On top of Maple Hill, Matthew and Slink met two others there to practice.

'What is that, Slink?' said Tiffany, a girl with braids. She was pointing to CrateyII. 'Is it a new cart of yours? If it is, I think you're slipping.'

Although CrateyII didn't look like Blue Thunder or any of their other carts, Tiffany had no right to say what she said as her cart and the cart of her friend, a tall girl wearing the biggest of boots, looked no better.

'This is just a practice cart,' Slink replied, making sure CrateyII's wheels were properly aligned as it sat behind the starting line. 'You won't be seeing it on race day.'

'Oh,' Tiffany said flatly, looking disappointed.

Smiling at him, Tiffany's friend asked, 'Matthew, are you going to be racing in the next race?' Her name was Apricot.

'I don't think so,' Matthew replied. The way Apricot was staring at him was making him slightly uncomfortable and he blushed with abashment. 'This will only be my second practice and the first one didn't go well at all.'

'I could give you some pointers if you want,' said Apricot. She winked at him. 'Or private lessons.'

Matthew did not want that at all but couldn't bring himself to say no. He didn't want Apricot to hate him.

Coming to the rescue, Slink said, 'Sorry, Apricot, but I've put him on a strict practice regime.'

Apricot scowled at Slink, jumped into her cart in a huff, and took off down the hill. Her friend was quick to follow.

'Thanks, Slink,' said Matthew.

'You're welcome.' Slink reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of leather goggles, putting them on.

Matthew couldn't help but laugh. The goggles were way too big for him. With his weird looking, uneven hair that Jennifer hadn't fixed yet, he looked like a house fly.

'We'll just go a little ways down the hill,' said Slink. 'I'll drive CrateyII first while you stand on the ledge and then we can switch.' He jumped into the cart and took the steering rope.

Matthew kicked away the rock keeping CrateyII from moving and stepped onto the ledge, instantly crouching down.

'Ready?' asked Slink.

'Ready,' said Matthew.

Slink took his foot off the brake pedal and they began to move. 'At the start of any race, you want to try and get ahead of everyone else. But if you don't think you can accomplish that, stay well back. You don't want to be in the middle of everything . . . because things can get crazy and carts have the habit of getting damaged.'

'Got it,' said Matthew, tightening his grip on the back of CrateyII.

When they had left the grassy clearing and were heading for the bump in the track that had launched Matthew into the air the first time at the last practice, Slink said, 'Never take the Speed Bump at full speed, always brake.'

Slink didn't have to tell Matthew that.

'But the stream ahead,' Slink continued, as they went over the bump, 'always take it at full speed . . . you don't want to get stuck in it.' Slink and Matthew ducked so they wouldn't get splashed. 'That happened to me in my first race . . . I finished last.'

The sharp turn that had led to Matthew's aerial acrobatics and the destruction of Cratey was soon upon them.

'Always go into this corner on the inside,' said Slink, 'and make it sling you out to the outside because there's another corner right after this and it's better to enter it from the outside.'

The next few seconds went by in a smooth and hypnotic blur, for in quick succession Slink commanded the corners beautifully.

'That was incredible,' Matthew shouted at Slink.

Next was a narrow and swerving cave. Water was trickling down the sides of the walls, the lamp on CrateyII illuminating them. Try to not hit the walls was the only tip Slink gave.

After that was a steep decline, and as they plummeted down, Matthew was so scared that he might fall off he gripped CrateyII so hard his hands started to hurt.

'All right, Matthew,' said Slink, as they began to flatten out, 'I'm going to brake to a stop.'

Matthew braced himself but was still flung forward, ending up tumbling inside CrateyII and joining Slink.

'Sorry about that,' Slink said. They both began to laugh.

When they were back at the top of the hill, Matthew jumped into CrateyII with much enthusiasm. It was his turn to drive and his heart began to beat fast. He took his foot off the brake pedal and CrateyII slowly inched forward.

Remembering what had happened last time, Matthew, out of nervousness, tested the brakes. CrateyII's worked. And they still worked when he took the Speed Bump.

'You did that perfectly,' said Slink.

The stream was next and Matthew careened through it per Slink's instruction. CrateyII slid a bit on the other side but he managed to right her with ease.

'Very nice,' said Slink. 'Now, the sharp corner . . . remember ins—'

'Inside to outside,' said Matthew, as the corner came into view. He targeted it with determination.

He went to the inside too early than Slink would have liked but took the corner smoothly. The corner after wasn't as smooth, though. Somehow, he made CrateyII swerve side to side quite violently.

'What did you think?' yelled Matthew. 'Hey, Slink, how was that? Slink?' He glanced around and saw Slink wasn't on the ledge. He slammed on the brakes, making CrateyII come to a skidding halt. 'Slink?' he yelled, getting out. 'Slink?'

Slink appeared round the corner Matthew had just exited. He was covered in dirt.

'Slink, what happened?'

'You threw me off.'

'Oops. Sorry about that.'

'Don't worry, but I think I'm going to build a harness for the ledge before the next practice. Shall we continue?'

Matthew got back into the cart as Slink jumped on the back. Matthew then proceeded down the track to the cave. It was quite slippery, but he managed to stay away from the walls.

The steep decline was the best way to cap off a wonderful ride. He felt unstoppable, lighter than air. To hear Slink scream like a girl was enjoyable too.

'That was very different,' said Slink, out of breath, after they had stopped. 'I definitely prefer driving down there. Matthew, you did extremely well today.'

Matthew felt proud. 'Thanks.'

'We should probably take CrateyII back to the garage . . . go back home. I'll drive us down the rest of the track.'

They were in the middle of switching places when all of a sudden they heard shouting. Apricot was coming down the steep slope towards them in her cart.

'That doesn't sound good,' Slink said to Matthew.

'Cart problems?' Matthew replied back.

'Possibly. We should move CrateyII out the way.'

Apricot passed them several seconds later, yelling something that made Slink and Matthew panic. She wasn't having trouble with her cart, she was fleeing. She was fleeing from the Mongraw Gang.

'The Mongraw Gang have come to practice,' said Slink, repeating what Apricot had yelled, 'and they're on their way down . . . right now.' His legs began to shake. 'Why is the Mongraw Gang practicing? They only practice on Sundays. It's not Sunday today. They never practice on any other day of the week.'

'I think we should start following Apricot down the track,' Matthew said eagerly.

'We won't get enough speed up. If they're on their way down, they'll catch up to us. We should hide.' Slink was about to turn off CrateyII's lamp, when a noise on the other side of the track caught his attention.

A voice then said, 'Evening, Slink.'

This made Slink go rigid.

A boy popped out from behind a tree. It was Leech, the second in command of the Mongraw Gang and the one who had led the beating of Aldo and Jeff.

'Leech,' said Slink.

'I was just walking up the hill to join my brothers and sisters for a night of practice,' said Leech, 'when surprise . . . I see you. I just had to come over and say hello.'

Matthew nudged Slink before nodding toward the top of the steep decline. Five carts were about to come down. The carts, shaped like rockets, screamed speed. Matthew could just tell they were in a different league than their carts.

'Ah,' said Leech, noticing them too, 'some of my brothers and sisters. What perfect timing. Hey Slink, look at them. Don't they drive well?'

'They sure do,' replied Slink. From the corner of his mouth, he whispered to Matthew, 'On the count of three, I'm going to jump into CrateyII and you're going to jump onto the ledge. I want you to give CrateyII a really good push. We're gonna go down the hill but we're not using the track. Got it?'

Knowing it was the only way for them to at least have a chance of escaping, Matthew replied with courage, 'Got it.'

Slink counted to three surprisingly fast, but Matthew didn't skip a beat. A second later, CrateyII was shooting fiercely down the wilds of Maple Hill.

Leech's voice, aimed at his brothers and sisters, boomed all around. 'Slink just went down there. Get him.' The next moment, and glancing over his shoulder, Matthew saw a flurry of carts smashing through some bushes.

Throughout the entire ride down the hill, Matthew and Slink didn't stop screaming once, both now screaming like girls. Big rocks, large tree roots and critters constantly seemed to magically appear out of nowhere, but Slink's amazing handling of CrateyII and his quick reflexes kept them from crashing.

Nearing the bottom of the hill, Matthew saw something, a welcome sight, for just getting to the bottom wasn't going to be enough to escape the Mongraw Gang. He saw the secret entrance, and it was open. He wondered if Apricot or Tiffany had left it open trying to flee.

'Over there!!' Matthew shouted to Slink, who quickly turned toward it. He looked over his shoulder for the hundredth time. And for the first time, he could see a couple of faces of their tails. To describe their mood as angry would have been an understatement.

The secret entrance couldn't have come any faster, but once they passed through, coming out onto the flat street, CrateyII began to slow. They didn't need that. Matthew's instinct, however, kicked in and he began pushing off the ground as if he was on a skateboard. Their speed increased and they made it round a corner and down another street. It was just in time, too, for that very instant, Matthew heard the Mongraw Gang burst out from the secret entrance. It was followed by an explosion of rage at their disappearance.

Matthew and Slink didn't congratulate themselves until they knew they were safe and had stopped in an alleyway.

'We did it.' Slink triumphantly hit the side of CrateyII a few times.

'That was crazy,' said Matthew, wiping the sweat from his face. 'Well done, Slink. That driving was incredible.'

'No, thank you. If I didn't have an extra pair of eyes and if you didn't lean into the turns I made, I would have surely crashed.'

'Good teamwork, then.'

Slink jumped out and surveyed CrateyII's damage. 'I think she needs a bit of work . . . again, don't you?'

That was putting it very mildly. All of CrateyII's wheels had been bent out of shape, with many of their spokes broken, and the tires had small jagged stones and twigs sticking out from them. Also, the front axle had a huge crack in it.

'You can say that again,' replied Matthew, looking at the huge branch that had pierced CrateyII's front. Slink was very lucky he hadn't been impaled. 'I wonder what their carts look like?' He knew one of the Mongraw Gang's carts had lost a wheel, for he saw it come off as it happened.

'I'm hoping more damaged,' said Slink as he grabbed the front of CrateyII.

Matthew grabbed the back. 'That Leech is quite scary, isn't he?'

'You have no idea.' They lifted CrateyII up and set off for the garage. 'But Leech is nothing compared to the leader, Terry. He's a hundred times worse. Hey, Matthew? Do you think what just happened can stay between us for the time being? I just don't want to scare everyone. I'll tell them eventually.'

Matthew was torn with Slink's request. He felt obligated to tell Chloe, Jennifer, Norman and John, being they were the ones that had rescued him, but he promised to not speak a word.