Jinxed! (9 page)

 

“Wow! Thanks.”

“This ball has to be good luck,” Mike added.

“Not for us,” said Brian Somerset.

“Can you sign it for me?” I asked Mike.

“Of course.”

I tossed him a pen. I made a terrible throw, but he caught it anyway.

• • •

I helped the Humdingers put their things away for the night. When I went back onto the field, there was still a long, ragged line of kids waiting to run the bases. A couple of the kids were talking about Mike's play and acting it out.

“Wasn't that awesome?”

“Yeah,” Dylan replied.

“First unassisted triple play in Prairie League history!” I heard one of them say.

Spike pointed at each kid when it was his or her turn to run the bases. He—I mean, she—waved at me as I passed.

“I can't talk right now!” Abby said. “I'm in costume!”

“That's all right. Neither can I.”

“I gave that guy the card, though!” she said.

“I know. Thanks!”

The Porcupines' locker room was practically empty. Dylan was playing with the rabbit. The locker room was in good shape, so at least he had finished his duties before taking a bunny break.

“Is Mike still around?” I asked.

“I don't think so. All the guys wanted to take him out to celebrate his big play.”

“Must have been fun to be in the dugout when it happened,” I said.

“It was.”

Dylan should have been a lot more excited.
I still planned on turning him into a big-time baseball fan. Good thing I had all summer to do it.

“Looks like Mike left his rabbit behind,” I said.

“It's my rabbit now,” said Dylan. “Mike said I could keep him because we hit it off so well.”

“Do your parents know you're coming home with a rabbit?”

“Sure they do. They're coming to pick us up. We have two rabbits already, so he'll fit right in.”

“He's cute,” I said. “Have you named him yet?”

“I'm still thinking about it,” he said. “Any ideas?”

“How about . . . Jinx?”

“I like that! I like it a lot!”

“Thanks. It just kind of came to me.”

Kurtis Scaletta's previous books include
Mudville
, which
Booklist
called “a gift from the baseball gods” and named one of their 2009 Top 10 Sports Books for Youth. Kurtis lives in Minneapolis with his wife and son and some cats. He roots for the Minnesota Twins and the Saint Paul Saints. Find out more about him at
www.kurtisscaletta.com
.

Eric Wight was an animator for Disney, Warner Bros., and Cartoon Network before creating the critically acclaimed
Frankie Pickle
graphic novel series. He lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and is a diehard fan of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. You can check out all the fun he is having at
www.ericwight.com
.