Capture the Flag (14 page)

“There you are!” Henry sprang up from under the belt as soon as Anna and Sinan came through. He almost gave Anna a heart attack.

“Don't do things like that!” She climbed off the belt while Henry helped Sinan down. They were back in the long, wide hallway with the on-ramps and off-ramps, the baggage stacked on high racks to the ceiling, and carts parked along the walls. “Have you seen José?”

“Nope.” Henry pulled the tiny video camera from his back pocket. “As soon as you tossed me this, I took off. I've been waiting here.”

The beeping of an electric cart, high-pitched and even, made Anna whirl around. A man in an orange vest was riding toward them from the far end of the long hallway.

“No!” she breathed. “Snake-Arm!”

“He hasn't seen us yet.” Henry ducked under the conveyor belt, motioning for Anna and Sinan to follow him. They crawled through to the other side and hid behind one of the big rectangular carts. Henry poked his head out. “Let's see where he's going.”

“Henry, we can't just sit here and wait,” Anna hissed as he pulled his head back in. “Our plane is going to leave. We have to get out there with the camera. We have to —”

The beeping stopped.

Oh, no, oh, no. Let him keep going,
Anna thought.
Let the cart start up again.

But instead of beeping, there were footsteps. Clunky boot steps on the concrete. Coming in their direction.

Ka-thunk. Ka-thunk.
Closer and closer the boots came, until they had to be standing just on the other side of the wheeled car. Henry put a finger to his lips, and Sinan nodded. Then Henry put both hands on the top of the cart and braced his legs. He gave Anna a meaningful look, and she did the same.

“Count of three,” Henry mouthed, barely whispering the words. “One.”

Ka-thunk.

“Two.”

Ka-thunk.

“Three!”

Anna pushed so hard she fell forward, arms splayed out to try and catch herself, and got all tangled up with Henry, who had fallen, too. From the floor, she heard boot steps stumbling backward and then a great “Oof!” She looked up in time to see Snake-Arm trip over the belt behind him and fall.

“Let's go!” Henry pulled Anna to her feet and grabbed Sinan's hand. “We have to get back to our gate and hope José finds us there.”

Anna shook her head. “There's no time to get all the way back there. There must be a way we can get right out to the plane — the luggage gets there, doesn't it?”

Snake-Arm moaned from the floor.

Anna looked over, terrified, but he was … waving at her? He wasn't making any move to come after them. He mumbled again.

It sounded like … letters.

“What'd he say?” Henry asked, peering over the luggage belt.

“BTV. You want BTV.” Snake-Arm lifted his head weakly and pointed toward the luggage cart they'd used to flatten him. BTV was printed in red block letters on the side.

Anna stared. Was he actually trying to help them?

“There.” He pointed again, and something flashed in the light. Something silver.

“Wait!” Anna rushed up and stared. On his right hand, Snake-Arm wore a thick silver ring in the shape of a jaguar.

“You're a member of the Silver Jaguar Society!” she shouted.

“Shhh!” Snake-Arm looked as if she'd slapped him. “How do you know about that?”

“My mother has a necklace like that, from my grandma. And José's mom, and Henry's …” she began, but her thoughts were spinning so fast she could barely think. “But that means all this time … You're not with the Serpentine Princes at all. You're … you're with us!”

“I'm with the flag.”

“Wait!” Henry said. “What's with the snake tattoo, then?”

Snake-Arm winced and pulled up his sleeve. Underneath the snake were the letters
VSAH
. “Virginia Society of Amateur Herpetologists,” he said. “Always been fascinated with snakes, so I joined a few years ago. We go out and tag 'em to help monitor populations.”

Sinan stepped behind Henry, unsure, but Anna knew the story was true. “You're the one who saved the baggage guy from the rattlesnake!” she cried.

Snake-Arm squinted. “You know Sammy? How do —” He stopped mid-sentence, and his eyes lit up when he saw the camera in Henry's hand. “Hey! You got something on there?”

“Maybe,” Henry said.

“If you do,” Snake-Arm said, “it may be the only chance to save the flag. Get to your plane. And get that to the police.” He nodded toward the camera, then squinted his eyes shut, as if moving his head made it hurt. He raised a hand slowly and pointed toward the luggage cart. “Hide in there. It'll end up where you need to be, and you'll be safe.”

“Can't we call for help now? Don't you have a phone or something?” Anna asked.

“I had this.” Snake-Arm held up a small two-way radio. “But it got broken when I slipped in the shampoo.”

“Err … sorry,” Anna said.

“S'okay. You didn't know.” Snake-Arm shrugged, then winced and held his shoulder. “Go now. And hurry up. They'll be after you.”

“What about you?” Anna asked. It didn't feel right to leave a fellow Silver Jaguar Society member in danger.

“I can't get around right now, but I'll be fine.” He wiggled his way under one of the lowest conveyor belts. “I'm kinda dizzy, too, so I'm gonna duck under here and rest for now. When you get out, let somebody know I'm here.”

Henry wheeled the cart back to where it had been and gave Sinan a boost to get inside; then he climbed in himself. Anna followed him, and they crawled way to the back, pulling a green duffel bag in after them.

“Gross. It smells like gym socks in here,” Anna said. “Henry, you do have my camera, right?”

“Yeah,” Henry whispered. “But listen, I … uh … tried to play the video and nothing happened, so I —”

“What?”
Anna grabbed the camera from him and pressed the power button. Nothing happened. It couldn't be out of batteries; she'd just charged it. She held it to her ear and shook. The broken rattling sound made her heart sink.

“Oh, no!” she whispered. “It
did
break when it fell. We did this all for nothing!”

Next to her, Anna felt Sinan trembling. “I want to go home,” he said in a sniffly voice.

“No, it's going to be okay,” Henry said. “When I was back there, I —”

“Shhh!”

Clunking cowboy boots — Anna knew the sound so well now, it made her shudder — landed on the floor on this side of the tunnel. Then a second set of feet — quieter than the first. The footsteps got louder, closer to the BTV cart, and Anna held her breath, shaking.

Then the footsteps stopped.

Then the sound of boots, pivoting in place. Anna could picture his buggy eyes searching the room. Had they landed on their cart?

“They could be anywhere.” It was Snickerbottom's voice; Anna couldn't mistake it now. “Start checking those carts.”

More footsteps.

Closer footsteps.

Anna looked frantically at Henry in the muffled light, but all she could make out were his wide eyes, full of fear. Video games never prepared him for this.

“Check that one.”

The footsteps came closer. Was
that one
their cart? Anna couldn't tell, but it was only a matter of time. They couldn't come out of hiding. They couldn't run. Where would they go?

A motor hummed; it sounded like another conveyor belt. Anna hoped Snake-Arm was okay under there. She heard suitcases clunking against one another as more baggage moved into the room, through the maze, up onto shelves, down into carts.

Snickerbottom's security guy spoke again. “Nothing here but hockey bags.”

“How about that one?”

This time, the clunking steps were so loud, so close, so easy to hear over the moving belt and rustling baggage. Anna sucked in her breath and waited for their cover, the green duffel bag, to be pulled away.

The footsteps stopped.

“Just bags.” The voice came from right above her.

“Well, check under 'em.”

Anna felt the green duffel bag start to move, start to brush against her hair. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if that could stop it from happening, stop them from being found.

And then she heard a tremendous
THUMP
.

And an
OOMPH!

And a half second later, a big clunky
THUD
.

Fast, clunking boot steps. And a “Boss, you okay?”

“Grab-blabbit!” Snickerbottom let loose a few more words that wouldn't have sounded good in a campaign commercial at all. Anna peeked out from under the duffel bag for a second.

Snickerbottom was on his back, his cowboy hat knocked off, scowling and rubbing his head. Next to him was a black backpack, resting quietly on the concrete floor. It didn't look large enough to have knocked over such a big man. Snickerbottom stretched out his leg and kicked it. “Stupid thing!” It barely moved.

“Musta fallen from up there,” the other man said, looking up at the high baggage racks. “Bad luck.” He reached down a hand, but Snickerbottom brushed it away, crawled over to his hat, put it on, and stood up, wincing.

“I'll give you bad luck. Earl, you have been nothing but an unreliable, worthless piece of …” He started to turn, and Anna pulled the green bag back over her head. “We
need
to catch that lug of a boy with the camera!”

“Don't really look like he's here, though.”

“So we need to get back to the gate. Get
moving
!”

Anna listened as Snickerbottom struggled to his feet. She waited until the footsteps faded away, then started to move the duffel bag, but Henry pulled her down. “Wait!” he whispered.

There was a new sound, softer than the cowboy boot steps.

Sneaker thumps, coming from above them.

A quiet voice. “Anna? Henry?”

“José!” Anna threw aside the duffel bag and jumped from the cart so fast she tripped over the side and ended up sprawled on the floor herself, staring up at José as he climbed down one of the tall metal ladders that stretched up to the high luggage racks along the walls.

“You were up
there
?” Henry's eyes were wide with admiration as he looked up — way up to a baggage rack that had to be thirty feet above the floor.

“Where do you think the bag came from?” José walked to the backpack, heaved it from the ground, and slung it over his shoulder.

“Dude, you're a genius. You're like Maldisio times ten,” Henry said.

“Thanks.” José grinned and turned to Anna. “I told you. I like to keep my books with me. Just in case I need them.” He looked at Anna's empty hands. “Please tell me you found the camera?”

“I did, but it was broken.” Her face fell. “We don't have anything.”

“Yeah, but listen,” Henry said. “When I was —”

A thumping noise by the conveyor belt tunnel made them all freeze, but it was only a second before they knew it was friendly noise.

“BarrRROOWF!!”

“Hammurabi!” Sinan ran to him and hugged him so hard it looked as if he might never let go, until a door slammed at the far end of the room.

“Okay, then,” a man's voice echoed off the walls. “Last check — I think there may be one more cart full of bags if there's time.”

“Well, now we're in a pickle,” José said.

Sinan's face lit up and he reached for the sketch pad in his pocket.

“Draw it later! Get in here, quick!” Henry reached out and yanked José into the luggage cart. The five of them scrunched together into the back of the cart. Anna felt the corner of one of José's books poking her in the shoulder — not that she'd ever complain about that now — and Hammurabi's hot breath on her neck.

Between all their heads, Anna could see work boots approaching. She put an arm around Hammurabi, willing him to stay quiet as the boots paused next to the cart.
Please don't bend and look inside,
she thought.
Please don't look inside.

The man in the work boots sighed. “They always miss something.” He bent down and heaved the green duffel bag back into the cart. Anna heard a quiet “Oomf!” from José, but the man in the work boots was already talking into his walkie-talkie.

“All set. Just the one last cart.” He reached up and swung down a door, sending them into total darkness. Now it smelled like dog
and
smelly socks. “Is there time for us to run it out?” There was a pause. “All right, we'll get it marked for the next flight, then.”

Anna's heart dropped. No! It
couldn't
be the next flight. It had to be
this
one! They had to get out to that plane.

“What are we going to do?” she whispered.

“Shhh.” She wasn't sure if it was José or Henry talking. “Wait.”

There was a thump.

Then footsteps that faded away to nothing.

“Okay.” The voice had been Henry. He shoved the duffel bag to the side and forced the door of the cart open. “We'll have to get out there ourselves.”

“How?”
Anna was ready to start throwing things, she felt so frustrated. Couldn't one thing go their way?

“Excuse me. Sir?” Henry was bending down to look under the conveyor belt. Anna had forgotten Snake-Arm was there. His eyes were closed, but they fluttered open.

“Hey there,” Henry said. “I don't know if you heard, but this baggage that we're … uh … hiding in … is being held for another flight. But we need to get to the first flight. How do we get out to the tarmac from here?”

“ULD.”

“Huh?”

José walked over from the cart. “I thought Burlington was BTV.”