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As the dogs' barking grew nearer, Nosey began to panic.

"We're cooked, guys!" he moaned.

"Shut up!" Ursula snapped. "We need to get away from here!"

Everyone agreed with this and took off into the trees. If they could find some water, or animals, maybe they could throw the dogs of their scent.

Suddenly, a shout rang out. "I see them!"

This was followed by a series of gunshots. One voice called out, "No! We need them alive, you idiots!"

"We need to spilt up." Delilah decided.

"Where will we meet?" Emmet asked.

Nosey looked around and sighted a telephone pole a few hundred yards to their left. "Over there! Good luck, guys."

The agents melted away into the thicket like shadows. A few moments later, the police officers arrived. "They split up," one Officer Atkins said. "Get the dogs to follow their scents."

A few trees away, Delilah and Julius sat watching their pursuers. The police officers they could handle; they were trained spies, after all. But the dogs, Dobermans, were a different story. They needed to give the dogs the slip, or, like Nosy said, they were cooked.

One Doberman came over to the tree and began sniffing it. Just as it was about to look up in the tree, a twig snapped farther away. Neither Delilah or Julius dared to breathe until the police officers were out of sight.

"Can you believe this is happening?" Delilah asked.

"Not really," Julius answered. "I mean, we used to hide from security all the time, but, this is different. Al's not on the other end of our watch, waiting to give us help. We're on our own."

Delilah leaned back against the tree trunk and thought. Julius was right; normally, if they got stuck, Al was right there, offering advice, or sending back-up. But this time there was no back-up. Back-up was in jail.

"D?" Julius was looking at her, concern on his face. "You OK?"

Delilah nodded. "Yeah, yeah. We should get to the telephone pole. You know what Ursula will be like if we're last."

As the two swung off into the trees, Julius knew that Delilah was not fine.

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[Rendezvous]

As it turned out, Nosey was the last one of the group to show up. He explained he'd tripped and snapped a bunch of twigs, and the dogs had come after him.

"Hey man, you saved us!" Julius exclaimed, slapping his back. "Thanks,"

Nosey seemed to swell with pride at the fact his trip wasn't just a stupid blunder. Ursula came up with the next idea.

"Look, they're gonna be combing the woods for us, now that they saw us. We need to get out of here, probably out of the province."

"How're we gonna do that?" Emmet asked.

Again, Ursula had an answer. "Simple. We need to stow away in a vehicle going on a ferry."

Delilah was impressed. "Good thinking, Ursula. And the docks aren't far from here. Let's get going before those dogs find us again."

A few hours later, the five fugitives found themselves a few yards away from the docks, their ticket to freedom. But it was swarming with police officers, checking each car before it was loaded on.

"Now what?" Julius asked.

This time it was Delilah who provided the solution. "Ursula, give me your hair elastic."

Ursula frowned, and made no move to comply.

"Do you want to get out of here or what?"

Taking the elastic out of her hair, Ursula tossed it moodily to Delilah. Delilah put one end over her thumb and pinched the other end with her fingers on the opposite hand. She stretched it as far as it would go, and let it fly.

The elastic buzzed past the security guards and hit the treetops. At the sound of the noise, the officers took off into the woods.

As soon as they disappeared, the five agents took off. All the motor vehicle occupants were staring intently into the trees, none of the fugitives had any problem slipping onto the ferry. They ducked in-between the cars, searching for something they could hide in.

"Look!" Nosey pointed. "A motor-home!"

Slipping around the cars, Delilah, Julius, Ursula, Emmet and Nosey reached the trailer. They prayed it was unlocked. It wasn't.

"No problem," Delilah whispered, taking a bobby-pin out of her hair. "From our first mission," she added to Julius so no one could hear.

He smiled. The bobby-pin was saving their butts again. When the door was unlocked, the spies slipped into the trailer and closed the door.

Then they realized the motor-home was occupied.