Read Online The Happy Valley Mystery by Julie Campbell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Julie Campbell
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they were quiet again, for Jim started to move slowly clockwise around the board, stopping only long enough at each position to aim, flick his wrist, and send the ball through the basket, never missing.
Then, oblivious to the crowd, all three boys were out on the floor. Jim sent the ball flying to Brian, who was less than a dozen feet from the basket, then raced forward to recover it if Brian missed it. He did miss; Jim recovered and, almost directly under the basket, sent the ball through. Picking it up, he then hurled a long pass back to Mart, who leaped, caught the ball, and, with a quick one-handed shot, sent it against the backboard and through the basket.
As the crowd cheered and cheered, the boys, looking embarrassed, ran back to the bench where the girls were waiting with Ned Schulz.
“Good going!” Ned said and shook hands with the three Bob-Whites.
“We were just hamming it up,” Brian apologized.
“They—our team, I mean—were district champions in Westchester County,” Trixie said proudly as she took a ball from Mart and walked up and down in front of the group, pounding it on the floor.
“I can believe that, all right,” Ned said. “Say, Trixie, how about you? That ball is used for something besides bouncing. Come on, throw it out!”
“Sink one and show him!” Jim said under his breath to Trixie.
She shook her head. “Not in front of all this crowd.” Then, stung by a snickering laugh from the same boy who had taunted Mart, she forgot where she was, stood up, sighted the basket, took her stance, and sent the ball high in the air and straight through the basket.
“Hey, do that again!” Ned called, and he tossed the ball back to her.
It wasn’t too hard for Trixie, who had spent hours practicing spot shots at the hoop on the garage at Crab-apple Farm. She caught the ball and, without changing her position on the sideline, not far from midcourt, sent it flying back again, then again and again. Every time it soared neatly through the basket.
Amid catcalls and cheering she sat down beside Jim.
“I couldn’t do that again in a million years,” she said.
The Rivervale coach had been sitting watching the Bob-Whites perform and scribbling on the clipboard on his knee. As the players from Indianola High finally appeared and went through the gym, he rose to follow them, then stopped to speak to the Bob-Whites. In response to his questions, they told him their names and the name of their school.
“Pretty good ball,” he said and shook hands with the boys. “And Trixie,” he turned to her and said, “I could use an accurate shooter like you on the team today.”
He didn’t need one. Rivervale High played a brilliant game. The score was Rivervale seventy-six, Indianola forty-two.
After the game the Bob-Whites, who were unanimous in wishing they hadn’t been such limelighters, found themselves surrounded by a cordial, friendly crowd of Rivervale fans.
Boys milled around Honey and Diana, trying to get their attention and book them for dances later. Trixie, hair tousled and face flushed, stayed close to Brian and Mart and Jim. As one of the Rivervale fans slapped her on the back, with a quick word of praise for her basket shots, she sent a wistful glance toward Diana and Honey. They both looked so pretty and appealing.
“Sometimes,” she said to herself, “I wish I could remember to be a girl instead of a tomboy. Especially when there’ll be dancing.”
Two Suspects • 9
AFTER THE GAME the girls went into the school rest room to wash their hands and freshen their lipstick.
“That Ned Schulz has everything, hasn’t he, Trixie?” Honey asked as she ran her comb through her shoulder-length brown hair. “And you used a pretty sneaky way to get him interested in you.”
“Yes, wasn’t I a show-off?” Trixie answered. “I was, wasn’t I, Honey? I honestly forgot where I was. When that boy challenged me, I just had to prove that I could hit the basket. Was it too
Then, oblivious to the crowd, all three boys were out on the floor. Jim sent the ball flying to Brian, who was less than a dozen feet from the basket, then raced forward to recover it if Brian missed it. He did miss; Jim recovered and, almost directly under the basket, sent the ball through. Picking it up, he then hurled a long pass back to Mart, who leaped, caught the ball, and, with a quick one-handed shot, sent it against the backboard and through the basket.
As the crowd cheered and cheered, the boys, looking embarrassed, ran back to the bench where the girls were waiting with Ned Schulz.
“Good going!” Ned said and shook hands with the three Bob-Whites.
“We were just hamming it up,” Brian apologized.
“They—our team, I mean—were district champions in Westchester County,” Trixie said proudly as she took a ball from Mart and walked up and down in front of the group, pounding it on the floor.
“I can believe that, all right,” Ned said. “Say, Trixie, how about you? That ball is used for something besides bouncing. Come on, throw it out!”
“Sink one and show him!” Jim said under his breath to Trixie.
She shook her head. “Not in front of all this crowd.” Then, stung by a snickering laugh from the same boy who had taunted Mart, she forgot where she was, stood up, sighted the basket, took her stance, and sent the ball high in the air and straight through the basket.
“Hey, do that again!” Ned called, and he tossed the ball back to her.
It wasn’t too hard for Trixie, who had spent hours practicing spot shots at the hoop on the garage at Crab-apple Farm. She caught the ball and, without changing her position on the sideline, not far from midcourt, sent it flying back again, then again and again. Every time it soared neatly through the basket.
Amid catcalls and cheering she sat down beside Jim.
“I couldn’t do that again in a million years,” she said.
The Rivervale coach had been sitting watching the Bob-Whites perform and scribbling on the clipboard on his knee. As the players from Indianola High finally appeared and went through the gym, he rose to follow them, then stopped to speak to the Bob-Whites. In response to his questions, they told him their names and the name of their school.
“Pretty good ball,” he said and shook hands with the boys. “And Trixie,” he turned to her and said, “I could use an accurate shooter like you on the team today.”
He didn’t need one. Rivervale High played a brilliant game. The score was Rivervale seventy-six, Indianola forty-two.
After the game the Bob-Whites, who were unanimous in wishing they hadn’t been such limelighters, found themselves surrounded by a cordial, friendly crowd of Rivervale fans.
Boys milled around Honey and Diana, trying to get their attention and book them for dances later. Trixie, hair tousled and face flushed, stayed close to Brian and Mart and Jim. As one of the Rivervale fans slapped her on the back, with a quick word of praise for her basket shots, she sent a wistful glance toward Diana and Honey. They both looked so pretty and appealing.
“Sometimes,” she said to herself, “I wish I could remember to be a girl instead of a tomboy. Especially when there’ll be dancing.”
Two Suspects • 9
AFTER THE GAME the girls went into the school rest room to wash their hands and freshen their lipstick.
“That Ned Schulz has everything, hasn’t he, Trixie?” Honey asked as she ran her comb through her shoulder-length brown hair. “And you used a pretty sneaky way to get him interested in you.”
“Yes, wasn’t I a show-off?” Trixie answered. “I was, wasn’t I, Honey? I honestly forgot where I was. When that boy challenged me, I just had to prove that I could hit the basket. Was it too
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