Touchdown for Tommy Read Online Free

“I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying yourself with the Powells. Mr.
     Powell told me you’re quite a football player, too. I’m glad to hear that. I must get along, now. Good-bye, and good luck,
     Tommy. Goodbye, Betty.”
    Tommy touched his dry lips with his tongue. “Good-bye, Mrs. Kilbourne,” he said softly.
    He went into the house. He heard the car drive away, and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Powell.
    “Am I going to stay here?” he asked, a lump coming to his throat.
    Mrs. Powell smiled. “Oh, yes. You’ll be with us for a while yet. After all, you’re supposed to be with us at least six months.
     That means you’re sort of on trial here with us. You remember Mrs. Kilbourne told you about that when you first came to us?”
    Tommy nodded. “How long have I been here, Mrs. Powell?”
    “Five months,” she said. “So you still have another month, Tommy. But don’t worry. We had a boy once who stayed with us for
     two years. It’s all up to you, Tommy.”

7
    T ommy and Betty walked to school Monday morning. Betty kept talking about her arithmetic. Tommy hardly heard. Another month,
     he thought. Another month and probably Mrs. Kilbourne will take me away.
    It’s all up to you, Tommy,
Mrs. Powell had said. But I
am
trying my best, he thought. What else can I do?
    He was quiet in school. Ms. Bleam asked him if anything was wrong. He said no, nothing was wrong.
    “Let’s take out our reader,” Ms. Bleam said, “and turn to page twenty-six. Tommy, will you start reading, please?”
    Tommy found the page. He started to read.
    “Please stand, Tommy,” said Ms. Bleam.
    Tommy stood up. “‘One day Joseph arose early in the — in the —’”
    “‘Morning,’” said Ms. Bleam.
    “‘— in the morning. He ate — ’um —”
    “‘Breakfast,”’ said Ms. Bleam.
    “‘— breakfast, and walked down the road. He found a goose …’” He kept reading, missing words now and then, words he had remembered
     even last week, but which he could not remember now.
    “You must study more, Tommy,” advised Ms. Bleam. “Did you get a good rest last night?”
    “Yes,” said Tommy. “Yes, I did.”
    After eating his lunch, Tommy went out to the field with the boys to play scrub football.
    Jim Neeley looked at Tommy. His eyes darkened. “If you’re going to play, I’m going back inside.”
    “So am I,” said Tim McCarthy. “Who wants to get a leg broken by a guy who thinks he knows how to play football?”
    Tommy stared. “I — I didn’t break anybody’s leg!”
    “No! But you’re trying hard to!”
    “Oh, stop that,” said David Warren. He stepped between Tommy and the two boys. “Tommy never tried to break anybody’s leg.
     He’s always played rough because that’s the way they played where he came from. They never played by rules. Don’t worry, he’ll
     learn the right way with us. But he can’t learn if you don’t give him a chance. Come on, Tommy. Play on my side.”
    They played till the first bell rang. Then they went inside.
    That afternoon, when they returned home from school, Betty and Tommy found Mrs. Powell very happy about something. She was
     humming a popular tune and skipping from stove to sink to table and back again like a happy bumblebee. Her eyes danced. A
     couple of times she winked at Tommy.
    “Well, Mom,” exclaimed Betty at last, “are you going to keep us in suspense forever?”
    “What do you mean by that?” Mrs. Powell tried to hide her smile, but she couldn’t.
    “You know what I mean,” said Betty. “You’re hiding something from us.”
    Mrs. Powell laughed. “Okay. I’ll tell you. But it’s especially for Tommy.”
    Tommy’s eyes widened. “For me?”
    “Yes. Mr. Powell telephoned me thisafternoon. He said that when he comes home tonight, he’ll have a surprise for you. There! You see? I shouldn’t have said anything,
     Betty. Now both of you will be more anxious than ever!”
    Every few minutes, Tommy looked at the clock on the wall.