Spy in the Bleachers (2 page)

“Thank you,” said Jessie as she took her box of popcorn.

“Thank you,” said Benny. He shoved a large handful of popcorn into his mouth. “Yum,” he said.

Mr. Tanaka pointed to a metal door, not the one they had come through. “See all the vendors coming through that door?” he asked. Then he looked down at Benny. “A vendor is somebody who sells things.”

“Like popcorn,” said Benny, eating another large handful.

“Yes,” answered Mr. Tanaka. “Some vendors sell food. Others sell baseball caps or pennants.”

“Souvenirs,” said Jessie.

“That’s right,” said Mr. Tanaka. He looked at them. “Would you rather help with the food or the souvenirs?”

“The food!” answered Benny right away.

Jim Tanaka laughed. “I thought so. Follow me.”

Jessie and Benny followed him to one side of the large kitchen. Workers were putting just-cooked hot dogs in paper wrappers.

“Jessie, do you think you can wrap these hot dogs and stack them inside these vendor boxes?” asked Mr. Tanaka.

“Yes,” said Jessie. “I can do a good job at that.” She began to wrap and stack hot dogs.

“Very good,” Mr. Tanaka said. “I really appreciate your help.”

“You’re welcome,” said Jessie. In no time at all, she had filled one vendor box. As soon as she closed the lid on the box somebody took it from her. It was a young man.

“Hello, Carlos,” Mr. Tanaka said to him. “I’d like you to meet Jessie Alden and her brother Benny. They volunteered to help us out today. Jessie and Benny, this is Carlos Garcia.”

Jessie and Benny said hello to Carlos.

Benny stared at Carlos’ baseball cap. A tall stiff wire stood up at the back of his cap, like an antenna. At the top of the wire was a Cogs pennant.

“Nice to meet you,” said Carlos as he hurried away with a full box of hot dogs.

“Carlos is one of our best vendors,” Mr. Tanaka said. “He works the bleachers, right where you’ll be sitting.”

“We’ll buy our hot dogs from Carlos, then,” said Jessie.

“Carlos will be easy for you to find,” said Mr. Tanaka. “He wears that tall wire and pennant just so hungry fans can spot him. I sit in the owner’s box near home plate—even I can see Carlos in the bleachers.”

Before he left, Mr. Tanaka showed Benny how to load trays with boxes of popcorn. Benny liked this job.

Jessie loaded more boxes with hot dogs. Soon Carlos Garcia was back.

“You sell your hot dogs really fast,” Jessie said.

Carlos laughed. “I’m a very good vendor,” said Carlos. “But I’m an even better catcher.” He frowned. “Better than Reese Dawkins, that’s for sure.”

“Who’s Reese Dawkins?” asked Jessie.

“He’s the Cogs catcher,” explained Carlos. “And he doesn’t know which pitches to call.” Carlos picked up a full box of hot dogs and left.

Jessie was happy that she was able to help Mr. Tanaka. Helping other people felt good. Soon one of the cooks came up to Jessie and Benny. “Thank you,” he said. “Now you can go enjoy the game.”

Jessie and Benny hurried out the door. Once again they were in the middle of thousands of fans. The two of them walked slowly, moving between groups of people.

They almost walked into the back of a large, fuzzy, orange circle. It was taller than Jessie. It had two legs that stuck out of the bottom. It had two arms which stuck out of the sides. It was a person in a big, strange costume!

“What’s that?” asked Benny. “It has those things sticking out of it. Teeth, that’s what they’re called.”

“Yes,” said Jessie. “It looks like a giant walking cog. I’ll bet it’s the team mascot.” Jessie had seen other sports mascots. They were people who wore big, fuzzy costumes.

Suddenly a group of children older than Benny ran up to the giant walking cog. “Wheelie!” they shouted, “Wheelie!” The cog turned around and around, bowing to the children.

Jessie saw words written across the front of the costume:
Wheelie the Cogwheel.

As Benny and Jessie watched, Wheelie did a little dance for the children. Then he bowed to them again and continued walking.

“Let’s stay behind Wheelie,” said Benny. “I like to watch him.”

Benny watched the fans. They held things out to Wheelie—napkins, pieces of paper, baseballs, and caps. One of them gave Wheelie a pen and the mascot autographed a napkin. After he autographed the napkin, the mascot held out a hand. The fan walked away.

Next Wheelie autographed a baseball. Once again he held out his hand. Benny saw the man with the autographed baseball put money into Wheelie’s hand. Quickly, Wheelie’s hand disappeared into his costume. Then it came out again, empty.

Just as Benny was about to tell Jessie what he saw, he heard cheering. Wheelie was racing down the aisle toward the playing field. Everyone was clapping and cheering to watch Wheelie run.

“Look,” said Jessie, staring at the aisle number. “This is our section.”

Jessie and Benny walked down the aisle, looking at row numbers. “I think we’re way at the bottom,” said Jessie. “We’ll be very close to the baseball field.” She was excited.

“I see Henry and Violet!” shouted Benny. He pointed to the second row of seats, where Henry and Violet sat.

“We just got here,” Violet told Jessie and Benny. “We handed out all the foam gloves.”

“I filled trays with popcorn boxes,” Benny answered. “I could hardly keep up!”

“And I wrapped hot dogs and put them into vendor boxes,” answered Jessie.

“I’m hungry,” said Benny, looking around.

“Me, too,” said Henry. “It’s way past lunch time.”

Jessie looked around, then smiled. She had spotted a pennant that seemed to float in the air. But she could tell that it was attached to a wire, and the wire was attached to a baseball cap. “Carlos!” she shouted.

“Who are you calling?” asked Henry.

“Carlos Garcia,” said Jessie. “He’s a hot dog vendor.”

In no time at all Carlos reached their seats. The children bought hot dogs. Henry paid for the hot dogs and also gave Carlos a tip.

“Thanks,” said Carlos. He added the money to a large stack of bills in his hand.

Henry noticed that the top of the stack had one-dollar bills. He thought he saw a hundred-dollar bill on the bottom.
If that’s a hundred,
thought Henry,
somebody bought a lot of hot dogs!

The children ate their hot dogs and looked all around.

Henry looked at the baseball field and the players. He could see home plate clearly. He would have a great view of each pitch as it crossed the plate.

Jessie looked for Wheelie. At last she spotted him. The mascot was so close! The first row, right in front of them, was filled with fans.

Wheelie was sitting just past the fans. His chair was on a long platform built just below the front row of seats. Jessie thought that the mascot had the best view in all of Cogwheel Stadium.

Violet was looking around at all the people. Many of them wore Cogs baseball caps. But almost as many wore Hatters baseball caps. Violet looked at her own baseball glove, which she had brought into the stadium. She would love to catch a home run ball. After Violet finished eating her hot dog, she slipped off her free Cogs glove and put it beside her. She put on her real baseball glove. Shyly, she kept her gloved hand on her lap, where nobody could see it.

Benny wanted to look everywhere! He wanted to see the baseball players. He wanted to see Wheelie. He wanted to see and hear all the people. And he wanted to keep Carlos and the hot dogs in sight.

“Can you see?” Henry asked his brother.

“I can see everything,” said Benny. “At first I thought these seats were too far away, but now I like them.”

The person in front of Benny turned around and smiled at him. “Bleacher seats are the best seats in the whole park,” she told him. “From the bleachers you have the best view of the whole game. Especially home plate.” She looked at Violet. “And in the bleachers you might be able to catch a home run ball!”

Violet looked at Henry, and Henry looked at Violet. They both recognized the young woman. She was the one who had torn the free glove in half and then stomped on it. Henry was surprised that she seemed such a happy, friendly person. He was even more surprised that she was wearing a Cogs baseball cap!

“I’m Henry Alden,” he told her. “These are my sisters, Violet and Jessie, and my brother Benny. We’re from Greenfield. This is our first time at Cogwheel Stadium.”

“I’m Emma Larke,” the young woman said. “Clayton is my home town.”

“Are you a Cogs fan?” asked Violet, staring at Emma’s baseball cap.

“I was,” she answered. “I was a Cogs fan from the time I was five years old. But now I hate the Cogs,” she said with a frown. “Especially Reese Dawkins, who’s a horrible catcher.”

Benny was confused. “But you’re wearing a Cogs baseball cap,” he said to Emma.

“Oh,” she said, touching the brim of her cap. “I forgot.” She took the cap off and put it in her canvas bag. Then she put a visor on and turned to face the field.

“Carlos Garcia doesn’t like Reese Dawkins, either,” Jessie told Henry and Violet. “He said so when I was loading hot dogs into his vendor box.”

The Hatters batted first. Emma Larke jumped up and cheered every Hatter. The Cogs’ pitcher struck out two of them. The third one grounded out to first.

Each time a Hatter made an out, Wheelie stood up and pumped his fists.

“The Cogs look like a good team,” Jessie said.

The Cogs weren’t able to score in the first inning. Emma stood up and cheered each time a Cogs batter made an out.

“Hey, you!” yelled a fan several rows back. “Sit down!”

Between innings, Wheelie stood up and entertained the fans. First he puffed out his chest and strode back and forth on the platform. Then he pointed to the Hatters dugout and pinched his nose together with two fingers. Cogs fans cheered because Wheelie was telling them that the Hatters stank.

In the top of the second inning Cody Howard came to bat for the Hatters. Henry noticed that Cody batted left-handed, and the Cogs pitcher threw right-handed. Left-handed batters usually did well against right-handed pitchers.

Wheelie held his nose.

Emma stood up. She took off her visor and waved it in the air. “Go, Cody!” she shouted.

The pitch came in and Cody Howard blasted the ball into the bleachers. The home run sailed over their heads.

“Wow,” said Jessie, “he guessed right on that pitch.”

“Yes,” said Henry. “It was a fastball.”

The score was now 0-1. The Hatters were winning.

The next two Hatter players struck out swinging. Each time, Wheelie stood up and pretended to faint, as if their swings knocked him down.

Benny was having a great time. He loved seeing everything that was happening. He saw Carlos come down the aisle with two hot dogs in his hand. Carlos leaned over the rail and gave the two hot dogs to Wheelie.

Violet was also watching Carlos Garcia. She loved the way his orange Cogs pennant swayed on its wire. She saw Carlos take an envelope out of his pocket and give it to Wheelie. Carlos was frowning as he walked back up the aisle.

Jessie watched the game closely. From where she was sitting, she had a perfect view of the catcher. She could see Reese Dawkins put down one finger, then two, then three.

Although the Cogs got runners on base, they didn’t score. At the top of the fifth inning, Cody Howard came to bat again.

Emma Larke stood up. She took her visor off, then put it on backwards. “Go, Cody!” she shouted again.

Wheelie stood up and stretched. He held his hand to his mouth like he was yawning. He sat back down.

Carlos stood at the railing behind Wheelie. He opened his metal vendor’s box. He slammed its lid up and down three times.

The Cogs pitcher threw the ball and Cody Howard hit it the length of the park! Violet saw the ball coming their way. Everybody stood up to catch it. Violet saw the ball getting closer and closer—she reached for it with her baseball glove.

Violet felt the baseball land in her glove.
I caught it!
she thought.
I caught it!

“Great catch!” shouted Henry.

“Wow!” said Jessie, patting her sister on the back. “That was terrific.”

All the fans cheered.

Violet smiled shyly. She looked at the beautiful white baseball she had caught, turning it around in her hands.

“Can I see it?” asked Benny.

“Sure,” said Violet, handing the ball to Benny.

Emma Larke turned around. “That was a very nice catch!”

“Thank you!” said Violet.

“You were smart to bring your glove,” Carlos told her. “A good ballplayer is always ready.”

Then Carlos frowned. “That’s a second home run for Cody. He hit it because Reese Dawkins called the wrong pitch.”

“The pitcher threw a curveball,” said Henry, who had been watching closely.

“That’s right,” said Carlos. “And Cody hit it out of the ballpark. The Hatters are now leading, two-nothing.”

“What do you think the pitcher should have called?” asked Jessie.

“A change-up,” said Carlos. “Reese Dawkins called the wrong pitch.” He banged the lid to his hot dog box a couple of times and walked away.

Everybody sat down again.

“That was a great catch, Violet,” said Henry. “What a great souvenir of Cogwheel Stadium.”