Field of Screams Read Free

Bases were loaded and there were two outs. Shadyside led by two runs.”
    I nodded. I could picture it.
    â€œA left-handed hitter came up to the plate. The coach moved everybody over, expecting him to hit the ball to the right, but he didn’t. He hit a line drive to the left, down the third base line. It was a triple. Three runs scored. And Shadyside lost.”
    â€œWow! That is a tough break,” I agreed. “But why did it land them in the cemetery?”
    â€œLosing the championship was only the beginning. There was supposed to be a party after the game for everyone—the winners and the losers. But the Doom Squad was so disappointed, they just left. On the way home their bus stalled on the railroad tracks. An oncoming train hit the bus. Killed them all.”
    â€œThat’s awful!” I gasped.
    Ernie’s lips were clamped tight. I didn’t know what to say. He probably knew these guys.
    Then he seemed to shake himself. “So tell me, what do you want, Buddy? What do you really want out of baseball?”
    What a weird question. I shrugged. “Gee, I don’t know. I want to be a pro ballplayer someday, I guess. Doesn’t everybody?”
    â€œNo, I mean right now. What do you want most in the world?”
    He stared at me. His burning gaze made me nervous. I guess that’s why I suddenly blurted out the truth.
    â€œI—I want to play on a good team for once. No—it’s more than that. I want to play on the best Shadyside team ever!”
    Ernie nodded slowly. Without another word he turned and walked back to his house. He opened the door to go inside.
    He suddenly turned around. “I guessed that might be your wish,” he said. “Who knows? Maybe it will come true.”
    A smile crossed his lips. He started to chuckle.
    Then he ducked inside.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” I called through the screen door.
    Ernie didn’t answer.
    I waited there for a minute. But he never returned.
    â€œWeird,” I muttered to myself. I glanced around the mess of a yard. Might as well leave.
    I peeked through the hole in the fence. Eve was long gone.
    The shortest way home was down Fear Street, so I walked around to the front of Ernie’s house. And bumped right into a policeman. The officer clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Are you all right?” he asked me.
    â€œI’m fine,” I answered, startled. “Is something wrong?”
    Eve ran up behind him. “I called the police, Buddy.”
    â€œYou what? Why’d you do that?” I demanded. Eve was sort of a scaredy-cat. But calling the cops? That was ridiculous.
    â€œI saw that weird old man grab you when you were under the porch,” Eve explained. “I thought you were in trouble.”
    Another voice called behind me, “I checked it out. There’s no sign of anyone. The house is empty, just like it should be.”
    I turned and saw another policeman walking downthe front steps. He looked older than the first officer, maybe in his fifties.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” I asked. “Some old guy lives there.”
    â€œI don’t think so, son,” the first officer told me. “This house is abandoned.”
    What? The place was shabby, but abandoned?
    I turned and stared up at the old house.
    Whoa!
    Cream-colored paint hung down in long curls from warped old boards. The shutters dangled crookedly from rusty hinges. All the windows were boarded up. Ivy grew thickly over the whole thing.
    â€œBut—I don’t get it. I just met the guy who lives here,” I said.
    â€œNot possible,” the older police officer told me. “No one has lived here since 1948!”

5

    T wo days later we played the Oneiga Blue Devils. By the fourth inning we were behind five to one. It was another runaway. As usual, I had the only run on the team.
    â€œI’m telling you, that old man was a ghost!” Eve insisted.
    She sat beside me in the