The Reluctant Pitcher Read Online Free Page B

foolish to you. But it isn’t. You two
     were great pals. I had figured on both of you being on my pitching staff this year. I hope that’s what you want, too.”
    Wally’s throat was dry. He looked at Luke Hutter for a minute, then looked away. He got to thinking about the boat ride two
     yearsago. He got to thinking about the explosion and about Mr. Hutter’s pulling Del out of the water and swimming back out after
     him. He would have drowned if it weren’t for Luke Hutter.
    He met Mr. Hutter’s warm blue eyes.
    “Uh, sure, Coach,” he said. “I mean, of course I’ll pitch.”
    Coach Hutter clapped him on the back. “I knew it! You’ll be great once you get the hang of it.”
    But Wally wasn’t so sure. No, he wasn’t sure about that at all.

8
    T he day the Pacers were scheduled to play the Blue Raiders was gray and dismal. It looked as if it might rain, and Wally hoped
     that it would. He wouldn’t have to pitch then.
    He was just wondering what he would do for the afternoon when the phone rang. It was Sawbones.
    “Dad’s going over to the dairy farm today to give all the cows their shots. He needs someone to record their ear numbers so
     he can be sure he got them all, and he wondered if we’d like to do it. You want to come along with us?”
    “Sure,” Wally replied. He wasn’t as crazy about the big animals as Sawbones was, but sometimes the farmer had other animals,
     like dogs or goats. He checked with his mother.
    “Okay,” she said. “Be back by supper-time.”
    “Thanks, Mom.” Into the telephone he said, “Okay, Sawbones. I can go. See you in a little while.”
    Sharon was in the backyard, practicing gymnastics. She was wearing a white T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, and a ribbon around
     her head to keep her hair from falling all over her face.
    It seemed as if she could twist her body any way she wanted to. She laid her hands flat against the grass and lifted her legsslowly into the air. When she had them straight up, she held herself steady for a few moments, then did a quick somersault
     backwards, landed on her feet, and slid her legs straight out into opposite directions — a perfect split.
    She was really graceful at it. She had performed several times at the school and was sometimes asked to perform between acts
     of a play and at social functions.
    She liked to play volleyball and Ping-Pong, too. Wally was secretly proud of her. He never told her so because she seemed
     to suspect it anyway.
    Half an hour later, Wally and Sawbones were writing down numbers as Dr. Davis’s assistant called them out. They helped out
     for an hour, then Dr. Davis told them they could take a break and look around for a while. “Just be sure you’re back here
     in halfan hour so we can head for home,” he reminded the boys before they took off.
    “Let’s go to the dairy store and see if we can get a couple of chocolate milks,” Sawbones suggested.
    “Okay,” said Wally. There was nothing he liked better than a frosty cold glass of milk. The chocolate was a bonus.
    Then Wally thought about the game scheduled to start at six o’clock. He had no idea what time it was. Neither he nor Sawbones
     wore a wristwatch. And he couldn’t tell anything from the sun, because it hadn’t been out all day. It was as cloudy and sultry
     now as it had been hours ago.
    They walked up the long driveway to the white stucco building where the dairy store was. To the right of the building was
     the large white house where Mr. Riker, the owner of the dairy farm, lived. Beyond the stucco building were the great red barns
     in whichwere housed the many cows that furnished the milk for the dairy.
    In the summertime, the cows were permitted to graze outside in the huge fields of the farm. In the early morning hours of
     each day, and in the evenings, they were brought into the barns and milked with electric milking machines.
    Wally and Sawbones entered through the front door. There was a large glass-door