2

I hate Luke's Mad Pincher routine more than anything. I was so glad that Clay was sitting in the middle next to Luke, and not me. Usually, the only way to stop Luke's pinching is to slug him.

Clay started squirming and laughing. He thinks everything Luke does is a riot. He laughs at all of my brother's stupid jokes and stunts. I think that's why Luke likes Clay so much.

The two of them began pinching each other. Then Luke shoved Clay onto me. "Give me a break!" I cried.

I shoved Clay back. I know I shouldn't have. But it was getting hot in the car, and we'd been driving for hours, and what was I supposed to do?

"Lizzy! Boys! Chill out back there!" Dad cried.

"Dad, nobody says 'chill out' anymore," I told him calmly and quietly.

For some reason, that made him go berserk. He started yelling, and his face got bright red.

I knew he wasn't mad at me. He was mad because he couldn't find Zoo Gardens Theme Park.

"Everybody just take a deep breath and be silent," Mom suggested.

"Ow! Stop pinching me!" Clay screamed. He gave Luke a hard shove.

"You stop pinching me!" my brother shrieked, shoving him back.

Boys can really be animals.

"Hey, look — a sign up ahead!" Mom pointed as a large green sign came into view.

Luke and Clay stopped fighting. Dad leaned forward over the steering wheel, squinting through the windshield.

"Does it say where the park is?" Luke demanded.

"Does it say where we are?" Clay asked.

The words on the sign came into view as we drove past it. It said: SIGN FOR RENT.

We all let out disappointed groans.

"The Mad Pincher returns!" Luke cried. He gave Clay a hard pinch on the arm. Luke never knows when to quit.

"This road isn't going anywhere," Dad said, scowling. "I'll have to turn around and get back on the highway. If I can find it."

"I think you should ask someone for directions," Mom suggested.

"Ask someone? Ask someone?" Dad exploded. "Do you see anyone I can ask?" His face was bright red again. He drove with one hand so he could use the other to shake a fist.

"I meant if you see a gas station," Mom murmured.

"A gas station?" Dad screamed. "I don't even see a tree!"Dad was right. I stared out the window and saw nothing but white sand on both sides of the road. The sun beamed down on it, making it gleam. The sand was so bright, it nearly looked like snow.

"I meant to go north," Dad muttered. "The desert is south. We must have gone south."

"You'd better turn around," Mom urged.

"Are we lost?" Clay asked. I could hear some fear in his voice.

Clay isn't the bravest kid in the world. In fact, he is pretty easy to scare. Once I crept up behind him in our back yard at night and whispered his name — and he almost jumped right out of his shoes!

"Dad, are we lost?" Luke repeated the question.

"Yeah, we're lost," Dad replied quietly. "Hopelessly lost."

Clay let out a soft cry and slumped in the seat. He looked a little like a balloon deflating.

"Don't tell him that!" Mom cried sharply.

"What should I tell him?" Dad snapped back. "We're nowhere near Zoo Gardens. We're nowhere near civilization! We're in the desert, going nowhere!"

"Just turn around. I'm sure we'll find someone we can ask," Mom said softly. "And stop being so dramatic."

"We're all going to die in the desert," Luke said, with a gruesome grin on his face. "And buzzards will peck out our eyeballs and eat our flesh."

My brother has a great sense of humor, doesn't he?

You can't imagine what it's like having to live with a total ghoul!

"Luke, stop scaring Clay," Mom said, turning in her seat to glare at Luke.

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