7
Quentin
The Romans stopped our little rebellion with an ease that bordered on contempt, and threw us into a pen. That’s what I’d have to call it: a big square room, featureless in every way, just a few small windows up too high for any of us to see out of. They threw our bags in after us. At first, we just sat there, scared and angry. But time passed and nothing seemed to be going on, and then more time passed until Walter grabbed a ball and, still sitting down, started throwing it against a wall so it bounced back to him; just like you do when you’re a kid. And then he stood up and started throwing it harder, so it came back on the short hop, which he backhanded and then flipped the ball into the air, caught it with his right hand and did it all over again.
Pretty soon Danny joined, and then so did I, and then Jake grabbed a bat and we started playing pepper and flipping the ball around like you do to each other, behind the back and all that, showing off for the fans. We had a good game, everybody loosening up and getting involved in one way or another. This was all weird as it could be; but, hell, we were ballplayers. It wasn’t long before we were wisecracking, like you do, and flipping the ball all over the place. It took our minds off the trouble we were in.
And so, when the Professor came back to us, we looked like his Wandering Warriors, about ready to get out there and go nine against whatever them Romans had in mind.
He nodded briskly at us as if this wasn’t the weirdest day of our entire lives and said, “Good. Let’s go.”
“Go?” said Davey.
“Go where?” I said with some suspicion.
The Professor shot me a look and said, “Outside, of course. To practice for real. As long as you boys promise to stop trying to fight everyone we see, that is.”
We packed up and filed out. Playing a little pepper had lulled the fellas into some kind of normality in this crazy situation, and they all went meekly, trusting the Professor, but as we filed out of that pen he sidled up to me and, sotto voce as you might say, whispered, “Help me make this look good. We’re playing for our lives here.”