All was fine until they got to the end of the street. Then someone poked her head out of her door and said, "Hey, what're you doing?"

Zavior looked around. It appeared to be the mom of Davis, one of the kids who went to his school.

"Going out with my Aunt and Uncle. Why?" He attempted a nervous smile.

"You didn't tell me you had an Aunt and Uncle visiting," she said, with suspicious surprise.

"Yeah. They came up for the week. It's almost Christmas, didn't you know?"

"Well how about you introduce them to me?"

Rosalina, Khak, and Jake all looked at her. None of them liked the delay, at all.

"Well you'll get to see them at the Christmas School Party. They'll be there. But I'd like to go to the park. Do you mind if we go now?"

"No, honey, of course not," she answered, with a devilish smile. She shut the door.

"I don't like this at all," Rose said. Khak held her hand reassuringly.

"Let's go. Keep a close eye out, in case there's trouble," Khak said.

Zavior's eyes began to strain, he was so tense. He noticed that the muscles in Jack's neck were standing out, and Rosalina's eyes were wide open. They finally reached the exit of the neighborhood. Almost there-Khak pushed them behind a row of trimmed box bushes between the stone wall and the rest of the town section. He put a finger to his lips.

Zavior could hear the rustle of leaves behind the wall. Had Khak just saved them from a trap?

What'll we do? Zavior mouthed at him. Rosalina was pale and her pupils were wide. Jack's hands were clenched.

Khak shook his head. He put up four fingers. Four? He then split the four to two fingers on each hand. Rosalina nodded. She jerked her head back to where they had come from. Khak shook his head.

This silent conversation between the two went on for another minute. Then Rosalina took Zavior's hand, and murmured so quietly in his ear that he almost couldn't hear: "We have do go oud. Id id modt liley a drap. We will dry do agt normally and hope they don'd nodid. If dey do you and I mudt run. Dey will handle id and join ud lader. We mudt dell Cap."

It took Zavior a second to understand why she was speaking as though with a head cold. Then he realized-'t's, 'c's, and 's's could be more easily heard through silence than any other letter. She was trying to keep anyone from hearing their conversation.

Jake was getting a similar debrief from Khak. Khak seemed to have to go more in-depth though; probably for fighting maneuvers. They waited another minute, then they crouched back out of the bush, and walked further back down the road. They brushed any dirt and leaves off of each other, and attempted to look normal. Zavior pulled his hat further down his head. They then began to walk down the street.

"So what do you guys want to do after we go to the park? Anywhere special for dinner?" Rosalina said. Talking might help their cover. If not, it wouldn't matter either way.

Zavior couldn't speak. Jake looked at him, but answered.

"Maybe we could go watch a movie," he suggested. "I heard there was a certain new one coming out today..." he winked at Rose and laughed slightly.

"No, not that one," she said reprovingly. "You know Randley can't watch those movies. They're not good for you, either." Randley? Oh. His spy name.

"Well there goes my plan for popcorn," Jake said with a laugh.

"We can still have popcorn. I have a recipe at home we can use. Do you want to do that? We could watch an Old Western."

"Yeah!" said Zavior enthusiastically.

"No, those movies are boring," Jake said. "How about-" But Jake never got to say.

They had approached the wall, and were just beginning to pass it when there was a whirl of motion, and all was confusion. Zavior found his arm being pulled by Rosalina as they were hurtling down side streets. Jake and Khak weren't with them.

Finally, after a few moments, they stopped, crouching in an alleyway behind three garbage containers. Rosalina had a stitch in her side, and she was wheezing slightly. "I... couldn't..." she tried. She coughed. "I.. Need... to.. Rest." She leaned her head against the wall. Zavior listened intently for any sound of pursuit, while watching Rosalina worriedly. She seemed to have slight trouble breathing, and her face was sweaty.

A few minutes went by, and Rosalina's breathing gradually grew smoother. It wasn't so ragged now. She gulped.

"I have asthma," she explained hoarsely. Zavior was surprised. But he knew they had no time to chat.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

"We go on," she said. A small spasm came across her face. "I don't want to..." she murmured quietly then. Her eyes were closed. She roused herself.

"We need to go to the park, and meet up with the rest of the group. We have to tell Cap. He... he can get.." She faded off. "Come on." She pulled herself up.

Zavior was amazed at her ragged determination. She was still weak, and her breathing hadn't completely normalized yet. Her legs were a little shaky.

"I haven't had to do this in a while," she said, still in a hoarse voice. "I should've been exercising and preparing myself. I'm no use like this," she said self-reproachingly.

"Don't beat yourself up. We're here and we're fine and we'll meet the others. Come on." Zavior took her arm, partially to support her and partially to pull her forward.

They cautiously exited the alleyway, and walked along the street. Zavior hated the slowness, but he knew Rosalina couldn't run yet, and had to regain her energy before she could. It would be a few minutes.

"Let's keep to the shadows. No use being normal now," Rose said.

They kept to the sides of the streets, avoiding windows and doors as often as they could. They used bushes and trees to their advantage.

At one point they heard the pounding of feet on the street behind them, and they ducked underneath a large bush in a yard. But it was only local school children racing each other to the local park.

The crickets began to chirp, and light was fading fast. It would be almost too dark to see soon-there were lots of clouds. Zavior wondered how Khak and Jake were doing. How would they get back? Had they been captured?

He asked Rosalina once, but she bit her lip and didn't reply. She looked like she was trying not to cry. He didn't mention it again.

Rosalina finally pulled Zavior aside. They stopped.

"We're almost there," she said, her head hanging. She was evidently exhausted.

Zavior couldn't blame her. His thighs had seized up, and he was walking stiffly. His mouth was dry.

"Just a little further. Around that corner, we have to reach a mailbox by the park. It'll have a code on the bottom, and we'll meet wherever it says."

Zavior didn't know how she knew this, but he didn't say anything. They were both exhausted and needed to keep their strength and oxygen.

They finally reached the said mailbox a few minutes later. It was ordinary.

Rosalina scraped her hand along the bottom of the mailbox. She seemed to be calculating something in her head. She blinked wearily, trying to focus.

"Eighteen... Lake," She murmured.

Zavior looked around. There were no lakes in sight. He was about to ask Rosalina, when she took his hand and began to walk. She obviously had an idea of where they were going, but Zavior wasn't sure at how well she could focus and think. She was clearly more tired than he was.

They stumbled over the unlevel ground, and nearly twisted their ankles multiple times in rabbit holes. Zavior wondered why the town didn't keep their roads and parks in better condition.

Finally, Rosalina reached the edge of a small forest. She rolled her head around, looking for something. She found it. She pulled something down from a tree which Zavior couldn't see. They walked into the forest.

A few minutes later and they had reached a clearing. Rosalina, apparently completing her mission, lay on the ground and closed her eyes. Her breathing was starting to get uneven again. Zavior sat down beside her and looked around. Why had she brought them here?

"What happened?" a gruff voiced quietly asked him. Zavior's heart jumped, but he was too tired to run. He just turned his head, and saw Capriceano standing there. His heart skipped a beat. He tried to get to his feet, but Cap shook his head.

"Don't," he said in a whisper. "I know you're tired. Wait here a moment, I'll get Rosalie to a hammock."

Zavior had never heard anyone call Rosalina that, but he was too tired to think much about it. He nodded and lay back on the ground, closing his eyes. If Cap was here, the rest had to be here; he must be safe.

He heard Cap stump quietly over to Rose, who by this time was fast asleep, and gently pick her up. Cap walked away, further into the forest. Zavior started to doze.

Meanwhile, Cap was carrying Rosalina into the forest. He seemed to be walking through a forest of hammocks. He gently laid her down in the nearest available hammock, and pulled a blanket from the bag he had strung across his chest. He covered her with it. She rolled over slightly and sighed. Cap watched her worried, strained face relax a little as she slept. Her breathing eased. Then, knowing he could do no more for her, he squared his jaw and left.

Zavior was half asleep by the time Cap came back. Cap woke him and helped him toward a hammock. Zavior realized just then how cold it was. He started shivering.

"Now, laddie, none of that," Cap said. He pushed him toward a hammock and gave him a blanket. It was nice and thick. Zavior stammered his thanks and climbed into the hammock, almost falling off. This would take a bit of getting used to.

He pulled the blanket over him and began to warm up almost immediately. Within ten minutes, he was fast asleep.

Cap nodded to himself, and then turned around. He left the hammocks, frowning slightly. He sat down on the edge of the clearing, seeing while not being seen, and watched the trees concernedly. "I'll know in the morning," he muttered to himself. He settled down on the ground.