Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Dink stared at the spot where daylight had been. He could feel Ruth Rose and Josh come closer. "What if he doesn't let us out?" Ruth Rose asked. "Let's try to get that window flap open again," Dink said. Dink and Josh hoisted Ruth Rose up to the window. She shoved against the flap. "Forget it,"

she said. "He must have locked it." They tried pushing against the door, but it too was solidly locked. "What're we gonna do, guys?" Josh asked. "No one even knows we're here!" Dink walked around the dim shed, feeling the walls for openings. In one corner, he stumbled over some rakes and shovels. "Guys, look!" Ruth Rose said suddenly. "Look at what?" Josh asked. "On the floor, by my foot," she said. Dink looked down and saw a round spot of white. "Sunlight!" Josh said. They looked up. There was a small hole in the roof. Dink ran to the corner and grabbed a shovel. "Maybe we can bust through!" he said. Josh took a rake. Together, they tried to poke at the small hole. "I can't reach!" Josh said. "Some of these cages are empty" Ruth Rose said. "Maybe you could stand on them!" Together, Josh and Dink dragged four cages over and made a platform. Standing on it, they

found that they could easily reach the ceiling. They smashed at the hole. After a few minutes, it was the size of a soft-ball. Hunks of wood, shingle, and tar paper fell on their heads and shoulders. Dink stopped to wipe his eyes. "My arms are killing me," Josh said, sitting on the cages to rest. "At least now we can see better," Ruth Rose said. She walked around, looking at the caged falcons. "The cages all have labels," she said. "The first two initials are different, but the second two are always KS." "Guys, I found Flash," Dink said. He was looking at a cage holding three young falcons. The label on the cage door read GLKS-6- 17. "OH MY GOSH!" Ruth Rose yelled. "I just remembered what I couldn't remember!" "What?" Dink asked. "When we went to Curt's office, I saw a nameplate on his desk," she said. "His name is spelled with a K, not a C!" "I don't get it," Josh said.

"I do," Dink said. "The KS on Flash's leg band stands for Kurt Striker, right, Ruth Rose?" "Right! And I bet the GL stands for Green Lawn!" she said. "Now I get it," Josh said. "He labeled the falcons with the place he found them and his own initials." "We have to tell Officer Fallon," Ruth Rose said. "First we have to get out of here!" Josh grabbed his rake and climbed back on the stack of cages. With Dink and Josh both smashing at the roof, they made the hole larger. Sunlight poured in on their sweaty, dirty faces. Finally, the hole was wide enough to crawl through.

"Pile up more cages!" Ruth Rose said. With two more cages on the stack, the kids could climb out onto the shed roof. They sat for a minute, breathing in the clean air and feeling the sun on their faces. "It was him the whole time," Josh said, sounding disappointed. "At least we found the falcons," said Dink. Josh walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. "The barrel's still there," he said. "Come on, we can climb down." As soon as they were on the ground, the kids ran toward Main Street and the police station.