Rake was the skateboarder from yesterday’s accident.
“That Market has lousy food,” Rake said to Ellen.
Oscar stepped out from behind the drill press and said, “There’s nothing wrong with our food!”
The three students were startled. “What are you doing here?” shouted Rake.
Lily popped her head up from under the table. “You’re killing that poor skink,” said Lily. “You should know how to take care of an animal before you go and steal it.”
“Get outta here,” said Pinky.
“And cheeseburgers are bad for it,” said Lily. “It makes them angry.”
“You’re making me angry,” said Rake.
Lily ignored him. “How did you get into that building?” she asked. “I thought the Bio Lab was locked.”
“It wasn’t locked once Cruz went in there,” said Rake. “She had to go pick up her papers during her office hours, right?”
So, Miss Cruz unlocked the Biology Building and walked into her office, then Pinky rode up to the auditorium to hide out and wait, and then Lily and her mom entered a few minutes later. While Pinky waited upstairs, he saw the skink and decided it would make a cool present for his girlfriend.
“Who made the bike?” asked Lily.
“I did,” said Ellen. “It’s an art-and-technology project. But I didn’t know they were going to use it to save Rake’s butt.”
Max stood up next to Lily. “We’re calling the police,” he said.
Rake’s dark eyes were glued to Oscar. “You’re the punk on the scooter,” he said. “The kid who cheated my buddy out of his ice.”
Oscar took a few steps backward.
“What are you snooping around here for?” Rake said. “If you kids don’t get out of here there’s gonna be trouble. Big trouble.”
“Careful, Rake,” said Ellen.
“It’s my grade,” said Rake. “My school year’s at stake.”
Rake moved steadily toward Oscar. Lily took a deep breath, then scurried over and grabbed the canvas bag from Pinky’s lap.
“AAAAHHHHHHHH!”
Rake yelled and dropped to his knees.
“Run!” yelled Max to his friends. He had picked up the weird bike’s seat, lying on the floor as it waited to join the sculpture, and lobbed it at Rake’s legs. But Rake’s yell startled the large skink inside the canvas bag. The bag jerked free of Lily’s hands and fell onto the floor, releasing the angry lizard.
“Look out!” cried Ellen.
Pinky jumped backwards off his stool and crashed into the sculpture.
The bike sculpture wobbled. “Oh no,” moaned Rake.
“I told you,” said Lily. “No cheeseburgers!”
The three-foot lizard scurried in figure-eights across the floor. Its muscular tail beat against the cement like an angry whip. Finally, it shot toward the sculpture, roped one of the handlebars with its tail, and yanked itself off the ground. The sculpture swayed. Rake ran over to catch it, as Lily sprinted toward the door and followed Max and Oscar out into the hall. The three spies jumped onto their waiting scooters and kicked off.
A crash of metal and plastic and lizard rumbled behind them.
“Which way?” yelled Lily. The aluminum walls reflected their scooters like a thousand funhouse mirrors.
“Down here,” Max pointed. The hall led to another hallway.
“This is like a maze,” said Oscar.
“I think we went down a curvy hall next,” said Max.
“We’ll be trapped here forever,” said Lily.
BANG! The metal doors to the workshop flew open and Rake shot into the hall on his skate-board. “You kids get back here!” he yelled. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.”
“Yeah, right,” muttered Max.
Rake kicked his way toward them on his board.
Lily turned to Oscar. “You’re the Ice Boy,” she said. “Get us out of here.”
Oscar knew he had a terrific sense of direction, but the reflecting walls were distracting him. Their wavy reflections made each wall look the same. Oscar tried a new tactic; he gripped the Fireball’s handlebars and lowered his head. He kept his eyes on the floor instead of following the shining, curving walls. It was the same way he had memorized the maze of University buildings. Keeping his head down and following the footpaths and sidewalks and bike trails of the students.
“Faster,” said Max. “He’s gaining on us!”
Lily pushed and propelled her scooter as never before. The sweat ran down her forehead and stung her eyes.
By glancing into the curving walls ahead of them, she saw the reflected figure of Rake on his skateboard trailing close behind.
Sometimes Max was directly behind Oscar, sometimes Lily. But neither of them could go as fast as the Ice Boy. They couldn’t even if they wanted to. He was their only guide back to the outer moat of the pregnant disco-ball Art Center.
“Stop!” shouted Rake. “Let’s talk.”
Max and Lily were too tired to shout anything back to Rake. They were concentrating all their energy into keeping their scooters racing forward. Keeping out of Rake’s reach.
They slid into a sharp zigzag hallway. Rake veered close to the aluminum walls, pushing himself along with his long arms, using the walls to help build up speed.
It’s not fair, thought Lily. His legs are longer.
The zig-zag hall led to a straight hall with a downward-sloping floor. The straight hall led to a curving hall. Oscar saw the bronze metal doors ahead of them.
“Just a little farther,” he urged his friends.
Max lowered his head. Lily’s mouth became a thin grim line. The skateboard rolled closer and closer.
Even if we reach the doors ahead of Rake, thought Lily, there’s still the long moat to climb.
Oscar was twenty feet from the door
“Get back here, you punks!” snarled Rake.
Oscar gave a powerful kick against the floor, a final burst of power, when he felt his handlebars lurch. The front wheel that Ernesto had fixed pulled loose from its makeshift pin.
POP!
The wheel broke free and went spinning into the wall.
Oscar sailed off the deck of his scooter. The momentum carried him a good four feet closer to the doors. He never let go of the handlebars. He landed on his sneakers and kept running. With a crash, he pushed the right-hand door and leaned against it, holding it open for Lily and Max.
The Hurricane and the Stingray zoomed out of the doorway, into the sunlight.
Lily glanced up the long ramp and her heart sank. Her lungs were on fire. Max leaned against the wall, unsteady on his legs, his face as pale as his blond hair. Oscar’s Fireball had only one wheel left.
Three more seconds and Rake’s skateboard would clear the doorway. The spies would not be able to outrace him once he entered the moat.
Oscar slammed the door shut. He still gripped the handlebars of his crippled scooter. The bronze doors of the Art Center each had a metal loop for a handle, like the handles of a refrigerator. Oscar quickly shoved the Fireball’s handlebars through the two loops, bracing them shut.
Rake shoved against them from the other side, prying them open several inches.
“That won’t hold, you stupid brat!” laughed Rake.
The Fireball’s handlebars began to slowly bend.
“How about this?” asked Max. He slipped his Hurricane’s handlebars beside those of Oscar’s. Lily joined them and shoved hers alongside the other two.
“Triple strength,” she shouted.
The doors were secure against the raging Rake inside. He shouted and beat against the bronze doors, but the three sets of handlebars would not budge.
“I think now would be a good time to go and apologize to Pat,” said Max.
“And tell him we got a big skink for him,” said Lily.
“He needs to bring a cage for it,” added Oscar.
“I was talking about Rake,” said Lily.