Sin gave a disdainful toss of her head. “Washing is so bourgeois.”

Ten minutes later, they all had something flexible with a tiny gatemouth inside it. Three tampons, a licorice stub, a condom package, and a lion-shaped eraser that Hal had in his pocket.

“Why a lion?” asked Sin.

Hal shrugged. “Got it as a prize at the dentist one time.”

“And you carry it with you,” said Sin.

“Lost a tooth, got a lion,” said Hal.

“It’s Aslan,” said Wheeler.

Hal looked really angry.

“Stop it,” said Danny. “Have some loyalty, Wheeler.”

“He told about my condom,” said Wheeler.

“So if one of us pisses off another one of us, then suddenly we’re all about getting even?” asked Pat. “Oh, that’ll work.”

“We don’t tell each other’s secrets,” said Laurette. “And we don’t make fun of each other.”

“Does that mean I can’t mention your cleavage, ever?” asked Danny.

“We don’t make fun of things that matter,” said Laurette. “Making fun of my cleavage is just another way of telling me that it’s working.”

“I think that’s a good rule,” said Danny.

“We all make fun of how Laurette shows her boobs?” asked Xena.

“We don’t make each other feel bad,” said Danny. “We don’t tell each other’s secrets to outsiders.”

The others agreed.

“All of your gates,” said Danny, “they’ll take you here. But there’s a chance one of the Families will find out about this place, so when you get here, if it’s an emergency, just reach out to this tree.” Danny showed them the one. “And here under this branch, there’ll be another gate. Can you all reach it?”

They all proved that they could, even Xena, whose arms weren’t all that long.

“Where will that gate take us?” asked Pat.

“Someplace far away. Someplace where I’ll put a stash of money and a weapon. You’ll never have to use it, but it’ll be there, in case somebody’s following you through the gate.”

“So you don’t have any idea yet where it’ll go,” said Pat.

“I’m thinking Disney World,” said Danny.

“A weapon in the Magic Kingdom?” asked Sin. “That’s just wrong.”

“I’ll find someplace safe, where I can stash a weapon and nobody will find it,” said Danny. “For now, though, I’ll make it lead to a place in DC. And then I’ll make another gate there and show you all where it is, so you can get back to Buena Vista but in a different place.”

“So we can try it out? It’ll just be sitting there and if we want to go to DC we can use it?” asked Wheeler.