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Jake’s hand went up to his black eye at the mention of his name.

“You see?” said Miss Norris.

“But I still don’t think we should quit,” Elvie concluded. “That’s what the cheater wants, you know. He wants us to quit. So I don’t think we should.”

Miss Norris was quiet for a moment, as if she couldn’t immediately find a response to Elvie’s logic. Then she shook her head and said, “It doesn’t matter. We’ve been kicked out of the park, and we never solved this puzzle. So we can’t win anyway. Let’s go.”

Winston again considered giving them the answer to the Ferris wheel puzzle. Somehow, he didn’t think Miss Norris would appreciate that.

But then he said, “Wait! You can still solve this puzzle!” The girls and their teacher turned and looked at him. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of this sooner: Winston dug a piece of paper out of his pocket. Yes. All the words from the Ferris wheel, written in a circle. It was everything they needed. He extended the paper to Miss Norris. “Look. You don’t need the Ferris wheel at all. All the words are written right here. I can’t tell you the answer because I guess that would be cheating. But you can still solve the puzzle.”

Miss Norris looked at Winston’s extended arm, then took the piece of paper from his hand.

Sensing a crack in her teacher’s resolve, Bethany said, “It’s my name in that book, and I don’t want to quit. The boys aren’t quitting, and neither should we! And if we can solve this puzzle after all. . . . Miss Norris, please! Let’s keep playing!”

Miss Norris looked at the paper. She glanced up at Winston, her expression somewhere between suspicious and hopeful. “You’re giving this to us?”

“It’s my fault you got kicked out of the park,” Winston said.

“It’s Bethany’s fault,” Miss Norris said. “She followed you.”

“I’m sorry,” said Bethany. “I shouldn’t have run away. But please don’t make us quit. We’ll listen to you from now on. We’ll be good.” Elvie and Giselle nodded in fervent agreement.

Miss Norris did a poor job suppressing a smile, and Winston knew the girls had won. “Get in the car,” their teacher said. “If we all stay together from now on, we’ll keep playing. If you run away from me again, that’s it. We’re going home. Also, you have to solve this puzzle, of course,” she added, waving Winston’s piece of paper.

The girls jumped up and down. Giselle said, “We will! Let’s go!” They all danced their way through the parking lot. Bethany looked over her shoulder and beamed at Winston. That was thank you enough.

As the girls walked down a row of cars to Miss Norris’s sedan, Jake said, “Oh man. She totally likes you, Winston.”

Winston didn’t know what to say to that and was almost relieved when a voice behind them said, “I thought I told you boys to wait by the car!” Mr. Garvey was suddenly marching toward them. He looked beside himself with exasperation. Winston and his friends flinched. Mr. Garvey said, “I thought I threatened dire, drastic consequences if you boys were not by the car when I arrived.”

“The car’s right there,” Mal said, pointing.

“Yes. And you’re here. Thank you for making my point for me. Let’s go. We have a lot of work to do yet.” He marched back to his car, the boys following.

“What were you doing back there?” Jake asked.

Not turning around, Mr. Garvey announced, “I thought I had a responsibility to tell the other teams about the cheater.”

“You sure scared Bethany’s teacher,” Winston said. “They almost quit.”

Mr. Garvey stopped. “Almost?” he said. “She said she was taking her girls home.”

“They changed their minds,” Mal said.

They all saw it, right then. Mr. Garvey knocked his fist against his leg and shook his head—an expression of frustration. Winston and his friends traded a few charged looks.

Winston said to Mr. Garvey, “Did you want them to quit?”

Mr. Garvey tried on a smile. “I didn’t try to talk them out of it, if that’s what you mean.” He looked at his car. “You boys left all four doors wide open, and the trunk. That’s just great.”

Mal said, “We were airing it out.”

Mr. Garvey shook his head and got into