Field of Screams Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Whoa! No kidding? That’s neato!”
    Neato?
    Nerd-o! I thought.
    â€œSo—who are you?” I asked again.
    â€œJohnny Beans. Center field. Remember?”
    â€œOh, yeah. Now I remember,” I said. I wasn’t lying. I did remember the kid—from the photograph the old man on Fear Street showed me.
    â€œWho’s the big doofus?” I pointed to the left fielder.
    â€œThat’s Boog. Boog Johnson.”
    â€œHe doesn’t like me much, does he?” I asked.
    â€œNo, I guess he doesn’t,” Johnny agreed. “In fact, he doesn’t like you—period.”
    Boog turned in his seat. He smirked at me. “Hey,what’s the news, future man? Who’s going to win the World Series this year?”
    Actually, I knew the answer to that. It was in one of my baseball books. The Cleveland Indians won in 1948. They beat Boston.
    But I wasn’t going to tell this jerk about it!
    Boog stretched out his arms to either side. He ran up and down the aisle of the bus. “Get me. I’m Gibson in my very own space rocket. Zoom! Zoom!”
    â€œKnock it off back there,” the coach yelled. “No running around on the bus!”
    Boog slinked back to his seat. He shot me a dirty look—as if it were my fault he got in trouble.
    Turning my shoulder to Boog, I asked Johnny some more questions. He identified everyone on the bus for me. I sat back and pretended that it was all coming back to me.
    As Johnny talked, I stared hard at the back of Ernie’s head. Did he recognize me? Did he remember our meeting on Fear Street? I couldn’t tell.
    But he had to be the key to why I was here.
    Maybe he did know who I was, but he didn’t want to say so in front of all these people.
    I had to find a way to talk to him when no one else was around.
    I stared out the window, watching trees and buildings whiz by. Yes, I decided. That was—
    I suddenly heard the sound of squealing brakes.The bus shuddered to a stop. I pitched forward, banging my chin on the seat in front of me.
    â€œOof!” “Ow!” “Hey, watch it!” I heard my teammates holler.
    â€œSorry, guys,” Ernie called back to us. “That truck in front of us skidded. We almost slammed into it. It was pretty close, but we’re okay.”
    The accident! I thought. Sure, we’re okay now. But soon a big old train really will slam into this bus! And if I don’t do something, I’ll be in the bus when it does!
    No way. I had to get back to my own time before the train wreck happened. Before the championship game.
    I turned to Johnny Beans.
    â€œTell me again. How many more games before the championship?”
    Beans grinned. “Just one. Then we take the championship—and the trophy will be ours. Best in the state!”
    It sounded great. But I knew the truth.
    The Shadyside team wasn’t going to win the championship game. They were doomed.
    And if I didn’t think of something fast—so was I!

9

    T he bus pulled into town on Village Road I stared out the window. Would I recognize Shadyside in 1948?
    We passed the fire department. And the police station. They both seemed pretty much the same.
    But when I looked to my left, my mouth dropped open. Division Street Mall was gone! Or I guess it wasn’t there yet. Neither was the ten-plex movie theater. Dalby’s Department Store stood all by itself on the corner.
    Across the street, the bowling alley stood as always, but a sign hung from it saying GRAND OPENING. Where the Rollerblading rink should have been, there was only an empty lot.
    The bus continued along Village Road until wereached the parking lot of Shadyside Middle School. I recognized the red brick building, even though the sign said SHADYSIDE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL.
    Coach stood up at the front of the bus. “Okay, boys. We have one game before the championship. And I don’t just want to beat this last team. I want to destroy