Wanted . . . Mud Blossom by Betsy Byars Page A

getting ready to do.
    â€œVern, you can duck, you can dodge, you can run.
    You can do anything as long as you don’t get out of the circle or hit Junior.”
    â€œPap—”
    â€œThem’s the rules. Okay, Junior, you ready?”
    Junior spit on his hands to show that he was.
    â€œVern?”
    â€œI guess.”
    â€œThen go to it.”
    Junior paused before stepping over the line and into the circle. He said, “I’m doing this not only for myself, but for Mary as well.”
    â€œMary?” Vern said.
    â€œYes, Mary,” Junior answered.
    Then, head as high as a knight’s, he went forward into battle.

CHAPTER 21
The Trial After the Trial
    Mud had been ready to come out from under the house ever since he saw Dump in the jury box. Yet the memory of Junior’s shouts and attempts at capture were still in his mind.
    Finally, he got up from behind the apple crate and stretched. Keeping his body low, he moved to the steps. He paused at the truck tire and sat on his haunches.
    The fight between Junior and Vern had just started, and Mud lay down by the tire to wait that out. His eyes turned to Dump, who was sitting beside Michael.
    Michael was patting Dump, and Mud didn’t like that. He also didn’t like the fact that Dump was out there where Pap was, and he was under the house.
    A fly landed on Mud’s head, and he shook it off without taking his eyes from Dump.
    The fight was in full swing now, but Mud continued to watch Dump. Slowly, in a crouch, he began to inch forward.
    â€œPap, Vern won’t let me hit him! He keeps jumping out of the way.”
    â€œThat’s what he’s supposed to do, Junior.”
    â€œWell, I can’t hit him if he won’t stand still!”
    â€œKeep trying. You’ve still got two minutes.”
    â€œThere!”
    â€œPap, Junior hit me!”
    â€œThat’s what he’s supposed to do.”
    â€œWell, it left a mark on my arm. You didn’t say he could leave marks.”
    â€œThere!”
    â€œPap, that time he hit me when I was showing you where he hit me before! He’s not playing fair.”
    â€œWell, you didn’t play fair when you kidnapped Scooty. There!”
    â€œThirty-second warning,” Pap called, eyeing his watch. “Twenty seconds … ten … three, two, one. All right, that’s it. Shake hands.”
    Vern and Junior met in the center of the ring and reluctantly shook hands.
    â€œLet’s go in the house and see about supper.”
    Ralphie said, “Well, I guess I’d better be going if you guys are going to eat.”
    Maggie said, “That’s the first good idea you’ve had all day.”
    She went in the house without looking back. Michael said, “Well, I guess I better be going.” He left, and Vern and Junior went into the house. Pap and Dump followed.
    Vicki and Pap stood on the steps, talking until the phone rang. Then they started up the steps. Vicki got to the front door first and Pap called, “That could be the police.”
    â€œIt could be Rooney!” she called back.
    Ralphie was left alone in the yard. He sighed.
    Shoulders sagging, he went around the back of the house and picked up his bike. He could hear the Blossom family in the kitchen. The call was from a nurse at the hospital. “I’m going to see if they’ll release her in my care,” Pap said.
    Vicki Blossom said, “That’s all we need.”
    There didn’t seem to be anything for Ralphie to do but go home. He threw one leg over his bike and pedaled off.
    As he rounded the house, he saw Mud coming out from under the porch. Mud paused at the steps to move back and forth under the boards and let the porch scratch his back for him.
    Then he went up the steps and barked at the screen door. Ralphie paused because it might be Maggie who would let Mud in. And Maggie might already be sorry she had been rude, and she might …
    It was