Tag: New Mexico

Home again, the teens all go home. After dinner, Maddie gets a phone call. Maddie picked up the extension and waited for her brother to hang up. “Hello?” “Hey,” it was Clayton. “Hey, yourself.” “Weird being home, huh?” “Very. My mom is still in freak mode. She doesn’t want me to go next summer. That’s…

It’s their final day and the Nebraska youth are at church with their friends for the last time. Jose has called them all up to the front in order to give them each a gift. Jose stepped aside and the members of the youth group walked in, carrying a stack of envelops. Each student got…

It’s their last night and everyone is too keyed up after the party to sleep. They have church in the morning, and will get on the road right after. Denise remarks that she thinks Claire has changed. She would normally have used Jane to save herself, instead, she protected her friend. “Maybe we can give…

They have a big party at the Rancho to celebrate Gabe, Claire and Jane being released from the hospital. As he’s about to head home, Gabe gives Maddie a kiss. Clayton watched from a short distance. It hurt him to see, partly because another man kissed Maddie. Mostly, because he knew Gabe’s sorrow. They’d talked…

White Star arrives just in time to save them from Ramon. He congratulates Maddie and Clayton on their bravery. The last days of their trip were spent doing salvage of the burned up church. It was slow, grueling work, but rewarding. Periodically, one of them found an item that survived the fire. This was always…

The lights come on and Maddie and Clayton discover that Ramon is there with his goon. They have Gabe prisoner. Ramon not only threatens to kill them, he threatens to rape Maddie while the boys are forced to watch. She goes nuts and yells that he’s probably really gay and having a fling with his…

Clayton and Maddie go to the basement to look for the fuse box, only to find it high on the wall. She sits on his shoulders in order to reach it. “Careful, Mads. We’re kind of precarious here. I can’t see what I’m standing on, but it feels like loose tiles.” “One second. I think…

Surprised when the lights go out, the teens quickly regroup and find candles and a flashlight. Half the teens are upstairs with Les, who is resting after a cardiac episode. Maddie, Clayton, Patti and Daniel are downstairs looking for a fuse box. They decide they have to go to the basement. “Being quiet might be…

The teens are worried about Gabe, but have been ordered to stay inside while the police look for him. They are talking quietly when the lights go out. “There are some candles in the kitchen. I saw them in a cupboard,” Maddie said. “Maybe there’s a flashlight too. Can you see well enough to find…

The teens have been ordered to bed, but no one feels like sleeping. Instead, they stay together in the girls’ room and talk. “Claire could die,” Denise said, sniffling. “And Jane. And Gabe’s probably being tortured—” “Don’t say that!” Maddie screeched. “Don’t say that. He’s fine. He has to be.” “Oh, stop freaking out,” Denise…