Chapter 30: Close CallMatt’s eleventh birthday was on August 13th. Ash felt a warm glow as they celebrated with a fire and feast. Jon-Allen pulled a squashed box of cupcakes out of his backpack.
“I took these the last time we went to the store,” he said.
Ash laughed. As Jon-Allen handed out cupcakes, they sang “Happy Birthday” for the second time in their journey.
“Whose birthday is next?” Matt asked.
“Mine!” Kevin shouted.
“When will that be?” Ash asked.
“December nineteenth. I wonder where we’ll be then.”
Ash shivered. “Hopefully someplace warm.”
Matt’s birthday celebration was more subdued than Dayna’s. Kevin ate two cupcakes and went to bed with a stomach ache. Dayna lay beside him, giving comfort. As the other boys drifted to sleep, Ash tended the fire. None of them had clothe
