“Report!” I said, then instantly choked on the fine dust that filled the air. I started coughing hard, tears streaming down my face, and every time I took a breath, I sucked in more dust and coughed more.

“I’m okay,” said Nudge, crawling out from the hallway where she had dived.

“I’m okay,” saidIggy, though I couldn’t see him. Then a pile of dust and debris moved on the floor, and he stood up, looking as if he’d been flocked. Like a Christmas tree.

“Okay here,” saidGazzy, and he started coughing too.

“What wasthat? ” my mom asked, sounding shocked.

“Everyone all right?”Jeb asked, brushing stuff off his shoulders.

Amazingly, we were all fine, except for minor scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Total looked as if he’d been breaded in preparation for frying. IfGazzy hadn’t seen that wire, we all would have resembled pizzas ourselves: flat and messy.

“But whatwas that?” my mom asked again. She looked totally freaked out and kept patting everyone down for broken bones.

“A welcome wagon?” I said, already gathering our meager belongings. “Okay, everyone. Let’s scram before the cops show.”

12

WE SPLIT UP from Mom andJeb, then met them fifteen minutes later at an inconspicuous motel out on the highway. They drove, and we flew overhead, looking for anyone tailing them. We didn’t see anyone, and I guessed that whoever set up the bomb assumed it had worked and that we had all been eliminated. No one had tried to blow us up in a while, and we were all a little shaken. It was a reminder that danger could come from anywhere, anyone.

After brushing themselves off as much as possible, Mom rented a room, andJeb rented the one next door. We waited till the coast was totally clear, and then the flock and Total sneaked in. Maybe we’d be safe here for a little while.

That night, my mom and I stayed up talking after everyone else had gone to bed. I curled up on the couch next to her and tried not to imagine what my life would have been like if I could have been talking to her like this all the time.