Paperback about siblings running away

[thehunter]

This was a YA book, probably written in the early to mid-1980s. The cover had a dark blue border and a picture of two kids looking frightened and hiding behind a bush, crouched down low. The kids were wearing backpacks and had identical or very similar haircuts, something between a bowl cut and that "curtains" style that was popular in the '90s. I believe one of them was wearing a purple and green striped rugby shirt. A dark figure in the background seemed to be looking for the kids.

I remember very little about the plot. The children were brother and sister (the sister was a little older) and had run away from home together, perhaps because their parents were getting divorced and they didn't want to be split up. I remember them packing supplies in their backpacks, and I think they were planning to live in a public park for a while. The girl may have cut her hair like her brother's, in hopes that anyone looking for them would mistake her for a boy.

If anyone has any idea what book this is, please let me know! Thanks!

Edit: FOUND! The book I was looking for is At the Sound of the Beep, by Marilyn Sachs. The kids are hiding behind a tree, not in a bush, and I don't know where I got that idea about the rugby shirt, but this is definitely the right book. Thanks for your help!

Comments

[thehunter]

No, not that one. There were only two siblings and they ran away; they weren't abandoned by a parent.

[mildred_of_midgard]

Okay. They do run away halfway through the book, so I thought you might be remembering that part, and misremembering the number of siblings. I'm glad you found what you were looking for! I've found any number of lost things while writing up a post for this community.