| The Ultimate High

No one was home at Woody's place. Ava stood by as Lucy rapped repeatedly on the front door, but no welcoming light appeared at any window, and no sound of movement came from inside.

'So now what do we do?' Ava asked dismally, as the rain drummed down around them. She wondered helplessly where Jack was now. She should've gone after Jane, got in the wagon, and refused to get out. If anyone were to reach Jack and rescue him it should be her, not that girl – and especially not in the state of mind Jane must be in now. And whose fault was that? Ava reflected guiltily.

'Gee, this sure is a run-down neighborhood,' Lucy observed. The tenement overlooked a vacant lot on one side and some boarded-up slums on the other. 'I bet there's a lot of crime.' She walked up to a cracked front window and put her elbow through it. The glass broke noisily.

'Are you crazy?' Ava hissed in disbelief.