Supercharged Infield (5 page)

Yet she couldn’t ignore him. What if she was wrong? What if she just
thought
there was something strange about him because he was a nut about computers, and had taken all three of the changed girls
to the movies? Wasn’t it quite a coincidence that it happened to be
those
girls?

Penny inhaled deeply as she swooped up
her glove and shot a quick glance at him. “I’ll try not to, Harold,” she promised, and ran out to her position at third.

Why should I feel so strange now whenever I’m near him, or when he speaks to me? she wondered. Am I going crazy, or what?

The Hard Hats’ bats went wild again in the top half of the seventh inning and didn’t stop until five runs had crossed the
plate, including two home runs — both by the Chang sisters. Penny, running in toward the dugout, her legs and shoulders aching
from the long, tough game, couldn’t believe it. Those darned Hard Hats just won’t give up! she thought.

Well, we won’t either, she murmured quietly to herself as she plopped down on the bench. Her heart wasn’t entirely into winning
the game now. The
thing
that had happened to the girls took first consideration.

“Start it off, Karen!” a familiar voice yelled from the bench. “Belt it out of the lot!”

Harold’s voice. Penny saw Karen going to the plate, carrying her bat as if it were a toothpick. Karen stepped into the batter’s
box, rubbed the toes of her sneakers into the dirt till she was comfortable in her stance,
and faced the pitcher. Pam Colt stood on the mound, tall and erect, holding the softball in front of her with both hands.
Then she whipped the ball underhand with her right, and it sailed in toward the plate in a fast, shallow arc.

Boom! Karen swung and met it solidly. The ball zoomed to deep left center field and over the fence for a home run, her third
hit of the game.

“I knew she’d do it!” Harold exclaimed, his face beaming as he printed “HR” in the seventh-inning box opposite Karen’s name
in the scorebook. “I knew it!”

Penny shot him a cold, questioning look. Mary Ann was sitting between them, but Penny had to say what was on her mind. She
couldn’t resist it.
“How
did you know, Harold?” she asked softly.

He finished writing in the scorebook and glanced up at her. He was still beaming, still flushed with having guessed that Karen
was going to hit a home run. “I don’t know. I guess I just
felt
it,” he said.

“Sure,” Penny replied, her voice low, almost inaudible.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Nothing,” Penny said, turning away from
him. She could see him looking at her, and Mary Ann looking at her, and felt a chill ripple along her spine. Don’t give me
that dumb, I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about look, Harold, she wanted to tell him. You know very well what I’m talking
about.

Sophie Kowalski singled over short, then got out on a double play as Jean ripped a fast one-bouncer down to second base. Edie
walked and Faye came up. Silent, Penny waited for Harold to yell for her to belt one out of the lot, too. The thought had
scarcely come to her mind when his voice boomed, “Out of the lot, Faye! Go after it, girl!”

Tense, Penny waited to see what Faye would do. Faye let the first pitch go by; it was too low. She let the next one go by;
it was also too low.

“Make it be in there, Faye!” Coach Parker’s advice came from the third-base coaching box.

Two-and-nothing. Faye should let the next pitch go by, too, whether or not it was going to be a strike, Penny thought. If
it was a strike, Faye would still have two chances left to hit. If it was a ball, the chances were better that the next pitch
would be a ball and she’d draw a walk.

The pitch came in. It was a good one, and Faye swung at it. She walloped it hard into right center field and stopped on second
base for a stand-up double. Edie held up at third.

“Way to go, Faye!” Harold cried, his face beaming again as he made the proper notation in the scorebook. Penny could not resist
glancing in his direction to see the expression on his face.

“The winning run’s on second, Shari!” Harold yelled then. “Get a hit, Shari! A hit will do it!”

Shari stepped into the box, took three pitches, then slammed a waist-high pitch between the right and left center fielders
for a stand-up double. The hit drove in Edie and Faye, ending the ball game, with the Hawks winning it, 12 to 11.

Penny found herself cheering with all the other members of the team and the Hawks’ fans, but her heart wasn’t in it.
It wasn’t Shari who had hit that ball
, she told herself.
It wasn’t Faye who had hit hers, and it wasn’t Karen who had hit that home run. Something had taken over their bodies. And
there was one person who knew what it was: Harold Dempsey!

“P
ENNY
!”

Penny had left the dugout and was running to catch up with Melanie when she heard the voice. She stopped running, turned,
and stared in surprise at the stout, slightly bowlegged boy sprinting toward her, the score-book clasped tightly against his
side.

“Yes, Harold?” she asked as he came up beside her, puffing slightly.

That beaming face again! Was he mocking her?

“I’d like to ask you something,” he said.

“Oh?” She started to walk on, hoping to reach Melanie at the gate. At the same time, she didn’t want to be left alone with
Harold.
She had become frightened of him. She was sure now he was responsible for Karen’s, Shari’s, and Faye’s strange behavior and
abnormal athletic abilities. She had questions to ask him, too, but she wasn’t prepared to spring them on him now.

She stared at him. “What is it you want to ask me, Harold?” she said, trying to keep her voice under control.

“Will . . . will you go to a movie with me this Saturday afternoon?” he asked in a soft, pleasant voice. “The one that starts
at five P.M., because — ”

Penny’s hazel eyes widened as she heard his invitation. “You asked me once before, Harold, and I said I couldn’t go.”

He nodded, his head bobbing as if it were hooked onto a spring. “I know. And you said you were going to be busy that Saturday
afternoon. I thought — ”

“I’m sorry, Harold,” she interrupted. “I mean . . . I don’t know. I’ll have to see if my mom and dad have anything planned.
Okay?”

She had to get out of it somehow. And she didn’t want him to think that she suspected him of any villainy. Not now. She felt
she would be in danger now.

She flashed him a weak smile. “I’m sorry,” she said again, and started to run toward the exit, when another voice suddenly called out to her. “Penny! Wait a second!”

She looked over her shoulder to her right and saw that it was Jonny Keech. Jonny! Her heart skipped a beat. She almost failed
to see that Karen was with him. His head was bare, and his blond hair was tossing about like corn tassels in the wind. There
was a humorous glint in his blue eyes as he and Karen came forward, and Penny wondered if it was because they had seen her
talking with Harold.

“What? Walking home alone?” Jonny asked, cracking a smile that flashed brilliant white teeth and deep dimples in his cheeks.

Penny shrugged. “I was going to walk home with Melanie,” she said, glancing toward the gate where Melanie was waiting for
her. “But — “ She paused and looked at him, smiling shyly, because she didn’t know what to say to him in front of Karen.

Suddenly Karen broke away in a run, her hair flying in the wind as she headed toward the exit and shouted over her shoulder,
“See you at home, Jonny!”

“Okay!” Jonny yelled back to her, waving, then looked back at Penny, his eyes bluer
than ever as Penny gazed into them. She could hardly believe that he had called to her, that he was now standing only inches
away from her. He was slightly taller than she, and was wearing a white t-shirt that showed off his tanned arms. “Some game,”
he said.

“Sure was,” she agreed.

They started toward the gate, walking slowly. Suddenly Penny remembered Harold, and she looked back and saw him disappearing
behind the backstop screen where there was another exit.

She turned and caught Jonny looking at her. Amusement sparkled in his blue eyes. “Saw Harold talking to you. Interesting guy,
isn’t he?”

She smiled. “He sure is.”

“What did he want? No, never mind,” he added quickly. “It’s not any of my business.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Penny said, willing to tell him. “He just asked me if I’d go to a movie with him this Saturday afternoon,
and I said I couldn’t.”

“Oh?” He laughed. “He took Karen a couple of weeks ago, you know.”

“Yes, I know,” Penny replied. “And Faye last Saturday afternoon.”

“Oh?” Jonny’s eyebrows arched. “He sure gets around, doesn’t he?”

“I guess he does.” Penny wanted to elaborate, to say more about Harold, but felt that it would be unwise to tell Jonny what
she suspected. So far she had no proof that Harold was responsible for the girls’ — Shari’s, Karen’s, and Faye’s — superstar
qualities in the infield and at the plate. Once she was sure of it, she’d mention it to Jonny. Till then she would remain
silent about it.

Unless he brought it up first.

“Maybe
we
can go sometime,” he suggested.

She stared at him, surprised, and felt her cheeks turning hot. “Maybe,” she said. Her heart pounded. Was she having a dream?
“I’d like that,” she added.

They arrived at the gate, and Penny saw that Melanie had started to walk on ahead, as if she didn’t want to intrude in their
private conversation.

“I think Melanie’s waiting for you,” Jonny observed, his blue eyes flashing at her again. “I’ll see you, then . . . soon.
Okay?”

“Okay,” she said, trying hard to hide her excitement. She didn’t want him to know
how really pleased she was that he had called to her and walked with her even
this
far.

“Bye,” he said, and ran off, saying hi to Melanie as he swept past her down the sidewalk, his blond hair bobbing with each
smooth, graceful stride.

“Well, what was all that about?” Melanie asked as Penny reached her side. “And don’t tell me ‘nothin’,’ because that look
in your eyes says it was ‘somethin’.’ “

Penny smiled. “Believe it or not, it was practically nothing. But” — she sighed — “there’s hope.”

“What did that twerp Harold want?” Melanie asked as they walked along.

“He invited me to go with him to a movie this Saturday afternoon. How about that?”

“Great!” Melanie’s eyes widened, interested. “You said you’d go, didn’t you?”

“No. I hedged, then I said I couldn’t.”

“What? Dummy! Why not? He’s paying for it, isn’t he? The inviter
always
pays.”

“Yes, but I gave him some crazy excuse, something about Mom and Dad probably having plans for Saturday afternoon.”

“You’re crazy, Penny Farrell,” Melanie snapped. “You know that? Wish he had asked me. I wouldn’t have hedged. I would’ve said,
‘Sure, buster. What time you picking me up?’ “ Penny laughed. “You said you wanted to talk to me after the game,” Melanie
went on. “What do you want to talk about?”

Penny’s eyes fixed on hers. “The girls — Shari, Karen, and Faye.”

“What about them?”

“What about them?” Penny’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how weird they’ve been acting! They’re like superathletes!
And cold and emotionless as sticks!”

Melanie frowned. “Come to think of it, yes. I noticed how well they were playing. And now that you mention their attitude
. . .” She stared at Penny. “That
is
strange, isn’t it?”

“Sure it is,” Penny said. “And what is equally strange is that Harold Dempsey took all three of those girls to movies the
last three Saturdays!”

“Hmm. But that could be a coincidence, couldn’t it, Penny?” said Melanie, her forehead knitted.

“It could be. But think. What positions do those girls play?”

Melanie thought. Then her eyes widened again. “They’re all infielders!” she exclaimed.
“And now he’s invited
you
— also an infielder — to a movie!”

“Right. Don’t you think it sounds like a plan to you? A weird sort of plan?”

Melanie nodded. “It sure does. But how could he be responsible for what’s happened to the girls? That sounds pretty far-fetched,
doesn’t it?”

“Sure it does. But so did the airplane when the Wright Brothers told somebody about it,” said Penny. “And, don’t forget, Harold’s
a computer whiz. Who knows what he can do?”

“Yeah,” said Melanie, her mind seemingly miles away.

“Know what?” Penny went on, thinking deeply. “I’m going to find out more about that little scorekeeper friend of ours. I’m
going to take your suggestion and accept his invitation. But it’s not the movie I’m interested in. It’s what happens
afterward
.”

Melanie smiled broadly. “Right! And if you find out anything, let me know! Will you?”

“Of course, I will.”

Melanie grabbed Penny’s hands in both of hers. “This sounds like real detective work,
Penny!” she said excitedly. “Can I be your sidekick?”