Capture The Flag

The kids sneak past the airline desks, where the only adult is an inattentive employee “eating a cupcake and reading a book called Ten Days to a Flatter Belly” (109). The kids realize that to get into the baggage area they will have to ride the conveyor belt that takes luggage to be sorted. As the kids contemplate this idea, Snake-Arm hurries into the area wearing a baggage handler’s fluorescent orange vest, reaches behind a counter, and turns on the belt. From their hiding spot, they see him hop onto the belt and disappear. They become more convinced that Snake-Arm is involved in the theft of the flag and is going to check on it down below. Nervous but determined, they follow.

Anna, Henry, and José tumble into a cavernous space “ten times the size of Anna’s school gymnasium at home,” with bags and boxes of all sorts scattered everywhere (114). At first, the room seems deserted, but then they see Snake-Arm searching through the luggage. As they quietly look for bags labeled BTV for Burlington, Vermont, all the conveyor belts in the room suddenly spring into motion. As the bags move around the room, the kids follow, and Anna is separated from the others. She finds a bag labeled BTV and hops on the belt, determined to follow it to Sinan or the flag.

Anna rides the belt until she drops off a ramp into a pile of suitcases. She hears voices (one of which sounds familiar) and what sounds like change clinking in a pocket. Men are searching for the flag amid the luggage. Anna takes out her mini video camera to record them. The clinking comes from the clamps that were holding the flag, though Anna can’t see that—and one man scolds the other for bringing them from the museum. Anna climbs the belt to get a better view and ends up directly above them. As she records, she hears them tear a piece off the flag and gets so upset she drops her camera. As the men are about to investigate, Sinan and Hammurabi appear. The men grab Sinan, threatening that bad things can happen to lost kids at an airport, and the conveyor moves Anna away into a tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel, Anna finds José and Henry and tells them everything she heard. They know they need proof, so they decide to go back and find Anna’s camera. While it’s Anna’s turn to worry about the danger, Henry takes the lead and says they have to help Sinan because a little boy is more important than the camera. José halfheartedly offers a Euripides quote about courage but they all feel the situation is grim. Scared, Anna and José go back through the tunnel with Henry.

Back in the giant baggage room, they try to figure out where the men would have taken Sinan and Hammurabi. From a high perch, they see Snake-Arm below and then see the lid of a box moving—Sinan is hiding inside. They agree that Anna and José will create a distraction so Henry can try to get to Sinan.

Anna and José find a bag of golf clubs, which they drop to distract Snake-Arm while they run. He pursues them, and they climb along the maze of conveyor belts to escape. José looks through the luggage for something they can use to defend themselves and finds an assortment of toiletries. Snake-Arm approaches, warning them that he’s not just some baggage handler, and Anna asserts that they know who he is. He warns that if they don’t go with him they’ll be in trouble with much tougher people. José throws a tub of face powder at him, and Anna sprays him with hairspray, making him choke and cough long enough for them to get away. José has also emptied a bottle of shampoo onto the belt, so as Snake-Arm tries to pursue them again, he slips and falls, allowing them to escape.