Trickster s Girl - By Hilari Bell Page 0,68

expecting at any moment to hear sirens behind her - though they probably didn't chase people down with sirens for urinating in a public place.

She was out of Deese Lake in a few minutes, and between the deepening dusk and the rough road it was easy to go slowly enough for Raven to catch up with her. Soon she had to turn on her headlight, and on the potholed surface that slowed her down even more.

How long before the antidote would take effect? Assuming that eucalyptus sap that had been made into a chest rub would work at all.

Eucalyptus might have been imported to this continent, but California was a long way from British Columbia, especially by dirt bike. Kelsa couldn't afford a plane ticket, and if she transferred money from her mother's account to her own, this adventure would come to a screeching halt. Because when she refused to come home, her mother would call the Canadian police to bring her home.

Hell, the police would be after Kelsa anyway the moment they noticed that Raven had vanished from their jail. Assuming he could break out of jail. He'd sworn his beak was strong enough to tear that screen, but if he couldn't...

It was almost two hours later when a big black bird swooped out of the night and through her headlight.

Kelsa stopped the bike. There was still no traffic, and her lights would warn anyone who came around the curve. She pushed up the shield on her helmet.

"Don't change," she told Raven, as he assumed his usual perch on her handlebars. "Otter Woman told me the police set up a roadblock somewhere between here and Good Hope Lake. I don't match the description of the girl who ripped off Charlie, but I don't want to push my luck. Can you scout ahead and circle back to stop me if you see anything?"

The raucous squawk that answered was completely uninformative. Kelsa grimaced. "One caw for no, two for yes."

The great wings lifted, almost like a human shrug, feathers rustling. Then he cawed. Twice.

"Thanks."

The wind from his takeoff caressed her face like cold fingers.

***

He flew ahead of her all night, swinging back occasionally to reassure her. It wasn't hard to figure out that when he swooped low and flew down the road in front of her that meant go on, and that flying across her path meant stop. He stopped her twice, near creeks both times, where he took a drink and rested on the handlebars for a while. Kelsa took advantage of those brief breaks to relieve herself and down some water or an energy bar.

He didn't stop her before the town of Good Hope, where the magneto-repellant asphalt resumed and she was able to increase speed, though he did fly back to her less and less often.

The sky was beginning to brighten in the northeast when he swooped across the road a third time.

Kelsa, who really didn't want to encounter a roadblock now, turned off the pavement, rode through a shallow drainage ditch and into the trees.

The mountains had leveled out here and the forest was dry and thinner, very like the Rockies she'd left so far behind.

She turned the headlight off and waited till Raven flapped down beside her. In the growing light of dawn, the change from bird to man wasn't quite so horrifying. Was she finally becoming accustomed to it?

"You're going to need a new set of bike clothes," she said, reaching into the pack. "My spare jeans will be too short, but it's better than running around naked, and we can buy you some clothes in the next town."

"Clothes, yes." Raven pulled the therma knit she tossed him over his head. Her jeans were too short, and also loose around his narrow waist - a fact Kelsa noted with some annoyance.

"But not biker clothes," Raven continued. "Do you have any shoes that would ... ah, I suppose not. We'll have to buy them too. Give me the highest-denomination bill you've got and I'll copy it."

"Why not bike gear?" Kelsa asked, pulling the spare cash he'd given her out of her pocket. "You need something reinforced, in case the bike - "

" We'll have to leave the bike behind," Raven told her. "I turned off both the lights and the surveillance in my cell, but the moment someone on the morning shift brings me breakfast, the police will start looking for both of us. And this bike. Could you become a blonde? Or a redhead?"

"No," said