The Runners: Prologue

                                                           Prologue
Hello girls.
That was the only thing written on the paper. I passed it to CJ, who looked over it a few times, trying to find some hidden meaning before passing it to Milo with a huff.
We'd found the note in the knot of a tree we visited on our little escapades to St. Daniel's Athletic Park.
St. Daniel's Athletic Park was where all the little league teams had at least one game. Now, my brother didn't play baseball. My best friend's brother, however, did.
CJ was the youngest of the three of us. Us being CJ, Milo, and I. CJ was in charge of carting her brother too and from games (which had been so dubbed by her father, Mr. Bill). She didn't seem to mind, because Milo and I always tagged along. We never watched the game, though. We had other things to do, because, you see, St. Daniel's was the only place in the area with a large enough forest the three of us.
It had almost been just like any other time we'd gone.
There was a creek at the foot of the steep incline ahead of us and we stopped for just a moment.
"How are we gonna do this?" Milo asked, leaning against the nearest tree.
I looked at my friends. We were all tall enough to make it the slope on the other side without too much trouble, but we had the dogs this time, so it was a different story. CJ was tall and willowy, with black hair and hazel eyes; Milo was just a few inches shorter than CJ, and was almost as scrawny, with blonde hair a green eyes. Me? I was the tallest of the three and probably the strongest of us.
"Line up three?" Cj asked.
Line ups were the orders in which we walked. There was different order and pattern for each line up, and I think we had about ten of them. Number three went Milo, CJ, then me. I was almost always in the lead, but back up plans had been needed when we'd created the line-up.
Milo whistled sharply, and the dogs, who had wandered off, came running back up the creek. The trickle of water was an easy obstacle, and we were across in a moment. Well, Milo and CJ were. I had to stay behind and help push my hundred and ten pound mutts up over the other side.
"Finally," I huffed, and looked at my dogs, who were staring at me stupidly. "As soon as we get home, you guys are going on a diet. Fatties, gawd."
CJ was smiling and shaking her head. "C'mon you guys, we gotta get moving. We wouldn't want the farmer and his brat to see us."
I nodded. "Number two, girls."
That put me in the middle as we started off the dogs to either side of me. Five or so feet and we were on the other side of the tree-line, and from there it was a 200 or so meter dash to the next safe part of our little escapade.
"Boys," I called to the dogs, and switched to the front. I pointed to where we were going and they followed the line.
"Go!" I barked at them, and they ran for it.
If we sent them ahead, and were caught or spotted, we could call them back if the situation got too bad.
I looked around, trying to find the farmer and the kid (who really wasn't much older than the three of us). The Old Man was in the far field, facing away from us, there were turkeys in the field, gobbling some little worms up, and I didn't see the kid, which meant he must've been inside.
"Well?" Milo asked a little impatiently.
"Shut up and check this out," I motioned her forward. "You wanna get caught by Old Mr. McGregor? No? Then be quite and watch, Peter Rabbit."
It was not unusual for me to use storybook references. That one was my favorite.
I pushed the girls ahead of me. "RUN," I hissed loudly.
And they did. I was behind them, right on their heels. Literally. CJ was on the track team, and I had been, but it had taken up too much free time. I was just happy that I was still faster than my friend. But she was a long distance runner, not a shortie.  "Keep going!"
We reached the other tree-line, with barely a problem, and only one dead turkey.
We took the long way, because we had extra time. It was a Friday and CJ's little brother was grabbing a ride over to one of his friend's house, so we pretty much had all the time in the world. Plus, it was my turn to host the fabulous three's sleep-over.
Arbre de la déesse (literally translated as tree of the goddess) probably one of the largest trees in our area. It was our resting spot. It means that all we had to do was cross the stream and we were at the back of my house. Well... cross the stream and a train yard. But that was an entirely different matter.
Milo walked right up to the tree, licked her thumb and wiped it across the biggest flower on the branches. Arbre de la déesse was an ancient magnolia tree, and we respected it like it deserved to be —like the great spirit that she was. Always offer something of yourself, and spit was the best we could give since blood on the messy side. CJ took her turn, then hopped into the only knot in the tree ( which was, of course, big enough for her to fit her skinny little booty in there).
That was when we had found the little note. It had stuck CJ right in the thigh, making her yelp and jump right on out. It was written on a small piece of bristol board, which was a painter's material, and we had guessed it was the first thing whoever had written it could get their hands on.
"Search it," CJ barked, and the three of us dove at the tree.
A few more minutes and we had found quite a few other things. A turkey feather and three necklaces. Each necklace was a wolf mask, each a separate color: white, black and a shimmery copper.
I snatched the necklaces away from Milo and held them up so all three of us could see them.
White, black and copper. White, black and copper. Blonde, black and copper. Milo, CJ and me.
I think we all had the realization, because as soon as one started moving the others did too. We didn't care what we left, we didn't care really. We could always come back for CJ's car and the bag we had left only had medical supplies. And though the dogs had been silent while we'd been at the tree... they were crying mournfully as we vaulted right across the stream.
We needed to leave. And FAST.

Hello girls.
I can't believe I never thought that would happen. I played with the weight around my neck and sore shoulders. What can I say? It was a really cool necklace.