Slink left for the garage alone the following morning. He said he wanted to get an early start on building a new racing cart, but Matthew knew the truth. He was going to fix CrateyII. Matthew would have gone to help him, but he was to go and sweep another chimney.

Everyone was fast asleep on the beach when Matthew and Slink had come home the night before, so questions on how their night went was left to Matthew to answer. He was quite distracted with what had happened on Maple Hill and his escape from the Mongraw Gang, but was able to tell of their time at the auction without letting on.

'How did you like getting there?' asked Jennifer, about ready to go off with Norman to take another bag of supplies to Aldo and Jeff.

Matthew, who was washing his red socks in a bucket at the table, replied, 'It was great. Although, it's quite scary when you see a train barrelling towards you.'

'Tell me about it,' snapped John. He was threading new laces through his shoes. 'The first time I saw a train heading towards me while in the grocery cart, I was outta there so fast.'

Chloe started to chuckle. 'You should have seen him, Matthew. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he took off. I've never seen anybody run that fast before.'

'I almost did the same thing,' said Matthew. He wrung out his socks and hung them up to dry on the clothes' line above.

Shaking her head, Jennifer said to John, 'You didn't even look to make sure we were all right.'

'Hey, when a train is coming towards you at top speed, it's every child for himself,' replied John.

That morning was a big contrast to the sweltering heat of the previous day. It was cooler and the wind was so strong large white-capped waves swept into the cove from the absolute treacherous ocean that lay beyond. The waves were so large the rowboat Matthew, Chloe, John, Xavier and Joe took to the beach almost tipped over no less than five times.

The journey through the storm drain was the craziest, though. Matthew felt like he was inside a wind tunnel. He had to lean against the barrage at his back so he wouldn't topple forward. And the stream of water under his feet seemed to be racing uphill.

The house of the fire chief was on a street lined with houses all the same, white with black doors. Her home, however, was painted fire truck red.

At the front door, Chloe pressed the doorbell, initiating the sound of a fire truck's siren inside. When the door opened, a smile from an attractive woman shone down at the five of them. There were also two enormous Dalmatians either side of her, wagging their tails ferociously.

Petting the dogs, who had come out to greet her with sniffs, Chloe said, 'Hello, Chief Armstrong.'

'Hey guys. Come on in.'

The walls of the house were mounted with an array of firemen's helmets, from rusty old ones to jet black new ones, and all the stairs had what looked like firemen's ladders for railings. But what instantly drew Matthew's attention were the firemen's poles, one shooting down into every room of the ground floor from above. How fun, he thought.

'Hope you're all doing well,' said Chief Armstrong.

'We are,' said Chloe. 'You?'

'Not so bad. Had quite a night last night. A huge fire broke out in the north of the city. The heat was quite intense.'

Images of his house burning down flooded Matthew's mind. He had promised himself and had told the others he would be fine coming. They kept on saying he didn't have to come, but he wanted to.

'I hope nobody was injured,' said Matthew. The others looked at him with heavy hearts.

'Not one single person. The house had just been built and nobody had moved in yet.'

'Do you know what started it?'

'Not yet, but we will.' A ringing noise burst out from a fire extinguisher in the next room. 'Sorry but I must take this. Can I leave you guys to it?'

I must take this? Take what? Matthew was confused.

'Of course,' Chloe answered her.

Chief Armstrong nodded with a wink before going in to next room with her dogs. Matthew then watched as she went over to the fire extinguisher, picked up its nozzle and began mouthing something. It was a phone.

'All right,' said Chloe. 'Matthew, John . . . up to the roof.'

'Aye, aye,' replied John.

John led Matthew up the stairs, through a door and down a corridor. The walls here were covered with hundreds of newspaper clippings, some with photos. And they were all about fires destroying buildings.

Matthew couldn't help it anymore. His eyes welled up.

As if he knew, John stopped and turned around to face Matthew. 'I'm so sorry. What were we thinking knowing these were up here? Someone else should have come up with me.'

'Hey, it's all right.' Matthew turned away, embarrassed. 'I wonder why Chief Armstrong has all these on her wall.'

'She told us once they're there to remind her of why she does what she does. Are you sure you're all right? You can go back home if you want?'

'No, no. I'm good. Let's go.'

John turned around and continued on.

Matthew was about to follow when he saw it. There was no mistaking. He would recognize his tree house anywhere. Above the photo was an article, but he didn't give it a single glance. If the names of his family were in it, he didn't want to see them.

Matthew passed his fingers over the rubble of his home in the photo, remembering what it had looked like before the fire. He then wiped his eyes, took a deep breath, deciding he wouldn't tell anyone about it, and caught up with John. Of all the stories out there in the world about a house being destroyed by fire, Chief Armstrong picked his.

On the flat roof, Matthew saw the best view of Spring Heights since arriving. He saw Maple Hill Park, the very tops of the cliffs surrounding the cove, the patch of disused land that hid Aldo and Jeff's house of broken toilets, the cluster of skyscrapers, the docks, and the garage's neighborhood.

John pointed to the west and said, 'See that tall statue over there in the distance? Well, that statue is of Henry Reed, the founder of Spring Heights. This is the only time I get to see it because it's in the Westies territory. Although sometimes you can see it from Maple Hill if it's really windy, like today, and you're in the right spot.' John rested his chimney brush against the top of Chief Armstrong's chimney and pulled out a pair of binoculars wedged behind his belt. Raising the binoculars to his eyes and pointing it toward the statue, he said, 'There are rumors that the Westies live near the statue and I always try to see if I can spot them when I'm here. I never have, though. Nah, I can't see any of them. Do you want to have a look?'

Bronze but green, the statue of Henry Reed was remarkable. Sitting on a horse, the man exuded strength and pride. He had one hand tucked into his jacket and the other pointed out over the city. There was an inscription, but Matthew couldn't make out what was written.

'So, who was this Henry Reed?' asked Matthew.

'The history books say he was a trader, bringing all sorts of things here from far away lands in ships,' replied John. 'However, a few historians say he was a pirate.'

'A pirate?'

'Yep. A pirate who may have buried treasure here in Spring Heights. Children have even gone looking for it, including me.'

'Really?' Matthew's imagination took hold, forgetting all about the newspaper clipping.

'I almost dug up the entire beach and searched the waters of the cove. It was a phase I went through some time ago.'

Matthew would have loved to have seen that. 'And?'

'Nothing. Absolute diddly squat. No one has found anything. Well, there's this one kid, his name's Otto – really obsessed with the subject and who got me into searching for the treasure – who said he found a gold coin dating back to Henry Reed's time, but he refuses to show it to anyone. Lying, if you ask me. Otto was the one who gave me that painting of the pirate hanging near your hammock. He said it was Henry Reed, but there's no resemblance. Although, don't all pirates look the same in paintings.'

As Matthew handed the pair of binoculars back, yells of 'John' burst out from the chimney top. It was Chloe and she didn't sound too pleased.

'I'm here,' John yelled down the chimney.

'Where have you been?'

'Just showing Matthew the statue of Henry Reed.'

'We've been waiting for ages.'

John turned to Matthew. 'Ages? A bit of an exaggeration.'

'What was that?' echoed Chloe's voice.

'Nothing.'

When the chimney had been cleaned, Matthew and John headed back downstairs. They didn't take the stairs to the ground floor, but instead slid down a fireman's pole to the room with the fireplace. Matthew rather enjoyed it. Chloe, on the other hand, didn't find their imitations of firemen at all amusing, as John, being the first to go down the pole, scared her half to death. After her nerves were settled, though, Chloe scolded them both for being unprofessional. 'If Chief Armstrong had seen you two messing around like that, we may have lost her business.'

Strangely, Chloe's berating had made Matthew happy. Maybe it was because she had treated him the same as John.

Matthew was even happier that night. Slink had fixed CrateyII and cart practice went really well. He and Slink weren't worried the Mongraw Gang might show up out of the blue again, for Slink had it on good authority all of them were on the other side of the Free Territory burglarizing homes. Matthew was by far the best driver out of all the others practicing, getting praise from everyone, including the racers. Even John, who had another atrocious practice, was glad for him, saying the next racing cart had his name on it.

'I think Matthew should teach me from now on,' said John as he, Matthew, Chloe, Jennifer, Norman and Slink were entering Whatever-grows Park. 'Slink, you were nagging me all the time tonight. It was so annoying.'

'I wasn't nagging,' said Slink, 'I was giving you instructions in a calm and mild manner.'

'Calm and mild?' said John, shocked. 'You were shouting at me most the time.'

'No, I wasn't. I was talking loudly, but that was just so you could hear me.'

'Nah, you were definitely yelling.'

'If you want someone else to teach you, be my guest.'

'Great. Matthew, what do you say?'

Matthew's silence, as if he hadn't heard John, made everyone laugh.

'You don't have to cry about it, John,' said Jennifer, after sobs were heard. 'If Matthew doesn't want to teach you he doesn't have to.'

'I'm not the one who's crying,' said John. He had stopped. 'She is.'

A girl with long ratty brown hair and bare feet had walked out in front of them.

Bawling her eyes out, the girl stammered, 'Help me.'

Chloe quickly knelt down and said, 'What's wrong, Anne?'

'I didn't know what to do,' said Anne, her words quaking, 'so I came here. Being the Chancellor, Norman, you're the only one I know that could possibly help.' She lunged into Chloe's arms.

Hugging her back, Chloe said nervously, 'What is it, Anne? Tell us.'

'My friends, Wendy and Howie, have been kidnapped.' Anne dug her head into Chloe's shoulder and wailed.

With fear, Matthew and the others looked at each other.

Matthew couldn't believe what was happening. The thought of children he had only recently met (he had been introduced to Anne, Wendy and Howie at the auction) now probably scared out of their minds made his throat swell up.

'What happened?' said John, in a soft and caring tone.

'Wendy, Howie and I were just walking back home when a car pulled up beside us. Two men jumped out, grabbed Wendy and Howie, pulled them into the car and took off. I tried to fight them but it was no use.'

'What kind of car was it?' asked Jennifer. 'Where was it heading?'

'It was black and it headed south on Olde Street.'

'Wherever they're going, it's out of the city,' said Chloe.

Several others appeared behind them, just coming back from the garage.

'What's the matter?' Astrid and Ramon asked together.

'Wendy and Howie have been kidnapped,' said John.

Norman went over to Anne and put his hand on her shoulder. 'I'm sorry Anne but there's nothing I or we can do.'

Nothing we can do, thought Matthew? Of course there was something they could do. Rescuing children was what they did.

'I know you can't help me,' said Anne, not in the least bit angry at Norman.

'Look,' continued Norman, 'Wendy and Howie will surely try to escape, right?'

Anne nodded. 'Definitely.'

'So, Astrid will take you back home and the two of you can wait to see if they return. Okay?'

Anne nodded again.

'The rest of us should go warn as many children as we can. Who knows, these men may come back and kidnap again.'

Anne gave Chloe another hug, then let Astrid take her back home.

'All right you lot, it's go time,' said Slink, once Anne was out of ear shot. 'Ramon, you stay here and wait for others to return. When they do, do as Norman said, go and warn as many children as we can.'

'Sure thing.'

'Chloe and I will get the car ready,' said Jennifer.

'Norman, John and I will be quick with the stuff,' said Slink.

'Wait . . . so you're gonna go after Wendy and Howie?' asked Matthew.

'Of course,' said Norman. 'We just told Anne we couldn't do anything because --'

'Because what we do is a secret,' finished Matthew. 'Can I come? I can help.'

'That's fine with me,' said Chloe, and the others agreed.

'You'll need a mask,' said John.

His blood racing, Matthew followed the boys to the Harrower, and helped gather the supplies, including six crossbows, flashlights, four grappling hooks, a strip of nails and long pieces of rope. He also picked out a mask from the array in the secret compartment. It was a white, angry, full-faced theatrical mask.

They were back in Whatever-grows Park shortly. Chloe and Jennifer were waiting for them in the car near the entrance of the storm drain. And after getting wishes of good luck from some of the other children, they set off.

Nothing was said during their journey through Spring Heights. Matthew could tell everyone was doing what he was doing, stewing over what they were about to do. He couldn't tell if they were nervous, but he definitely was. But once they were on Olde Street, a road leading out of Spring Heights, nobody, except Matthew, could stop talking.

'I think we're all in agreement that if we find the black car,' said John, 'we should follow it, right? These two men, working for Mr Sterling or not, could lead us to more children.'

'I disagree with that,' said Norman. 'We should try and rescue Wendy and Howie the first chance we get because who knows what may happen?'

'I say we follow them,' said Slink.

'Well, I'm with Norman,' said Chloe.

'Guys, we may not have enough gas to follow them,' said Jennifer. 'Our gas was already low when we left Whatever-grows Park.'

'That settles it,' said Norman, 'we rescue Wendy and Howie.'

Everyone then talked over one another with their own ideas of what to do. Matthew couldn't make heads or tails out of any of it, although, he was sure John had suggested shooting grappling hooks at the wheels of the kidnappers' car.

'SHHHUUUTTT UUUUUP,' Chloe yelled. There was silence. 'Let's do this one at a time, shall we?'

Chloe and the others each got their turn telling their plans. However, they decided that each idea could risk the safety of Wendy and Howie.

'I've got something,' said Matthew. He had noticed quite some time ago that they, and hopefully the black car, were the only ones on the road. They could use this to their advantage.

'Go on,' said Chloe.

Matthew told the others his plan.

'Oohhh, 'said Slink, 'I like that. Let's do it.'

Now they just needed to find the black car, and about ten minutes later, Jennifer spotted its tail lights. It was time to put Matthew's plan into action.

In half a minute they were behind the black car, their headlights lighting up the heads of the two men sitting in the front seats. Jennifer then, while the others ducked out of sight, overtook them and sped on ahead until they were out of sight.

'This is good,' Chloe finally declared, and Jennifer slowed the car down before parking it lengthwise across the middle of the street.

Everyone got out and put on their masks.

A different time and place Matthew would have laughed out loud. Slink's blue and white luchador's mask reminded him of his favorite wrestler, the clown mask Norman was wearing had an impressive red nose, and the mane of John's lion mask was huge. The girls, however, wore matching masks that sparkled with red sequins and shiny purple feathers.

John handed everyone a crossbow from the trunk and some ammo. He had prepared Matthew's so it was ready to fire. 'Just aim and pull the trigger,' he said.

They all then got into position. Slink dropped to the ground beside the car and displayed his body as if he was dead, making sure to cover his mask and crossbow. Everyone else went round to hide on the other side, readying themselves to shoot their crossbows.

The headlights of the black car soon appeared, and as the beams locked onto their car, engulfing it with light, it began to slow.

'I think it's going to stop,' said Chloe, spying the car through a window. 'Did you hear that, Slink?'

'Yes.'

When the black car did indeed stop, stopping about twenty yards away, Matthew began to shake out of nervousness. He shook so much that trying to aim his crossbow would have been pointless. The shaking got even worse when the two men got out the car.

'I think that's a child,' said one of the men. He had rough grinding voice and his face was all scarred.

The other man, small and fat, with the highest of voices Matthew had ever heard coming out of a man, said, 'Do you think he stole the car and was taking it for a joy ride.'

'Perhaps. Didn't I tell you the car would crash? They were going so fast.'

'On my command,' whispered Chloe, 'John, Norman and myself will take the small one out. The rest of you . . . the other.'

'What do you think happened?' asked the small man.

'Lost control and was flung out the car maybe,' replied the scarred man.

'Do you think he's dead?'

'I can't tell. Let's get a closer look. If we're lucky, we may be taking another back with us.'

The small fat man burst out laughing as they began to inch towards Slink. His squawking was shrill and demonic.