Timeline: Sunday night . . . late.
The girls are upstairs getting dressed . . . in dark clothing.
Tammy: Maybe we should put some of that black stuff on our face too.
Erin: Dad says no.
Tammy: Why not?
Erin: He says that, if we get caught, there’s still a chance we can talk our way out of it. But if we have that black stuff on our face, we’re dead meat.
Tammy: (pause) Dad’s smart.
Erin: Yeah.
They are now ready to go. Dad slides the ladder into the bus. Mom brings the box that is holding “it” out to the bus. Tammy, Erin, and Ashley board the bus and they are each carrying a walkie-talkie. Dad goes back inside for the sign, brings it out, and slides it into the aisle of the bus next to mom.
He then settles into the driver’s seat and starts the engine. Everyone is quiet.
Dad puts the bus into gear and they drive off into the night.
They park about two hundred feet from the school in a secluded spot they had picked out earlier while “casing” the area. Dad carries the ladder and the sign and mom carries the box as all five of them make their way toward the bushes in front of the school. Tammy then branches off to the left and heads northward to her look-out post up the street. Erin also breaks formation and heads southward to her look-out post down the street. Mom, Dad, and Ashley make it to the bushes and duck down behind them. They wait for their two sentries to get into position and then Ashley establishes radio communication. Dad pokes his head up and looks around. He then picks up the ladder and leans it against the side of the veranda. He starts to climb the ladder and then, “Red Alert ! Red Alert !” Tammy’s voice is heard coming over the walkie-talkie. “Car coming!” Dad hops down onto the ground, quickly takes the ladder down, and ducks down behind the bushes. Mom, Dad, and Ashley sort-of hold their breath as a car drives past the school. “Situation AOK.” Erin calls in over her walkie-talkie, “Car is gone.”
Again Dad puts the ladder against the veranda and climbs a few steps.
Mom then hands him the box, which he carries up to the roof of the veranda and sets down. He then reaches down for the sign, which Mom, half-way up the ladder, hands to him. He takes it out of the box and sets it up. “It looks OK.” he says to himself. He then attaches the sign to the front of it, double checks everything, and descends the ladder . . . carrying the empty box. Ashley makes the call over her walkie-talkie, “We’re all done. Come on back in.” Dad takes the ladder down, and the three of them creep across the school’s side yard. They are joined by their two accomplices and the five of them pussy foot over to the bus and get in. “Well,” says Mom, “we did it.”