They went up to the doors together. They were all closed no surprise, in this weather and Kit was unwilling just to pull one of them open: Someone might be watching.Never mind. We can just walk through the glass , he thought. But then, through the glass of the door, Kit saw the van driver coming back toward them.  Okay,  Kit said softly toPonch ,  he can let us in. Just step back and don t let him bump into you. We ll slip past before the door closes behind him.

Fine.

The van driver, a small, slender man in a big parka, pushed the door open right in front of Kit s nose, and then reached up to the closing mechanism to pull down the little toggle that would hold the door open.Convenient , Kit thought, and slipped through the door withPonch close behind him.

In the main tile-and-terrazzo corridor of the school, a number of people were moving around; some of them were coming toward the doors some students, Kit thought, heading for the van with a few teachers.Field trip he wondered. Then Kit paused, for the locator spell said in his head,Proximity alert  subject of search within fifty meters. Forty meters

That s them, Kit thought.  Ponch, come on,  Kit whispered.  Over here   Together they moved off to one side of the hallway as the group approached. Kit started examining them for signs of that faint, glowing halo.

There were five kids in the group. Three of them were girls of different ages, one quite short and round, the other two taller and thinner; they went by Kit in silence, not speaking to each other, though one of them was smiling a placid smile. Two teachers followed close behind,then came the two boys and a third teacher.

One was a thin, small, blond guy, who went pastwith a very uneven gait.