Chapter One
LAURA
By the sixth leg of the game, we have accumulated the following objects: a ski pole, a bishop from a crystal chess set, a sheet of rice paper, a trilobite fossil, an aviators helmet, and a live
parrot. Our backpacks are overflowing. I drop the chess piece into a sock to keep it from bumping against anything and chipping. I fold the rice paper into a guidebook. The helmet I put on my
head. I hand the ski pole to Cassie. ＂Ready?＂ I ask, picking up the parrots cage.
＂Like I have a choice,＂ she says. Our cameraman, Brendan, grins. I know he thinks Cassie makes for great footage. ＂Okay, then,＂ I say. ＂Were off.＂
We leave our hotel room and walk down the hall, Brendan walking backward so he can film us; our sound guy trails behind. In the elevator, the parrot squawks.
＂We should give this guy a name,＂ I say to Cassie, holding up the cage.
＂How about Drumstick?＂ Brendan smiles behind his camera. Hes loving this.
＂How about Milton?＂ I try. ＂He looks kind of like a Milton, dont you think?＂
＂Fine, Mom,＂ Cassie says, staring up at the lighted numbers. ＂Whatever.＂
The doors open onto the lobby, and we step out. There are only seven teams left, and the other six are already here. I pretty much hate them all by this point. Wendy and Jillian, the
middle-aged flight attendants from Milwaukee, are sitting on a sofa, feeding little bits of bread to their parrot, while Carl and Jeff, the funny brothers from Boston, sit next to them, poring
over a guidebook. Justin and Abby, whom a few people have dubbed Team Brimstone (or, occasionally, Team Shut-Up-Already) because they wont stop talking about how the power of the Lord rescued
them from homosexuality and delivered them into the loving grace of Christian marriage, are praying. Juliet and Dallas, the former child stars, who are standing (not coincidentally, I think)
next to a large mirror, are staring at them with naked malice. Riley and Trent, the young millionaire inventors (theyre wild cards - brilliant, but not so good with the everyday stuff, and
everyone wonders what theyre doing here anyway, since they dont need the money), smile at Cassie as we walk past, but she turns away from them and goes to sit next to Wendy. Wendy says
something to her, and Cassie actually smiles and reaches out to touch the feathers on their parrots head.
The only seat left is next to Betsy and Jason, the former high school sweethearts who have recently been reunited after twenty years apart. They seem to be having a fight; theyre sitting beside
each other, but his arms are crossed, and their commitment to not looking at each other is very strong. I sit down next to Betsy, balancing Miltons cage on my lap.
＂Morning,＂ Betsy says, turning her whole body away from Jason. ＂Did your parrot keep you guys up all night, too?＂
