When the SUV is gone, I say, “They love each other.”

“Yeah,” Skylar says.

“They’re spies,” I say, “not cheaters. Probably neither one of them is married.”

Skylar frowns, but she doesn’t argue.

We look at my video. It’s kind of blurry because of the tree. “Does she look familiar to you?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “If only she’d take off those sunglasses and that stupid hat. We don’t know what color her hair is or whether it’s short or long.”

“There’s something about her,” I say, toying with a memory. “The way she walks, maybe. But then probably lots of people look like her.”

“Average height,” Skylar says, “medium build. Not much to go on. But that’s what makes her a good spy. Forgettable, you know?”

I swallow a mouthful of water. “Let’s make sure to be here next Thursday.”

We bump fists, pack up our stuff, and climb down the tree.

“Train tracks or Marie Drive?” Skylar asks.

I hesitate. “The train tracks are faster, but the woods are creepy. We’d have to pass the deer.”

“No hills, though,” Skylar says. “No cars.”

She turns toward the field, and we ride through the leaping grasshoppers again. A cloud drifts across the sun and the woods turn dark. We slow down. I’m not sure we made the right choice. But then the cloud floats away and the woods are just trees in the sunlight.

Soon after we pedal into the woods, a deer steps in front of us. She’s small, not quite full grown. She still has white spots on her fur. For a moment she freezes and stares at us, wide-eyed. We brake to a stop and sit quietly. The deer looks at us. We look at the deer. It’s magic.

Suddenly her ears turn and twitch as if she hears something we can’t. She bounds away. The white flag of her tail vanishes into the underbrush.

I hear a noise behind us. Skylar and I whirl around. Jason and Carter are standing a few feet away. Carter points his finger like a gun at the place the deer disappeared. “Pow!”

He and Jason laugh, but Skylar and I tighten our grip on our handlebars. I feel like the deer, frozen.

“What are you doing here?” Carter asks us. His voice has a nasty edge that slides under my skin like a knife.

Jason sniggers and stares at Skylar. Carter lights a cigarette and says, “You girls smoke?”

We shake our heads. They haven’t threatened us yet, but it’s like waiting for lightning when the air feels electric.

“They don’t smoke,” Carter tells Jason in a prissy little voice. “They’re too good for us.”

“They’re in Honors,” Jason says.

Carter sneers. “They’re dogs.”