Road Trip Rescue by Becca Wierwille

Author:Becca Wierwille
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Becca Wierwille

22

always pack a microwave

Sometimes adventures come to a sudden and devastating end.

Other times, the pieces fit together just right.

Mateo returned from his third shift workday at nine in the morning. By some miracle, when Aunt Skylar invited him and Daniel to join us on our trip, he accepted—as long as his employer agreed.

And he did. Mateo never took vacation, so he had several weeks of PTO built up. That means paid time off—not to be confused with the Power Take-Off shaft on Dad’s tractor, as I discovered. Anyway, Mateo’s engineering job had also slowed down over the last month, so his boss said it was the perfect opportunity for him to get away.

“I just have to work through the weekend,” Mateo said. “If you can wait until Monday morning to leave, Daniel and I would love to join.”

Waiting four more days to leave wasn’t ideal. But it was better than never continuing north.

When I called Mom and Dad to tell them about our growing group, I said, “It’ll be fun to have some other people to talk to besides Aunt Skylar. Just might be crowded when we find Bo. I guess he’ll have to squeeze between me and Daniel in the back.”

“I’m sure there’s no need to worry about that yet, honey,” Mom said.

Why did Mom and Dad still act strange whenever I mentioned Bo? The dog in the photo looked identical to Bo. The timing worked out perfectly. Why did they act like it couldn’t be him?

For the next four days, we entered the rhythm of city life. We’d eat breakfast when Mateo got home from work in the morning. After he took a nap, we’d do some sightseeing. We mostly visited Aunt Skylar’s favorite places from when she lived here. Daniel insisted on at least one “adventure” each day, whether that was a walk in Central Park or a trip to the thrift store to buy gear for our upcoming trip. He was thrilled to find a two-person tent for him and Mateo.

We always ended the days back in the apartment. Mateo and Aunt Skylar would sit together on the couch, talking and laughing. I usually called Ella’s Creamery, only to hear that familiar busy signal. Or I’d call Mom and Dad. Or I’d help Daniel analyze maps of New York and Canada and braid paracord bracelets to ensure our future survival.

Finally, Monday morning came. Aunt Skylar didn’t give Mateo a chance to nap after work.

I grinned at her as we boarded the subway. “I knew you’d be ready to get back on the road.”

The brightness in her green eyes was impossible to miss. “He can sleep in the car. The fifth thing you should know about road trips is you don’t waste time when the road is calling.”

This fifth bit of advice seemed to contradict Aunt Skylar’s other road trip rules—like taking the road less traveled and stopping to stretch. But I wasn’t about to point that out. When we found Madame Blueberry waiting for us in that cramped parking lot, I’d never been so happy to see a car.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.