They went to the back, where Matt was seated. He nodded at them, but they said nothing else. Laurie might not be experienced at this like Fen was, but she was a Brekke. She knew instinctively that they'd used a distraction to get on the bus, but now they needed to avoid attention to stay on the bus.

They took the seat directly in front of Matt's.

A few kids looked at them, but this wasn't a school group. Thankfully. Blending into a school group would be harder. There, the kids mostly all knew each other. This was a group, but probably for something like a community center or church or youth group.

A girl sat down beside Matt. "Who are you?"

"Matt," he answered.

Beside Laurie, Fen smothered a sigh. They exchanged a worried look. Matt just wasn't used to trickery. Even though she tried not to use it, she still knew Tricks 101: don't use your real name. Laurie opened her mouth to intervene before he said something crazy like We're runaways from Blackwell.

But before she could, she heard Matt say, "Didn't we meet earlier?"

Fen looked at her and raised both eyebrows in surprise. Matt was taking the act-like-you-belong thing to a new level. In the seat behind them, they could hear Matt and the girl chattering away about the monument. It wasn't a strategy she would've used, but it seemed to be working. The kids in the seat across from Matt were talking, too.

"Laurie might know," Matt said, suddenly drawing her into the conversation.

"Know what?"

"How far to Deadwood?" the girl beside Matt said. She was smiling, but Laurie didn't think it was particularly friendly.

"Ummm, I don't know. Maybe an hour?" Laurie had a rough guess from trips she'd taken before, but that wasn't the sort of thing she usually paid much attention to.

"Which school do you go to?" the girl asked. "I don't think I've met any of you before."

"We were on the other bus," Fen said. He leaned his head back on the seat and closed his eyes before adding, "Do you mind not talking? I have a headache."

"Sorry, I forgot." Laurie was silently thankful for Fen's surliness, but she looked at the girl and mouthed, "Sorry."

The girl said, "Whatever."

Matt nodded.

Once they'd looked away, Fen leaned in and whispered, "Knew you could do it."

Laurie tried not to feel too excited by their success so far. They had a huge list of impossible things in front of them... but they'd already overcome trolls, wolves, and chaperones. They really weren't off to a bad start.

FOURTEEN.

MATT.

"ALL-POINTS BULLETIN"

On the bus trip, Matt relaxed for the first time since his grandfather had named him champion. He'd done well so far. Really well. They'd found the trolls, and they'd gotten the information they needed. His idea hadn't exactly gone as planned, but Laurie had figured out a solution, and they'd all worked together to escape. That's what it was about-working together. He wasn't a perfect leader, but maybe he wasn't totally faking it, either. Maybe he really could become the leader they needed.

When the bus stopped, they were in Lead, making an educational pit stop to visit the Black Hills Mining Museum. Matt thought of just staying on the bus, but everyone was getting off.

"The chaperone said it's only three miles to Deadwood," Fen whispered as they filed out. "We're walking."

As they stepped off the bus, a tour guide was trilling, "And don't forget, if you decide to try the gold panning, you are guaranteed to find gold!" The older kids jostled past her, some mimicking her and rolling their eyes. The younger kids just trudged along, casting pained looks at the museum and the prospect of an hour of sheer boredom.

The museum didn't look like much. It was mostly a single-story building with a flat roof. Near the front, though, a weirdly shaped silo jutted out. A model of a mining shaft, Matt guessed. He was following along, gaze fixed on that silo, thinking maybe this could be interesting, when Fen stopped him.

"Did I say this is where we get off?" Fen whispered.

"Right, but-"

"But what? We're in the middle of saving the world, and you want to take a museum tour? You really are a geek, aren't you, Thorsen?"

Matt could see Laurie tense, and he struggled to keep his voice calm. "No, but we're only three miles from Deadwood. I don't see the point in bailing now."

"Right. We're only three miles, so I don't see the point in not bailing. Getting back on the bus again is risky."

"Fen has a point," Laurie murmured.

When Matt opened his mouth to argue, she directed his attention to his seat partner from the bus. The girl stood over at the side, talking to the adult leader as she pointed at them.

"Okay, we'll bail," Matt said.

"Glad we have your permission," Fen said. "Follow me."

Now it was Matt's turn to stop him. They were in the middle of a parking lot, with a single stream of kids flowing to the museum doors. If they broke from that stream, they'd be spotted. He pointed that out, then said, "We'll go inside and circle back. Just stick with me."

He continued on toward the museum. Laurie stayed beside him. When he realized Fen wasn't with them, he looked back. Fen stood there, staring at Laurie, looking shocked and maybe a little hurt. She waved him forward. He turned a scowl on Matt and fell in line with the other kids, making no effort to catch up.

Fen finally did catch up, right inside the doors, which was as far as he'd go. Laurie convinced him to chill out long enough for them to get into the museum's re-creation of an actual mine-a long, semidark "underground" passage. Once they were in there, Matt pretended to be fascinated by the next exhibit, and he and Laurie talked about it while the other kids and the grown-ups all passed. Then they backed out. There were a guy and a girl on duty near the front, but they were too busy talking to each other to notice anyone else. Matt ushered Fen and Laurie past and out the doors.

Once they were outside, they didn't need to walk more than a block before they saw signs for the highway. That would be the easiest route to Deadwood, Matt explained. The Black Hills towered all around them, and that thick, mountainous forest was a really bad place to wander. Besides, it was less than an hour's walk. If they picked up the pace, they'd be in Deadwood before the bus even left the museum.

Lead wasn't exactly crowded, but it was busy enough, so they didn't have a problem blending in as they moved along. Matt kept one eye on the road, though, just in case.

"Side road!" Fen said suddenly. "Now!"

Matt glanced around, frowning.

Fen gave him a look like he was standing in the path of that tornado. Then he muttered under his breath and started steering Laurie quickly to the next side road. Laurie looked back at Matt and whispered, "Cop!"

Matt peered down the road. A police car was creeping along. Matt had seen it turn the corner, but to him, it was about as alarming as seeing a delivery truck. Unlike other kids, he didn't see a police car and immediately think, Am I doing something wrong?

No, that wasn't true. He did. But that question was quickly followed by Is it my Dad? If the answer to both was yes, he was in trouble. Otherwise, if Blackwell officers saw him doing something he shouldn't, they'd just roll up and say hi, and Matt got the message.

So he'd seen the car, and since he was just walking and this wasn't his father, he hadn't reacted. Except they weren't in Blackwell. This wasn't some officer he'd known since he was a baby.

He broke into a jog and followed Fen and Laurie down the side road.

"You think the lady on the bus called it in?" he asked.

Fen shrugged and kept bustling them along. They turned another corner, getting into a residential area lined with row houses and pickups, both in need of fresh paint. Two kids on rusted bicycles watched them. Then the kids looked up sharply, pushed off, and rode fast, legs pumping, bikes zooming around the corner.

Matt glanced over his shoulder to see the police cruiser gliding along the side street they'd just left, slowing as it approached the corner.

"If it turns, we run," Fen said.

"Where?" Matt gestured at the road. The next side road was a quarter mile away, and he couldn't see a break in the row houses. "Just be cool. I've got this."

He kept his gaze forward as he strolled along the sidewalk. He heard the rumble of the engine as the car turned the corner and rolled toward them. Moving slowly, which meant the officer was checking them out.

"Be cool," he whispered. "Just be cool."

They were on the left side of the road. The police car crossed over, ignoring an oncoming truck as it slowed by the sidewalk. Matt pretended not to notice. He heard the window slide down. Then he looked over. He smiled at the officer, a heavyset guy in his twenties.

"Afternoon, sir," he said.

"Afternoon." The officer stopped the car and put it in park. "Where you kids heading?"

"Just stretching our legs. Our folks took my little brother to the mining museum. It didn't seem like our kind of thing, so we begged off." Matt peered down the street. "Someone said there was an ice-cream place down here, but I think we made a wrong turn."

"You did. Easy mistake, though. It's off the strip. Why don't you kids hop in, and I'll give you a lift."

"Thanks, but we've been in our minivan forever," he said. "We need the exercise. We'll just head back downtown and find it."

The officer swung open the door. "No, I really think you should let me give you a lift"-he unfolded himself from the car-"Matt."

Matt turned to run, but the officer grabbed his wrist. He saw Fen take off, Laurie following. The officer whipped Matt around to face him.

"Do you have any idea how much grief you've caused, son?" he said. "As a sheriff's boy, you should know better."

"I-"

"Exactly how far did you think you'd get? Your dad put out a statewide APB on you. Any kid goes missing, we pay attention. sheriff's boy? We really pay attention." He gave Matt a yank toward the car and opened the back door. "Get in there. If you behave yourself, I'll let you come up front. For now, you're going to be treated like any other runaway."

Matt looked over to see Laurie standing about twenty feet away. She was frozen there, as if torn between running and coming back. He waved for her to go. The officer saw him and glanced over at Laurie. Fen was behind her, jogging back to get her.

"Is that Laurie Brekke?" the officer said. "We have a report on her, too. Your dad said it wasn't connected to you. Should have known better." He called to Laurie, "Don't you try running, missy."

He put his hand on Matt's shoulder to prod him into the car. As he did, his fingers loosened on Matt's wrist, and Matt tensed, waiting until he felt that grip relax, the one on his shoulder still loose enough to- Matt flung himself to the side, wrenching from the officer's grip. Then he ran. Instinctively, he ran toward Laurie and Fen. When he realized what he was doing, he veered across the road. He had to head in the other direction and let the Brekkes get away. Which would have been a perfectly fine plan, if Laurie hadn't run after him. Fen shouted for her to come back, but she'd already almost caught up to Matt.

Matt looked back at the officer. The guy was in his cruiser, on the radio, as his car lurched out of park.

Matt raced up the curb and onto the lawns. Laurie followed. Fen was following, too, cursing Matt with every step. Fen was right: Matt had messed up. Really messed up. And he couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. He'd run away from home, and he hadn't known his dad would put out an APB? His only excuse was that, as crazy as it sounded, it wasn't until this moment that he really realized he had run away from home.

His family wanted to sacrifice him to a giant serpent. His only chance of survival was to hit the road and find help to fight the serpent. It wasn't exactly your typical my-parents-are-mean-and-totally-unfair-so-I'm-running-away situation. But to the rest of the world, that's exactly what he'd done.

The police car roared up alongside them as they raced across the lawn. The officer put the window down.

"Get over here now, Matthew Thorsen!" the officer snapped. "You're a sheriff's son. You're supposed to set an example. Do you have any idea how much you've embarrassed your father?"

Behind Matt, Fen snorted and muttered, "Well, if you put it that way..." his voice thick with sarcasm. Except that Matt did stumble a little. The officer's words made his heart slam against his ribs, a voice in his head screaming that he was right. Matt couldn't be irresponsible. He couldn't embarrass his family.

It was only a quick stumble, though, before Matt realized that the old rules didn't apply. Being responsible now meant saving the world, even if it meant disobeying a police officer. Even if it meant embarrassing his family. It also meant...

"There!" he shouted, waving at a gap between two row houses. "Go! I've got this."

Fen gave him a shove toward the gap. "No, Thorsen, I've got this. You've done enough."

Matt tried to argue, but Fen only shoved him, harder, and all three of them raced through the gap between the row houses. Then Fen ran into the lead. He took them through the yard and over the fence. Through another yard, this one on a street of detached homes. They raced across the yard, over the front fence, and down the driveway.

The police car was nowhere in sight... yet.

Fen looked around. Matt was about to make a suggestion when Fen waved toward a pickup across the road.

"In there," he said. "Take Laurie. Lie down and stay down."

They ran across and hopped over the tailgate while Fen stood guard. Matt saw the police car turn the corner. He ducked as he called a warning to Fen.

"Lie down. Stay down. Stay quiet," Fen hissed. "Can you do that, Thorsen?"

Matt was about to answer, but Laurie silenced him with a look. He listened as Fen's sneakers slapped the ground. He seemed to be jogging toward the oncoming cruiser. The car stopped, engine rumbling.

"Hey," Fen said.

Matt heard the officer grunt a return greeting. "Where are your friends, boy?"

Fen lowered his voice. "That's what I'm here to tell you. But we gotta make a deal."

Silence.

Fen continued. "I'm from Blackwell, too. Laurie's my cousin. She ran off with Thorsen after the fair. Got some crazy idea they'd go on an adventure together. Dumb, huh?"

Matt listened as Fen snorted a laugh and the officer responded with a chuckle, as if relaxing now.

"Anyway, I caught up with them this morning. Only my cousin won't listen to me. So I want you to catch her and take her home. Can you do that?"