“So, that’s it?”

Penny paused in the parking lot, the damaged truck idling noisily.

“Which way do I go?” she asked.

Spencer glanced back at the high school. None of the Pluggers had emerged from the chalk explosion, but waiting for directions made him uncomfortable.

Walter had the paper-towel map resting on his knees. The warlock had unrolled a foot or two and was trying to make sense of the directions.

“If this is Alsbury High School,” he pointed at the map, “then we need to go left.” He dragged his finger along the highlighted route. Penny turned the wheel and pulled out.

“You’re supposed to stop for the crosswalk,” Daisy said.

Penny shrugged as she drove over it. “Forget the crosswalks. Not many pedestrians out before dawn.”

Walter quickly counted the streets on the map. “In four blocks, you need to turn right.”

“Well,” Bernard said, emerging from under his cap. “You sound like a genuine GPS.”

Penny halted at the stop sign and followed her uncle’s directions. “What next?”

Walter traced the highlighted route, his eyebrows bushing together. “Hmm. The trail runs off the edge of the map.”

“So, that’s it?” Daisy asked.

“Six hundred feet of map and we’re there in four blocks?” Bernard pulled a face.

Walter unrolled another length of paper towel. “The route continues farther on,” he said. “But it seems like we’re missing a portion.”

Penny stopped at a red light. “Can’t we just skip ahead?”

“I don’t think so,” Alan said. “The Auran clues are hard to decipher, but once you figure them out, they’re usually quite specific. We might miss something important if we don’t follow the route.”

“There is no route,” Bernard said.

“What about the other side?” Spencer suggested. “It’s got to be double sided for a reason.”

Walter flipped over the paper towel and found another fragment of the highlighted route. “This side’s no better.”

“Wait a minute,” Alan said, his voice a dawning of realization. “You’ve got to fold it. Fold the paper towel so that the route on the front connects with the route on the back.”

The stoplight turned green, and Penny inched the truck through the intersection. Walter folded the paper on an angle and, sure enough, the routes from the front and back connected.

“TURN LEFT!” Walter and Alan shouted in unison. Penny slammed on the brakes and cranked the wheel, catching the curb as she redirected the garbage truck.

Alan and Walter worked together now, one unrolling the paper towels while the other folded to connect the highlighted route.

“Might as well get comfy, kids,” Bernard said, reclining in his seat. “Only about five hundred and ninety feet of map to go.”