“What's this?" Dan said, pointing to a funny squiggly formation. Uh, an M," said Nellie. "Or if you look at it the other way, a W. Or sideways, kind of S-ish..."Maybe it's palm trees," Dan said. "Like in the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. You know? No? These guys need to find hidden money, and the only clue they have is it's under a big W? And no one sees what it means-but then, near the end of the movie, there's this grove of four palm trees rising up in the shape of... you-know-what! Classic!"Amy, Alistair, Natalie, Ian and Nellie all looked at him blankly.There is no W in the Korean language," Alistair replied. "Or palm trees in Korea. I might be maple trees..."Mrrp," said Saladin, rubbing his face against Dan's knee. I'll tell you the rest of the plot later," Dan whispered to the Mau.”

“It's a token for the arcade games at Laser Sport Time!" Dan hissed."Uncle Alistair doesn't think so," Amy murmured. "He's a numismatist.""He takes his clothes off in public?" Dan said.”

“When the guy turned around, Amy began stuttering. Silently. It was a feat only Amy could manage, and only Dan could notice.And it only happened in front of boys who looked like this one. He had brown hair and caramel-colored eyes, like Dan's friend Nick Santos, whomade all the sixth-grade girls turn into blithering idiots when he looked their way--in fact, would even say Watch, lean make them turn into blitheringidiots, and then he'd do it. Only older."He. Is. Hot," Nellie said under her breath."You too?" Dan hissed.”

“In a whirlwind, Reagan quickly knocked off fifty more push-ups, flipped, and did thirty crunches, then turned and landed a kick that dented the metal door. "I'm feeling sick, too, and look at me. What if Babe Ruth had said 'Time to Rest'? Or Michael Phelps? Or Neil Armstrong? Come on, guys–what are we?""Hungry," Natalie said."Sleepy," Alistair added."Grumpy," Fiske said."Sneezy," Phoenix piped up."Shot," Nellie said.”

“This, my children," Alistair said proudly, "was barbecue pork."Dan rapped his fingers against the latch. "Been out in the sun for a long time.”

“You should climb around inside my brain, Dan. It's like this dark room surrounded by quicksand.""I know what you mean," her brother said quietly. "I hate being in my brain sometimes. I have to get out.""What do you do?" Amy asked.Dan shrugged "I go to other places. My toes. My shoulders. But mostly here." He tapped his chest and immediately reddened. "I know. It's stupid.""Not really," Amy said. "I wish I could do that, too.”

“"Whoaaaaa–AARRRGGGGGGGHHHH...shove two fingers down my throat and pull out my heart...to prove that you love meeee...!" Clutching her iPod, Nellie emerged from the hatch ad lurched towards them, like creature put together from spare parts–a motion that Dan and Amy recognized as dancing. Pulling out her earbuds, she raised her face to the sky and let the rain pelt her for a few seconds. "Whoo-hoo, that is better than a facial!" she cried, running to join Dan and Amy under the overhang."Stick around," Dan said, "for a lava treatment.”