Hawk Moon Read Online Free Page A

dripped blood.
    "Will!"
    He turned around and saw the trainer standing over him. He felt Will's head as he asked more questions, testing his memory. Will tried to concentrate on what the trainer was saying, but now bits and pieces of what had happened in the kiva came back to him. Some kind of ceremony . . . ending in darkness and chaos . . . Masau in front of him . . . Myra killed.
    "How would you describe the pain?" the trainer was saying.
    "It's like a little headache. That's all."
    "Take these aspirins. We'll see if that does any good. Don't jump up or even walk around. Just stay right here."
    Will nodded, and when the trainer walked away, he turned back toward the stands and searched for
    Masau . Three girls were sitting in the space where he'd seen the mysterious being from his dream. But now he wasn't so sure what he'd seen.
    The game continued on without Will, and in spite of his repeated comments to the coach and trainer that he felt fine, he remained on the bench. Without Will on the field, the team struggled, then faltered. With less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Leadville had the ball on the Hawks' twenty-eight-yard line and the score was tied at 14-14.
    Then the ball popped free on a running play, and a half dozen players scrambled to recover it. Several Hawks leaped up in the air and pointed in the direction of the Leadville goal line. The Hawks had recovered the ball on their own twenty-five-yard line.
    " Lansa , come here," Boorman shouted. Will grabbed his helmet in the hopes he'd have another chance. "Are you ready to go out there?"
    "I've been ready since the first quarter," he said, his heart suddenly pounding.
    "Okay, you're going in after this play. But before you get too excited, listen closely. I'm going to use you as a decoy for two plays. The defense will be focusing on you, but Thomas is going to pass."
    Will's spirits sank. But he told himself he'd alrey conceded he wasn't going to get another chance at the record, that he'd have to wait until his senior year. He watched Aaron Thomas complete a screen pass for eight yards as the coach gave him the two plays.
    "Now go out there and do your part. We're going to win this one," Boorman said.
    Will raced onto the field. In spite of what he knew, it felt great just to be in the game. It was as if he'd been out of action for weeks. Then a cheer went up as his number was spotted by the crowd.
    "I don't like it," Aaron said as Will told him the plays. "You should run at least one of them."
    "There's not enough time for running plays," Will said. "Coach is right. Call the play."
    Aaron faked a handoff to Will and faded for a pass as Will raced around the right end. He looked up to see four or five defenders just as they realized their mistake. They all pulled up short, except for a linebacker who hit him across the thighs. Will dropped to the ground, then rose up just in time to see the left end catch a fifteen-yard pass and break away for twenty more yards. Now they were on the Leadville thirty-two-yard line, but the clock was ticking.
    With less than a minute left, the players raced into the huddle. Aaron called the play, but it was the wrong one. Instead of a fake handoff and a rollout pass, Aaron was going to give the ball to Will on a slant play off the right tackle. It was Will's favorite play, but it wasn't what the coach had called.
    There was no time to argue. Will quickly lined up; Aaron took the snap, turned, and pressed the ball into Will's midsection.
    He darted toward the line, certain the play was a big mistake. He bounced off one tackler, spun around, and then he heard a crack inside his head and everything shifted. He moved with a fluid motion and a lightness that made him feel as if he could fly. Everyone else seemed stuck in slow motion. He could see the gaping holes opening in front of him as he glided ahead. A wind whispered in his ears and seemed to propel him forward.
    Tacklers and blockers fell away, and he was alone on