A Christmas Journey

Chapter 7

 Just before they would cross over the border into North Dakota, Michael announced, "It looks like we're in the home stretch." Then, looking at Sherri in the mirror, he added, "You should have time to spend a couple of days with your dad even before Christmas.

Sherri smiled weakly. The closer they got to Minot, the more the feelings came back about her recent tragedy. It was still hard to believe her mother was gone; everything just seemed surreal. "Thanks for helping me get here safely." she managed to say.

Both wondered but didn't ask why Amy was so quiet. She was thinking about what Michael had said. "There's no way it could be this easy. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't get so confident." she thought. "It seems like every time he does, something goes wrong.

Nevertheless, things continued smoothly until McIntosh, when Michael pulled off at a gas station. Almost immediately after he had finished paying, they saw a car pull up beside them. Michael glanced up and saw that the passenger had drawn a gun.

Leaping back into the SUV, he shouted, "Get down! We've got company!"

The trio squealed tires as they sped out of the station and back onto the interstate. Unfortunately, their pursuers had learned from the others' experiences and were driving a sports car that they knew could easily outrun the SUV. Michael, Amy, and Sherri found this out when the car caught up to them and fired shots that cracked the glass in the rear windows.

Sherri shrieked, causing Michael to tell her, "Just stay down and you'll be okay. I'm gonna try to lose them, but this thing ain't built for speed!"

He exited the interstate and tried many roads, but the car stayed with them. Then, Amy exclaimed upon seeing a dirt road, "What about that road?"

"Works for me!" Michael shouted as he made the tight turn.

They managed to outrun their enemies for a while, but then the car came out of nowhere a short distance down the road. More shots were fired that threatened to shatter Sherri's window. Like the rear window, a spiderweb formed in the glass, but it didn't break.

Then, as soon as the two vehicles came almost to the top of a hill, the car sped up and managed, not without taking some damage, to run the SUV off the road.

"Oh shoot! Hang on!" Amy told the others.

The SUV rolled down the embankment. By the time it reached the bottom, everything but the cabin itself had been severely damaged.

The two attackers had pulled over and walked down the hill. When they saw that the cabin was still intact, one remarked, "Man! I've gotta get me one of these!"

The other said, "Shut up, Rick! We've got to make sure they won't be finishing the trip."

"C'mon, Dan. You actually think they made it through that?"

"Only one way to find out. Help me get this door open."

The duo were able to open the door, and Daniel checked and said, "It looks like we've got to figure out a way to finish the job."

At that moment, it started snowing. "I hope that blizzard doesn't get here until we're gone. Our car ain't made for snow."

Dan smiled an evil smile. "That's it. The snow." he sneered. "Take their cell phones. We're a long distance away from the nearest building and they won't be going anywhere in this." he said, pointing to the damaged SUV. "It'll look like they just ran off the road."

So, they took Michael's phone from his belt and Amy's from her purse.

"Now, let's get out of here." he calmly ordered Rick as they raced back to the sleek sports car and drove away.