Chapter 10

Ruby sat slumped on the couch in front of the TV flipping through the
channels. He was bored silly and was hoping to find something to watch to kill his
boredom when he came across something on the news.....
"Breaking news flash!" The newsman on the TV blared. "A group of eight kids
runs away from their home in Snow Town and are currently missing!"
Ruby spat out the soda he was drinking all over as he heard this. He lean-
ed forward in his chair and paid attention to the bulletin on the TV.
"News reuters claim that three days ago, eight children living in the huge
Snobow Mansion took their only mode of transportation, a red '88 Convertible, out
of the borders of Alberta, Canada and may be as far as Ontario by now! The
police are currently performing a search by land and air as we speak."
Ruby screamed and jumped up from his seat to run and get the other kids.
He darted upstairs and banged on the bathroom door.
"SLASH!!! THEY CAUGHT US!!! WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE NOW!!!" Ruby hollered.
"Who caught us?" Slash called from the bathtub.
"The police! The speeding guy must have called for refreshments or some-
thing!!!" Ruby ranted.
"Reinforcements, not refreshments." Slash corrected. "And you must have
heard it wrong because-"
"I DON'T CARE!!! I HEARD IT RIGHT AND I HEARD IT THE FIRST TIME!!! WE
ARE IN DEEP S**T!!!" Ruby screeched.
"[Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard Ruby swear like that.] Slash
thought. "[It must be serious.]"
"Okay, let me get out of the tub..." Slash replied. Ruby ran downstairs
and into the kitchen.
"Nicole! Pamela! Did you hear that?!? The police are gonna KILL US!!!"
Ruby said.
Nicole and Pamela looked at each other, then burst out laughing.
"No, I'm serious!!! Look on the news!!!" Ruby said. The two girls, still
giggling, followed Ruby into the living room. Their eyes popped open when they saw
the scrolling text on the bottom of the screen: "Band of eight children run away
from home in Snow Town, Alberta: Land and air search currently under way"
The two girls screamed and hugged each other.
"WE'RE GONNA GET ARRESTED!!!" Nicole cried.
"WE'RE GONNA GET PUT IN JAIL!!!" Pamela sobbed.
"AND IT'S ALL OUR FAULT!!!" Ruby wailed.
Slash ran downstairs with a towel around him. "Oo genki desu ka?" He asked,
forgetting to speak English again.
"What?" Nicole sniffled.
"Are you guys all right?" Slash translated.
"We're being hunted down!" Pamela sobbed. "Look on the TV!"
Slash turned his head to the TV and his mouth fell open when he saw the
headline rolling at the bottom of the screen. He turned white as a sheet and he
started to panic.
"Aaah....oh no oh no oh no!!! T-this isn't good! How did those police guys
manage to find us?!?"
"I don't know!!!" Ruby cried. "But all I know is that I WANT MY MOMMY!!!"
"US TOO!" Nicole/Pamela wailed.
Pretty soon, they were all crying. Nancy came into the room, saw the TV,
and started to sniffle as Jam walked into the room. He saw the headline, and he
even began to cry a little as Nancy hugged him and they both cried. Soon, any other
Kids that entered the room began crying as well. People in neighboring hotel rooms
began to complain about the incessant crying and finally dialed room service to
take care of the problem. So good' ol pizza man Joe (the one who gave Tommy the
pizza) came upstairs and knocked on the door.
"Hello?" He asked pleasantly. "Is everything all right?"
Nancy sniffled and opened the door. "Oh, hello. It's nothing really, we're
gonna get over it. Tell the other people in the rooms not to worry...."
Joe shook his head. "It's okay. I saw the news headline. And I'm gonna
make sure you kids stay here long enough to finish all the courses up to Silver
Mountain."
"Really?" Slash asked.
"Really. I already had a talk with the manager of this place. He offered
to let you guys stay here up until your last race, then we're gonna have to send
you guys back home." Joe informed.
"Thank you Mr. Joe!" Tommy said. "For the pizza and for letting us stay
here longer!"
"It's nothing, sir." Joe replied. "You guys came here to earn that trophy,
and I'm gonna make sure you get it."
"Thank you!" All the Kids said at once.
"Once again, don't thank me, thank the manager. He approved the idea." Joe
said modestly.
The Kids ran up to Joe and shook his hand and said their thank you's, and
when Joe left to tell the other residents that the commotion was taken care of, the
Kids began to talk amongst themselves.
"What a great guy." Nancy said.
"Yeah. That's one awesome dude." Jam said admiringly.
"He's really nice!" Nicole said happily.
"I can't believe he's gonna let us stay here!" Nancy said. "I thought that
would never happen."
"'Specially since we're fugitives." Slash said.
This is when all the Kids turned to face Slash and frowned.
"Saaaaaaay..." Linda said. "I forgot. Which one of us is the one
responsible for dragging us into this mess?"
"And trying to drive a car?" Ruby fumed.
"And nearly getting us killed?" Tommy steamed.
Slash sweatdropped. "Uh.....uh....."
Nicole pounded her fist into her open hand. "Well, I say we give little
Slash Kamei here what he deserves....for dragging us into this!!!!"

Slash didn't even have the time to shriek as all the Kids jumped om him
and nearly tore him apart.

Chapter 11

"Uugh...." Slash moaned as he got up off the floor. The Kids -in all their
anger- had given him a black eye and several bruises. He sighed and flopped down on
the couch, exasperated with himself. Why did he have to drive everyone three provinces
away anyway? Such a stupid idea.....
Slash began to sniffle and cry. He couldn't believe what he had been thinking.
As he lay there in self-pity, Linda walked into the room.
"Slash," she said, "I know I beat you up too but...are you okay?"
"Iie...." Slash grumbled, speaking Japanese again.
"I'm real sorry. I guess I was just angry at you for dragging us into this..."
She began, but Slash began to snivel again.
"Manga-masaka!!!!" Slash yelled, speaking his other language again.
"Sorry, but...what?" Linda asked.
"It MEANS, --NO, REALLY!!!!!!!--" Slash cried.
"Slash, I know what you did was really irresponsible, but most of us are
happy you brought us here in the first place. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be
here." Linda told him.
"H-honto ni?" Slash sniffed, slipping back into Japanese.
"Really." Linda replied. Some things Slash said were actually Japanese
words that Linda had heard before and understood.
"...*sniff*....arigato....." Slash replied. Linda smiled and gave Slash a
hug to help him calm down. She couldn't help but look at the black-haired boy in her
arms, and smiled as her mind remembered another Japanese phrase that could be of use
at the moment....
"Slash..." She said. "....Aishiteru."
Slash quickly looked up with tear-filled eyes at Linda and sniffled.
"Linda....a-aishiteru zu-to...." Slash replied. They held each other tight
again for a while, but the second time they gazed into each others' eyes, something
else happened. They found themselves in an unpenetrable lip-lock. For what seemed
like 10 minutes straight they smooched right there on the sofa, not caring who or what
saw them. Finally they let go of each other and smiled.
"Arigato." Slash said to Linda.
"Do-itashimashite." Linda replied. Her eyes opened. She blinked. She didn't
even know what that word was before. How did she know now? It was as though kissing
Slash gave her the ablilty to speak his other language. They smiled and embraced one
more time before they heard Jam walking down the hotel room corridor, whistling. They
pulled away and sat where they were, turning the TV on. Jam saw them and laughed.
"Since when do you guys watch TV together?" Jam snickered.
"Nani? Aah, uh...." Slash said, forgetting to switch back to English.
"You're watching TV together." Jam repeated.
"D-dewa arimasen!!!!" Slash protested, still forgetting.
"We were not!" Linda said, translating for Slash.
"Oh yeah? Then why are you two sitting on the sofa together, huh?" Jam
taunted.
"GrrrRRR.......JAAAAAAAMMM!!! WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?!?!?" Linda screeched.
Jam's eyes went wide. He laughed nervously and slipped away into the guys' bedroom.
Linda shook her head.
"He bugs me sometimes." Slash told Linda, switching to English. "But he's
still my best bro."
"I know. But you don't bug me. At least not all the time." Linda smiled,
playing with Slash's hair.
"Yeah, I know..." Slash said with a smile. The two were about to kiss again
when the phone rang.
"I got it." Linda told him, and walked into the kitchen. She picked up the
phone.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Hi, this is Joe again." The 'pizza-dude' answered. "Just wanted to let you
guys know you have a race at Big Snowman at 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon."
"We do? Awesome!" Linda replied. "Thank you for the update!"
"You're quite welcome. And by the way, dinnertime's getting close, would
you guys like something to eat?"
"Sure!" Linda replied. She put a hand over the phone and called out.
"GUYS!!!" Linda screeched. "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO EAT?!? JOE'S ORDERING ROOM
SERVICE FOR US AGAIN!!!"
"Pizza!" Tommy called out from the guys' room.
"With cheese!" Jam added.
"And pepperoni!" Nancy added.
"And canadian bacon!!!" Ruby added.
"CANADIAN BACON?!?!?" Everyone answered.
"Well, it's on the meat lovers' pizza....." Ruby said sheepishly.
"Okay...." Linda replied. "Mr. Joe, we'd like two pizzas, each with cheese,
pepperoni.....and canadian bacon."
"Canadian bacon?" Joe laughed. "Well, alright. Expect it to arrive at your
guys' room in 20 minutes."
"Thanks!" Linda said happily, and hung up the phone. She ran over to the couch
and jumped over the headboard, landing next to Slash.
"Cool entrance." Slash complimented.
"Thanks." Linda replied. She suddenly noticed something was wrong.....
"Slash.....is-" She began, and saw her reflection in the mirror on the wall.
One of her pigtails was missing the tie, and her hair was hanging straight down.
"SLASH!!! GIMME BACK MY HAIR TIE!!" She yelled, and Slash laughed a little
mischevious laugh as he darted back away from Linda, hiding the tie behind his back
so she wouldn't get it. She pounced on top of him, trying desperately to wrench the
tie free from his hands. Jam walked in and saw the two Kids squirming on the couch,
and mistook it for something else....
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed and ran over to them, picked up a sofa pillow
and began bashing Linda and Slash senseless with it. The two abruptly stopped and
gave Jam a look like 'what was that for?'
"What are you DOING?!?" Slash asked him.
"I know why you two were watching TV together now!!!!!" Jam answered. "You
two were-"
"No we weren't!" Linda said. "He just took my hair tie! That's all! I was
trying to get it back from him!"
"So you SAY." Jam answered. "What do you have to say about this, Slash?"
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it." Slash replied innocently.
"Typical Slash." Jam sighed. "Well, if Linda starts growing in size in a few
months, we all know who to blame." He walked out the living room.
"AAAA!!! I'm being blamed AGAIN!!!" Slash said angrily, and flung himself
into Linda's arms. She patted Slash's head.
"It's okay, sweetie...." She soothed him as he began sniffling once again....


* * *


~@ The Next Day @~


- - -

Four of the Kids -Nancy, Jam, Tommy and Pamela- were picked to race on Big
Snowman that day. They sat on the lift, one to a chair, and waited to reach the top
of the mountain. Jam and Nancy kept stealing looks at one another, tickled to be in
a race together. Tommy and Pamela were rolling their eyes at Jam and Nancy's silent
flirting. Jam spoke up.
"Hey Nance, what do you say I treat us two to dinner if I win this race?"
Jam told her.
"Really? Oh Jam, that's so sweet of you!" Nancy squeaked. "I would absolutely
love that!"
"Then how's Friday at 7:00 sound?" Jam asked her.
"Just fine! Oh it's gonna be so much fun...and so romantic..." Nancy said
dreamingly. Tommy groaned.
"Must you two constantly flirt in public? Can our eyes be spared for once?"
Tommy complained.
"You're gonna be doing the same thing when you've got a sweetie." Jam told
Tommy matter-of-factly.
Finally the chairs on the lift pulled up to the top of the hill leading to
the course. Jam stepped off first, and took Nancy by the hand to help her off her
chair. Tommy and Pamela stepped off with no assistance.
"There," Pamela said, "is the resort and equipment station by where the Big
Snowman slope starts. I say let's head there first before we do anything else....."
"Good idea." Tommy agreed. "Let's go there."
"Oh Jam, I'm so cold..." Nancy said, cuddling up to Jam. "Can you help me
warm up?"
Jam, noticing Nancy's obviously-overdone romantic lust, smirked. "What with?
I don't have a blanket..."
"I could use *you*." Nancy suggested.
"Oh look. The two doves are at it again." Tommy said cynically. "When are
you two ever gonna stop with the mushy crud?"
"When you curl up and die." Pamela replied scornfully.
"That wasn't funny!" Tommy shouted at her. "Why is everyone being so mean?"
"You're restricting their freedom of love." Pamela said. "And freedom to love
someone is very important."
"Well they can have freedom of love in a remote bedroom back at the hotel
FAR AWAY FROM ME!!!!" Tommy complained. Jam and Nancy laughed, and so did Pamela.
Tommy snorted angrily and stomped through the thick snow up the hill towards the Big
Snowman resort.

- - -

"Hello, are you four going to be competing in today's race?" The lady at the
front counter asked the four Kids.
"Yeah." Jam replied. "Us four."
"Okay.......how many of you?" The lady asked.
"Us FOUR." Jam repeated.
"Right, um........" She paused, then talked again. "Would you be interested in
purchasing a rental snowboard?"
"Uh, we brought our own." Jam answered. "That's okay."
"Okay then........how many of you have health insurance?" The lady asked.
"All of us, why?" Tommy asked.
"Big Snowman is a challenging slope. Some sections of the track are covered
in sheet ice. We need to have insurance coverage on any racers that get injured."
The lady told the four Kids.
"Sheet ice?" Jam asked, flabbergasted. "What the heck is ice doing on the track
in the first place?"
"We didn't put it there, there's nearby glaciers that sort of melted partially
onto the slope." The lady answered.
"And you still let people RACE on that?!?" Jam asked.
"Afraid so. Look, are you four going to register for the race or not?" The
lady asked, getting impatient.
"Yeah, but the idea of ice on the track makes me kinda nervy...." Jam thought
aloud while signing the contract on the counter. After the other three signed it,
they headed towards the exit door of the building to make their way towards the
slope starting line.

- - -

Tommy, Pamela, Jam and Nancy were lined up at the start line, waiting for Mr.
Dog as usual. After a while, Mr. Dog floated down in his hot-air balloon and looked
at the kids. He gave Jam an amused look.
"What's the matter?" He asked. "You look worried."
"I heard this track has ice on it." Jam answered. "The last thing I wanna do
is break my leg or split my lip open..."
"Don't worry. They opened up a detour in the course that's free of ice. You
should be able to take that route by now." Mr. Dog informed him.
"That's good...." Jam sighed, and Nancy patted his back.
"It's okay, Jam." Nancy told him. "I'll make sure you stay safe and sound."
"Thanks, Nance." Jam told her. Tommy stomped his foot.
"ARGH!!! Mr. Dog, they're doing it again!!!!" Tommy roared. "They keep making
lovey-dovey comments and gestures and stuff and it's driving me crazy!!!"
"I didn't even know those two liked each other." Mr. Dog said albeit cluelessly.
"I say congratulations to those two."
"Thank you!" Jam and Nancy told the snow hound. Tommy pulled at his hat in
frustration as soon as he heard Mr. Dog get out his little pop gun. "Okay, get ready,
kids!" Mr. Dog said. They all faced forward, and then after ready, he shot the gun
and the four kids took off down the slope.


~@ Lap One @~


Tommy is in the lead so far. He's pretty confident that he's got this race
down so far, until he feels himself drifting up in the air from a hit by a parachute.
He hears Nancy giggle as she races past him, just avoiding Tommy landing smack on top
of her. Jam speeds up and catches up with Nancy, they both smile at each other and
Jam lets Nancy pass him up. Nancy smiles and does so, but falls for Jam's trick. He
smacks her with a slapstick and sends her tumbling. "Some boyfriend you are!!!" Nancy
screeches as Jam races away laughing. Pamela saw this act of injustice and pitched a
bomb at Jam. He looked over his shoulder and saw the black ball heading towards him,
tried to steer out of the way but it was too late. All he heard was a big boom as his
suit and some of his skin got singed from the bomb blast. Pamela raced ahead of him
and noticed she was riding on ice. "I thought this detour didn't have ice!!!!" She
says furiously as she tried to keep her balance on the smooth blue ice. She actually
keeps her balance in check as she skids off the ice onto the snow and escapes safely.
Jam isn't so lucky. As soon as his snowboard hits the ice he skitters sideways,
cursing and screaming, into the wall of a cliff to his left. With his long nose bent
and slightly bleeding, he cusses under his breath and gets back on his board, eager
to catch up to Pamela. Nancy and Tommy get across the ice with no problem. At last
after the first long lap, the kids reach the lift. Pamela gets in first, the rest
follow.

Status:
Pamela ~ 1st
Jam ~ 2nd
Nancy ~ 3rd
Tommy ~ 4th


~@ Lap Two/Final Lap @~


Pamela is happy to be in the lead. However, she senses something coming and
uses an invisible item just in case. Sure enough, a gold frying pan comes crashing
down from above and passes right through her invisible self. She giggles with delight
at her little vanishing act's success and speeds away to safety. Back in fourth,
Tommy whines when he realizes his frying pan hit everyone except Pamela and himself.
"I can't believe it..." He grumbles, and goes through another item box in hopes of
getting a second one. Luckily enough, he does. He snickers and lets the pans shoot
up into the sky, waiting for some unlucky Snowboard Kid to get squashed temporarily.
This time it hits home and strikes everybody except Tommy. He laughs and races ahead
of everybody else. They all watch with sweatdrops on their heads as Tommy races away,
and Jam gets up first, determined to stop the chubby one. He slides through a shot
box and gets a few ice shots. He snickers and throws one at Tommy, and surprisingly
enough, Tommy musters up enough nimbleness to evade the shot by turning left. Jam
blinks and Tommy laughs. Jam shoots another one, but this one misses too. Finally
Jam gets so fed up with Tommy's mockery that he runs into an item box, gets a ghost,
and sets it on Tommy. Tommy whines and complains as he slows down to a crawl, watching
Jam race away with a grin on his face. It's only a few hundred meters to the finish
line now that everyone's past the hazards such as the ice, and so far nothing seems
to be stopping Jam. Tommy releases a ghost but it hits Pamela instead. Nancy sends
a frying pan out but for some reason it squishes herself as well as Tommy and Pamela.
Pamela sends a bunch of heatseeking slapsticks after Jam but he takes a sharp turn and
all the shots collide with the wall. The three children cry out in defeat as they
watch Jam pull farther and farther away.....

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALL!"

"OH YEAH!!!! I *AM* THE TRICK MASTER!!!!" Jam gloats as soon as he comes to a
stop. The other three kids pull across the finish line and sigh in remorse as Jam
laughs and dances in victory. A pretty girl walks across the finish area holding a
large trophy and a large bundle of money, and smiles at Jam.
"Congratulations!" She says sweetly. "Here's your prizes."
Jam looks up at the girl and blushes furiously as his eyes scan her from her
waist, and stop at her chest, and then go up to her face. He smiles and puts his
arm around her shoulder.
"Thank you for the stuff, cutie." Jam hits on her. The girl blushes and smiles.
"You're welcome..." She replies, a little embarassed. Suddenly the two look
up and see a VERY angry Nancy heading towards them. Her face is red and she has a huge
vein popping out of her forehead.
"Y-Y-Y..." She says, too angry to speak.
"What's wrong? Something stuck in your throat?" Jam asks.
"Y..you cheat!!! First you trick me, then you hit me with a slapstick, and
THEN you hit on another girl right in front of my face?!? That does it!!!
Jam Kuehnemund, you are A DEAD BOY!!!!!!"
Jam screams and takes off, dropping the trophy, the money and his snowboard as
he takes off as far as he can go, hoping Nancy won't catch up to him and possibly
kill him. Pamela and Tommy look at one another, and sigh in exasperation.



"Well," Pamela says to Tommy, "there goes one boy that worried about being
hurt by ice, when all he had to worry about when it came to injuries was his own
girlfriend."


* * *


A police car pulls up to the parking lot of the Rookie Mountain resort.
A cop walks out and enters the resort registration building. He walks up to the desk
and holds up his badge as soon as the lady at the desk looks at him.
"Officer Wills of the Canada Mountie squadron." He says, introducing himself
and then continuing, "I'm looking for a band of eight children."
"Are they wearing snowboarding outfits?" The lady replies.
"Yes, based on this photo-" -he holds up the photo taken when all the kids were
in the car- "-it seems so."
"I think they're staying a few nights at the hotel a few towns south." The
lady replied.
"Thank you. That's all I needed to know." The officer puts away his badge and
the photo, and heads out the door replying to a message over his walkie-talkie.




"Did he mean the Snowboard Kids?" The lady wonders out loud. "Oh dear....."

Chapter 12

*back at the hotel*


"So you ended up winning anyway after complaining about sheet ice." Tommy
asked Jam.
"Yep." Jam replied proudly, cradling the trophy he'd earned in his arms.
"And I think I deserve it."
"You -might-." Nicole said. "I think the way that race ended looked totally
unfair to me. I mean, everyone had almost every single status effect possible
on them!!! Squashed, frozen, ghosted...."
"But I WON." Jam insisted, pressing his fingertip against the tip of Nicole's
long nose. " - And that's all that matters."
"Hmph...." Nicole muttered.
Jam smirked and looked at his trophy again.
"Look at THIS." He said proudly, pointing to the plaque at the bottom of the
trophy " - Jam Kuehnemund, winner of the 5th annual race at Big Snowman, year 2002.
Sounds professional, doesn't it?"
"Braggart." Nicole complained.
"Butt-wipe." Jam retorted.
"Dork."
"Preppy."
"Idiot.."
"STOP THAT!!!" Nancy said from the other end of the room, watching the fight
and running over to split the two combatants apart. "That's enough!"
"Sorry Nance...." Jam said to his girlfriend.
"You'll listen to little ol' Nancy but not ME?!?" Nicole fumed.
"WHO'S little ol'?" Nancy growled at Nicole. Nicole scooted backwards.
"Don't call Nicole a preppy!" Ruby said, walking into the room.
"Sorry Ruby, she was gettin' on my last nerve...." Jam apologized.
"Well- ...eh....well just remember not to call her that anymore!" Ruby told
Jam.
"You got it." Jam said, standing up and placing his trophy on the coffee
table before walking out of the room.
Nicole's eyes looked glassy and a little teary-eyed as she looked at Ruby.
"Why would he stand up for me like that........" She wondered. "After all
I've said and done to him......"
Her eyes followed Ruby as he walked out of the room, and she found herself
standing up and walking after him. She knocked on the bedroom door, but nobody
answered.
"Ruby....?" She called. No answer. Her shoulders drooped and she walked
back into the living room.
"Where did Ruby go?" She asked Jam.
"I don't know, I thought YOU knew." Jam answered a little angrily.
"Great........I try to say something nice to him for once, and once I get
the courage to do so he's gone." Nicole complained, not to anybody in particular
but mostly to herself.

She looked at the ground and sighed.


"Ruby.........."

* * *


That night, all the Kids were sleeping soundly - all the guys in the guys'
bedroom, all the girls in the girls' bedroom. But one girl couldn't sleep.
Nancy lay in bed wide awake. She was freezing cold and wondered how the
other girls managed to stay so warm. She sat up in bed and got an idea. She trodded
off across the hall to the guys' bedroom, walked around the side of the massive
bed where all the guys slept, and gently shook Jam awake. Jam's eyelids fluttered
for a moment, then he opened his eyes.
"Nancy....?" He asked.
"I can't sleep." Nancy told him.
"Well I can." Jam answered groggily, and fell back asleep. Nancy was
growing ever more impatient with her beau and finally decided to wake him up for good.
She slammed her fist on a certain unmentionable part of Jam's anatomy and sent Jam
sitting upright immediately.
"OWWWWWWWWWW!!!!" Both his hands immediately grasped his crotch. "WHAT WAS
THAT FOR?!?!?"
"Will you SHUT UP?" An angry Tommy said from the other end of the bed.
"Grrrrrrr......" Jam flinched and winced at the pain. "All right Nancy,
what is it? You can't sleep? Okay, I know what I can do..." He swung his feet over
the edge of the bed and followed Nancy into the girls' bedroom. He lifted up a corner
of the blankets on the bed and gestured for Nancy to slip in. Once she did, he got
in after her.
"Jam, I don't think you-" Nancy began.
"It's okay." Jam cut her off. "I know why you can't fall asleep. You're cold,
right?"
"....Yeah." Nancy told him.
"I can warm you up." Jam told her. He put his arms around her and held her
close to him in a tight but not choking hug. Nancy smiled and hummed a little as Jam's
body heat gradually warmed her up. In seconds, she was asleep, and Jam was too.




"*yawn*......Wow, what a great sleep..." Nancy said aloud as she woke up. She
looked behind her, but there was no sign of Jam.
"That's funny........" She said, and noticed a note on the nightstand next
to the bed. She picked it up and read it:



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Dear Nancy, -
- -
- I'm at the Sunset Rock Lodge with Tommy, Slash and Ruby. We were picked -
- to race there for this race (all of us guys). Be back in about 3 hours. -
- -
- ~ Jam -
- -
- P.S. Hope you slept well -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -




"Aww, that was awfully nice of him to at least let me know where he's going."
Nancy said to herself. "I'm glad I have such a wonderful boy for a boyfriend."


* * *


"Well, here we are." The officer said as he parked his car in the parking lot
to the resort that the Kids were staying at. "Our search is over."
"Thank goodness for that!" Another officer said over the walkie-talkie.
"I was sick of driving miles and miles looking for just a bunch of runaway kids..."
"Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore." The commanding officer
told his comrade. "We've arrived at our destination."


"C'mon men, let's bring those kids back home."

Chapter 13

The front door swung open and Ruby walked in. "I'm home!" He called out,
and sat down on the sofa just as the phone rang. He picked it up.
"Hello?" He asks.
"Hi, um, this is Joe again," Joe answered. "I have some bad news. The police
are here in the lobby and they demand the permission to take you guys back to Alberta."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Ruby cried out. "Joe, I thought you said you'd keep us
here until Silver Mountain!"
"I did, but they've already got a warrant for anyone attempting to cover you
guys. So I can't help anymore..." Joe said sadly.
"...N-no......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Ruby yelled again and took off for the bed-
room, dropping the phone right off the hook. The other Kids walked into the room where
Ruby once was.
"Ruby, what's wrong?" Jam picked up the phone and heard Joe's voice still
speaking.
".......try to pack up......." His voice faded, the line nearly fizzling out.
".....ready to ca-.........bus south........Sunset Rock 50-some mile-........"
The line went dead.
"Sunset Rock!!!!" Jam yelled. "We've got to take the bus south to Sunset Rock
before the cops catch us!"
"We gotta hurry! Everyone grab your belongings, stuff 'em in a suitcase and
get ready to blast outta here!" Nicole commanded the other Kids.
Everyone immediately scuttled to the storage closet and dragged out every
baggage compartment and suitcase they could find. They stuffed everything in them in
a matter of minutes and as soon as they were ready, they stopped.
"Now where do we GO?" Slash asked, nervous.
"Oh man....." Pamela sighed. "Maybe there isn't any other way out...."
Suddenly, Ruby ran out from the bedroom, carrying a bedsheet off the bed that
flailed around in the air behind him. The sheet was tied in the form of a long rope
with several knots in the middle all the way from the beginning to the end.
"Don't worry, I have the rope all ready!!!" Ruby announced proudly, and tied
one end of the knotted sheet-rope to one of the kitchen table legs, and threw the rest
out of the window until it reached the ground. He began to climb down it, until he
stopped and climbed back up the rope. He ran over to Nicole, grabbed her, and began
carrying her down the rope with him.
"Ruby what are you DOING?!?" Nicole screeched.
"I have to save all the fair maidens!!" Ruby ranted as he climbed down the
sheet-rope.
"But why-" Nicole started, but she was cut off as Ruby suddenly clasped a hand
to her cheek and gave her a great big smooch smack on the mouth.
"To the bottom we go!" Ruby said in a superhero-like manner, letting the rope
slide in his hands as he leveled himself and Nicole down to the ground as quickly as
possible without a danger of falling off.
Nicole gazed at Ruby for a minute or two before throwing her arms around him
and kissing him back on the cheek. "Thank you!" She said. "Thank you so, so much!"
"What are we waiting for?" Slash told the others. "Ganbatte!!!"
"HUH?" Everyone asked.
Slash smacked himself on the forehead once he realized he was slipping into
Japanese again. "Um, Go!!!"
One by one, the Kids slipped down the sheet-rope, carrying their belongings
with them as they descended out the open window down the makeshift rope.

Back in the room the Kids once occupied, Nancy -the last person down the rope-
had just lowered herself out the window before the police barged into the room.
"FREEZE WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!" The commanding officer ordered. "DON'T MOVE!"
"I just heard the cops up there!" Nancy called down to the Kids on the rope
below her. "We gotta get movin'!"
"Loud and clear!" Jam replied to his sweetheart, and looked down at the others,
some of which were already standing on solid ground, toting their belongings with them.
"Guys, we gotta hurry! You guys make sure that bus doesn't go anywhere fast while
we're still getting outta here!"
"Got it!" Pamela called back, and ran off towards the bus stop not too far
away. The others followed once they were off the rope. Nancy stepped down onto the
ground and took off after the other seven Kids. They got on board the bus and picked
seats quickly. Sure enough, the bus was just beginning to start on it's journey to
Sunset Rock.
"Yes!!!" All the Kids said at the same time. "We got away!!!"
Everyone else on the bus looked at them funny.
"Uh, from a bully chasing us..." Nancy said. Everyone else sighed and faced
forward.


* * *


"Where did you hide those kids?" One of the officers asked Joe, who was in
cuffs being questioned in the hotel lobby.
"I don't know, honestly..." Joe replied. "All I know is they're not here any-
more. They must have escaped somehow." *Thank goodness...* he thought.
"You're not getting away easy until we find out where those kids ran off to."
The officer scolded Joe. "And you've got a warrant for covering the location of eight
fugitives on the run."
Joe sighed and looked at the ground.

*I hope they're all right.....* He thought.



* * *


Slash looked out the window at the signs zooming by. One said, "Sunset Rock
Recreational Area: 37 miles"
"Aw, man." Slash mumbled. "If we're going at 60 miles an hour now, it's gonna
take us about 40 more minutes to get there."
"And I don't like getting stuck with all this luggage, either." Nancy pouted.
"None of us do." Nicole said. "But at least we got it all."
"Why did I have to be stuck with the suitcase carrying all the girls' stuff
that Slash was digging into before we first left?" Tommy grumbled.
"First of all, why did you GRAB it?" Jam asked, laughing.
"Shut up, Jam." Tommy grumbled. Jam crossed his arms and looked out the
window.
"Everyone is getting so mean." Pamela sighed. "Can't we all calm down?"
"Yeah, really." Ruby answered. "Be nice, guys."
"Hm! Let's think for a minute." Tommy said angrily. "Maybe if a certain
black-haired boy hadn't turned us into fugitives from the law, and drove us halfway
across the billion-mile-wide country we live in, perhaps maybe THEN everyone would be
a little bit more light-hearted, don't you think?!?"
Slash started looking real guilty. Linda leaned over and patted his shoulder.
"And YOU'RE supporting him!!!" Tommy yelled to the others.
"Hey you!" Said an old guy with a cane standing in the back of the bus. "Yeah,
you! The fat boy in green! Will ya just shut your trap for one stinkin' minute?!?
You're making everyone on this whole damn bus hostile!!!"
Tommy faced the window silently.


* * *


Slash was nearly falling asleep when Linda shook him awake.
"Slash, look!" She said, and turned his head to look out the window. The bus
zoomed by a sign that read, "Sunset Rock Recreational Area: Next Exit"
"We're almost there!" Linda cheered. Slash said something inaudible and
dropped off to sleep again.
"Slash! We gotta stay awake if we're gonna get off this bus!"
Linda scolded him. "The rest of us are already ready to step off the bus when it
stops."
"I don't wanna..." Slash said. "Haven't I caused us enough trouble...?"
"We don't care! We've made it this far! Let's keep going!" Linda encouraged
him.
Slash grumbled and stood up as soon as the bus came to a complete stop.
Linda smiled and followed Slash out of the door. Everyone else followed suit.

Chapter 14

"What's it say?" Tommy asked, trying to see through the brim of his hat.
"Are you BLIND?!?" Slash said. "It says, Sunset Rock recreational area."
"Oh SORRY. I had no idea all our vision was supposed to be as good as
yours......" Tommy muttered.
"Why are you two so snippy?" Nancy asked. "We're here to have a good time.
Let's make the most of it."
"A GOOD TIME?!?" Nicole screeched. "You call running from the cops a good time?!?"
"Make that you THREE." Nancy corrected herself.


* * *


Inside the building, the Kids hadn't even walked through three rooms before
they came upon a big buffet table. Of course, Tommy ran forward.
"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!" He yelled, grabbing a plate and knocking over/breaking
several others in the process. He turned around quickly and looked at Nancy.
"Food!" He said again.
"It sure is, Tommy." Nancy said.
"FOOD!" Tommy said again, louder.
Nancy shook her head. "Can't get over it, can ya?"
Ruby walked over to the table where they were serving drinks. He picked up
a plastic cup and filled it up in a bowl full of punch. He walked over to the other
Kids and began listening in on them.
"I still can't believe we're doing this." Linda sighed. "It seems like just
yesterday I was sitting in my bedroom talking on the phone with Nancy."
"It feels like I've been in my house listening to music and here the next."
Jam complained.
Ruby took a long drink from his glass. He got a puzzled look on his face,
licked his lips once or twice, then shook his head.
"Where are the drinks, Rube?" Jam asked.
"Over there." Ruby said, pointing to the table.
"I know this sounds crazy, but I'm having fun." Pamela said. "It's been
quite an adventure for me. I don't get to get out of the house too often nowadays,
and I think this is a lot of fun."
"Yeah, if you like being chased by badge-sporting pigs..." Jam laughed as he
walked back to the group.
"He he he he..." Ruby laughed.
"What is it?" Nicole asked him.
"Ha ha ha ha..!" Ruby kept going.
"What's so funny?" Nancy asked.
"Lookit MEEEEE!!!" Ruby said happily. "I am SUPERMAN!!!"
People sitting at nearby tables began looking at Ruby strangely.
"Uh, that's nice." Nancy said. "Anyway......"
Suddenly Ruby's eyes got all wide. He ran over to an old man by the buffet
table and began screaming at him.
"IT'S BABY'S PIZZAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Ruby wailed, then fell to the floor on his
arse and began fake sobbing.
By now everyone in the whole building was looking at Ruby and the Kids.
"SHUT UP!!!" Linda sassed.
"Ruby, what's wrong?" Nancy asked, concerned as usual.
A waiter walked up to the Kids. "May I ask what's going on?"
"Uh, he's here for the Special Olympics...." Slash said, jerking a thumb
in Ruby's direction.
"May I ask you to please take him somewhere else?" The waiter asked. The
sentence was sort of clipped by Ruby screaming 'I wanna give you a hug' to some lady
he didn't even know.
Linda picked up the glass that Ruby dropped and sniffed it. It smelled like
alcohol.
"Guys, I think Ruby's buzzed...." She muttered.
"WHAT?!?" The Kids said in unison.
"GIMME CRACKED CORN AND I DON'T CAAAAAAAAAAARE!!!" Ruby screeched in the
background.
The waiter was still standing there, waiting for the Kids to make a decision
and drag Ruby out of the building.
"We gotta get him out of here before he starts barfing." Tommy said.
"Right. But where are we gonna take him? We still need to sign up for a
room to rent..." Pamela explained.
"I AM THE WALRUS, KOO KOO KACHOO!!!!!" Ruby bawled in song.
"We gotta do something...." Nancy said, covering her ears.
By now every single person in the room (and some of the rooms adjoining it)
were laughing their heads off.
"We gotta get him out of here!" Tommy insisted.
"I know, I know!!!" Pamela replied. "Just calm down the staff and I'll make
sure he gets out of here with minimum fuss...."
"SOMEONE'S IN THE KITCHEN WITH DINAH...." Ruby began singing.
"We're dead." Slash said.
"Not yet." Pamela said, and gestured for Slash and Jam to drag Ruby out of
the dining room. She walked up to the manager, who was walking out of the men's
room.
"Pardon the calamity, but it's all being taken care of right now...." She
said.
"I sure hope it is," the manager said. "It sounds like the funny farm in here!"
By now the whole building's population of visitors was gathered around the
dining room and laughing so hard that some of them were gasping for air. Amongst
the laughing, Ruby added to the ruckus by randomly screaming parts from ballads
and songs in an obviously drunken fashion.
"C'mon Ruby..." Slash said while him and Jam attempted to pick up the
musclebound juvenile. "We're gonna get you out of here-"
"SPEC MY A-HO!!!!" Ruby screamed at Slash. Slash got blasted in the face
by a breeze of punch breath.
"Whatever that means, same to you. Now let's get you out of here-" Slash
mumbled.
"SAIL AWAY!!! SAIL AWAY!!! SAIL AWAY!!!" Ruby started chanting.
By now the entire building was in hysterics. The visitors were laughing,
the staff was laughing, even the crabby waiter and manager were laughing. Some of
the Kids couldn't help laughing either.
"DOC LEO MARVIN'S A GEEEEEENIUS, YOUR DEATH THERAPY CURED ME, YOU GEEEEEEE-
NIUS...." Ruby hollered amongst the laughing Kids and all the laughing people in
the building.


The Kids all walked out of the building with Ruby on their nerves and sweat-
drops on their heads.


* * *


"THAT was a waste of time..." Jam grumbled as he sat on the couch, trying
not to hear the noises of poor Ruby puking his guts out in the bathroom.
"I feel sorry for him." Nancy said. "He IS a little scatterbrained, and that
punch probably looked like cherry Kool-Aid to him...."
"I just think he's a dope." Linda said.
Nicole smacked Linda across the face.
"He's my boyfriend now, and I don't care whether you think he's stupid or
not, he's MY guy and I won't take any of your criticism." Nicole said to Linda.
"YOUR guy embarassed us in front of the entire resort building!!!" Linda
snapped back. "There's no trying to hide it! He's a dope!"
Linda and Nicole were immediately entangled in a catfight. It took all
the other Kids -excluding Ruby- to pull them apart.
"You'll see, one of these days he's going to be just as smart as any of us!"
Nicole yelled at Linda, who was being dragged away from the other Kids by Slash.

"I just wish I thought so..." Ruby thought as he lay curled up on the bath-
room floor.

Chapter 15

They had been in bed since 7:00 p.m. None of them were quite as enthusi-
astic about the big competition anymore. People were getting hurt, drunk, tired,
and who knows what else. Every single one of them was lying in bed, thinking about
what to do now.
"Why did I do this to everyone....?" Slash thought. "All for a stupid
snowboarding competition...."
"Is this really what we wanted?" Nancy thought. "Was this such an opportunity
that we had to steal a car and drive three provinces away in order to achieve it?"
"Why did I come along...?" Jam thought. "Money? Fame? Fortune?"
"This is stupid...." Linda thought. "I have enough money.....I don't need
any more...!"
"I'm hungry...I'm tired...I miss my parents...." Tommy thought. "Some trip
this turned out to be."
"This was my biggest mistake I think I ever made...." Nicole thought. "But
now that I found love in Ruby, I might be thankful for it...."
"This has been quite a half-a-month..." Pamela thought. "But I think it's
about time that this masquerade ended."
"I dowanna be Superman anymore...." Ruby thought. "I've done enough flying
around....."
All at the same time, the Kids sat up in bed, looked at one another, and
nodded. They got up out of bed, took out their suitcases, and began packing.
Within hours, none of their belongings was in sight. And when the sound of
police sirens and sight of red and blue flashing lights was seen, the Kids didn't
even budge.

* * *


"Come out with your hands up." The voice through the loudspeaker sounded.
"Drop any possesions you have on you. If they are not weapons, they will be given
back to you. Do not attempt anything rash."
One by one, in their pajamas, carrying their luggage, the Snowboard Kids
walked out, barefoot through the snow, turned to face the police cars and put their
hands in the air. The officers ran out of their cars, handcuffed the Kids, and put
them in the squad cars, two to a car.
In the squad car that Jam and Nancy were in, the officer looked over his
shoulder at them in the back seat.
"It's going to be a long drive back to Alberta from here." The officer said.
"About one and a half days. Since you guys are kids, I think I'll ask the other cops
to take it easy on you guys. But boy, you guys sure are tricky! I didn't even
think kids your age could get this far in half a month."

* * *

The drive certainly was long. It took TWO days to get from Ontario to
Alberta, including pit stops. But they eventually made it.
The procession finally came to a halt in front of Snow Town city hall, where
half the town's population and the Kids' parents were waiting. Two by two, the Kids
were un-cuffed and walked out of the squad cars. Their parents cried out and rushed
forward to hold, hug and kiss their Kids, crying their hearts out from worry.
"I-I'm so sorry...!" Ruby bawled as his parents held him. Mr. Green looked
at Ruby and smiled.
"Don't be. What you did was definitely wrong, but in any case, I'm just glad
you're safe!"
Some of the Kids themselves were crying. They knew that they would never try
a stunt like that again, no matter how appealing a snowboarding competition looked.

* * *

Slash sat in front of the TV, listening to his mom working in the kitchen.
The Kids were no longer permitted to live on their own in Snobow Mansion anymore.
They were now living with their parents in their original homes.
As he channel surfed, he came across the news channel. It showed footage of
his and the other Kids' arrest, and the bulletin at the bottom read:

CHILDREN MISSING FOR HALF A MONTH FOUND THREE PROVINCES AWAY IN SUNSET ROCK
RECREATIONAL AREA, ONTARIO - POLICE DISCOVERED THE EIGHT TAKING REFUGE IN A HOTEL
NOT FAR FROM THE PARK






Slash smiled.

But that was all he could bring himself to do.




~@ The End @~