Rain and hail pummeled the roof on the cabin with so much force Matthew felt the Harrower was about to collapse in on itself. As Jennifer was cutting his hair, he stared out at the flashing white balls falling from the darkest of clouds. The cove looked like it was boiling.

Ever since the celebration for Wendy and Howie, it had been incredibly stormy. Many had jokingly blamed Amanda for opening the Chest of Chaos again, but the real reason for the bad weather was the hurricane churning off the coast. Bands of violent thunderstorms and heavy rain hit Spring Heights one after the other. The city had practically shut down.

Matthew was truly hoping the storms wouldn't last all day. Slink had planned to unveil a finished Blue Blizzard, his racing cart, to everyone at the garage. If the storms didn't stop, it would just be too dangerous to venture outside. The lightning and the hail were one thing, but every time it poured it made walking through the storm drain perilous. If the water rushing down to the cove didn't sweep you off your feet, the various objects that had found their way inside would surely get you.

Everyone had become weary and withered with the storms and the rain. They wanted to be outside. They wanted to fish, to be in the vegetable garden in Whatever-grows Park harvesting vegetables, to be out in the city scrounging. Also, Matthew hadn't been able to search for Mrs Grey and he was very eager to get on with it.

The bout of weather hadn't been all bad. The first two days were rather fun. Everyone enjoyed putting their feet up and playing the many board games tucked away at the back of the cabinet. And owing to the fact they were all broken or missing crucial pieces, being they were found in dumpsters, Matthew quickly discovered they weren't played by the standard rules. There was a board game Jennifer had created some time ago that, because there were so few pieces, was a blend of three different games. It had to do with a starving hippo who was trying to trap a mouse who was trying to solve a murder inside a mansion.

'Hey, Ramon?' said Chloe, staring into a magnifying glass. She was making fishing lures with discarded reflective chewing gum wrappers, bird feathers, and colorful string. 'When you put the cover over the pipe to the rain barrel, did you secure it with the rock? The wind's picked up and it might blow away.'

'I sure did,' replied Ramon, sweeping up Matthew's hair.

'Good.' said Chloe, loud enough for her intended target to hear, 'At least someone didn't forget to do it.'

'What was that?' snapped Norman, lying down on his hammock. He didn't even bother looking at Chloe this time.

Two days before, Norman had forgotten to secure the cover of the pipe to the rain barrel on the cabin's roof and it came lose. That night, while everyone was sleeping, rain had poured through and the rain barrel overflowed. Everyone had woken up the next day to a watery cabin. It took several hours to get all the water out.

Glaring at Norman as though baffled, Chloe said, 'What was what?'

'Why can't you just let it go?' said Norman. 'Come on . . . it was a bit of water, Chloe. I've apologized countless times.'

John, who was playing a game of cards with Astrid at the table, rolled his eyes. 'Here we go again.'

'A bit of water?' barked Chloe. 'That's the most water I think I've ever seen in my life.'

Norman scrunched up his face in disbelief. 'Seriously?' He looked out of the window. 'And what's that–' he pointed at the ocean '–jelly?'

'You almost ruined all our food,' Chloe responded. 'And you could have damaged the boat.'

'Damaged the boat? How?'

'The boat could have –'

'What? Sunk?' smiled Norman, proud of his response.

'Enough, you two,' John said loudly and forcibly. 'This argument is getting really old and boring. I'm so fed up with it I can't even play this game anymore.' He threw his cards onto the table, making them fly everywhere. 'You've ruined it for me.'

'Just cause you were losing,' said Astrid, under his breath.

'She's the one who started it again, John,' said Norman.

'I don't care,' said John. 'That's it from now on. If I hear another word about what happened, I'm going to go off the wall crazy. Got it? And I wasn't losing, Astrid. I was letting you win for strategic purposes.'

Matthew didn't blame Slink when he had secretly snuck off to the garage when there was a small break in the weather. He said he was just going out on the deck for some fresh air but didn't return. He left a note pinned to the cabin door, writing that when Blue Blizzard was finished and if the weather cooperated, he would come back and collect everyone.

Thankfully, as they were getting ready for dinner, the weather not only cooperated, the latest update on Hurricane Alice (they heard it over the radio) was cause for joy. The hurricane was to break apart over night, sparing Spring Heights from more of its fury.

When Slink walked into the cabin, he was welcomed with an exuberant cheer. Everyone was glad to see him and hear the news that Blue Blizzard had been finished. Matthew was positive he was the happiest. Blue Blizzard was his cart, well, not his, it was everybody's, but he was going to be the driver. He was burning with anticipation at seeing the finished product.

With Matthew leading the way, dinner was eaten in record time and they all left the Harrower with a feeling of rejuvenation. Everyone was laughing and talking with one another as if they had just been set free from a long stint in prison. Chloe and Norman's argument earlier on had been completely forgotten.

High-pitched squeaks welcomed them to the garage. The sight of five rats in their own cages powering lightbulbs by running ferociously on hamster wheels still looked strange to Matthew. Slink had made the 'Rat Lanterns' on the third day of the storms to pass the time.

Although Matthew's ears were drawn to the squeaks of the rats, his eyes were directed to the middle of the room and to a dirty brown sheet obviously draped over Blue Blizzard. The other carts were all around it as if they were animals guarding their young.

Standing beside Blue Blizzard, Slink said, 'May I introduce all of you to the newest racing cart in our fleet.' He grabbed the dirty grey sheet and pulled.

Nothing Blue Blizzard was made from was new but compared to the other carts, it shone as if it had been. Every line of the rocket shaped body was crisp, its mountain bike wheels were perfectly straight and the windshield, which was made from plastic bottles, was sleek and angled sharply.

Matthew had thought up quite a few names for his cart, such as Blue Hurricane (after Hurricane Alice), Blue Sleet and Blue Devil (as in dust devil) before deciding on Blue Blizzard. He loved snow storms. And the color? He knew from the start he wanted his cart painted blue like Blue Thunder. However . . .

'It's green,' said John. 'No, no . . . it's the color of snot.'

'That would be my fault,' said Matthew.

Searching through countless dumpsters throughout Spring Heights heralded only one used can of blue paint and it wasn't enough to paint Blue Blizzard. Matthew thought he was being smart when he added what he thought was white paint, to make the blue paint go further, to make it a lighter blue, but the paint had some yellow in it.

'We'll repaint it when we can,' said Slink.

'Well, whatever the color,' said John, 'it's beautiful.'

'Here, here,' Matthew was serenaded.

After gawking at Blue Blizzard for an hour, Matthew, Chloe, Jennifer, Norman, John and Slink headed off to Amanda's to get Apricot's sheets. It was the first time since Wendy and Howie's celebration that they had the opportunity to do so.

'Is it all right,' said Slink as the six of them set off, 'if we stop at the RCS for a quick visit? It's on the way.'

The RCS stood for the Racing Cart Society. The society organized the races. The Westies and Mongraw Gang used to be a part of it, but now it was just run by children of the Free Territory.

'Sure,' replied Chloe and Jennifer together.

'Why do you want to go, Slink?' asked Norman.

'Just to ask someone what the state of the track's like,' replied Slink. 'None of us has been to Maple Hill Park since the storms began and surely all the rain we've had has done some damage.'

'Can we have a look around, too?' asked John. 'Matthew hasn't been there yet and I haven't been there in ages. Matthew, it's quite something.'

Matthew was very eager.

The derelict amusement park was surrounded by a chain-link fence. Apart from having an animal-themed carousel with many of its plastic animals missing heads and other body parts, it had a small wooden roller coaster looking like it was about to topple over, bumper cars sprouting weeds, and a haunted house that looked as if it was truly haunted.

Slipping through a cut in the fence, John said, 'Matthew, before we go in, a fair warning. The society is insanely fanatical when it comes to the races. So unless you don't want to be lectured about them for possibly hours I advise you not to ask any questions or respond in any way to any of the members' attempts at talking about the races. No eye contact is the best way to go.'

'That's a bit harsh,' said Chloe.

'Is it?' John said grimly, 'Is it?'

'Okay, maybe you're right.'

'I am right. Once, Matthew, I spent half a day in the carousel listening to Max talk about all the different types of worms found under the track in Maple Hill Park.'

'How did you get onto that subject?' asked Matthew.

'I honestly can't remember,' said John.

'Why didn't you just leave?' asked Matthew.

Laughing, Norman answered, 'Because children have been banished for interrupting members who were talking to them about the races and John had already been banished before.'

'You were banished?' said Matthew. He thought that sounded ridiculous coming out of his mouth.

'For an entire year,' said John. 'The next time they banish me, it will be for life. The RCS is crazy.'

'Why were you banished?'

'I don't know what made me want to become a member at the time, but I did,' said John. 'There was an opening, you see, but I didn't like their rule that members couldn't race, and I told them this. Well, I got into an argument with a few of the members, them saying it was a conflict of interest and other rubbish, and me calling them stupid. For the record, I did apologize for calling them stupid, but that didn't help stop them banishing me.'

'So I'm guessing you didn't become a member.' said Matthew, slightly worried about going into the carousel now, which they had reached.

'That would be an affirmative,' said John.

They stepped on the carousel's platform, walked around a giraffe missing its tail and an elephant missing its ears, and reached the door to the motor room in the center.

Slink was about to knock when it opened. Then, in single file, out walked what looked like the entire society. There was at least thirty children with rakes, shovels and other tools in their hands.

A girl with big eyes and bushy hair stepped out from the line of children. Her name was Matilda. Matthew had met her at the celebration for Wendy and Howie. She was a member of the society.

'Looks like you guys survived the storms unscathed,' she said. 'Shame I can't say the same about the track.'

'Is it bad?' asked Slink.

Matilda nodded. 'Four sections have been wiped out and are completely impassible. We're going to the track now to try and fix it.'

'Wow, four sections?' said Chloe. 'That is really bad. We can help if you want?'

'That's all right,' said Matilda, 'we can handle it. So, what brings you over here?'

'We wanted to ask about the track and have a look around,' said John. 'Matthew's never been here before and the rest of us haven't been for a while.'

'Well, have a good time,' said Julia. 'I would love to chat with you guys some more but I'd better be off. Dez is in there, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask him.'

She sprinted off to catch up with the rest of the society heading to Maple Hill Park.

Numerous lit candles dotted the control room and there was a very strong, almost suffocating smell of pine. Matthew's eyes darted all around, intrigued with all the various things scattered everywhere relating to the races.

'Hello, you guys,' called out a voice.

The voice had come from a boy Matthew just noticed sitting on a chair in the center of the room. Above the chair, hanging down from the ceiling, was a large white flag with a silhouette of Maple Hill in its middle and the face of Whitespot above it. It was the flag of the cart races.

The boy's name was Dez and he was twirling a pencil around in his hand while balancing an open folder on his lap.

'Hello, Dez,' said Chloe as they walked over to him. 'How's it going?'

'Good, thanks,' Dez said. 'Although, I think the smell in here is making me a bit dizzy.'

'Yeah, what's up with that?' asked John.

'It's the candles. We got them from the Candlemaker and I think she used a lot of Christmas candles to make them.'

'Don't worry . . . it's not that bad,' said Norman, giving Matthew a side look that said otherwise.

'Have you guys come to look around?' said Dez.

'We have,' said John.

'Well, you'd be delighted to know we've added a few more things since the last time I saw the five of you here,' said Dez. 'And to you, Matthew, have fun and enjoy it all.'

'Thanks.' Matthew was deciding what to look at first.

Dez looked disappointed. 'Being that it's your first time, I would, and should, give you a tour of the place but I'm in the middle of copying the minutes from the meeting the RCS just had and it's very important I do it.'

'What a relief,' John whispered to himself.

'But if you have any questions, please feel free to ask,' said Dez.

'Never going to happen,' said John, whispering to himself again.

Matthew had a wonderful time looking around with the others at all the goodies the carousel had on display. Slink and John were very good tour guides themselves, except John had no idea what he was talking about half of the time.

He loved everything he saw, but there were things he took longer gazing at. There was the first ever cart to win a race (it looked very similar to Cratey), a massive model of Maple Hill Park, an ornate book with all the names of the winners written down, and a locked chest that held the Scepter, a trophy presented to the winner. 'Unlike the crown, the winner can't take the Scepter home with them,' Slink had told Matthew. 'Keeping it here signifies that Long Street has no absolute ruler.'

When they were finished looking around, they said farewell to Dez.

'You're off already?' he replied, looking up from his folder. 'That's a shame because I've just finished. You can't stay a bit longer? I can give you the tour now if you want?'

'Oh goodness no,' John said loudly, not caring that Dez could hear.

'I'm sorry but we must be off,' said Jennifer, elbowing John. She then lied, clearly not wanting the tour either, 'We've got a lot to do tonight.'

'Oh yeah, like what?' asked Dez, clearly curious.

'We've got a few people to see about a few things,' said Jennifer. 'After that we're going to do a bit of night fishing.'

'Fishing? What kind of bait do you use?'

Jennifer screwed up her face, as did everyone else, at the somewhat offbeat question. 'The usual,' she replied. 'Our own lures, foil, pieces of meat, worms –'

'Ah, worms ,' interrupted Dez. 'Did you know there are many different species of worms that make their home underneath the race track of Maple Hill?'

John slapped his forehead with his hand and said, 'Now I remember how I got onto the subject.'

It took a very theatrical bout of feigning wooziness by Norman, brought on by the thick smell of pine, to get out of that quickly and intact. And the instant they stepped outside, they bolted.

'That was close,' said Slink, once all of them had slowed to a walk a few blocks away. 'Well done, Norman.'

'Thanks,' he laughed.

'For one brief second after you dropped to your knees,' said Matthew, 'I thought you were going to fall to the ground and start rolling around.'

'Actually, I was thinking about doing that but I thought it a bit too much.'

'I thought dropping to your knees was pushing it,' said John. 'I was sure Dez was going to realize you were faking.'

'Do you think everyone in the RCS knows about all the different worms you can find in the soil of the racing track?' asked Jennifer.

'Who knows,' replied Chloe, 'but just to be on the safe side, I think it's best that the words worm or worms are never spoken inside the carousel ever ag–'

'Hide.' Blood had drained from Matthew's face and he shoved the others behind a bus shelter, where an old woman and her dog were sitting.

Not looking at all pleased, John was about to voice his displeasure, but Matthew put his finger over his mouth. Matthew then said, 'Down the street.'

The six of them peered around the bus shelter and saw Leech standing by himself, leaning against a traffic light pole.

'Oh, my,' gaped Chloe.

'Now that was really close,' said Slink. 'We would have walked right into him.'

'I wonder what he's up to?' said John.

That was soon answered and it was not what anyone had expected, making jaws drop to the ground. He had been waiting for someone. That someone was Sarah.

'Sarah,' proclaimed Jennifer. Sarah, one of the leaders of the Westies, had walked out from the shadows and was greeting Leech with a smile. They began to talk.

'What the devil is going on?' said Norman, shaking his head. 'What are supposed enemies doing meeting up with each other as if they weren't? Look at them. They look like chums.'

'That is a good question,' said Slink. 'Look, they're going.'

The first and second time Matthew encountered Leech weren't exactly wonderful. And thinking this time would probably be no different, he was still as curious as the others. 'Shall we follow them?' he said.

'Most definitely,' replied Chloe.

For roughly half an hour, they tailed the dreadful duo through the city, keeping well back and keeping to the darkest of places. Even though they were extremely cautious, they were nearly made out on several occasions, for Leech and Sarah were both constantly looking over their shoulders. Unfortunately, their stalking came to an end as Leech and Sarah crossed Alymer Street, the border separating the Westies' territory and the Free Territory.