Shadow Over Second (3 page)

But Mr. Chong didn’t seem to know what he had done. “Well, never fear, you’ll hear me cheering you on at the game on Monday.
Your mother conned me into taking the day off. I have to put up the fence so these little guys can roam around the backyard.
In fact,” he added with a slow smile, “I could use two able-bodied young helpers. Any volunteers?”

He looked from boy to boy. “Hey, why so glum? It won’t be that bad! Besides,” he said, “you can play with the puppies!”

On Monday morning, Turtleneck showed up ready for work — and play. He had his baseball glove and uniform in his backpack,
since Mr. Chong had said he’d drive them to the field in the afternoon.

Nicky was nervous about the game. All the previous night, he had tried to convince himself that his father hadn’t really “whammied”
him. He had almost talked himself into believing it. Almost.

Mr. Chong stood beside several rolls of chain-link fence. He handed Nicky a tape measure and pointed to a pile of poles.

“We’ll need to mark off spots to put the fence poles,” Mr. Chong said. “Nicky, you and T. measure out a big rectangle. The
house will be one side, and the shed will be the middle of the opposite side. Lay down a pole at the corners, then one every
ten feet along the sides. Okay?”

Nicky and Turtleneck nodded.

“Great! Now my job is to find out which of our neighbors has a sledgehammer I can borrow to pound the posts in. Back soon!”
He disappeared down the street.

Nicky and Turtleneck set to work. They crisscrossed the lawn, moving back and forth from the pile of poles to different spots
on the rectangle. An hour later, the poles were scattered evenly around the yard, but Mr. Chong still hadn’t returned.

Turtleneck tugged at Nicky’s sleeve. “Let’s go play with the puppies,” he said. Nicky glanced at his watch.

“We have to be at the field in an hour for warm-up,” he warned. “Maybe I should find my dad.”

“We’ll keep an eye on the time just in case we have to walk.”

Nicky agreed. He led the way to the shed, pulled the peg out, and opened the door.
Babe Ruth and her litter rushed to meet them. Nicky quickly pulled the door shut before they could escape.

The boys rolled on the floor, tickling the puppies and having their noses and ears nipped by sharp little teeth. After a while,
the puppies tired out. One by one, they fell asleep. Nicky and Turtleneck lay down beside them, being careful to keep their
voices low.

“Hey, T.,” Nicky whispered after a moment. “Do you — do you think I’ll be okay at the game today? Or do you think my dad jinxed
me?”

Turtleneck shrugged. “You’re a good player, Nicky. What do you think?”

“I don’t know —” Nicky’s reply was cut off when Babe gave a sharp
woof
and jangled her collar. For a second, Nicky thought he heard something else, too. But the sound was gone before he could
identify it.

Turtleneck sat up suddenly. “Oh, my gosh! What time is it?” he asked. Nicky checked his watch.

“Uh-oh. It’s five of two,” he said. “Since Dad’s not back yet, I guess we should get ready and head over.”

He pushed on the door to the shed.

It didn’t budge!

He pushed again, harder this time. Still no movement!

“T., come here and help me!” he cried.

Both boys shoved as hard as they could. But the door stayed closed tight.

All of a sudden, Nicky stuck his hand in his pocket. “T., do you remember what I did with the peg when we came in?” he asked.

Turtleneck shook his head. They stared at each other in fear.

“Someone must have put the peg back in!” Nicky whispered hoarsely. “It’s because of the jinx! Turtleneck, we’re trapped!”

“Who would lock us in here?” Turtleneck wondered. “And why?”

All at once, Nicky remembered the strange sound he’d heard after Babe had barked. It had been so soft, he figured he had imagined
it. But now he wasn’t so sure. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he was sure he had heard muffled laughter.

Suddenly Nicky was angry. He started pounding on the door and yelling with all his might.

“Dad, let us out of here! This isn’t funny! Let us out right now!”

Turtleneck stared at him in amazement. “You think your dad’s out there?” he asked.

“I think he did this as a
joke!
” Nicky fumed. “Boy, has he ever gone too far this time!”

The boys hammered their fists on the door together and shouted over and over to be let out. The puppies woke up and added
their cries, too.

After what seemed like an eternity, the boys heard a voice on the other side of the door.

“Hold on, hold on,” it said. Moments later, the door swung open. Mr. Chong stood before them, holding a camera.

“Real funny, Dad!” Nicky exploded. “But you’re not going to add
this
moment to the family album!”

Nicky and Turtleneck rushed down the shed ramp. Just as they reached the bottom, Nicky’s foot caught on something. He stumbled
and almost fell, but didn’t. He glanced
back to see what he had tripped over. There was a deep groove in the grass. Nicky frowned, but Turtleneck’s voice interrupted
his thoughts.

“C’mon, Nicky, shake a leg!”

The boys scrambled into their uniforms while Mr. Chong pulled the car out into the driveway. Mrs. Chong was seated beside
him, looking worried. They jumped into the backseat, and the car sped off.

“Nicky, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but —,” Mr. Chong began.

Nicky blurted, “I’ll tell you what I’m thinking! I’m thinking that thanks to you, I’ll never break that RBI record!”

“Nicky!” exclaimed Turtleneck, horrified.

“Talking about it can’t hurt anything now, T.,” Nicky grumbled. “The damage is done.”

Mrs. Chong looked over her shoulder. “Nicky, we’ll explain everything to Coach Parker. I’m sure he’ll let you in the game.”

“That won’t matter,” Nicky replied bitterly. “I’m not going to get a hit anyway. Even if Dad hadn’t locked us in the shed
—”

Her eyes blazing, Mrs. Chong spun around in her seat. “You think your
father
locked you in the shed?”

Nicky crossed his arms over his chest. “All I know is that when the door opened, there was Dad. With his camera. But it really
doesn’t matter if he was the one who did it or not. He jinxed me, and the jinx is coming true. Dark forces are working to
keep me from reaching the RBI record.”

Mrs. Chong narrowed her eyes. “‘Jinxed you’? ‘
Dark forces’?
That’s it! Nicky, this superstitious nonsense has gone on long enough! Do you seriously believe anything your father — or
anyone — says can cause you bad luck?”

Nicky sat in stony silence.

His mother sighed. “Nicky, if you don’t
get a hit this game, it won’t be because of something your father said. It will be because you think superstition counts more
than your ability! Now, promise me that you’ll put this silly jinx idea right out of your head!”

Nicky locked eyes with her for a moment. Then he nodded once.

“And as for you,” she continued, turning her gaze to Mr. Chong. “Why exactly were you holding your camera? And what happened
to the sledgehammer?”

Mr. Chong raised an eyebrow. “The sledgehammer is in our garage. And I was holding the camera because I had just reloaded
it. I plan to take a whole roll of pictures of today’s game.”

Nicky sank lower into his seat. He felt like a heel for accusing his father.

But if his father hadn’t locked the shed, who had?

When they reached the baseball diamond, the game was already in progress. The Mudders were at bat in the top of the second
inning, with the score at Stockade Bulls 2, Peach Street Mudders 0. The boys rushed to join their teammates.

“What happened to you guys?” Barry McGee said. “Forget we had a game this afternoon?”

“We sure could use your stick, Nicky,” added T.V. Adams.

“Thanks, T.V.,” Nicky said.
But even if the coach lets me play, I’m not sure I’ll be much help
, he added silently.

“Nicky! Turtleneck! Come here!” Coach Parker called.

Uh-oh
, Nicky thought.
Here it comes.

“Your mom has explained what happened, Nicky,” Coach Parker said. “Since your tardiness wasn’t your fault, I see no reason
why you and Turtleneck shouldn’t play. Go warm up.”

Nicky’s heart soared. He and Turtleneck exchanged high fives, and the rest of the Mudders cheered. Only one person, substitute
player Jack Livingston, looked disappointed.

That look made a strange thought cross Nicky’s mind.

Could Jack have wanted to play so badly that
he
locked the shed?

As soon as he thought it, Nicky knew he was pointing fingers at the wrong guy. Jack might not be the best player, but he was
a good kid who wanted the Mudders to win as much as his teammates did.

Well, now I know two people who
didn’t
lock us in
, Nicky thought.
But that doesn’t tell me who
did.

He pushed the thought from his mind. Now was not the time to think about anything but the game. He pulled his cap low over
his eyes and turned his attention to the batter.