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She gave Julie and Abby a thumbs-up and darted to the kitchen door Too late, she wondered what they were going to do if the door was locked, but it opened up to an empty kitchen

Certain at least the first part of the escape plan was clear, she ran back to the o"

They all three ran together and she didn’t think any one of them took a breath until they were safely in the kitchen

"I don’t like it," Julie said "It’s too quiet They have to be somewhere"

"Maybe they decided to finish the gaht" Abby stuck her head out into the hallway "And they just decided to ignore the fact that we ruined their fun No, I agree with Julie So on" She looked back over her shoulder "Looks clear Do we go through the pantry or down the hall?"

"Pantry leads directly to the ballroom Hallway’s more exposed" Sasha checked to make sure the pantry was empty

"I vote we stay in the kitchen and bake so to say we’re sorry" Julie pointed to her left "Sasha, I think those are carrots over there Why don’t you get started on them and we’ll make a carrot cake?"

"You’re lucky I don’t throw one at you Pantry, you think?" Sasha asked

"Pantry," Abby and Julie said together

They stepped into the pantry It was only a short walk to the back entrance of the ballrooe roo was off The rooht Norht

"Uh-oh," she said, right at the exact moment the room suddenly lit up

When her eyes finally adjusted, all she could focus on were the threeto decide if she should turn back and run into the pantry or stay where she was

"You know," Cole said, and she couldn’t hear any emotion in his voice, "if you look out from the upstairs office, you can see directly down into the maze"

"Damn it," Abbyup"

"Rookie reed "We’d suck as spies"

"The hallway’s exposed Go through the pantry" Julie glared at Sasha "Brilliant plan"

"Yeah, well, I didn’t hear you co other than a carrot cake," Sasha re to hide his grin "Carrot cake sounds pretty good"

Julie perked up "I’ll go make one!"

"No," Cole said "You ran off together, you can deal with the consequences together Besides, Sasha doesn’t cook Especially with carrots"

"Daht it on yourself" Nathaniel crooked finger at Abby "Coail"

Abby didn’t hesitate "Yes, Master"