. Joseph McFadden, 27, faces fifteen to twenty-five years in prison for his role in the abduction. He is currently in serious but stable condition in Alberta County medical center after a bear attack unrelated to the rescue. Sean Michael Antonino, 20, is cooperating with the authorities, who say he played a major role in bringing the Falconer girl home alive.
“This proves beyond a doubt that there never was any collaboration between the Falconer family and HORUS,” said Emmanuel Harris, the FBI agent who originally arrested the Falconers and who was on the scene for last night’s rescue. “It’s time to leave these poor people alone, once and for all.”
* * *
John Falconer opened the front door to find Harris on the stoop, an extra-large coffee steaming in his extra-large hand.
“You’re not reading your own press, Agent Harris. We’re supposed to be left alone, remember?”
“Sorry to disturb you,” Harris mumbled. “It’s Aiden I’m here to see.”
A head peered out of the kitchen. “Hey, Agent Harris!” Aiden bounded into the room, obviously glad to see the visitor. “Did you get your car back?”
“Eventually.” Harris sighed. “The snowmobile ran out of gas. I won’t bore you with the details. How’s your sister?”
“Bouncing back,” Aiden replied. “She and Mom are out shopping for a belated birthday present.” He noticed the jacket and baseball cap the big agent was carrying. They belonged to Richie Pembleton, Aiden’s best friend. When Aiden had run away to search for his sister, he had disguised himself in the clothes Richie always wore.
“Thanks a lot,” Aiden exclaimed. “Richie loves that hat. I don’t think he could have lived without it.”
“It’s all part of the service.” Harris grinned.
Aiden’s father noted the genuine friendship that seemed to have formed between his son and the hated government agent who had caused their family so much grief. He took a deep breath. It was difficult for him to say this, but it needed to be said.
“Agent Harris, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see on the
inside of my eyelids is you putting yourself between our kids and a rampaging bear. How can my wife and I ever repay you for that?”
“Well, for one thing” — Harris shuffled uncomfortably, glancing down at his size-fifteen shoes — “you could try to forgive me.”
Dr. Falconer was taken aback. “Forgive you?”
This time, the agent met his gaze.
“And that means so much to you?” John persisted.
Harris nodded silently.
When Meg and her mother clattered into the house a few minutes later, laughing and laden with packages, an unexpected sight greeted them in the front hall — John Falconer and Emmanuel Harris, longtime enemies, engaged in a solemn handshake.
For Meg, the biggest difference in her life now was how much she appreciated freedom. It was something she’d never thought about — not before she’d been locked in car trunks and storerooms and cellars, and tied to chairs. Now, with every step she took, she swung her arms a little higher, just to prove that she could. Every time she fastened her seat belt, she kept her hand on the buckle — a reminder that she could open it any time she chose. All small changes that nobody noticed except Meg herself.
Which might explain why no one at her middle school ever figured out who released the frogs from the science lab into the marshy grass behind the playground.
Only someone who had suffered captivity could understand the sweetness of freedom.
KIDNAPPED
BOOK ONE: THE ABDUCTION
BOOK TWO: THE SEARCH
BOOK THREE: THE RESCUE
ON THE RUN
BOOK ONE: CHASING THE FALCONERS
BOOK TWO: THE FUGITIVE FACTOR
BOOK THREE: NOW YOU SEE THEM, NOW YOU DON’T
BOOK FOUR: THE STOWAWAY SOLUTION
BOOK FIVE: PUBLIC ENEMIES
BOOK SIX: HUNTING THE HUNTER
DIVE
BOOK ONE: THE DISCOVERY
BOOK TWO: THE DEEP
BOOK THREE: THE DANGER
EVEREST
BOOK ONE: THE CONTEST
BOOK TWO: THE CLIMB
BOOK THREE: THE SUMMIT
ISLAND
BOOK ONE: SHIPWRECK
BOOK TWO: SURVIVAL
BOOK THREE: ESCAPE
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Copyright © 2006 by Gordon Korman. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First printing, September 2006
Cover photo by David Loew
Cover design by Tim Hall
e-ISBN 978-0-545-63293-5
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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