Game 2

1 Ruby stood by the ship's boiler and removed Uncle Owen's letter from thetattered envelope. The tips of her fingers tingled. She already knew what it said. But now she was seeing the words with herown eyes. Beware the Chancellor Ruby knew who the Chancellor was. Everybody who lived anywhere nearWashington, D.C., in 1899 knew who the Chancellor was. He was a businessmanwho craved only money and power. But no one wanted to do business with him.Everyone tried to steer clear of the Chancellor; everyone avoided crossinghis path. He was someone the grown-ups spoke of with hushed voices, whichwas the reason all the kids at school talked about him the way they did.They had made him something of a legend. Some even said he had evil powers,but Ruby and Griffith had never believed those claims. "There had to have been more," Ruby said to her older brother, who stoodby the engine room door. "Maybe another page." Griffith peeked down the corridor to make sure no one was coming and thennodded. "That's what I think too." When the letter had arrived, Griffith's heart had skipped a beat. What hadhappened to it? Tattered. Crinkled. Smudged. Even partially opened. How didit get that way? It looked as though it had been through a war. Just like their baseball. After examining the smudges more closely, Griffith's fears had deepened.The rust-colored stains looked like blood. Had something happened to UncleOwen? Ruby turned the letter over. "What's this?" "What's what?" Ruby stepped around the storage containers to Griffith. "I think there'ssomething else written here." Griffith checked the hall again, then took the paper from his sister. Heheld it to the light dangling from the beam above his head and read thetiny inscription scribbled along the edge. He mustn't learn of the baseball Griffith's breaths quickened. The beads of sweat, which had already formedat his temples because of the heat, now ran down his cheeks and chin, andalong his neck. He quivered, just like he had when he first read the letteronly a few hours before back in Cincinnati. His mind flitted to last autumn, when his mother had taken Ruby and him tothe market. As word had spread that the Chancellor and his men werepresent, Griffith had felt the chill in the air. He could still see thefathers nervously searching the crowd and the mothers holding their littleones closer. Then Griffith had spotted him. It was only a fleeting glimpse, and for themost part, he was shielded from view by his men. Wearing those perfectlyironed navy suits with the pink pocket squares, they always surroundedhim. The Chancellor was protected, untouchable. Beneath the man's wide-brimmed hat, Griffith had seen a colorless, almostinhuman face. Like that of a cobra. Then, the Chancellor had turned andplowed through the crowd, an unstoppable force.... Griffith shut his eyes and focused on his breathing, drawing longer breathsthrough his nose and exhaling them slowly through his mouth, like hismother had taught him. Feelings of panic were not new to Griffith. Theyused to happen regularly. Especially when he was younger. "Are you okay?" Ruby rested her hand on her brother's shoulder. Griffith nodded and opened his eyes. He tilted the paper so that Ruby couldread it too. He had been so stunned by Uncle Owen's warning that he hadn't even thoughtto turn the letter over and look for more. It was almost as if the wordswere hiding, trying not to be discovered. Or at least not by everyone.There was something about the handwriting, too. There was no doubt it wasUncle's Owen's, but at the same time, it seemed different. "How would the Chancellor find out about the baseball?" Ruby asked, runningher fingertips over her pocket to reassure herself that the ball was safBildner, Phil is the author of 'Game 2 ', published 2007 under ISBN 9781416918646 and ISBN 1416918647.