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 onlythree miles, so I don’t see the point in notbailing. 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 reallypay 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.