Cordia Pike had never even imagined doing anything like this before in her whole life. Except for her rash trip to Springfield, she had always been extremely honest with her parents—almost to a fault. Now, here she was, lacing up her boots at 1:45 in the morning to sneak out.
She had wondered, at first, about the possibility of going out her bedroom window. There was a tree branch that overhung the roof, and she had thought it might be possible to swing onto the top of a little shed from there and then jump down. Though Cordia usually found it hard to admit, she really was scared to commit such daring feats. So, she decided she would do the most obvious thing and take her chances sneaking out the back door. She was too frightened to bring a lantern with her. Instead, she used what little
