But it worked again today. And thanks to Nathan, the Allied team eked out the win. Probably, Zach suspected, because the last thing the Axis squad expected was for Nathan to go rogue again.

A crow landed on the road and began to peck at something. Zach realized that Caleb had still not come down the hill. Zach couldn’t see the top of the hill because at the bottom the road curved to the left behind the trees. But Caleb definitely should have been down by now.

Zach jogged back around the curve. At the bottom of the straightaway, he looked up the hill. There was no sign of Caleb. Zach felt his stomach tighten and his heart begin to race. If Caleb wasn’t on the road, then the only other place he could be was in the trees. Zach pictured Caleb wrapped around a tree. He imagined calling 911. He pictured an ambulance coming, and the EMTs rolling Caleb away on a stretcher. He imagined Caleb in a hospital bed wearing a neck brace, one of his arms in a cast and his leg in another cast elevated by wires.

Zach began to panic. Where was Caleb? Which of the hundreds of trees had he crashed into? He ran up the hill, looking left and right. As he passed a patch of tall grass, he heard laughing.

Caleb quietly opened the side door. He eased himself into the house and started to tiptoe down the hall to his room.

“That you, Caleb?” his mother called from the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready.”

“Be there in a second,” Caleb called back, ducking into his room and closing the door. The sight that met him in the mirror wasn’t pretty. He definitely had to get into the bathroom and clean up before his mother saw him. He silently opened his bedroom door and slid back into the hall…where his mother was waiting.

Her eyes widened. “What in the world?”

Caleb froze. “It’s nothing, Mom.”

“Nothing? Your face is covered with scratches. You’re covered with grass stains and mud. Were you trying to sneak into the bathroom without me seeing?”

“No,” Caleb lied. He stepped back and winced from the pain that shot through his knee.

“Are you limping?” Mrs. Arnett asked.

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“Fine? You look like you’ve been in a fight. What happened?”

“I fell off a skateboard.”

His mother’s jaw dropped. “Since when do you skateboard?”

“Well, I—”

“Were you wearing a helmet? Did you hit your head?”

“I was wearing a helmet,” Caleb assured her. “I didn’t hit my head. I just need to get into the bathroom.” He took a step and winced in pain.

“You’re definitely limping,” Mrs. Arnett said. “I want to see that knee.”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Caleb said. “Just give me a cold pack and it’ll—”

“How do you know it isn’t sprained?” she asked. “How do you know you didn’t tear a ligament? You probably need an MRI. I’m calling Dr.—”