The day of the celebration was the most hectic of days. The moment the Harrower woke on the bright sunny day they were up and at it. They moved whatever was needed for the festivities to Maple Hill, such as tables, chairs, cutlery and dishware, hiding it all. They hid things up trees, under brush, inside caves, you name it. They got a fair few stares from people walking in the park, but they didn't care.

After tiring themselves out, and knowing it could be a very long night ahead of them, they were glad to have a little nap before Maple Hill Park closed for the night. And when it did, they were, once again, up and at it. Apart from a few children forgetting where they hid some things, setting up for the celebration on top of the hill went without a hitch.

It was quite the sight to see when all the preparations were done. Three tall wigwams made of logs and branches, ready to set alight, encircled four long tables with tablecloths. There was a place where children could sit, a small stage for Amanda to perform her magic show (Apricot had gladly lent some sheets for the stage's curtains), and sections dotted all around designated for an array of party games, including pin-the-tail-on-the-Chancellor (John had come up with that).

All they needed now were the attendees, and it wasn't long after midnight, and after the wigwams had been lit, when the first of them showed up, Amanda being one of them. Her presence got John in a really foul mood as she jokingly brought with her an assistant's dress for him. He would brighten up completely, though, when Apricot came with the boxes of Medieval Munch.

When Matthew had gone with Slink to the auction, he was surprised at the number of children there. That was nothing compared to the number that showed up to the celebration. He was also surprised at all the food and drink they brought. It was a lot more than what they were expecting. Four tables were nowhere near enough.

The possibility of the Mongraw Gang showing up was in the back of everyone's minds, but it wasn't going to stop them from enjoying themselves. If they did show up, they would be ready. A guard was to be stationed near the secret entrance and if they saw the Mongraw Gang, they would rush up and warn everyone, giving amble time to hide.

'All right, you lot,' shouted Norman, standing on a chair. All the attendees were talking amongst themselves. 'Quiet please.'

Voices lowered but didn't stop.

'SHHHHUUUUT UUPPPPPP!!!' John snapped, his eyes on the cereal boxes on the table closest to him. He was keeping a very close eye on them.

There was silence.

'Thank you, John,' said Norman. 'As Chancellor –'

Everyone broke out laughing.

'SHUT IT!!!' shouted John.

The laughing stopped.

'Thanks again, John,' said Norman. 'As Chancellor of the Free Territory –'

The grassy clearing erupted with applause.

Matthew joined in. There is nothing like being proud of where you're from or where you live.

Norman continued over the applause. 'As Chancellor of the Free Territory, I welcome you to this party to celebrate the safe return of Wendy and Howie.'

The applause got louder as Wendy and Howie stepped up onto the chairs next to Norman.

'It's going to be a fun night tonight,' said Norman. 'We have games, a show, and the most food I have ever seen in my life, which I'm sure will all go. Now, before we chow down, Wendy would like to say a few words.'

'Howie and I would like to thank Norman,' said Wendy, 'for making this party happen and all of you for coming. We would also like to thank the Saviours, whoever they are, for rescuing us.'

The crowd began to chant 'The Saviours,' stamping their feet in rhythm.

'All right,' shouted Norman after a minute. 'Let's eat.'

The chanting instantly ceased and there was a race toward the food.

Matthew waited until the majority of children got their food before getting some for himself. He kept away from an angry looking John who was shooing away children from the only box of cereal left ('Scram,' Matthew heard him saying, 'you've already had some'). Having never tried a fried cockroach, he grabbed a few of those, and the pie Shorts Arms had made looked incredible so he took a slice. There were so many other things he wanted to taste, such as the rat tail spaghetti, the dandelion and wild carrot fritters, and the acorn pudding, but he had enough on his plate.

He went over to sit next to Slink, Chloe, Jennifer and a boy named Drake, who had brought his cart so he could get Slink's opinion of it.

Drake was quite a tall boy but his cart was puny. It had three wheels, not the usual four, and it had no back, making it look like a miniature bobsled.

' . . . I thought the smaller the better,' said Drake.

'Have you taken it for a ride yet?' Slink asked him.

'No, not yet.'

'Well, let me just warn you,' said Slink, 'it could get extremely uncomfortable for you. Sitting usually hurts and I think kneeling down would be even worse.'

Ahhh, that's how he fits inside, thought Matthew.

'Matthew,' said Slink, 'what do you think about the wheels?'

'Ummmm,' Matthew said, taking a closer look. 'Ummmm. You'll definitely get some good traction with the fat wheel, but I'm not sure about the front wheels.'

'Oh, yeah,' said Drake, 'why's that?'

'They're just too thin. I think they'll just dig into the ground, especially if the track's wet.'

Drake looked at Slink.

'I agree one hundred percent with that assessment,' responded Slink. 'You'll want to change up those thin wheels. I have some that may do the trick if you're willing to trade for them.'

'You bet,' said Drake. 'So, are you guys looking forward to the next race? 'Cause I sure am, being it's the first one I'll be racing in.'

Jennifer took a spoonful from her pigeon stew, then said, 'We always look forward to the races.'

'It'll be my first time racing, too,' said Matthew.

Indeed it was. Matthew had been told the other day by Slink that he would be racing in the next race. The racers had taken a vote on who should drive the new cart and Matthew was the unanimous winner.

'Really?' said Drake. 'Being that you're with this lot, it's probably a hundred times better than mine.'

Trevor, the Auctioneer, appeared and sat down. 'What are you guys talking about? Wait, let me guess,' he said, looking at Drake's cart. 'The races.' Everyone smirked. 'Hey, Slink, how are those crates coming along?' He didn't let Slink answer. 'Speaking of which. While I was out very early yesterday, I saw Leech and a few others looking for crates.'

'Looking for crates in the Free Territory?' said Jennifer.

'Yep.'

'But why's that?' said Chloe. 'They never look for crates here.'

'From what I've heard,' said Trevor, 'the factory where they usually steal crates from has closed down.'

'What, and there are no other places for them to get crates in their own territory?' asked Matthew.

'There are,' replied Trevor, 'but that factory had the best. And now with it closed, they've gone out searching wherever they can for the best.'

'Well, thank goodness we got those five crates from you, Trevor,' said Slink, 'because who knows what's going to happen now.'

'Tell me about it,' said Trevor. 'They could clean the Free Territory out of good crates and I'll be stuck trying to auction off poor ones.'

Slink leaned over and whispered into Matthew's ear, 'Maybe that's the reason we saw the Mongraw Gang practicing here when we did.'

'How so?' Matthew whispered back.

'Maybe they had made a cart or carts not from their usual crates and wanted to try them out as soon as possible.'

'That does make sense.'

Matthew didn't join in with any of the games when it got round to playing them, but that didn't stop him from having a good time. Just watching everyone gave him much joy and plenty of laughs. The funniest moment was when Jennifer had a go at hitting the pinata. John had led her, being that she was blindfolded, not toward the pinata but away from it. She must have swung at the air several times before finally realizing.

It was after that, while he was watching Chloe trying to pin a tail on the painting of Norman, when Matthew spotted the animal. It was lying down on the edge of the tree line, licking its lips and staring with hypnotic eyes at Bank Robber Rob's half-eaten turkey.

Wanting to get a better look at the creature, Matthew grabbed some meat and began walking over. The fox flinched back a few times, seeming as if it was about to dart into the trees and out of sight, but its eyes couldn't leave the meat in Matthew's hand. As Matthew got closer, he saw how beautiful it was. It had bright orange fur, shining as if it was metallic, whiskers that boldly fanned out, and a chalk-white spot on its head so perfectly round. Twenty yards away, Matthew stopped, placed the meat on the ground and walked back slowly, wanting to tempt Whitespot out.

All of a sudden, through the noise of all the children behind him, he heard Astrid. She was supposed to be guarding the secret entrance. It sounded urgent. He turned around and saw her looking rather worried, running over to Chloe, who was now taking a break from the games. Had the Mongraw Gang shown up? Before rushing back to see what was going on, he looked back to get one last glance at Whitespot, but the animal wasn't there. Neither was the turkey meat.

'What's wrong?' he panted at Chloe, who was now looking worried herself and was glancing all over the place. 'Is it the Mongraw Gang?'

'No,' replied Chloe.

'It's the Westies,' said Astrid. 'They're coming up.'

Matthew hadn't met or seen anyone from the Westies since arriving in Spring Heights.

'You're sure you didn't see how many there were?' Chloe asked Astrid.

Astrid shook her head. 'As soon as I saw Simon I ran up.'

Simon was one of the leaders of the Westies, the others being Sarah and Maud.

Slink appeared. 'Is something wrong?'

'It's the Westies, and they're coming up,' said Astrid.

Slink looked up into the sky, raised his arms and began shaking them like a maniac. 'What's going on? You have the Mongraw Gang coming here when they usually don't and now you have the Westies doing the same thing.'

Like the Mongraw Gang, the Westies only came to Maple Hill Park for race day and to practice. Practice for them was always on Friday nights.

'We need to tell everyone,' said Chloe. She climbed on top of a table and started waving and yelling. Once she got everyone's attention, she said, 'Just to warm all of you, the Westies are on their way up.'

Faces that had been full of joy and happiness a moment ago were now completely opposite. A handful of children scuttled off into the trees to hide.

Matthew, Chloe, Slink and Astrid were quickly joined by Jennifer, Norman and John.

'I wonder what they're doing here?' John said nervously.

'I don't know,' replied Chloe, flicking a marshmallow castle off his face. 'They could be here to practice, but Astrid didn't see much.'

Although Matthew knew the only reason to fear the Westies was if you crossed them, which he hadn't, he was still nervous like everyone else. Out of pure instinct, he picked up a stick lying next to his foot, just in case he needed to defend himself.

However, Chloe said to him, 'You don't want to provoke them.'

Matthew dropped the stick as a rustling sound was heard. Seconds later, a girl with waist-length hair and wearing an immaculate white dress walked onto the grassy clearing. She was soon accompanied by a boy wearing a black pin-striped suit and another girl wearing a white dress. Nobody else would join them.