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out in the wilderness it's impossible for a kid to reach them! I'm not listening to any more of your crazy schemes!"
     
    Alex took a step back. "Jake, you aren't even going to be with me! What do you care?"
     
    Jake took a deep breath. "I'm your friend, in case you hadn't noticed. I'm trying to protect you from yourself. Who knows what could happen to you? You could get injured. Attacked. Starve to death."
     
    "I've thought this through, Jake," Alex said, climbing into his sleeping bag. "Ridge City is the key to the whole thing. Don't worry about me."
     
     
     
    It had only been days Sarah last saw the oak in the center of the field, a consequence of the field trip coordinator's lack of creativity, but she had never seen it by night. The moonlight complemented the tree perfectly, illuminating it as a sentry over the rest of the park's meager plant life. It had always been her favorite tree.
     
    It was hard to believe that it was only hours since she had last been at the orphanage. It felt like days.
     
    In the more recent years their system had allowed her to visit the tree, she had noticed the beginnings of a treehouse. When she was seven, she had seen rungs nailed to the side of the tree; when she was nine, there had been a half-finished platform; the last time she had visited, when she was eleven, just weeks ago, she had seen the beginnings of walls. It would look good when it was complete. She might even be able to spend some nights there.
     
    A rope was hanging over a tree branch, out of reach. Taking an icy rock from the ground, she threw it and knocked the rope down.
     
    It couldn't possibly be occupied at this time of night.
     
    She grasped the rope tightly and began ascending the rungs, one by one.
     
    What she saw at the top came as a complete surprise to everyone.
     
    Two sleeping bags were unrolled on the wooden floor, both of them occupied. The first boy appeared to be asleep, hunched up inside the bag to ward off the night's piercing cold.
     
    The second, sitting up in his bag, was hard to describe, but looked oddly familiar. She remembered having seen him before, but couldn't place where.
     
    The moment she reached the top of the ladder, the second boy started, rolled out of his sleeping bag and kicked his friend.
     
    "Jake, wake up!"
     
    Before Sarah could react, he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her down on the floor.
     
     
     
    Alex had no idea who had infiltrated their headquarters, but he did know that under the circumstances, on the crucial night, it couldn't be anybody good.
     
    "Who the hell are you!?"
     
    "Alex, cut it out!" Jake pulled him back, and he hit the floor hard.
     
    "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"
     
    Sarah didn't know what had happened; since she stepped into the treehouse, it had all been kind of a blur.
     
    "Wait a minute," she said, an idea suddenly coming to her. "You aren't Alex Orson, are you?"
     
    "How do you know?"
     
    "You've been in the news."
     
    "Crap!" The newspaper was the last place Alex wanted to be seen right now. Too much press meant people would be looking for him. He wondered why they hadn't sent anybody to take him yet—maybe Machry had something to do with it.
     
    "What are you doing up here?" Sarah asked.
     
    "I asked you first," Alex said, still watching for her to pull a gun on them.
     
    She began tentatively, "I'm from the orphanage."
     
    "So what?" Alex interrupted, "They want to use our treehouse as a parking annex?"
     
    "No! I ran away! They took me to the adoption office, and this guy named Edbrough was threatening to arrest me…"
     
    Alex had heard the name, but was still suspicious. "How did you get up here?"
     
    "I don't know, I fell asleep for a while, then I followed the interstate and ended up here…I didn't think anyone would be up here. I just needed someplace to sleep."
     
    "That sounds plausible," Jake said.
     
    "I'm not sure. What are the chances that three people would be running away from