Chasing the Arrow. Charles Reid

      Robbie had never been so scared in all his life. The game with the Shell Sharks that Saturday had swung back and forth all morning, and now, with his team two runs down, he was standing at the plate, two out, bottom of the ninth inning. Billy was on third base; Hank Shepherd, one of their best hitters, was on second. Both were poised to head home as soon as Robbie hit the ball.

      “Strike one!” the umpire boomed, his voice sounding like a death knell.

      When the opposing pitcher wound up and let loose with his second pitch, he glared ferociously at Robbie.

      “Strike two!” the umpire barked, and Robbie could barely stop shaking. He was running out of chances.

      As the third pitch hurtled toward Robbie, he tried to focus his entire mind on it. When the ball entered his strike zone, he swung with all his might and heard the sweetest sound imaginable— thwack! The hit was solid. Without even looking to see where the ball was going, Robbie flung his bat aside and, head down, took off for first base. Almost as if from another place, he vaguely heard cheering. Legs pumping like pistons, he rounded first base and finally glanced toward the outfield to see what was happening.

      The ball had sailed over everybody and had landed just inside the back fence. It wasn’t quite a home run, but Robbie thought he had a good chance to make it all the way around for an inside-the-park homer. Billy and Hank had already crossed home plate and were jumping up and down and cheering him on. As he neared home, Robbie flung himself into a headfirst slide and beat the ball by inches.

      The home spectators burst into wild applause, the umpire yelled “Safe!” and Robbie lay happily in a cloud of dust until Billy and Hank pulled him up and nearly squeezed him to death. “We did it, we did it!” they shouted as they danced around the field, pulling the winded Robbie with them as the whole team rushed out of the dugout to join the celebration. As his teammates took turns slapping him on the back, Robbie gazed into the stands and spotted Joe Wilkie and his mother clapping loudly. It was, he thought, the best moment in his whole life.

       Seven

      As soon as Robbie got to school the following Monday, Billy trotted up to him. “Have you heard about the big change?”

      “What change?”

      “This fall we’ll be going to another school. Seems they’re moving grade nine into one of the new high schools they’ve built.”

      “You’ve got to be kidding, Billy. I like it here. I don’t want to go anywhere else.”

      “Me, neither, but it seems we don’t have a choice. I also heard letters about this are going out to all the parents.”

      “That means we’ve only got another month here then. What high school are we going to?”

      “I don’t know, Robbie. All I know is that after this summer we go straight to the new school.”

      “Maybe we’ll find out the name of the high school in those letters. I sure hope it’s not too far away.”

      Robbie didn’t like this sudden change and was worried about what it meant. When he got home, he immediately glanced at the hall table where Mrs. Brady always put the day’s mail. The letter from the school board, addressed to his mother, was easy to spot thanks to the official address in the top right-hand corner. However, because his mother had to work late, he had to wait several agonizing hours to learn what the letter contained.

      That night, over supper, Emily read the letter from the school board. Robbie’s anxious face told her that he already knew something. “I get the feeling you know about the new school.”

      “Billy told me this morning, but we don’t know what high school we’re going to.”

      “Well, it seems everyone living east of the park—that’s us—will be going to High Park Collegiate, which isn’t far away.”

      It took a few seconds for the implication of his mother’s words to sink in. “But Billy lives north of the park. Does that mean he’ll be going to a different school?”

      “Looks like it, Robbie. It says here that anyone north of the park will be going to Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe High School. But that won’t be too bad. You’ll still see Billy every day after school, right?” Emily knew how important Billy Hrdina was in her son’s life. She also understood, judging by the glum expression on Robbie’s face, that no matter what she said, he would only see this development as a disaster.

      Robbie listlessly shoved the remnants of his meal around his plate. “Can I go over to Billy’s house, Mom?”

      Normally Emily would have insisted that Robbie eat every morsel of his supper, but this time she tried hard to think of something soothing to say. Nothing sprang to mind, so she said, “Of course, but make sure you’re back here before dark.” Nervously she reached over to slick back her son’s wayward cowlick.

      Robbie usually squirmed when his mother fidgeted with his hair, but he was so depressed this time he didn’t even flinch. Instead he left the table, shrugged on his jacket, and shuffled morosely out the back door.

      As soon as Robbie saw Billy, it was obvious his friend knew everything, and the news wasn’t sitting well with him, either.

      “This is terrible, Robbie. It isn’t fair. We can’t be split up like this.”

      “It doesn’t look like we can do anything about it, so let’s make the most of the summer and worry about this in September.”