If Cars Could Think 7

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Cassie rolled through the gates, breathing in the fresh morning air. She knew she and her sister weren't really supposed to leave the gates without their parents' permission, but they were asleep. And we waited long enough. Besides, we're getting bigger now. We can be out here without them needing to know.

"Should we really be doing this by ourselves?" Casey voiced the concerns Cassie had just been trying to put aside.

"You know what I heard George say once?" Cassie headed along the thin stretch of road. "'It's easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission.' Don't you agree?"

"You know Mom says not to listen to everything George says." Casey was following her, though. "Even Kimberly says not to listen to everything George says."

"I found out what a burnout is." She needs to stop worrying. "Blade told me."

"What is it, then?"

Even Casey is too curious! "It's when a car spins their tires really hard without actually rolling, I think. It causes the rubber to burn off on the pavement, and lots of smoke."

"That sounds like it hurts. Why would someone wanna do that?"

"Beats me. Blade says it's probably fun, but I wouldn't try it."

"Wouldn't Mom and Dad be mad, if they knew Blade told you about it?" Casey asked.

"Yeah. But they don't have to know."

"Don't you want them to be mad at Blade? He's so annoying!"

"Just like Mike, right?"

"Oh, uh... Mike's not that bad." Casey slowed behind her. "Where are we going?"

"Towards the woods where we see the cats. We'll go up into the field. They might be around now."

"You think they'd let us get close to them?" Casey asked.

"Of course," Cassie replied. "We're not that big and scary." She rolled into the grass where the curb dipped and vanished, making her way up the little slope, slippery with morning dew.

"Cassie!" Casey grunted. "You almost rolled into me."

"It's slippery. Maybe you should have gone ahead, if you're so good at it."

"I never said I was!"

"Shh! I hear something." Cassie halted under some low hanging leaves that now tickled her rooftop. We really are growing.

As her sister lined up beside her, she peered into the woods. Something was rustling in the leaves.

"What is it?" whispered Casey. "It sounds big."

"Not as big as us," Cassie boasted. "Let's hold still and see if we can spot it."

She rolled as close to the treeline as she could. There was no way of getting deeper into the woods from here; past all the trees and vines.

"There it is!" Casey exclaimed.

A small gray creature went scrambling up a tree trunk at the sound of her voice.

"You scared it!" hissed Cassie, backing out from under the trees. "You didn't have to shout like that. I barely even got to see it. What was it?"

Casey backed away, looking crestfallen. "It was... a squirrel, I think."