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“Wish I had time to play games,” said Uncle Elmer. “But football isn’t going to bring in the wheat, now, is it? Football isn’t going to put food on my table. Isn’t going to put butter on the bread or . . .”

“Come on,” said Tugs. “Let’s go outside.”

Ned and Gladdy followed Tugs out to the front porch, where they sat side by side on the steps.

“What’s happening?” Gladdy asked. “Betsy Ann wants me to come over before supper. Are we all staying here for supper? Is Granny dying?”

“I’m not supposed to know,” said Tugs. “And I don’t know about supper. But I listened in. Granny’s just got nerves. Granddaddy had a spell down at the luncheonette today. The doctor was here and explained it all, and Granddaddy is resting on my bed. It’s Granddaddy’s heart, but it’ll work for a while, probably, the doctor says, depending. We’re supposed to treat him like everything is regular — only, make sure he doesn’t overdo.”

“That doctor wouldn’t look a whit at me, and look at how I suffer!” they heard Granny hollering. “What will he say when I go before Daddy? Think he’ll believe me then?”

“Maybe you should go in and hold her hand, Gladdy,” said Ned. “She likes Miss Lindy.”

Gladdy hopped up and went inside.

Tugs reached over and took Ned’s flattened ball from him.

“Too bad,” she said.

“Yep,” he said.

“Want to make another one?”

“Have you got newspaper?”

“No, but Granddaddy’s always got something lying around. Just a minute.” Tugs got up. Her mother was standing just inside the door.

“I could go straighten up at Granddaddy’s before he goes home,” said Tugs. “Ned says he’ll help.”

“Oh!” said Aunt Corrine. “Is it . . . well, yes. Fine. Fine.”

“Race you,” said Ned. “I’ll even give you a head start.”

But Tugs had already started running and hollered back over her shoulder, “I don’t need a head start!”

“Tugs!” Ned shouted. He chased her until she slowed down enough to let him catch up. All that wind burning in his lungs made Ned feel taller, faster, invincible.

“He’s going to be OK, isn’t he, Tugs?”

Tugs kicked a rock with her shoe and loped ahead to kick it again.

“Sure,” she said.

Ned stopped and just breathed long and deep. “He’ll be OK,” he said to himself, and ran on.

Ned stared out the classroom window. He glanced at the clock, then back out the window. If only Granddaddy would meander past the school like he sometimes did, pausing to talk to anyone who happened to be out, or if Ned could just see him sitting in his spot on his porch, whistling or napping. The day was dragging on forever.

When the bell finally did ring, Ned sprang out of his seat and dashed into the hallway. Just as he got to the door, Franklin grabbed his arm.

“Is Granddaddy coming?”

“He can’t today,” said Ned. “You guys go ahead without me. I’ll be back.”

Ned ran all the way home, eager to see Granddaddy, to tell him about the challenge, dreading seeing an empty porch chair or Gladdy waiting on the front step again. But Granddaddy had nodded off on his porch chair like always, his chin resting on his chest, one arm resting on his belly, the other slack by his side.

Ned hesitated at the bottom of the steps. What if Granddaddy wasn’t napping this time? What if he had died right there in his chair? How would Ned know? He took a cautious step up, his eyes on Granddaddy’s chest. Was he breathing? So far, nothing. He took another step. Was his mustache rustling, maybe, with the breath coming out of his nose?

Then Granddaddy snapped awake, flailing his arms and shouting, “Fire! Fire!”

Ned fell backward off the step. “Granddaddy!” he said. “I thought you were dead!”

Granddaddy guffawed. “Well, then. I must have startled you good. Everybody’s treating me like I’m a goner. Shoot. It’s just my ticker. It’s got a few beats in it yet; don’t you worry.”

Ned brushed himself off and stood in front of Granddaddy, not sure what to do next. Could he talk to Granddaddy about football now that his heart wasn’t working right?

“It’s just me, same as always,” said Granddaddy Ike. “Now, quit your foolish staring and get
Oz
. Skip ahead to the part about the piles of wolves. I do love to think about that Tin Man chopping up all those wolves. Tickles me every time.”

Ned sidled past Granddaddy and got the book. He sat on the top step and read, and as he read he relaxed. Granddaddy probably wouldn’t die before supper.

“Remember those plays we talked about, Granddaddy? I got together with the boys and we tried them.”

“Well, that’s something, my boy. That is something. I knew you could do it. Showed Burton the old throwing arm, did you?”

“I, well, not Burton, exactly, the other fellows, but . . .”

“Oh, that’s fine. Fine! You’re playing. That’s the ticket. You’ve got strategy. You’ve got that apple-throwing arm. You’re on your way.”

“The thing is, I kind of suggested that we challenge Burton and Clyde to a game.”

“That so?” said Granddaddy. “Well, now.”

“Don’t you think we can take ’em?” said Ned.

“Sure you can, sure. But you might need a few more tricks up your sleeve if you’re going to go challenging the oxes.”

“Right!” said Ned. “That’s what I wanted to ask you. I need to know some more plays.”

“We’d best go back out to our apple field, then,” said Granddaddy. “Help me out, will you?”

“I have to go practice with them now. But could I bring the other fellows over here tomorrow? We thought you could help us, sort of coach us.”

“Even better,” said Granddaddy.

“Where are you going?” asked Gladdy. “Wait up!” She broke away from her friends when she saw Ned walking home with a parade of boys. Tugs and Aggie ran over, too.

“It looks like fun,” Tugs said. “What’s going on? What did I miss?”

“Will there be food?” said Gladdy.

“Is there going to be a fight?” asked Aggie.

“No,” said Ned. “We’re going to Granddaddy’s to get his help on some football stuff.”

“Great! We’ll come, too, won’t we, Aggie?” said Tugs.

“Sure we will.”

“Does Mother know?” Gladdy pestered. “You aren’t supposed to wear Granddaddy out. Seems like a whole passel of boys is going to wear Granddaddy out. You’d better check with Mother.”

“It’s FINE, Gladdy,” said Ned.

Tugs walked with Ned. “Can Aggie and I play, too?” she asked. Ned hesitated, but Ralph was right behind them and answered for him.

“Sure you can. You and Aggie are faster than some of these fellows. We have to have substitutes, Ned. What if someone’s gone on the day we play Burton and Clyde? What then? We have to have extra players just in case. Look at Franklin. He didn’t play for a few days. And Mel was gone that day. What happens if a couple of guys are out? Plus, Burton and Clyde would never dare tackle a girl.”

“Don’t be so sure about that,” said Tugs. “But I don’t care.”

“Granddaddy,” said Ned, standing in front of the group at Granddaddy’s porch. Granddaddy slept on.

“Granddaddy!” Ned said a little louder. Granddaddy snapped awake. He looked at the group and took off his glasses and rubbed them on his shirtfront, then put them on again.

“Well, I’ll be jiggered,” he said. “I thought I was seeing things. There’s a whole lot of you. Go on around the back. I’ll be right there.”

Ned followed Granddaddy into the house. “Are you sure this is all right, Granddaddy?”

“Sure, sure!” said Granddaddy. “Just what the doctor ordered. I’m tired of sitting on that chair all day. Some youngsters around, that’s just the thing. Though, I think you got this without my help.”

Ned was proud. “Sure,” he said. “But it would make them feel better if it came from you instead of me. More official.”

“Good,” said Granddaddy. “I know just what to do.”

“OK,” said Ned, and he led Granddaddy out the back door. Franklin had climbed the apple tree, and Mel was dangling off the lowest branch by his knees.

“You have some food?” said Paul.

“Bread and butter would do,” said Ralph.

“Nope,” said Granddaddy. “Can’t say that snacks are my department. But I can give you some football advice.”

Granddaddy sat on his barrel. The kids sprawled around him on the ground. They looked at him expectantly.

“Now, then. Hmmm. So you want to beat Burton Ward at his own game. Well, then. I don’t think it will take much. But it will mean you need to be able to dodge and catch and throw. Dodge and catch and throw. Got it? You don’t want to get mowed over by those fellows, so you got to dodge. You want to get into the end zone with that ball, so you have to be able to throw and catch. And you have to listen to your quarterback. He’ll give you directions. Just do what he says, dodge and catch and throw, and you’ll be fine.”

Granddaddy got up and started for the house.

“Wait, Granddaddy,” said Ned. “How do we do that?”

“Well, you practice catching and throwing and dodging, I suppose.” He stood there studying them. “How many days we got?”

“We’re playing Saturday, after the Hawks game,” said Ned.

“This is what?”

“Wednesday,” said Tugs.

“All right, then,” said Granddaddy. “Today we throw and catch. Tomorrow, the next step.”

“What’s the next step?” asked Mel.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” said Granddaddy. “Now, you there, bring over some apples from that pile. The rest of you, get into two lines facing each other. No, farther apart.”

Granddaddy walked between the two rows. “Take a step back. Now another. OK, one more.” They were at the two edges of the yard. “Everyone in this line is going to take an apple and throw it to the person in the other line. Then they’ll pass it back.”

They practiced throwing and catching for a while, then Granddaddy stopped them. “Now for dodging,” he said. “You aren’t the meatiest lot I’ve ever seen, but that just means you’ll be harder to grab. Be mosquitoes buzzing around the other team. It’ll drive ’em mad trying to swat you.”

Granddaddy called Gladdy over. “Stand there like a statue,” he said. Then he waved his stick at the lot of them. “Now, line up here next to me. You’re going to run at Gladdy, dodge around her to the left, circle the apple tree to the right, then come back here and do it again.”

Gladdy squealed. Tugs and Aggie lined up with the boys, and they all ran figure eights around Gladdy while she shrieked and danced in place.

Mother ran out of the house next door, but she stopped when she saw them and watched until they were worn out from figure-eighting.

“Give Granddaddy a rest, now,” she said. “You can come back tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow we’ll go over plays,” Granddaddy said as the boys left. “Right after school. Don’t be late!”

“We were pretty good, weren’t we, Granddaddy?” said Ned as he and Tugs helped Granddaddy up the steps and back into his house.

“Sure as shooting,” said Granddaddy. “The whole lot of you. Boys. Girls. Even Gladdy.”

Granddaddy was sitting on his barrel by the shed when Ned and the others arrived after school the next day. He gave three short blasts on his winnings-shelf whistle, and they all covered their ears.

“Listen up, team!” he said. “We’ll be playing on a mighty small field. The shed is one end zone, the back step the other. Don’t run into the apple tree. Thought we could practice over at Tractor Field today, but Ned’s mother has me on a short leash, so we take what we can get.