Free The Second Adventure by Gordon Korman Page A

celebration three years in the making, and it was all the more joyous because it had taken so long to come to pass.
    The Spotlight visitors, good sports in the end, joined the cheers.
    Amid the chaos, Melissa glanced down and noticed something that very nearly stopped her heart. Luthor was no longer by her side. Frantic, she looked around. There was the elder of the two bus drivers, slinking through the partying throng, leading Luthor at the end of his leash.
    Melissa was a quiet person, but her solo had twisted her volume control to maximum. She used every decibel now.
“It’s the farmer! He’s taking the dog! Stop him!”
    The dognapper never had a chance. The campers were on him in an instant, knocking him to the ground and sitting on him. Athena wrenched the leash from his hand and tossed it to Melissa. She caught it — just in time to see the other driver, the one with the spiky hair, pushing through the crowd toward her.
    Her eyes met Logan’s. Neither of them was The Man With The Plan, but they had been friends with Griffin long enough to recognize a classic Code Z when they saw one. The jig was up, and it was time to get Luthor away from there.
    They leaped off the back of the stage and made for the trees, Luthor loping along beside them. They had not yet reached cover when Spiky Hair broke free of the chaos in hot pursuit.
    â€œWhere are we going?” Logan rasped.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter,” she panted in reply, “so long as we can lose this guy, hunker down, and call Griffin and Savannah!”
    â€œWhat if they don’t answer their phones?”
    â€œI’ve got seventy-four missed calls,” Melissa gasped. “I’m pretty sure they’ll pick up!”

    T he logo on the Chevy Silverado read NORTH COUNTRY POOL COMPANY . Rattling east on the bumpy road, the driver had no idea that he had two unofficial passengers lying under a tarpaulin in his flatbed.
    Savannah was practically hysterical. “Why don’t they answer? What’s happened to them? What’s happened to Luthor?”
    Griffin was worried, too, but he knew that panic could only jeopardize the plan. “If you don’t stop calling, you’re going to drain your battery. We’ll know soon enough. I’m pretty sure we’re almost there.”
    Cautiously, the two poked their heads out of the tarp and peered over the side wall of the flatbed. An amazing sight greeted their eyes. Coming toward them, running full-tilt along the dirt shoulder, were Logan, Melissa, and Luthor. Griffin was just about to call out to them as they flashed by, when he caught sight of their pursuer, a young man with spiky hair.
    Savannah did not hesitate to act in defense of her beloved dog. She picked up the long-handled bug dipper, raised herself to her knees, and brought it down like a butterfly net just as the pickup passed Spiky Hair. Her aim was perfect. The netting stopped his head, and the rest of him wiped out on the shoulder and rolled down into the ditch. His cry of shock was so loud that the pool man screeched to a halt and jumped from the truck, thinking that he’d hit someone.
    Griffin and Savannah hopped out of the flatbed and took off along the road after their fleeing friends.
    Even at full gallop, Luthor picked up Savannah’s scent on the wind. He made a U-turn so tight that it would have jackknifed a tractor trailer. In an instant, he was in Savannah’s arms, being hugged, kissed, and fussed over.
    The four friends met by the edge of the trees.
    â€œRun!” Logan choked. “There’s a guy after us!”
    â€œOld news,” Griffin soothed. “Savannah took care of him.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you tell us you were coming?” Melissa panted.
    â€œWhy didn’t you answer your phone?” Savannah countered.
    â€œIt’s complicated,” Melissa tried to explain. “We’re Code Z now, Griffin. Luthor’s compromised. He