Things were going according to plan again. Everything was going their way. He had sawed through half of the branch, and they were going to make it back to the train in time.

Then a light turned on in the church.

“Hurry! Saw! Saw! Saw!” Faye hissed.

Wunder hurried, but his hands were sweaty now and his grip kept slipping. His arms were getting tired. The branch was so thick and the wood didn’t seem to be giving under his saw the way it had at the beginning.

“Someone’s coming!” Davy was whisper-screaming. “Someone’s coming!”

Wunder heard a door shut somewhere on the other side of the church. He bent toward the branch, pushing back and forth, back and forth as fast as he could.

“Someone’s coming, someone’s coming, someone’s coming.” Davy was chanting this now in a high, petrified voice.

“David’s right, Wundie,” Faye whispered. “We’ve got to go.”

“Almost there,” Wunder said. “Come on, Tree. I need your help.”

And then the branch finally broke loose. It crashed toward the ground, narrowly missing the bird statue. Davy let out a true scream—sharp and earsplitting. The someone who was coming, a man, yelled, “Who’s out there?”

Wunder leaped to the ground. There was no reason to be quiet now.

“Everyone grab the branch!” he shouted.

Even with the three of them working together, the branch was heavy and bulky and nearly impossible to lift. They had to heave it over the fence, then load it into the wagon with frantic hands. There wasn’t room for the bag of tools, so Wunder left it behind. He knew his father wouldn’t be happy about that, but he couldn’t help it.

As they were racing off—Wunder pulling the wagon as fast as he could and Faye and Davy steadying the branch—Wunder saw the silhouette of a man coming slowly, cautiously around the corner of the church. He didn’t yell after them though. He stood and watched as they ran farther and farther away.

Chapter 36

It was 8:10 when they reached the train station, sweating and out of breath and pulling a ten-foot-long branch in a kids’ red wagon.

So much for discretion.

“Where are you three going?” the ticket agent at the window called to them.

“Branch Hill,” Wunder panted.

“Branch Hill.” The agent looked down at something in front of him. “That’s seven hours away. Your parents know you’re getting on a train to Branch Hill?”

“Our parents live in Branch Hill,” Wunder replied, trying to catch his breath and sound mature and responsible at the same time. “They bought us the tickets. And they’re meeting us at the train.”

“We’ve been here on UIPS business,” Faye added.

“Is that some kind of gardening club?” the agent asked. He was staring at the tree branch.

Wunder was surprised when it was Davy who answered. “No,” he said, his voice shaky but loud and clear. “We study the miraculous.”

“The miraculous?”

Wunder knew that this was it, the final obstacle. If they could get past this ticket agent and onto the train, they would be home free. “Are you a man of faith, sir?” he asked.