By lunchtime the next day, Matthew was exhausted. He had never walked so much in his life. He, Chloe, Jennifer, Norman and John had spied on ten homes in the southwest of the Free Territory. Sadly, none of them was the home of Miss Thorn's sister.

Matthew had dreamt about Mrs Grey the previous night. It wasn't a nice dream. He was all alone in the Harrower, the place completely bare, and huddled in the corner. There was a tap on the window. At first, Matthew didn't see her, but then, as if appearing like magic, he saw her peering through the window. Next thing, she started to hack at the cabin walls, wanting to get in. Matthew had woken up in sweats before she succeeded.

'What about the Greys in the Westies and the Mongraw Gang's territories?' asked Ramon. He was eating a sandwich in his hammock.

'We'll start thinking about that when we've searched the Free Territory first,' replied Jennifer, as she, Matthew, and the three others flopped down at the table.

'Ahhhh, that's nice,' said Matthew, lying back.

Scrutinizing the huge mound of sandwiches on a tray in front of him, Norman said, 'Ramon, don't tell me you made the sandwiches.'

'I sure did,' Ramon smiled.

Norman's face soured in annoyance. He took a sandwich and pulled it apart, huffing at what he saw. 'Don't tell me they're all peanut butter and cheese sandwiches.'

Even Matthew recoiled at the combination.

'Peanut butter and cheese sandwiches are amazing,' replied Ramon, still smiling. 'And no, they're not all peanut butter and cheese. I made mustard and apple, banana and fish, corned beef and beans, and milk and bread.'

'Milk and bread?'

'A miraculous accident,' proclaimed Ramon. 'I was boiling some milk to drink when I was making the sandwiches and I dropped a few slices of bread in it. The whole thing turned to mush. I didn't want to throw it out so I made sandwiches out of it. They taste really good . . . a bit soggy, though.'

John found one of the milk and bread sandwiches and lifted it up, milky chunks dripping from it. 'That's it. From now on, you, Ramon, are never making sandwiches ever again.'

His stomach rumbling, Matthew decided to go for it. 'I think I'll have a corned beef and beans.'

'Sorry,' said Ramon, ' but they've all been eaten. They were the first ones to go. Seriously, try the milk and bread.'

'Not me,' said John. 'I'm not having any of them.'

'They can't go to waste,' said Chloe.

'Maybe we can give them to Aldo and Jeff,' said John.

That morning Matthew and the rest of the cabin had been told by Ramon of a terrible incident that had occurred the other day to two boys, Aldo and Jeff. A pack of wild dogs had attacked them at their home, ripping up all their clothes and eating what little food they had. Chloe had proposed helping out, replacing what they had lost, and taking it to them after tonight's practice.

Jennifer did not approve of John's suggestion. 'Have a little respect, John. Just 'cause they have nothing doesn't mean you can give them anything.' She looked extremely cross with him.

'It was just a joke . . . I wouldn't dare give these sandwiches to them,' said John. 'Not just out of respect, but their health, too.'

Matthew, Chloe and Jennifer continued searching for Mrs Grey after lunch (the banana and fish weren't that bad). Norman and John, however, were to help Slink at the garage make a simple practice cart all the non-racers could practice with.

***

'So no luck I see on finding Miss Thorn's sister,' said John, as Matthew, Chloe and Jennifer entered into the cabin, their faces showing that it had been another unfruitful spying outing.

It was seven o'clock at night and everyone was back at the Harrower.

'Absolutely nothing,' said Matthew. He took off his shoes. There was a blister on the tip of his big toe.

'That's a shame,' Norman said disappointingly with a hint of anger.

After wiping her face with a bit of water from the rain barrel, Chloe asked Slink, 'How's the practice cart coming along?'

'All done,' said Slink, who had lifted his head up from a book about bee keeping he had got from Spring Heights' public library.

'Really?' said Jennifer, 'So fast.'

'It's incredibly simple,' said Slink.

John shook his head. 'There's a rope instead of a steering wheel, there's no seat, there's no outer body, there's no windshield. It looks absolutely pathetic.'

'John,' Slink said, 'it's called a practice cart for a reason. It's not for racing.'

When ten o'clock rolled around, they left for the garage. Once there, Matthew was completely amazed at how smooth and fast Norman and Slink lowered each cart to the alleyway using the crane. They knew what they were doing. Cratey, a fitting name for their practice cart, had been the last one out. Compared to the other carts, it did look pathetic, as John had said, but Matthew was very eager to give it a spin.

The secret entrance to Maple Hill Park was located between a postbox and a broken street light ('Several of the park's fence planks are loose and are easily removed,' Slink had told Matthew). And the moment they opened it, there was a sudden and brief flash of orange.

Matthew almost dropped his end of Blue Thunder in surprise. The others, however, didn't even flinch.

'What was that?' he asked.

'Just the park's resident fox,' answered Jennifer.

'A fox?' said Matthew. He had never seen a real fox before in his life and he would never have thought his first sighting of one would be in a city.

'That's right,' said John. 'His name –'

'Or hers,' said Jennifer.

'Yes, or hers,' said John, 'is Whitespot. And the reason we call him, or her, that is because he, or she, has a white spot in the middle of his, or hers', forehead.'

'Whitespot is the race's mascot,' said Norman. 'There's an image of his head on the flag.'

'There's a flag for the races?' said Matthew.

'That's right,' said John. 'A girl from the Free Territory, Robyn, created it during the second year.'

Matthew just remembered. 'The ornament on the car's hood is a fox.'

'I had Whitespot on my mind when I made it,' said Slink. 'It was one of the gifts I gave to these guys for letting me come live with them.'

'And the image by the garage?' said Matthew.

'My best attempt at painting Whitespot,' said Jennifer. 'I painted it so it would be easier to find the garage, especially at night.'

'Sometimes, you'll see Whitespot watching the races,' said Chloe. 'From afar, of course.'

'I saw it once,' said Slink, 'during a race munching on a rabbit under a tree root.'

'Well mine's the best story,' said John. 'It came up to me while I was watching these guys practice and it licked my hand.'

'Matthew, don't listen to him,' said Norman. 'That never happened.'

John kicked the ground as if he was a toddler, 'It sure too happened.'

'No, it didn't,' said Norman.

'Yes, it did,' John replied back.

'No, it didn't,' said Chloe.

'You as well,' said John.

'I didn't believe you the first time you told us and I still don't believe you,' said Chloe. 'A fox would never do that. They're very skittish animals.'

This argument lasted nearly all the way up the hill. Matthew didn't mind one bit, though, because it was pretty hilarious. It only stopped when Chloe and Norman couldn't take John's whining anymore, conceding he was telling the truth.

As they were nearing the very top, the slope becoming less steep and easier to walk, Matthew noticed a glimmer through the trees. He soon found out what it was, for after a short walk, they entered into a grassy clearing. The light was from a lamppost. Even though it was there, they still made a fire.

'The more light the better,' Slink said.

'So, is this where the race starts?' asked Matthew, as the fire cracked and hissed.

'Where our carts are now,' said John, 'is where the starting line is.'

From the starting line, the race track, less churned up than the rest of the track on the hill, crossed the clearing and disappeared into the tree line.

Slink pulled six small lanterns out from the bag he was carrying. He turned them on, a powerful beam of light bursting out from each, and hooked one onto the front of every cart. 'While the other racers are practicing for the next race, I'll be teaching the rest of you.'

At this, Astrid, Norman, Jennifer, and Ramon jumped into their respective carts (Pink Tornado, Black Rain, Red Lightning and White Hail), drawing everyone's attention away from Slink, and took off one after the other.

The carts were very slow at the beginning, almost a snail's pace, but once the slope of the hill grew steeper, their speed grew as well. Matthew was in awe at how little noise they made, running so smoothly over the clearing. When the carts were out from the light of the fire, all he saw were the beams from the lanterns. They quickly vanished down the track.

'All right, all right,' said Slink, getting back everyone's attention. 'I know all of you, except for Matthew, have had a go in a cart before, but we're going to start from the beginning, learn the basics, learn the mechanics, and do this training right.'

John's moans could've woken the dead. 'Borrrrrriiiiing,' he said, to everyone's amusement, except Slink's.

'If you think that's boring,' said Slink, 'be my guest and take Cratey out.'

'Now we're talking.' John rubbed his hands. He then came forward and jumped into Cratey. 'Now, where's the parking brake?'

'Really?' said Slink. 'You helped me build it and you don't even know it doesn't have a parking brake.'

'Why isn't it going then?' said John, madly shuffling back and forth trying to get the cart moving.

'Because there's a massive rock in front of one of the wheels,' someone yelled behind Matthew.

John went red in the face with embarrassment. 'Who put that there?'

'I did,' said Slink. 'So that it wouldn't run off. Everyone . . . John would have lost the race before it even started. Always be aware of what's around your cart, even at the starting line. John, out the cart please.'

Head down, John climbed out of Cratey.

The next ten minutes saw Slink talk about Blue Thunder and Cratey. And once he was done, he said loudly, 'So, who wants to try out Cratey first?'

There were shouts of 'I do, I do,' which Matthew didn't participate in (being new he thought the others had more of a right to go before him), but they were all drowned out by John's yell of 'MMMMMEEEEEEEEEEE!!! His embarrassment from earlier clearly gone.

'John it is,' said Slink, rolling his eyes. He kicked the rock out from in front of Cratey's wheel and held the cart so it wouldn't move.

In jest, John began to look around Cratey with a scrutinizing eye.

'Enough, John,' said Slink, after a minute, 'you've made your point. Just get in already.'

John flicked a leaf that was nowhere near Cratey, getting some laughs, before climbing inside.

'Now,' said Slink, 'I just want all of you to go straight for twenty yards . . . that's it.'

John did not look pleased.

Slink continued. 'A good start is crucial if you want to do well and that's the only thing you're going to practice tonight. John, I'm going to let go of Cratey. Is your foot on the brake pedal?'

'Yes.'

'Are your hands on the steering rope?'

'Yes.'

'Good. On the count of three. One . . . Two . . . Three.'

His foot now off the break pedal, John began to creep along the track to mocking applause.

Matthew could tell he was going to do more than Slink had instructed (it was the devilish grin that gave him away) but it was still a surprise when John began zigzagging all over the place.

'I SAID STRAIGHT!' shouted Slink.

'I'm going to kill him,' said Chloe.

What happened next would go down in history. Who knows how it was possible, for John wasn't going fast at all, but Cratey went from being upright and moving to being on its side and stopped.

John refused to bring Cratey back with him.

Bowled over with hysterics, as everyone else, Slink said, 'I've never seen anyone tip over before the tree line while practicing in all my time.'

'That thing's useless,' John mumbled as he slouched down by the fire. He was done for the night.

It took some time, owing to all the laughter, but practice did resume. It was an even longer time after that when Matthew, the last one to do so, got his turn. But when it was, he climbed into Cratey, sat down, grabbed the steering rope and placed his foot on the brake pedal.

'Ready, Matthew?' Slink asked.

Shaking ever so slightly with nerves, Matthew said, 'Ready.'

Matthew took his foot off the break pedal and away went Cratey.

Although he could have walked faster than the speed he was going, Matthew felt exhilarated. He wanted to do what John had done and move Cratey around, to add to the excitement, but kept on a straight path.

'Well done, Matthew,' Slink yelled a short time later. 'You can stop now.'

Matthew pressed down on the brake pedal. Cratey didn't stop.

'What in the . . .' said Matthew. He tried the brake pedal again and that's when he heard something. Stricken with fear, he whipped his head around. 'THE BRAKE PEDAL CAME OFF!! WHAT DO I DO?' Seeing Slink's facial reaction did not help matters.