The Reluctant Pitcher by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316095358
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

9

Hey!”

Again and again Sawbones and Wally yelled out. But the big door didn’t open.

Fright took a tighter hold of Wally. His eyes were wide open, but it was like being blind. He was in complete darkness.

And the place was silent as a graveyard.

Wally shuddered.

“Sawbones,” he whispered.

“Yeah?” Sawbones croaked back.

“Let’s walk straight ahead. When we come to the wall, we’ll turn left and follow the wall back to the front of the cooler. We can find the door that way.”

“Okay,” whispered Sawbones.

Very slowly they walked through the pitch darkness straight ahead. Wally held his arms extended in front of him.

Suddenly Sawbones cried out, “Ouch!”

Wally froze. “What’s the matter, Sawbones?”

“Ran into a case of milk,” mumbled Sawbones sourly.

Wally heard his feet scrape across the floor.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” replied Sawbones.

Wally started to go straight ahead again. Soon his hands touched the cold, clammy wall. It sent shivers running through him.

“I’ve reached the wall.” His voice quavered.

“Me, too,” whispered Sawbones.

They walked along the wall to the left. They reached the corner, then turned left again. Seconds later Wally felt the crack where the door adjoined the casement. About the same time he heard the clang of metal and then Sawbones crying out that he had found the door handle.

The metal kept clanging.

“Well, open it!” Wally cried. “What’re you waiting for?”

“I can’t!” exclaimed Sawbones. “It won’t open!”

He tried and tried, but the door wouldn’t open. Then Wally tried. It was a strange sort of a handle, with a large knob on the end of it. He pushed it down hard, but the latch didn’t budge.

His heart began to beat like a hammer. “We’re locked in,” he said, panic taking hold of him. “We . . . we’ll freeze in here, Sawbones!”

He looked down toward the bottom of the door. There was a faint strip of light showing underneath. He got on his knees and groped along the crack with his fingers. A narrow space was there, but not wide enough to get his fingers through.

He stood again. It was getting colder by the minute.

“What’re we going to do, Sawbones?” he hissed. His heart hammered in his throat.

“I . . . I don’t know!” Sawbones answered. He pounded against the door again and again. And he yelled for his dad.

But no one came to the door.

Sawbones’s teeth chattered. Wally could hear them. He held his own tightly together. But he was scared. Real scared. We’re freezing! he thought. We’re freezing to death because nobody can hear us! Where is Dr. Davis? Isn’t there anyone around here?

Suddenly — “Sawbones, I have an idea!” he shouted.

“What?” Sawbones asked.

“Get me a container of milk,” Wally demanded. “Somebody will know that we’re in here . . . sooner or later. I hope sooner.”

He heard Sawbones’s shoes scrape across the floor. He heard the milk being lifted from a case. A moment later Sawbones was handing it to him.

Wally took it, knelt down, and started to spill the milk through the crack underneath the door.

“Hey, that’s smart, Wally,” said Sawbones. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Wally grinned.

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