flat.
“Tires toward the trail,” Jack said.
Eddie obeyed but asked, “Why?”
“Because tires are black.”
“Oh, no,” Weezy said. “I’ve got reflectors on my spokes.”
“Do they pop off?”
“They’re screwed on.”
Not good.
“Okay,” Jack said, “we’ve got to get away from the bikes.” He pointed to another copse of pines at the other end of the clearing. “There!”
Eddie’s gaze was fixed on the approaching headlights. “But that’s going toward them!”
Weezy pushed her brother from behind. “Exactly. The last direction they’l expect us to go.”
Keeping low, they dashed for the copse and crouched among the trunks, panting, waiting. Jack’s bladder was sending urgent signals that it wanted to
empty. He did his best to ignore it.
He saw the wavering glow from the headlights grow brighter as the cruiser bounced closer. Final y it pul ed into view.
“Move along,” he whispered, wishing he knew how to use the Force. “Move along. Nothing of interest here.”
If the cruiser passed the hidden bikes without seeing them, it would keep going, and Weezy, Eddie, and Jack could fol ow it at a distance, keeping it
wel ahead of them.
The cruiser bounced closer to the bikes … came even with them …
“Keep moving,” Jack whispered. “Keep moving—”
The brake lights came on. The car stopped. Went into reverse. Backed up paral el to the stand of trees.
“Oh-no, oh-no, oh-no,” Eddie whimpered.
“Hush!” Weezy said, then looked at Jack. “Had to be those reflectors on my spokes—sorry.”
He was about to tel her it couldn’t be helped when a spotlight beamed from the cruiser onto the bikes. The car backed up farther, the light shining into
the spong clearing, then arcing toward their copse.
“Down!” Jack said.
They flattened themselves on the ground just before the beam swept over them. The beam swung back again, then remained fixed on their spot.
“Don’t even breathe!” Weezy whispered.
As Jack lay frozen he felt something moving on his left forearm. His first impulse was to snatch it away, but that might give away their location. Slowly he
angled his head until he could see. The reflected glow from the spotlight revealed a good-sized snake, big around as a plump hot dog, slithering over his
arm. Fighting the instinctive urge to throw it off, he held his breath and stayed stil . He couldn’t see the head, but its body was mostly black with a white
center stripe and yel ow-orange stripes along the flanks.
It’s okay, he told himself. Just a garter snake … a harmless garter snake.
He’d caught and played with dozens when he was younger. This was a big one, but just as harmless as the little ones.
That didn’t keep him from breaking out in a cold sweat.
It kept moving and soon was gone, wriggling toward the spong.
The search beam moved away just then, giving Jack two reasons for a relieved release of the breath he’d been holding. But he stayed put until he
heard voices.
Raising his head he saw the trooper and the suit standing by the cruiser’s open driver door as they beamed the searchlight back and forth across the
clearing. He wished he could make out what they were saying.
Leaving the light trained on the spong, they stepped into the stand of trees where the bikes were hidden. They pul ed out Weezy’s and Eddie’s and
wheeled them around to the rear of the cruiser.
“My bike!” Eddie whispered.
The trunk popped open, and then it became clear: They were taking the bikes.
