"Must you two get into trouble every time I turn my back!" Ms .Stoll turned back in her seat, she was driving us to an airplane museum In town. Of course I don't blame you guys" She said, talking to Mirabelle and Annabeth.
The girls looked at each other both thinking the same thing. Why are Travis and Conner such trouble makers? Do they always act like this?
"Were sorry." Annabeth said, speaking for Mirabelle as well.
"Its fine, Travis and Conner are always trying to get into trouble." She glanced at Travis meaningfully, who was sitting in the front seat next to her. Travis shrugged and smiled. Between his seat and the door Mirabelle could peek at the black and yellow striped gardner snake which was slithering around in Travis's pocket. The snake pocked its head out and waggled its tongue at Mirabelle. Mirabelle backed up in her seat and shivered uncomfortably.
"What is it?" Annabeth whispered.
Mirabelle shook her head, smirking uncertainty. Annabeth turned to Conner and whispered something in his ear. Conner raised on eyebrow at Mirabelle. She shrugged in response.
Mirabelle felt something tap on her knee. Travis was shoving his hand through the small space and was giving her a small piece of paper. Mirabelle unfolded the crippled piece of paper and read it.
Give to Conner
Mirabelle laughed shortly and viewed over the rest of the note.
Underneath the english was a scrawl of messed up lines and perfectly placed dots and dashes. It was morse code. Unfortunately Mirabelle could not understand morse code, and passed it over to Conner unwillingly. Conner took it from her, He furrowed his eyebrows while he concentrated on the code and bit his lip, which Mirabelle thought kind of cute. His face broke into a grin and Conner laughed lightly, he pressed the paper into a ball and tossed it to Travis, it hit him in the head.
Travis exclaimed. "You know it's true!" To which Ms. Stoll frowned.
...
In the airplane museum there were a lot of airplanes. Annabeth observed. But there was nothing there about architecture.
"So, when is Hermes going to pick us up tomorrow?" Annabeth asked Ms. Stoll.
Ms. Stoll hesitated before answering. "I think around supper time."
Annabeth tried not to look too disappointed. She sulked over to where Travis, Conner and Mirabelle were amusing themselves in the gift shop, she left Ms. Stoll, who was reading a plaque about the wright brothers.
"Hey Annabeth!" Travis said, then promptly shoved two chop sticks up his nose. "I'm a walrus!" Then he clapped his hands. Conner and Mirabelle laughed, amused.
Annabeth frowned. "Seals clap, not walruses." Conner stopped laughing but Mirabelle only slowed to a smile.
"C'mon Annabeth!" She groaned. "Have a little fun, were going to Camp-Half-Blood tomorrow!"
Annabeth lifted her hand and nibbled on her nail nervously. "That's the thing." She started. "I don't think Hermes is coming tomorrow."
Mirabelle's face faded yet again to a frown, which matched Annabeth's perfectly. "Why wouldn't he?"
"I think we have to meet him halfway." Annabeth said.
"What do you mean?" Travis interrupted, not really bothering to take out his chop sticks.
"I think we should buy ourselves a ticket and fly to Indiana!" Annabeth was now grasping Mirabelle's shoulder's and was looking at her intently. "Seriously! Its a plan worthy of Athena."
"Indiana is a little more than half-way." Conner said.
"Annabeth." Mirabelle grasped Annabeth's shoulders and looked back at her. "Lets just wait for Hermes! He can take us there!"
Annabeth looked concerned. "I'm not so sure, Mirabelle. Did you see the way Ms. Stoll avoided my question?"
Mirabelle matched Annabeth's expression. "Yeah, I did." She said.
"We already have our things." Annabeth gestured to the backpacks which were tightly secured to the girls backs. They had brought along their bags to the airplane museum, that they took from their dads house. It wasn't much, but that's exactly why they kept it with them. Annabeth's backpack was grey, with a white outline of a snowy owl on the back. Mirabelle's was black, and had a black outline of a barn owl. Athena had enchanted them that way before she left.
"Were prepared!" Then she placed her hand on the side pocket of her own backpack. Which, instead of holding pencils, like it was supposed to, was containing a small pocket knife. Mirabelle's backpack held a yellow handled hammer.
"We don't have any money." Mirabelle said.
Annabeth swung her backpack of her back and unzipped it. Inside were six folded bundles of 100$ bills.
"Where did you get this?!" Mirabelle whispered urgently, her mouth was gaping open and her eyebrows were raised. Where the hell might Annabeth get 600$? Did she steal it?
"I didn't steal it." Annabeth said, reading Mirabelle's mind. "I 'borrowed' it from dad."
Mirabelle was painfully aware of how interested and attentive Travis and Conner were being.
"Annabeth!" Mirabelle exclaimed. "Were already fugitives!"
Annabeth snorted. "Your over reacting."
Mirabelle turned her sister around to face the tacked billboard behind her. "Am I?" She said.
The billboard was covered in important looking papers and newsletters, but right in the middle was a 11 by 14 piece of laminated paper, with Mirabelle's and Annabeth's faces plastered in the middle. Annabeth tore the notice from its pins, which clattered softly to the ground. Her face morphed into an expression of terror.
"This is NOT good!"
"Duh!" Mirabelle simplified. "Why would dad care if were gone or not?"
"He has to, or else the neighbours would worry." Annabeth said, then she turned the poster around and pointed to their faces. "Can you believe this? Why are there posters in San José?" The picture, Mirabelle realized sadly, was a colourful image of Annabeth and Mirabelle playing in the sand box in the backyard, their younger step-brother, Daniel, had taken it while experimenting with the camera, their 'parents' never willingly took pictures of them, only one every year on their birthday. The girls were both wearing their school clothes, which were ruffled and spotted with sand, their step-mom had bravely attempted to braid it, but to no avail, loose hair and small strands had escaped the neat french braid. Annabeth had built a castle, Mirabelle remembered, a replica of Blarney castle in Ireland. Daniel had smashed it with his toy digger.
Mirabelle took the poster from Annabeth and surrveyed the information, across the stop in capital letters was the word 'missing'. "Here," Mirabelle began to read out loud. "Annabeth and Mirabelle chase were discovered missing on the morning of August 18, they seemed to have been kidnapped, signs of a struggle were found in their bedroom. If you find these six year olds, please contact missing-008 or the parents phone number below." Mirabelle gasped. "We are clearly seven! Who told them we were six?" Annabeth rolled her eyes at Mirabelle. Leave it to Mirabelle to be worried about how old the officials thought they were.
"What you should be worried about... " Annabeth tutted. "Is that they thought we were kidnapped, though Dad must know we ran away."
Below the photo was a description of what the girls looked like.
Annabeth Chase
Curly Blond hair, grey eyes, arched eyebrows and high cheekbones, 5'2, smart and lithe.
Mirabelle Chase
Wavy Brown hair, blue eyes, long legs and face, 5'2/4, slightly taller than Annabeth and thinner.
If you didn't have the information that they were younger, (seven, not six) you might of thought they were teenagers. Arched eyebrows and long legs? Sure these were true, but to see them on paper made Mirabelle feel older and more responsible.
"We have to get to Camp-Half-Blood." She said.
Annabeth nodded. "But how?"
Suddenly a small coughing sounded from the rack of paper airplanes. "We might have a way." Travis said. Conner was coming up behind him and was holding a sack of feathers and an cartload of 'Bernard's sparkly glue; its sparkly' tubes.
...
"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Conner, Travis, Annabeth and Mirabelle were sitting in a circle surrounding a kiddy table covered in ripped paper airplanes. This was the section of the museum on the second floor where people can drop off their kids and go look at old airplanes, while their kids made airplanes made of paper (rather inexperienced hands made these. Annabeth thought) and threw them off the railing that displayed the lobby.
Everyone nodded. Mirabelle smiled mischievously, this was behaviour that she only found on one side of her, a side she wasn't allowed to show at home.
"O.k." Travis said, he hovered his hand over the table, Mirabelle placed his hand over Travis's, Conner was next, and then Annabeth. "Break!" Travis and Conner fled to the elevators, heaving two buckets of glue. And Mirabelle and Annabeth positioned themselves by the railing. Mirabelle swelled with excitement, she squealed and nearly dropped her bag.
"Careful, Mirabelle!" Annabeth said.
"Sorry." Mirabelle apologized.
Down below Travis and Conner were sneaking up on a portly, overweight janitor, who was mopping up something green. "Stupid kids!" He was muttering.
Travis and Conner went on there tip toes and tipped both buckets of glue on the janitors head. He screamed in a high girl-like pitch and turned around to catch the boys. Conner jumped out his reach and whistled with his fingers in his mouth. The signal. Mirabelle and Annabeth dumped their bags of goose feathers on the janitor. He looked like a chicken, Mirabelle thought. Quickly they ran downstairs and collided with Travis and Conner, who appeared to be going up. The four children fell over each other in a heap of limbs and long hair.
"There they are!" The angry janitor was pointing angrily at the kids and was sending a flock of buff security guards after them.
"Scatter!" Conner bellowed. He helped Mirabelle off himself, grabbed her hand and took off down the lobby, Mirabelle stumbled after him. Annabeth and Travis had ran off in the other direction. "In here." Conner said, he pulled Mirabelle into an unlocked broom cupboard and shut the door. The footsteps ran right by, Mirabelle breathed out relief. Suddenly she realized how close she and Conner were, and blushed. Though she couldn't fathom why, it was just Conner.
Conner smirked and addressed Mirabelle by poking her shoulder.
"Hey."
"Hey." She poked him back.
"Alright." He said. "After we go out, you have to find Annabeth and get to the airport. Its just a few blocks from here. Mom wont notice your absence when shes ratting us out. But you cant be seen. Do you guys have the money?"
Mirabelle nodded, remembering what she saw in Annabeth's backpack.
"Good. I hope you guys make it there. We wont get to go until were eleven." Conner pouted. Then he took Mirabelle's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Mirabelle smiled in spite of herself.
"Thanks for helping us. We couldn't of pulled it off without you." They smiled awkwardly to each other once more than pushed open the door.
"All clear." Conner whispered.
Mirabelle snuck around him and dashed back across the lobby. "Over there!" She heard a low voice echo through the building and hopped into a run. Conner ran behind her nut stopped when they got close.
"Run forest run!" He yelled. Mirabelle laughed to herself. As she rounded a corner, she glimpsed Travis and Annabeth at the end.
Mirabelle grabbed her hand and yelled. "Time to go!" In her face.
They waved good-bye to Travis and burst through the exit doors. The afternoon sun lit Mirabelle's skin with warmth. Mirabelle and her sister zipped through the parked traffic and booked it down the street. And for once, Annabeth felt like she should, a run away, it was pure freedom on a silver platter.