Double Play at Short (3 page)

There she was again. He had to find out if Jennifer had noticed her. But if he came right out with it, she might think he
was worried about the competition. And he wasn’t — was he? No, he had to be real cool. Just like those guys in the whodunits
on TV.

“So, Jen, you think I have a shot, huh? Great,” he said. “Gee, it’d be tough to pick an All-Star team out of today’s game,
don’tcha think? I mean, nobody did all that great, right? Like, there wasn’t anybody on the Jaguars who really, really stood
out, right?”

“Actually, Danny, a funny thing happened,” Jennifer said, signaling a left turn. They were about three blocks from home, and
the roads narrowed a little as they approached their neighborhood.

“Funny?” he asked. “What do you mean ‘funny’? I didn’t think the game was a million laughs.”

“Come on, Danny, don’t get all twisted up over one lost game,” Jennifer said. “Relax a little, huh? I was just going to say
that during the third inning, I took my eyes off the game for a minute. When I looked up, I could have sworn I saw you crossing
the plate. But it wasn’t you. It was the Jaguars’ shortstop. Come to think of it, a similar thing happened
when she came to bat — her stance was a lot like yours. But maybe that’s the way
all
right-hand fielders/left-hand batters stand. Anyhow, it was funny the way I made that mistake. She’s pretty good, but you’re
still the best.”

“Joel gave me a zing about the same thing — her being ambidextrous like me, I mean. I told him it was the red hair that confused
him.”

“Good reply!” she said, laughing. “That Joel doesn’t miss much. Hey, listen, don’t let that shortstop get to you.”

“Nah, don’t worry,” said Danny. “But I guess she’s pretty good, huh?”

“She’s okay,” said Jennifer. “She only played the last few games with them. I mean, I didn’t come across her at the start
of the season when I ran down the rosters.”

“Oh, so you
have
heard of her before, though,” he said, trying to sound casual. “You knew her name?”

“Danny, I know everyone’s name,” Jennifer said. “By the way — oh, first, want some gum?” She dug into her sweatshirt pocket
with one hand as they rode along.

“Both hands,” Danny warned her, nodding toward
the handlebar. The Walker kids had been drilled in bicycle safety and wore helmets even when they were just tooling around
the road in front of their own house. “I don’t want any gum right now. What were you going to say?”

“Okay, but wait a minute. I just want to fish this out of my pocket,” said Jennifer, pulling off to the side of the road and
burrowing in her sweatshirt for the gum. She popped a piece into her mouth and began chewing before she started pedaling again.
“I was just going to tell you that my friend Loretta’s father is on some committee or something with your coach, Mr. Lattizori.
And Mr. Lattizori told Mr. Hin-man, Loretta’s father, that you’re the best young player he’s seen in a long time.”

“He did? He said that?”

“Uh-huh. And he even said that you’re a shoo-in for the All-Stars unless some real hot dog comes along. Those were his exact
words,” she said. “That’s according to Loretta, who got it from her father, who got them from Mr. Lattizori. Sounds promising,
doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Sounds great.”

The two of them rode along in silence. Danny wasn’t saying anything, but he couldn’t help but wonder. Could the Jaguars’ shortstop
be the unexpected “hot dog”?

He glanced over at Jennifer. At the same moment, she looked at him. They did it all the time. It was like they were reading
each other’s minds. The two of them began to laugh.

As they approached the Walker house, Danny had made up his mind. He wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it. In fact, he
probably wouldn’t say anything to anyone. But all by himself, he was going to find out more about this redheaded hot dog named
Tammy Aiken. He’d start by looking up her record.

They put away their bikes in the garage and headed for the back door.

“Wait a minute,” said Jennifer. “I think Mom said there was some heavy stuff to take in off the front porch. Come on, I’ll
give you a hand.”

“Stuff, who do you mean, ‘stuff’?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “Just some stuff. You know Mom. Probably some blankets or something from a catalogue.”

“Blankets? You said it was heavy,” he said.

“Danny, give me a break. Just come on around front and see what she wants,” Jennifer snapped.

“Boy, you can really be a pain, you know,” he grumbled. “Where’s the stuff? I don’t see anything.”

They were on the front porch.

“Well, we’re here — we might as well go in this way,” she said. “After you.”

“Thanks a whole lot,” he said sarcastically.

He stepped inside the house and into the dark hallway. In an instant, a light was turned on and a chorus of voices shouted
all at once, “Surprise! Happy birthday!”

Danny was stunned. He’d been thinking so much about the series and the All-Star team and the new shortstop that he’d completely
forgotten what was happening that week.

It was two days before his twelfth birthday.

T
he house was packed. The whole Silver Bullets team was there along with some of Danny’s other friends and Jennifer’s, too.
They all came over and slapped him on the back and gave him a few good-natured pokes in the ribs. Joel even called him “the
old bullet.” Nobody laughed. Sometimes Joel’s jokes were weird. Anyhow, Danny was more interested in trying to hear what Loretta
Hinman was saying. He could see her off in a corner talking to his father. He wondered if she was telling him what Coach Lattizori
had said to her father about him.

He tried to edge his way over there, but just then his mother came over. She gave him a big hug and a kiss.

“It’s a little early, but we thought a party might be a good way to start off the series,” she explained.
“And we knew we could get your friends on the team over here after the game.”

“No wonder Jennifer kept stopping on the way home,” he said.

“Your sister’s pretty cool,” said Vern.

“I had to stall so the pizza man could get here before we did,” she said.

“Pizza! Great! What kind?” Joel asked.

“Everything but anchovies,” Mr. Walker answered, laughing. “You kids can just pick out what you don’t like.”

Jennifer helped Mrs. Walker dish out slices of pizza to everyone. Mr. Walker went around handing out soft drinks. When.everyone
had some pizza and a soda, Mrs. Walker said to Danny, “I hope you like what we got you for your birthday.” She pointed at
a pile of presents stacked on top of a table near the front door.

“Wait a minute, his birthday isn’t really today, you know,” Jennifer protested.

“Come on, you want to see what’s in those boxes just as much as I do,” Danny said.

He went over and, with a little help from his pals, brought the presents into the living room. With Joel
on one side and Jennifer on the other, he started opening them, beginning with a shoebox-looking package.

“You know, you guys really didn’t have to — oh, boy, a package of new white sweat socks. Thanks a lot, Elaine,” he said. I
wonder what that’s supposed to mean, he said to himself.

He opened the next package. It was a square box this time, from Mike. Inside was another stack of white sweat socks.

“Thanks, Mike. You and Elaine must shop at the same store,” he said, laughing.

The next package he grabbed was some kind of tube or can, with a card from Larry. He popped open the lid and out came more
white sweat socks.

“Wait a minute, are you guys trying to tell me something?” he asked.

The whole team broke up laughing. Then Joanne explained.

“Jennifer said that your mom and dad didn’t want us to feel we had to bring presents. So we all decided to get you something
you can really use.”

“We went down the list,” said Marc, “and you had every piece of sports equipment we could think of.
So we figured out the one thing no one ever gives you — and this was it. Can’t have too many pairs of sweat socks, can you?”

“This is one guy who won’t,” said Danny, laughing. “You guys are really nuts. Are you sure there just wasn’t a sale at the
mall?”

“Wait a minute,” said Jennifer. “There’s more to open. Here’s mine.” She thrust a big flat package tied with a huge blue ribbon
into his hands.

First he opened the card he found under the ribbon.

“Ah, mush,” he said, turning a little red as he tucked the card in his shirt pocket. But he leaned over and gave her a kiss
on the cheek. Then he unwrapped the package.

It was a scrapbook with his name in gold letters on the cover.

“You can put all your press clippings in it,” said Jennifer.

“He’s gonna have a lot of ‘em when he makes the All-Stars,” said Joel.

“Hey, don’t jinx it!” shouted Elaine. “Let’s see what else you got, Danny.”

“Here’s our present, Danny,” said Mr. Walker,
handing him another beautifully wrapped package with a blue bow.

Again, Danny read the card before opening the package. He didn’t say anything, but he looked a little teary as he gave his
folks hugs.

When the wrapping came off, Danny was speechless. Inside the box he found a brand-new 35-millimeter camera, complete with
zoom lens and strobe attachment. Danny had an inexpensive little snapshot camera, but this was more than he ever dreamed he
might own.

“Hope you like it, son,” said Mr. Walker.

All Danny could do was nod in silent appreciation.

“I guess it’s time,” Mrs. Walker said quietly to Jennifer, who disappeared into the kitchen. “All right, everyone, let’s clear
up a little of this mess.”

She pushed an empty carton into the center of the room. Everyone pitched in by dumping the wrapping into it.

Joel wadded up a ball of tissue paper and tossed it in Danny’s direction.

“Careful,” said Joanne. “We don’t want anything that’ll burn around.”

Just as she said that, the kitchen door opened and Jennifer came out with a big chocolate cake with white lettering on it.
There were twelve candles all aglow in the frosting.

She put the cake down on the table in front of Danny. The house shook from the sound of all those voices singing “Happy Birthday.”
Then he blew all the candles out in one breath.

As the cake was being dished out, Joel shouted, “Speech! We want to hear from Mr. Birthday himself.”

“No way!” said Danny. “I’ll do my talking on the diamond!”

That brought a whole new chorus of razzing.

“Danny’s all fired up ‘cause he hit a home run!” shouted Joel. “He’s heading for the majors.”

“He’ll have to beat out that redhead on the Jaguars first,” said Jennifer, giving her brother a wink. “Little Miss Tammy Aiken
might have a thing or two to do with it before he signs a contract.”

“Tammy who?” asked Mr. Walker. He glanced quickly at Mrs. Walker.

“Tammy Aiken,” said Jennifer. “She’s the new shortstop for the Jaguars. She gave Danny a run for
his money at short today. A real hot dog, if you ask me.”

“Who asked you?” snapped Mrs. Walker suddenly. Jennifer stared at her open-mouthed. “Leave Danny alone about baseball,” Mrs.
Walker continued. “This is a birthday party. Everyone, have some more cake. Oh, I almost forgot the ice cream. I’ll get it.”

“Here, let me help you, Mrs. Walker,” said Joanne.

“Thanks, but I can do it myself,” said Mrs. Walker, rushing out of the room. Mr. Walker followed her silently into the kitchen.

Jennifer and Danny stared at each other. They shrugged their shoulders as if to say, What got into Mom?

T
here was no game the next day. Danny slept a little later than usual, and no one woke him.

When he did come into the kitchen for breakfast, he found a note propped up next to a bowl of cornflakes. “Gone out to do
some shopping. Help yourself to breakfast. Lunch is in the fridge, too, if I’m not back. Hope you had a nice time at the party.
Love, Mom.”

Jennifer’s bike helmet wasn’t on the peg next to the door. She must have gone out already, too, Danny figured. And Dad’s long
at work by now. That’s why it’s so quiet around here, he realized as he munched away on his breakfast. Here it was his last
day as an eleven-year-old, and he was all by himself. Well, what better time to do a little research into a certain shortstop?

He picked up the phone and dialed Joel’s number.

“Hey, Joel, what’s happening? Feel like taking a trip to the library?… Yeah, the library. I finished my summer reading, and
I want to return some books and maybe look at some other stuff. Swing by and we’ll ride over on our bikes.”

By the time Danny had cleared up his breakfast things and collected his library books, Joel was at the back door honking on
his bike horn. Joel loved old-fashioned gadgets. He was proud of the old rubber bulb squeeze horn he had mounted on his handlebars.

“Come on, let’s get the lead out,” he called from outside.

Danny took his helmet off the peg and went out the back door.

“What’s the big hurry?” he asked. “You afraid they’re going to run out of
Dick and Jane?”

“Wise guy,” said Joel, smiling. He pointed at a stack of books in his bicycle basket. “I just want to get these back before
I have to pay any more overdue fines on them.”

The two boys set out for the ten-minute ride over to the county library. It was a large, modern
limestone and glass building not far from the school and near the town line. Built with funds from the five towns that were
part of the county, its central location made it a popular community cultural center for the area.

There was a bicycle rack near the side entrance. Danny and Joel got off their bikes and were wedging them into the rack when
another kid rode up. It was Drew Ferris, the catcher for the Jaguars.

“Hey, suckers, how’re you doin’?” he asked, slipping his bike into one of the slots in the rack. He took off his helmet and
buckled it around the handlebars.