"EVERYONE STAY CALM." I turned off the camper's engine. "They've got identi cal trucks, so they're probably just part of the same… I don't know, fallen tree warning squad or something. Helen, what's the guy in the back doing?"
"Nothing. He's just sitting there."
"Does he look homicidal?"
"Not really."
"Good."
I honked at the truck in front of us, trying to get Goblin to back up. He didn't move.
"Okay, let's just wait and see what they want," I said.
We sat there, trapped between the two trucks, waiting for something to happen. The drivers stayed in their vehicles, silently watching us.
"Do you want me to get out?" Roger finally asked.
I shook my head. "Helen, make sure the kids aren't near the windows."
"I'm scared," said Theresa.
"You don't have to be scared, honey," I assured her. "It's just that these people are acting kind of goofy, that's all. Everything will be fine, I promise."
Samantha picked up her purse and reached inside. "I think we should call the police."
"Good idea," said Roger. What a brownnoser.
Samantha took out her cell phone and punched a couple of buttons. "Damn it! The battery's dead. Roger, I thought you said it was charged!"
"I plugged it in last night!" Roger insisted.
"Did you plug it in right?"
"Yes, I plugged it in right. I'm pretty sure I did. I don't know. I've never plugged one in before. I don't like cell phones."
Helen got her own purse and retrieved her cell phone. She looked at the display in disbelief. "My battery's dead, too!"
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"No." Helen gave a half-smile and dialed.
Something else Helen never did was joke during moments of stress. I got in trouble all the time for doing that. This personality change was starting to become scary.
Seconds later, Helen's half-smile disappeared. "I'm not getting a signal."
"Nothing?" Samantha asked.
Helen held up the display for her to see then tried again. "No signal. It's not working."
"How can that be?" I asked. "We're not that deep in the woods, are we?"
"Maybe the camper's too tightly insulated or something," said Helen.
I frowned. "A camper wouldn't block cell phone reception, would it?"
"I don't know!" Helen snapped. "I'm just saying it isn't working! Where's your phone?"
"It's… I left it at home," I admitted. "It's on the counter. Next to the spatula." I'd only owned the stupid thing for three weeks, and I avoided its use as much as possible.
"Damn it, Andrew, I thought you were going to try to be more responsible!"
I couldn't believe this. "I am being more responsible! Look, the gas tank is almost full! I turned away from Wreitzer Park on the word of a crazy old man! So I forgot my cell phone… we had two others in the camper! If you're going to get mad at somebody, get mad at Roger! He forgot to plug in Samantha's phone!"
"It was a funky plug!" Roger insisted.
"Then you should have asked!" Samantha said.
"It looked like it was working!"
"Stop fighting!" Theresa shouted. "You're acting like babies!"
All of the adults shut up. Yes, a nine-year-old who only a short time earlier had been at war over a tiny block of tooth-marked chocolate had successfully put us in our place.
"Let's get the kids out of the way," I suggested, quietly.
Samantha took Kyle's hand. "Here, Kyle, why don't you come up and snuggle with your Aunt Samantha in the top bunk?"
When did she become "Aunt Samantha?" That woman didn't get to appoint herself an honorary aunt without my permission! Who did she think she was? Dear God, if Roger stuck with her he would be whipped beyond all reasonable human-
I put that out of my mind and focused on much more pressing matters, such as, say, the lunatic truck drivers. Samantha helped Kyle onto the upper sleeper, and then climbed up there with him, while Helen huddled down with Theresa on the floor. I left the driver's seat and walked to the rear of the camper to get a look at the guy behind us.
Like his buddy, he was unshaven and had long dark hair. However, this guy was morbidly obese, a fact that was obvious even with most of his body hidden from view. I couldn't make a weight estimate, but he was clearly enormous.
He stared at me, looking almost bored.
"I think Roger and I should go out there and talk to them."
"Andrew, no!" said Helen.
"Maybe they're just playing a joke. Seeing how long we'll sit in here. I mean, what else could they possibly be doing? They're not attacking us or trying to steal our camper or anything like that."
"Maybe they're waiting for somebody else."
And then the guy behind us began to back up. He pulled back nearly ten feet then stopped.
"He's moving," I announced.
"The guy up here is saying something," Roger informed everybody. "Not to us, he must be talking into a walkie-talkie or something."
"It damn well better not be a cell phone," I muttered.
The truck in front of us honked. "Roger, switch places," I said, and we crossed paths in the middle of the camper as I returned to the driver's seat.
The truck honked again.
I honked back and gave him the finger.
Goblin grinned. It was not a grin that left me with a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
I started up the engine. "I think he wants me to back up," I said. What I really wanted to do was floor the gas pedal and knock the grinning prick off the road, but even though our vehicle had the size advantage it would never work, at least not without wrecking the camper.
I slowly backed up. The truck moved forward to match my progress.
"The guy behind us is backing up, too," Roger told me.
We continued moving, blocked between the two trucks. Maneuvering around the first corner was tricky, but I did it without us going off the road.
"What do we have in the way of weapons?" Samantha asked from above.
"Not much," I said. "Unless somebody packed a machine gun without permission."
"Stay up here, honey," Samantha told Kyle, before jumping down. "I'll see what I can find. We've at least got the fishing poles if we get really desperate."
"They're packed at the bottom," said Helen.
Fishing poles. The weapon of choice for the traveler in distress. We also had lots and lots of marshmallows. Maybe we could immobilize these guys with sticky gooey goodness.
It was a long, scary drive. Roger returned to the front while Samantha gave us reports from the rear. Helen and Theresa moved up to the top bunk with Kyle. Joe slept on the floor. The trucks maintained their close proximity to us, never giving me an opportunity to slam on the gas and speed ahead of the one in front, even if there'd been room to get past him.
"You know, we could've handled the Wreitzer Park earwigs just fine," Roger remarked, forcing a smile.
"I think we're almost back to the store," said Samantha. "Do either of you remember if there was a phone inside?"
I glanced at Roger. He shrugged. "We're not sure," I admitted.
"I can't imagine that there wouldn't be." Samantha looked through the open window on the left side of the camper. "When we get just a little bit closer, I'm gonna jump out and make a run for it."
"The hell you will," said Roger.
"We have no idea where they're taking us or what their plans are. What if they're just forcing us to some abandoned area to butcher us? This may be our only chance to get help."
"What if they have guns?"
"I've gotta risk it."
Roger took a deep breath, looking distressed. "You're right, we have to try something. But I'll do it."
Samantha shook her head. "I can run the fastest. Don't worry, I'll be okay. I promise."
"You should take my cell phone," said Helen. "Maybe it'll work outside the camper."
"No. If something happens to me, you'll need it."
"But nothing is going to happen to you."
Samantha considered that, and took the cell phone. "Thanks."
I have to admit, sending our phone along with the woman who would soon be in serious danger didn't sound like a very good idea, but I didn't protest.
Samantha gave Roger a quick kiss then placed her hands on the window sill and prepared to leap out. "Andrew, when I tell you to, stop the camper just long enough for me to jump."
I felt sick to my stomach. Sure, I didn't like Samantha, but I certainly didn't want her to put her life at risk! Though she could technically make it into the woods in just a few strides, it would be at least another twenty or thirty feet before the trees became thick enough to hide her.
Roger looked as if he wanted to grab her arm and hold her back, but after a moment of indecision he went to the rear of the camper.
"Stop!" she said.
I applied the brake.
Samantha leapt out of the camper.
Goblin braked to a halt.
He reached down for something.
Samantha darted toward the woods.
"The one in back has a gun!" Roger cried out.
Goblin raised a gun of his own. A shotgun. He pointed it out of his passenger side window and quickly took aim.
Samantha hurried off the road.
I slammed my foot on the gas pedal.
The camper bashed into the truck, throwing me against the steering wheel. The shotgun fired, but the shot went wild.
Another gunshot went off behind the camper.
I put the camper into reverse.
"Shit!" Roger screamed.
I slammed the gas pedal again. The camper smashed into the truck behind us as a third gunshot fired.
"Did he hit her? What happened?" Helen demanded over Theresa and Kyle's screams. Joe ran from one end of the camper to the other, barking furiously.
"He got her!" Roger shouted. "Oh, God!"
I glanced out the window, catching a glimpse of motion in the woods and a blur of red. Then I looked at the truck in front of us and put the camper back into drive.
Goblin had his shotgun pointed at me.
I ducked down as he fired, shattering the front windshield. Safety glass sprayed all over me.
"Andrew, reverse!" Roger shouted.
Staying down, I put the camper into reverse once more. Another shot fired from behind us, not quite as loud as the shotgun blasts. It was followed by two more before I could send the camper rocketing backward again. As we collided with the truck, I kept the gas pedal floored, trying to push that maniac right off the road.
More bullets fired, slamming into the seat above my head.
The camper suddenly felt like it was going to topple. I let up on the gas and applied the brake.
"Is everybody okay?" I asked. I heard Theresa and Kyle sobbing, but it didn't sound like either of them had been hurt. "Helen?"
"I'm fine," she said. "We're all fine in here."
"Roger?"
"I think she made it," he announced, sounding out of breath. "They shot her in the arm, I don't know how bad, but she got away!"
I put the camper into park. Joe pressed his flat face against my leg, whimpering.
Now what?
"That was really stupid," Goblin called out. "There's nobody out here who'll help her, and she'd bleed to death before she found them anyway!"
I hoped he wasn't just cleverly trying to psyche us out. The store owner could certainly be part of the gang… but for now I'd remain optimistic.
If Samantha did get in touch with the police, how long would we have to defend ourselves against these psychos before help arrived? We'd never even found the fishing poles.
I waited silently for a few moments. I couldn't hear any activity outside. Maybe they were conserving ammunition. Maybe their guns were empty. I wasn't about to pop my head into view to check it out.
Then I heard another vehicle approach from the rear.
"Is this bad?" I asked Roger.
"Real bad," he informed me. "Three more trucks."
Maybe they were coming in peace. Maybe they'd talk some sense into the other two, we'd all have a nice chuckle over this silly misunderstanding, and we'd get together for a late lunch and a friendly pillow fight.
Or maybe not.
"Forget this," I said. "We're getting out of here. I'll plow right over one of these trucks if I have to. Everybody hold on."
I floored the gas pedal.
And then I very quickly realized that this had been an extraordinarily bad idea, right in line with many of my other extraordinarily bad ideas of the past.
The camper began to topple to the right.
As everybody else screamed, and I held onto the steering wheel as tightly as I could, the camper fell onto its side with an almost deafening crash.