Football Double Threat by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [Christopher, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ages 8 & Up
ISBN: 9780316039918
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2008-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

11

Rocky was always tired after football practice; after his extralong session Monday afternoon, he was doubly so. He knew he should try to sell some chocolate bars after dinner that night, but he just didn’t have the energy or the interest. Instead, he did his homework, watched some television, read a chapter in a science fiction novel, and then went to bed.

Tuesday morning, he ate his usual breakfast of waffles and orange juice. His mother frowned at the grungy clothes he was wearing until he told her about the walking field trip to do rock collecting. He stashed a big plastic bag in his backpack and went to school.

Mrs. Ryan’s room was filled with excited chatter. It wasn’t every day the class got to go on a field trip — and even though this one was just a short walk to the park, it was still better than sitting at a desk reading from a textbook.

Mrs. Ryan called for attention and everyone quieted down immediately. “I’ll be breaking you into pairs,” she said, “and giving each pair a rock hammer and two sets of safety glasses. The glasses belong to the school; the hammers are on loan to us for the week from the local science museum. Please treat all with care. And don’t leave them behind because other classes will need to use them throughout the remainder of the week.”

She read off pairs of names. Rocky and Bobby were together. She handed the small hammer to Bobby, who slipped it into his backpack.

“You can put your rock bag in there too if you want,” Bobby told Rocky.

Rocky grinned. “I’ll take you up on that offer — after my bag is full!”

The walk to the park took ten minutes. Rocky lagged behind with Bobby, who grunted as he moved on his crutches. Mrs. Ryan led them to the bottom of a cliff that was studded with rocks and jagged outcroppings. She instructed the students to put on their safety glasses and then demonstrated the proper technique for extracting samples from the cliff face.

“Small taps, not large whacks,” she said as she knocked a walnut-size chunk free.

The students spread out across the width of the cliff. There were some loose boulders on the ground that worked well as stepping-stones to reach rocks higher up. Soon the air was filled with the sounds of metal hammerheads tapping against stone. Every so often, someone would find a particularly interesting specimen. Then Mrs. Ryan would gather the whole class together and explain what the specimen was.

Rocky had collected seven decent-size rocks when he saw an unusual-looking formation sticking out of the cliff. It was just out of reach, however, and there were no boulders nearby for him to climb on. He stood looking up at it in frustration.

Bobby came up alongside. When he saw what Rocky was looking at, he slid one crutch out from an arm. “Use this to knock it down,” he suggested.

Rocky glanced over at Mrs. Ryan. She was busy helping another student.

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