Free Time for Andrew by Mary Downing Hahn

how to do that," I mumbled.

    She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. The first line she'd drawn was the lag line, she explained, and the one behind it was the back line. The players stood on the pitch line and aimed their marbles at the lag line. The one whose marble landed closest got to play first.
    "Let me show you." Hannah eyed the line carefully and pitched her aggie underhanded. It rolled through the dust and came to a stop about half an inch from the lag line.
    Hannah stepped aside. "You try," she said. "Be careful not to let your shooter roll past the back line. That's an automatic loss."
    Eyeing Hannah's aggie, I threw mine and watched it roll way past the back line.
    "Looks like I'm first." Hannah shot four miggles out of the ring before she missed. Sitting back on her heels, she said, "Your turn, Andrew."
    I tried to shoot the way she had, but my aggie rolled feebly out of my hand. It didn't even come near a miggle.
    "For goodness sake, you've truly forgotten everything I taught you, Andrew. Hold it like this between your thumb and index finger." Hannah bent my finger around the marble and steadied my knuckles on the dirt. "Now flick your thumb hard."
    The aggie rolled a little farther, but Hannah wasn't satisfied. "Keep your knuckles on the ground when you shoot," she said, "and don't move your hand while you're shooting."
    When I finally managed to shoot my aggie all the way across the ring, Hannah said, "Now let's play a real game. Remember, the first to knock seven miggles out of the ring wins."
    While I arranged the marbles, Hannah sat on a tree root and pulled off her shoes and stockings. Wiggling her bare toes, she sighed. "Don't tell Mama. She says my feet will grow if I don't wear shoes, but I don't care if I end up wearing size thirteens. As for being unladylike—pshaw. These shoes pinch like the very dickens."

    Pushing the hair back from her face, Hannah knuckled down and shot. Click—her aggie sent a cat's-eye spinning across the dirt and into the weeds.
    She hit five and missed the sixth. "Drat," she muttered.
    Holding my aggie clumsily, I tried to shoot the way Hannah had taught me, but it was hopeless. The miggles were scattered all over the place. I aimed at the closest, missed, and lost my turn.
    "That's one of the advantages of going first," Hannah said. "You have better targets when the ring is full."
    I sat back, waiting for her to shoot. Even in the shade it was steamy hot. Gnats circled our heads, humming in our ears, taking little bites.
    "Try again, Andrew," Hannah said patiently.
    For the rest of the long morning, we played. By the time we quit, my thumb hurt, my neck and shoulders ached, and my finger felt permanently crooked. It looked like I wasn't going to beat Andrew anytime soon.
    Chucking me under the chin, Hannah laughed. "Goodness, don't look so glum. It's a game, Andrew, not a matter of life and death."
    I turned away quickly and began gathering the marbles. The things the Tylers said in ignorance were downright scary.
    Behind me, Hannah grabbed a branch and swung up into a tree. "Race you to the top, Andrew."
    I'd never climbed a tree in my life, but I didn't dare admit
it. Sooner or later the Tylers were bound to think I was a complete lunatic. They still mentioned George Foster from time to time, though never deliberately in my hearing. The Fosters had sent George to the county asylum—what if Mr. Tyler decided to do the same with me?

    I took a deep breath and followed Hannah up the tree, one limb at a time, higher and higher. Leaves brushed my face, the branches swayed, but I kept going. I wanted to please Hannah, I wanted to show her I could do what she did. If she told me to jump, I would. For her, I'd fly.
    When Hannah had climbed as high as she could, she said, "Look, Andrew, you can see all the way to Riverview from here. There's the church steeple and the courthouse tower."
    Feeling slightly queasy, I clung to a limb and gazed at barns and