Outside

Kathy smiled and nodded at Sid's remark, hoping that Calvin and Gavin would be persuaded to join them.

"Sid's right!" she said, "If you think we're 'lame' them maybe you should be the solution. Maybe it's you who need to bring something to the table for a change?"

Her face fell as she realised she'd gotten a bit bold in what she was saying, and suddenly blushed a little. Perhaps, she thought, it was because she knew that her and Ray were supposed to have been pranking Calvin that day, so she was already accepting of the fact that by tonight he might have ended up being pissed off with her. But that dread fascination of the boy was still there pricking at her mind.

The four rogues stooped and advanced slowly as they heard the voices rising within the caves up ahead. It sounded like a small female voice getting increasingly hysterical...despite the echo and the distance the last words "this cave it too small" were clearly distinguishable. Q-Ball looked back and grinned to the others.

"What do you think?" he said, "Local back got a little mountain hideaway?"

"Yeah and you know why that's not good?" Drake whispered as visciously as he could manage.

"No, why?"

"Because for all we know they could be using these caves to watch us in our camp. They could know about our plan!!"

"The fuck?" Nico snorted, "Even we don't know about Winter's plan, how much could they have heard from these caves?"

Craig scratched his head and looked back towards where they'd come from. "We should go back and tell Winter."

"No!!" Drake said forcefully, "We need to go and see who it is, and take care of them."

Q-Ball and Nico nodded in agreement, and Craig reluctantly continued deeper into the crevice behind the other three. The voices ahead seemed to have stopped, and the rogues cursed to themselves as they entered a small chamber with seemed to run downwards into a flooded area, offering no obvious way forward.

"I don't get it," Nico muttered, "if there's no way forward, how could we hear the..."

They were interupted when something broke the surface of the water, and a small figure crawled out onto the stone floor. The four boys watched in wide-eyed disbelief as the small female flopped onto her back, gasping and wheezing desperately. They looked at each other in confusion. Was she having a fit or something? The one thing they knew for sure was that the drenched girl was, without a doubt, one of the local wolves. Slowly the realisation crossed each of their faces, and they paced forwards, forming a semi-circle around the soggy young wolf.

"Hey little girl," Craig said aggressively, "guess you're not such a surprise. A little runt like you's probably only useful for spying."

"Yeah," Q-Ball chuckled, "how long you been watching our camp from these caves huh? You know if you wanted an introduction, all you had to do was ask. Cute little thing like you is always welcome on our patch."

"Can it." Drake barked, "She's coming back with us, Winter's gonna have to know about this."

"What's the rush?" Q-Ball said, his giggling becoming almost maniacal, "Look at her she can scarcely breathe. When's the last time you had a female at your mercy?"

"Keep it in your pants Q." Craig retorted.

"Fuck you!" Q-Ball spat, "Who made you the boss?"

Unexpectedly, Q-Ball lunged at Craig and pushed him in the chest, knocking him off balance. Drake and Nico braced themselves, trying to decide if they could afford a few seconds to break up the fight at the risk of their 'captive' escaping...