Sophie turned her back on the empty desert and sank down on a rock. I’m lost, she thought. I’m going to die of thirst and turn into bleached, white bones like those cattle skulls on the veranda. Swallowing was agony. Why hadn’t she gone back for water?

All at once she was aware of something else beside her over-powering thirst - a horrible smell that was getting stronger by the second. She heard a strange clacking noise and opened her eyes. A collection of weird animals trotted toward her. They were the size of large dogs, but with skinny legs and hooves. Their heads were enormous, their eyes were small and their bottom teeth stuck out like tusks. They looked like hairy pigs with white collars and the clacking noise seemed to be coming from their jaws.

And the smell!

Sophie clapped her hand to her nose and stood up.

The animals stopped. The clacking grew louder. The lead animal spread its jaw wide, and Sophie could see that its two bottom teeth curved to sharp-looking points.

“Go away!” she shouted lunging at them. (From Mystery Stallion).

Before she could stop herself she was falling, slipping through the darkness, the sound of her own scream echoing in her ears. Seconds later, the crevice walls closed around her, slowing her free fall. Her right foot found a firm place to stand. But her flashlight was gone. Heart pounding, her breath ragged, Dayna scrabbled for a foothold with her left foot. There! She was standing with one foot either side of a steep, dark fissure. She felt around the space with her hands. It was as narrow and smooth as the inside of a chimney. Nothing to hold or grip. “HELP!” Dayna screamed. “Somebody help me!” It was as though she was at the bottom of a well. The darkness was total. Her footholds were all that kept her from falling deeper into the deep crack where she’d be wedged between the rocks-unable to breathe or move in any direction. She could hear bat wings flapping at the top of the crevice. Waves of panic engulfed her. (From Coyote Canyon.)