by Annie Bryant
Avery grabbed her baseball mitt and headed to Charlotte’s house. She was the first of the BSG to arrive.
“What’s that for?” Charlotte asked when she saw Avery’s mitt. “I thought we were going to watch a baseball game, not play a baseball game.”
Avery pounded her fist into the worn-out glove. “Are you kidding me? You gotta bring a baseball mitt to games to catch fouls, or better yet—a home run ball, depending on where you are sitting of course. Wouldn’t it be great if we were seated in the outfield and caught a homer? Wow! What if it was a Robbie Flores homer? And then when we met him and got Marty back, I could have him autograph the home run ball. Wow! That’d be incredible!” Avery held the glove in the air and pretended to catch a homerun ball. She was completely charged up.
“Now, you’re sure they’re going to have six tickets waiting at the ticket office?” Mr. Ramsey asked.
“That’s what Isabel said,” Charlotte assured him.
Mr. Ramsey grinned. He looked almost as excited as Avery. “This is unbelievable! I was hoping I’d be able to get to a game this season. I loved going to Red Sox games when I was growing up. I’ve been so busy these last few years that it’s been kinda hard to follow them,” Mr. Ramsey said. “You wouldn’t believe how many Red Sox fans there were in Paris, Avery. Actually, I’ve run into Sox fans everywhere I’ve traveled. I even met a mountain climber in Nepal who was a Sox fan from Vermont!”
“My dad still follows the team even though he lives in Colorado,” said Avery. “I guess people are Red Sox fans for life, even if they move across the country or around the world. Oh look, the pre-game show’s on!”
Charlotte and her dad turned their attention to the TV.
“Look!” Avery shouted, pointing to the graphic on the bottom of the screen. She read the caption aloud: “Next up—an interview with Robbie Flores. This is so cool!”
“What’s going on?” Katani called up from the foyer.
“Avery, we could hear you from the street,” Maeve said.
Avery ran to the banister and looked down at Katani and Maeve. “Hurry up, you guys! They’re going to interview Robbie Flores on TV. Maybe he’ll say something about Marty.”
“Or he’ll talk about his four-game hitting streak,” Katani said when she reached the top step.
Everyone stared at Katani, surprised that she would rattle off a baseball stat like that.
“What?” asked Katani. “I read it in the paper! It’s the biggest story in town.”
When the pre-game show came back on, there was Robbie Flores sitting on a bench in the locker room. And to everyone’s surprise, who should be sitting snugly in his arms but Marty, the little dude himself. The girls couldn’t believe their eyes. The room was silent for a couple of seconds, and then everyone started talking at once.
Charlotte jostled Mr. Ramsey’s arm. “Marty!” she cried. “Look, Dad. It’s really Marty!”
“I can’t believe it,” Maeve said.
“This is weird,” Katani said. “Very weird.”
“I told you guys. I TOLD YOU!” said an excited Avery. “Now quiet. QUIET!!! I want to hear what he has to say.”
Robbie Flores was in the middle of his interview by the time everyone calmed down. It was a little hard to understand his English. Everyone leaned toward the TV as if being closer to the set would help them make sense of what he was saying.
“This little dude turned it all around for me,” Robbie Flores said. “He’s my lucky charm.”
The camera panned in close on Marty’s little face. He was panting under the hot lights. Robbie Flores held up one of Marty’s paws and helped him wave at the camera. He seemed to be really stuck on their little dog.
“It looks like he took really good care of him,” Katani said, staring at the screen. “He looks like his well-fed self.”
“And check out his collar—it looks like it has rhinestones on it.” Maeve was clearly impressed.
“Uh-oh,” Charlotte said nervously. “I have a funny feeling about this.”
“About what?” Avery asked.
“I mean, if he thinks Marty is his lucky charm, maybe he won’t want to give him back,” Charlotte said.
A look of horror struck Avery’s face. “But he has to give him back! Marty doesn’t belong to him,” she protested.
“Avery, you’re the one who noticed that the message on the machine said he would pay us to keep him,” Charlotte pointed out.
“Yeah, so?” Avery said. “You heard him on the TV. He doesn’t speak English very well. Maybe he was confused and got the words all mixed up.”
“His English really isn’t that bad,” Katani said. “I think Charlotte might be right.”
“His English is excellent,” Charlotte stated.
Avery pounded her mitt as she spoke. “Listen, he wouldn’t have invited us to the game if he didn’t plan on giving Marty back to us. Isabel didn’t say anything about him paying us. You guys are just worrywarts.”
The girls nodded half-heartedly. They were all hoping that Avery was right.
Hot Seats!
“Hey, what kind of seats do you think we’ll get?” Charlotte asked, hoping to turn the conversation in another direction.
“I want to be in the outfield so I can catch a home run!” Avery said.
“He’s got connections,” Katani noted. “Maybe we’ll be sitting in box seats.”
“Ooh! I didn’t even think of that! Maybe we’ll get skybox seats,” Maeve said as she twirled around.
Katani pulled something out of her bag. It was a stuffed animal—a tiny purple pony. “I made a new toy for the little guy,” Katani said. “I felt…inspired.” She had sewn it together last night, but the design was Kelley’s idea.
“I brought some doggie treats,” Avery said, taking the bag from her pocket.
Charlotte pulled a bigger plastic bag from her canvas tote. “I went to see Yuri this morning, and I picked up that bone he’s been saving for Marty.”
“Hope the ushers don’t search us,” Katani said. “They’ll think we’re crazy!”
The doorbell rang and Charlotte ran downstairs to let Isabel in.
“There she is!” Katani said as Isabel jogged up the stairs. “I was starting to get worried.”
“Our bilingual hero,” Maeve said, patting Isabel on the back. “I wish I could speak Spanish.”
“So what did he sound like?” Avery asked.
“Who?” Isabel asked.
The girls all replied at once, “Robbie Flores!”
“Oh…he was very nice,” Isabel said.
“Wow, I can’t believe how cool you are about the whole thing,” Maeve said. “I mean, if I got to speak to Robbie Flores…well…I’d probably swoon or something.” Maeve fanned herself with her hand like a dehydrated Southern belle.
“I hope not, Maeve. That would be totally embarrassing,” Avery said, rolling her eyes.
Maeve ignored Avery’s comment. She was worried about Isabel. She didn’t seem very excited about the game, getting Marty back, or even meeting Robbie Flores in person.
“By the way,” Avery said, elbowing Isabel, “Guess who we just saw on TV?”
“Who?” asked Isabel.
“Robbie Flores and Marty.”
“He went on TV with Marty? Why? What’d he say?” Isabel asked nervously.
“He said something about Marty being the reason for him hitting so well,” Charlotte said.
“Yeah, it turns out that Marty is his lucky charm,” Avery reported.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Charlotte said. “Isabel, did he say anything to you about the reward when you talked to him?”
“Well…”
“Come on. He said lucky charm but he can’t honestly think that Marty is the reason why he’s playing so well, right?” Katani asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he did, Katani,” Mr. Ramsey said. “Athletes can be extremely superstitious. Baseball players in particular. Wade Boggs used to eat chicken
before every game.”
“Didn’t he ever get sick of chicken?” asked Katani.
“Maybe, but he would never break his routine. That would be bad luck,” answered Mr. Ramsey.
“And Nomar Garciaparra always wore the same T-shirt under his uniform,” Avery said. “And every time he got up to bat, he tapped his toes and adjusted his wristbands the same exact way.”
Maeve noticed Isabel shift uneasily in her seat.
“Well, what did Robbie say to you?” Maeve asked.
Isabel twirled the ends of her hair and stared at the ground. When she spoke, her voice was so soft that they could barely hear her. “He wants to pay us ten thousand dollars to keep him.”
“What?!?” Avery shrieked.
Charlotte sat down with a thud.
Maeve couldn’t believe her ears.
“So you heard right on the answering machine. He wasn’t just confused. It wasn’t a language barrier thing!” Katani exclaimed, but unlike her friends, she didn’t look devastated.
In fact, she was smiling. “It’s a miracle. I can’t believe this. Grandma Ruby said just this morning not to worry. She said we should trust that the universe will provide us with what we need and…and here it is! She was right!”
“I wouldn’t call it a miracle, Katani. Robbie Flores wants to buy Marty from us,” Avery sighed.
“Well,” Katani explained. “The stable that Kelley and I ride at doesn’t have enough money to make repairs. Ten thousand dollars would help them stay in operation. I can’t believe that Robbie Flores wants to buy Marty for ten thousand dollars. And he’s a celebrity, so maybe he could help get the word out.”
“What are you talking about?” Maeve asked.
“The horse therapy place I’ve been going to with Kelley. It helps a lot of disabled kids. And it was going to have to close because they needed at least ten thousand dollars. And now, just like that—” Katani snapped her fingers, “—we have ten thousand dollars to keep it up and running. Don’t you think that’s a miracle?”
“But we’re not taking the money,” Avery said sternly.
Charlotte seemed dazed. “Are you serious, Katani? You would really give up Marty for ten thousand dollars?” Charlotte asked.
Avery shook her head and sighed, “I’m ashamed of you, young lady.”
But Katani wasn’t going to give up easily. “You couldn’t possibly understand, Avery. You have no idea how hard it is to watch someone you love suffer and not be able to do anything because you don’t have the money to help them.”
Maeve looked at Isabel, who hung her head. Avery glanced at Charlotte, but they both didn’t know what to say. No one could believe that Katani would sell their precious Marty, even if it was for her sister and disabled kids.
“There must be another way you could get the money,” Maeve said.
“Ten thousand dollars?” Katani raised an eyebrow at her friends. “I could always just win the lottery, right? C’mon, ten thousand dollars is no chump change, and it could help Kelley and tons of other kids.”
“Don’t you see that Marty is like part of my family to me?” Charlotte asked.
“A dog is not a sister,” Katani said. “First of all, you can’t sell people. But people sell dogs all the time. You know I love Marty, but that money could mean so much for Kelley. Besides, there are a lot of puppies out there that need a good home. Can we just consider the option?”
“We’re not taking the money and that’s final! Marty’s not for sale,” Avery declared. “To even think about it is…is…well…it’s cold and heartless!”
Katani’s eyes grew large. “Heartless! Heartless? You’re the heartless one. You don’t care about my sister at all,” she sputtered, and with that, Katani stormed out of the room, ran down the stairs, and left, slamming the front door behind her.
“What’s going on?” Mr. Ramsey asked when he came back into the room. “Charlotte?”
Charlotte opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She tried to blink back tears as she summoned the courage to tell her dad what had happened.
Isabel said nothing, but she thought, Katani’s not the only one who could use that money. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she felt guilty. Marty was the BSG mascot. How could they sell him?
CHAPTER
16
Extra Ticket
The room was eerily quiet after Katani stomped off. Maeve wanted to break the silence by saying something, but oddly enough, she couldn’t think of anything to say.
Instead, Mr. Ramsey was the one to finally change the subject. “Hmmm…” he said as he stroked his beard, “it seems that we have an extra ticket.”
“Dad!” Charlotte looked appalled.
“I don’t mean to be insensitive here, Charlotte. I’m not happy about the way Katani left. It’s just that we do have an extra ticket. It seems a shame to let it go to waste. Anyone have any ideas?”
Everyone was quiet.
“How about asking one of your brothers, Avery?” Mr. Ramsey asked.
“I don’t think so. Tim is away at college and Scott has an away soccer game. I could never reach him,” Avery said.
“How about your brother, Maeve?” Mr. Ramsey asked.
Maeve was startled. “Sam?”
“Yeah…why not?”
Maeve didn’t know what to say. She didn’t think that Mr. Ramsey remembered she had a brother. Now here he was inviting him to the baseball game. She wasn’t sure she wanted to baby-sit for her pesky little brother—not when she was meeting Robbie Flores—but she didn’t have time to make up an excuse.
“Why don’t you call your mom?” Mr. Ramsey suggested, handing Maeve the phone. “They can meet us at the trolley stop in ten minutes.”
When Maeve told her mom the news, she could hear Sam whooping and cheering in the background. He sounded so excited, which meant he was going to be so annoying. By the time Maeve got off the phone, the others were ready to go, so she threw on her coat and they tromped down the stairs and out the door.
Sam was waiting with Ms. Kaplan at the trolley stop.
“Did you have to wear camouflage?” Maeve asked.
“It’s my best camouflage!” Sam said defensively. Maeve rolled her eyes.
“Maeve, here’s some spending money for you and your brother.” Ms. Kaplan slipped her a wad of folded bills. “Now, I want you stay with your sister no matter what and listen to Mr. Ramsey,” Ms. Kaplan told Sam.
Ms. Kaplan pulled Maeve aside. “Make sure you hold on tightly to his hand in crowds. You know how he can pull away. It only takes one second for someone to get lost,” Ms. Kaplan said.
“I know, I know,” Maeve grumbled.
Luckily, the trolley arrived and rattled to a stop. Maeve was relieved to finally break away.
Ms. Kaplan was waving from the sidewalk. “Hold his hand,” she mouthed. In case there was any doubt, Ms. Kaplan pointed to her own hand. Maeve complied, but Sam wasn’t too happy about holding hands either. His sweaty palm writhed around in her grip.
“Leave me alone,” he whined.
“Hey, Maeve, if you want, I can keep my eye on Sam here,” Mr. Ramsey offered. He gave Sam a high five. “Us guys’ll stick together, right?”
Sam beamed. “Right!”
Mr. Ramsey bent down and whispered, loud enough for Maeve to hear, “I’m sure glad you could come today. Otherwise I’d be stuck with this crazy bunch of girls.”
“No prob.” Sam looked pleased with himself.
Mr. Ramsey winked at Maeve and pointed out an open railing for Sam to grab onto. Usually there were a couple of seats to spare, but the T was packed because everyone was heading to the game.
Great, at least I won’t have any eight-year-old freak-outs to worry about today, Maeve thought. She was sad that Katani hadn’t come, but happy that her little brother was going to have an exciting day.
When they got to Fenway, the group made a beeline for the ticket office. “Wow! Look at these seats,” Mr. Ramse
y said. “We’re almost directly behind the warmup circle. I feel like I have died and gone to Red Sox heaven!”
Mr. Ramsey and Avery were excited about the tickets, but Maeve was more excited. Seeing the dreamy Robbie Flores up at bat was too cool for words.
After the other team’s third out in the ninth inning, Mr. Ramsey got up to take Sam to the bathroom. Two Cokes and Maeve’s little brother was dancing on one foot.
They had just disappeared up into the stands when Avery freaked out. She grabbed Maeve’s arm. “Ouch! What is your problem?” Maeve tried to shake Avery loose but Avery had a death grip on her arm.
“You better run and get your brother and Mr. Ramsey. Flores is first at bat.”
“What if he hits a home run? My dad will be so disappointed.” Charlotte stood up on her seat to see if she could catch him before they went through the gate. Too late. They were already gone.
The BSG turned their attention back to the main attraction.
“Ave, why…”
“Be quiet,” Avery shushed Maeve.
Flores foul off the first pitch, and the umpire called the second pitch a strike.
Flores was angry. He walked away from the mound to conference with the Red Sox manager. He was waving his arms and shouting in Spanish.
“What’s he saying Isabel? Tell me quick.” Avery pleaded.
“He said the pitch was low. He’s really angry.”
Avery put her head in her hands. Flores was going to strike out—she just knew it.
Charlotte shook Avery. “Avery, look. He’s back up. The pitcher’s winding up.”
“What did we miss?” Mr. Ramsey asked. Charlotte breathed a huge sigh of relief. Her dad and Sam made it back just in time to see Robbie reach for a wide one and slam it over the Green Monster, Fenway Park’s famous wall.
Avery, Sam, Mr. Ramsey, Charlotte, and Isabel stood up on the bench and cheered with the rest of the fans. The stadium was so loud Sam’s ears started to ring. He clasped his hands over each ear, but kept yelling, too.
Maeve, on the other hand, stepped out into the aisle and danced up and down the stairs.
