The night was clear and cool, but I was sweating. I needed to travel 4 blocks, without being seen. I stuck to the shadows, and flopped down whenever a car approached.

Some minutes later, I arrived at the inter-state. I was susprised at the traffic this time of night. I stood in the shadows and waited. After ten minutes, the traffic slowed enough for me to cross. Once across the Inter-state, I worked myself down the rock and weed incrusted slope to the edge of the river.The river was high and fast. I pulled the pj’s from under my hoodie. The bottoms I threw in the river, the top half I just gave a toss into the weeds.

In the darkness it was hard climbing up to the road. I slipped several times; I scraped my hand and banged my shin, but at last I was on the verge of the highway. I crossed the Inter-state and made my way back in the same cautious manner.

I made a quick stop at the dugout and retrieved the gems and the bogus stones. There were a lot of things I needed to do yet.