There! Crumpled in the middle of the steep road. The girl was trying to rise onto her elbows, but she seemed disoriented from the fall.
The roar of a second diesel truck caused Spencer to look up the hill. The vehicle was speeding down the canyon, trying to catch up to the other truck and bus. It was moving much too fast to stop for the helpless girl in the middle of the road. Jenna saw the danger and froze like a deer in the headlights.
The truck closed the distance and Spencer leapt forward, toilet plunger gripped in both his hands. The red suction cup made contact with the side of the truck. The weight of the vehicle redistributed and Spencer jerked upward.
The truck lifted off the ground. Jenna turned her face as the front tire pa.s.sed only inches above her pale cheek. The speed of the truck caused a rush of wind over the girl. Clothes whipped against Jenna"s body. Her blonde hair streamed, tickling the underside of the vehicle.
The truck"s momentum spun Spencer around. He detached the plunger with a twist of the handle, hurling the truck through the air like a shot-putter. The vehicle struck the trees on the roadside with a crunch, air bags deploying.
Spencer grabbed Jenna"s arm. The physical contact helped revive her from the shock of what had just happened. "Are you hurt?" Spencer helped her to the side of the road. Jenna shook her head wordlessly. "I"m going back up to the parking lot for Dez. Stay here where it"s safe."
He bent down to pick up the scratched broom from the roadside. Jenna grabbed his arm again. "I have to go with you!"
"I"ll be back for you," Spencer said. "I promise."
He ran a few steps and took flight with his broom. Soaring over the crest of the hill, he saw New Forest Academy"s welcome sign and parking lot. A group of people stood near the entrance gate. Spencer touched down and ran in that direction, weaving through parked cars.
He drew nearer and saw a ring of Academy teachers and BEM workers surrounding Dez. But they suddenly turned away from the bully when an audible pop from the toilet plunger echoed off the brick wall.
Spencer stood at the edge of the group, plunger in one hand. With one arm slightly bent, he held a car above his head. "Let him go," Spencer said. "Or I start throwing things."
The startled adults glanced at each other. Then the ring parted. Dez was standing at the center, but he wasn"t alone. Slick was by his side, an envelope in the janitor"s hand. Both of them stared at Spencer, not entirely surprised by the fact that he"d returned and was holding a car above his head with one hand.
"Come on, Dez," Spencer urged. "Let"s go."
The bully took a hesitant step forward, indecision at work on his face.
Slick held the envelope in front of Dez"s face, and Spencer saw that it bore the evergreen crest of New Forest Academy. That was one of the Academy acceptance letters!
"Remember our deal, Dez," the janitor threatened.
So there was a deal! Spencer knew that Slick wouldn"t have exposed Dez to the Toxites without asking something in return.
"Forget it!" Spencer said. "Come on! Run!"
"We had a deal, Dez!"
Dez looked back and forth from Spencer"s face to the letter in Slick"s hand. His big feet fidgeted, trying to leave and then pulling him back like he was caught in some awkward line dance.
Slick bent closer. "What"s at home for you, Dez? An old apartment. An angry dad with a dark bottle in his hand ..."
"We have to go!" Spencer shouted.
Dez closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The sunlight hit his face from above, casting his eyes in deep pockets of shadow. Then Dez"s eyes flicked open. He reached up and grabbed the envelope from Slick"s hand.
"I stay."
Chapter 40.
"Step on my feet."
Like a pack of wolves, the ring of adults leapt for Spencer. Only the need to escape could pierce through his shock and disbelief at Dez"s decision. Sure, the bully had experienced some success with the brown team, but Spencer had never thought it would lead to this!
Spencer hefted the toilet plunger and flung the attached car straight down in front of him. It landed on its side, gla.s.s shattering and chrome flying, creating an effective barricade between Spencer and the approaching enemies.
He"d never catch up to Meredith"s bus with a simple broom. Especially since he needed to pick up Jenna on the roadside. What he needed was something fast and maneuverable.
An Academy teacher jumped forward and grabbed Spencer"s arm. The latex glove worked its magic, and Spencer easily slipped through his attacker"s fingers.
Tilting his broom, Spencer leapt away, touching down in front of the maintenance shed. The garage door was open and the big truck was gone, speeding down the canyon in pursuit of the escaping school bus. But Spencer wasn"t looking for Slick"s truck. What he needed was tucked against the back wall.
The BEM workers were rushing toward the shed when Spencer burst out, the wheels of his cleaning cart almost catching air as he tore across the parking lot. His broom and plunger were clipped onto the rack and Spencer leaned hard, gaining as much speed as he could for a head start.
He shifted his weight, exited the parking lot, and started down the long road toward the city. A moment later, Jenna came into view on the roadside. Spencer leaned back, the wheels of the cart skidding to a halt in the gravel.
"Is that a janitor"s cart?" Jenna asked.
"Yeah," Spencer said. "But I think they could use them in NASCAR."
Glancing over his shoulder, Spencer saw two men on cleaning carts cresting the hill and descending toward them, picking up extra speed on the downhill.
"Get on," Spencer instructed. He scooted back on the platform and Jenna carefully stepped on. Instantly, the cart started forward. Jenna screamed and gripped the handle rack. The cart spun a sharp circle, backed up, then jerked to the side.
"These carts are balance driven," Spencer said. "Not going to work for two people."
"What do we do?"
"Here," Spencer said, sliding forward. "Step on my feet." Jenna turned so she was facing him and stepped onto his feet, apologizing in case it hurt. "Now put your arms around my neck." He would have blushed under any other circ.u.mstances, but Spencer was far from feeling any emotion other than panic.
"We have to act like one person," Spencer said. "When I lean, you have to lean with me. Got it?" Jenna nodded.
The two BEM workers had almost caught up to them by the time Spencer and Jenna regained control of their cart and leaned into the downhill again. Jenna"s grip around his neck grew steadily tighter as they picked up speed. Their faces were closer than ever, but Jenna had her eyes clamped shut and Spencer was focused on maneuvering the cart around the canyon corners.
They caught their first glimpse of the yellow school bus on a straight section of road, the big truck driving uncomfortably close behind.
One of the cleaning carts drew alongside them, and Spencer could see the whiskery face of a smirking BEM worker. Spencer and Jenna leaned hard, but they couldn"t outdistance him.
Suddenly, the man shifted his weight. The enemy cart jerked sideways, sc.r.a.ping into Spencer and Jenna. The attack almost made Spencer lose control. Two of the cart"s wheels came off the road and then slammed down again. Before they recovered fully, the second BEM worker inched forward on the other side and rammed his cart into Spencer and Jenna. They wobbled again, Jenna letting out a cry of fear.
Spencer edged toward a bend in the road where the whipping canyon wind had gathered dead leaves into a pile. Consistent shade from a huge tree had kept the leaves slick and wet from the night"s frost.
The three cleaning carts were in a row now, Spencer and Jenna trapped in the middle. Spencer swerved toward the mat of leaves on the roadside and the two BEM workers followed closely.
"Hang on!" Spencer shouted just before they hit the leaves. He threw his weight backward as fast as he could, grinding the cart to a whiplash halt. The nearest BEM worker jerked sideways, his wheels catching in the slick leaves. Before he could correct, the cart tipped. The driver shouted, skidding across the road and colliding with the second BEM cart in a bone-shattering wreck.
Eyes wide at the close call, Spencer and Jenna leaned forward again, closing the distance between them and Meredith"s escape bus.
When they were finally close enough to read the license plate on the pursuing truck, everything got worse. The BEM truck inched closer to the bus, and Spencer saw two windswept pa.s.sengers lean over the sides, Glopified mops in hand. They cast their mops toward the back of the bus. The white strings shot out, trying to ensnare the back tires.
There was a sound like a gunshot and then a hiss of smoke. The mop strings fried from the friction and the pa.s.sengers who had cast them fell back into the bed of the truck.
The truck slowed down, and Spencer and Jenna zoomed past it on the roadside. Finally close enough, Spencer saw the damage that the mops had done. Both rear tires of the bus had exploded. The bus was riding on metal rims, throwing a line of white-hot sparks. Meredith struggled to maintain control, but the bus had lost most of its maneuverability. The Academy rejects were screaming inside.
Then Spencer saw the worst part. There was a sharp curve ahead-and, if Meredith couldn"t turn the bus, a huge drop-off.
An idea entered Spencer"s mind. It was crazy and extreme, yes. But it was something he"d done before ... and he was fairly sure he could do it again.
Spencer directed the cart alongside the out-of-control school bus, unclipping the broom and toilet plunger as he did so. "Hold on to this!" Spencer pushed the plunger into Jenna"s hands. He didn"t give her much time to wonder why a toilet plunger could possibly be so important. Using the momentum of the cleaning cart, Spencer angled the broom and struck the bristles.
Spencer and Jenna shot upward, the cart tumbling as their feet lifted off. The broom carried them above the bus windows and onto the vehicle"s roof. Meredith was riding the brakes. The sharp screech of metal from the sparking rims filled the canyon.
Spencer took the toilet plunger from Jenna and clamped it securely on the roof of the bus. Holding the plunger handle with one hand, he hit the broom just as the front wheels of the bus shot off the edge of the dangerous road, unable to make the curve.
The school bus flew forward, a yellow airplane without wings. The Glopified toilet plunger perfectly reduced the weight of the bus, easily allowing the broom to carry it.
On the road behind them, the BEM truck came to a disbelieving halt at the big curve as the yellow school bus soared safely over the treetops of the canyon.
Chapter 41.
"This isn"t the end of the road for you."
It didn"t take long for Spencer to realize that he hadn"t exactly saved the bus from danger. The threat of the BEM was far behind, but that didn"t change the fact that the school bus was actually airborne.
The Academy rejects were still screaming. If anything, their shrill cries increased as the broom began its gradual descent. Spencer glanced ahead, trying to predict where the bus would touch down. None of the options were very good. There was a dirt road farther down, but Spencer didn"t think they"d make it that far.
"Are we going to crash?" Jenna cried. She was p.r.o.ne against the top of the bus, clinging to the rooftop emergency exit.
"There"s a meadow," Spencer said, carefully avoiding her question. And truthfully, there was a meadow, but they weren"t going to land in it. Instead, the bus was falling fast toward a stand of tall pine trees. Spencer found himself instinctively leaning toward the bare spot of ground. But as hard as he tried, it was impossible to change the broom"s flight path. The unavoidable fact was that they were about to perch the bus in the treetops.
They were close to impact. Spencer tensed his entire body. Would the trees be strong enough to hold them? Or would the bus crash through the limbs and roll earthward?
The screams of the frightened students escalated as someone inside the bus lowered a window. Suddenly, white mop strings shot through the opening. The Glopified strings crossed the meadow and entangled the leafless branches of a distant aspen. Then, only seconds before impact, the mop strings retracted, dragging the floating school bus away from its dangerous perch.
Spencer saw the mop release and withdraw through the open bus window. The change of course had been exactly what they needed to touch down in the meadow. But even with a good lineup, the bus"s landing was anything but graceful.
Spencer slammed against the roof of the bus. Jenna bounced up, barely holding on. The long vehicle tipped and swayed. At last it came to a standstill, front b.u.mper mashed against a big rock.
The students started pouring out of the bus, their faces pale and streaked with tears. They had certainly been through a lot more than they"d ever expected.
No sooner had Spencer and Jenna descended from atop the bus than Daisy burst through the crowd and gave Spencer a huge hug. Min gazed back toward the big curve in the distance.
"I thought for sure we were in the trees," Spencer said.
"Given our initial velocity and descent, we would have been," Min said. "We were fortunate to have Daisy modify our course with that mop."
Daisy started beaming from the praise, but then she noticed something. "Where"s Dez? Didn"t you get him?"
Spencer remembered Dez"s shadowy eyes. "He didn"t want to come." The betrayal was hard to believe and Spencer did not want to think about it. The hurt surprised him. Wasn"t Dez just a bully? So why did it matter if he stayed?
Jenna peered around Spencer, white faced and shaking. Daisy reached out for the girl"s cold hand. "Are you okay?"
Jenna shook her head and swallowed. "What exactly just happened?"
To the surprise of Spencer, it was Min who answered. "The marvel of modern science," he lied smoothly. "Seems almost like magic." He lifted an eyebrow at Spencer and Daisy. "You see, Jenna, the undercarriage of the bus is embedded with multiple gravitational field deflector arrays. When necessary, the driver can send out a signal to polarize the ..."
Gratefully, Spencer and Daisy slipped away as Min continued his elaborate scientific explanation. Spencer hoped it was a sound theory, since Min would most likely have to repeat it to all the students in the runaway bus.
Meredith intercepted Spencer and Daisy, a concerned look on her face. "This isn"t the end of the road for you." The lunch lady put a hand on Spencer"s shoulder. "Walter"s on his way to get you," Meredith said.
"How does he know where we are?" Daisy asked, glancing at the mountain scenery.
"We were supposed to rendezvous with him in a town called Boulder." Meredith pulled a cell phone from her pocket. "But when I saw that we weren"t going to make it, I phoned in and told him where we had ... landed." She pointed across the meadow. "The road"s not far. He should be here any moment."
"What about the rest of you?" Spencer looked over to where the Academy rejects stood in shivering groups, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Meredith glanced at the bus. "It"ll take me some time to put the spare tires on the bus and get her back on the road. I"ll form a contact list for all of the students. I might be able to drop off the ones that live close. I"ll contact the rest of the parents and let them know where to pick up their children."
"Those are going to be some unhappy parents," Daisy said.
"I suppose so," answered Meredith. "But the alternative was Toxite-saturated children." She lifted her hands like she was balancing the options. "I think I can deal with unhappy parents."
Spencer and Daisy nodded.
Meredith looked back toward the students. "Perhaps you two should head over to the road. Slip away before anyone asks more questions."
Spencer hesitated. Shouldn"t he at least explain something to Min? And couldn"t he say good-bye to Jenna? What if he never saw her again?
But Daisy quickly thanked Meredith, took Spencer by the arm, and headed toward the road. They skirted around the trees so the recruits wouldn"t see them. Soon they stood side by side at the edge of the dirt road, watching both directions for Walter"s familiar van.
"Why do you think Walter"s coming?" Daisy asked.
Spencer had a hopeful idea, but he voiced another. "Probably just taking us somewhere safe. He must have found out that the Academy is run by the BEM."