Chapter 4

"What do you mean we're stuck?" Luke asked.

"It means the car won't go, Spencer," Scott said sarcastically. "You know Luke, if you don't know what a simple word like 'stuck' means, you should really go back to school."

"At least I didn't fail preschool," Luke shot back at him.

"What? I didn't...." Scott started.

"Ok, hold it. Let's see if we can get the car going," Laura said trying to prevent a fight.

All four of them got out of the car and looked at the wheels. They were bogged down in the mud. The rain was still coming down so hard that they were all soaked in just a couple of minutes.

"Laura, get back in the car and start it. When I signal you, press down gently on the accelerator. The three of us will try to push the car out of the mud," Luke said.

"Who decided that you were in charge Luke?" Stefan asked.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No, but..."

"Then we're doing it my way," Luke said before Stefan could argue even more.

Laura got back into the car while Luke, Scott and Stefan walked through the mud to the back. As soon as Laura started the engine, the men put their hands on the back of the car and Luke yelled to Laura. "Ok, press the accelerator down gently."

She pushed down on the accelerator until it reached the floor. The wheels spun throwing mud all over the three men.

"Laura!" Luke yelled spitting out mud. "Stop!"

Laura didn't hear him. She continued to hold the accelerator down. Luke let go of the car and tried to move through back through the thick mud to get to Laura. He slipped and fell face down in the mud.

He finally got to his feet and got to the front of the car. "Laura!" he yelled again.

Laura rolled down the window. She took one look at Luke covered with mud and burst out laughing. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"You!" he laughed. "Turn that thing off."

Laura turned the engine off and got out of the car. She looked at Luke and laughed again.

"You think it's funny?" he said laughing. He grabbed her and rubbed his mud covered face against hers.

"Luke, don't" she laughed.

He took her hand and led her to the back of the car. She saw that Scott and Stefan also had mud all over them, but not as much as Luke. She bit her lip to keep from laughing at them. She felt a little sorry for Stefan, since he was wearing what looked like a very expensive suit.

"Now what?" Scott asked wiping his face on his sleeve.

"Look," Stefan said pointing through the trees. "It looks like a house over there. Maybe someone there can give us a hand getting the car out."

"Let's go," Laura said taking Luke's hand again.

They moved slowly through the mud. Even holding onto the trees for support, they slipped and fell several times.

Finally they made it to the house. It turned out to be a run-down cabin.

"It don't look like anyone has been here for years," Scott said.

"Well, it will be dryer than standing out here. We can spend the night in there," Luke said. "Let's go."

Laura, Scott and Stefan followed Luke into the old cabin.