Free The Astro Outlaw by David A. Kelly Page B

broke in, “why is there a train up there?” He pointed to a huge black steam engine and coal car on top of the ballpark’s left-field wall. The train had big red wheels, a bright red cowcatcher, a headlight, and a large black smokestack.
    “Trains are an important part of Houston’s history,” Mr. Ryan said. “And the Astros’ ballpark was built on the site of the old train yards. The whistle blows at the start of each game and for every Astros home run and win.”

    While they waited for the game to start, Mike tossed his baseball in the air. He always tried to bring one to games. Kate read through the program her dad had bought.
    The announcer’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Please give a big round of applause for our special guest tonight, NASA Commander Nicholas Rice! After throwing out the game’s first pitch, he’ll be signing autographs near the main entrance. Stop by and you’ll also be able to see a real, priceless moon rock!”
    The crowd stood up and cheered. Everyone waited for Commander Rice to run out to the pitcher’s mound. The Houston Astros catcher crouched behind home plate. After a few minutes, he stood up. He looked from one side to the other like he had lost something. Both teams milled around by their dugouts.
    Kate tugged on her father’s shirt. “Shouldn’t Commander Rice be coming out?” she asked.
    Kate’s dad scanned the stadium. “Maybe he’s still getting ready,” he said.
    Again, the announcer came over the loudspeaker. “Please give a big Texas welcome to our special guest, Commander Rice!”
    The crowd cheered. The catcher returned to his crouch. The teams watched from the sidelines. But no astronaut came onto the field. The umpires huddled at first base. Several of them pointed to the clock on the scoreboard.
    The loudspeaker crackled one more time. “Houston, we have a problem,” the voice said. “Our astronaut is missing!”

Lost in Space
    “Missing? Commander Rice is missing?” Mike asked. “What happened? Maybe he’s been kidnapped!”
    “I doubt it,” Kate’s dad said. He raised his eyebrows at Mr. Ryan. “He’s probably just caught in traffic or something. Anyway, why would anyone want to kidnap him?”
    “Because he’s got a valuable moon rock with him!” Mike said. “It’s a lot easier to steal a moon rock than to go to the moon yourself!”
    “Shh,” Kate said. “Something’s happening.”
    Out on the field, the head umpire jogged over to the Astros’ dugout. He talked to the manager. A minute later, the Astros ran onto the field. As they did, the steam train on the left-field wall chugged along the tracks. It blew its whistle.
WOOOO-WOOOO!
The train engineer waved to the crowd.
    Mr. Hopkins relaxed. He put one arm around Kate. With the other he made notes about the ballpark in his notebook.
    “Always working, eh, Dad?” Kate said. “Or are you writing down ideas for my birthday? You know, I’d like a new camera so I can take better pictures for Mike’s website.” Mike wrote about ballparks and baseball on his website, dugoutscoop.com . Sometimes Kate helped.
    Mr. Hopkins smiled and slipped the notebook back in his pocket. “I’ll keep that inmind,” he said. “But I’m afraid you’re never short of birthday ideas.”
    “Looks like the game is going to start. Make some noise!” Mr. Ryan said. Kate and Mike clapped with the other fans. Mr. Ryan rolled up his program and thumped it loudly against his palm. “Come on, TOMMY!” he bellowed. “Tommy Thompson is our best pitcher. We can’t lose with him on the mound!”
    Thompson didn’t let Mr. Ryan down. He struck out the first three Colorado Rockies in a row.
    Mr. Ryan thumped his program against his palm again.
THWWWAPP!
“What’d I tell you?” he said to Mike as the teams switched sides. “Tommy’s great.”
    Houston came to bat and quickly got two men on base. Then the Astros’ star hitter, Adam Bixby, strolled up to home plate.
    “He’s a great hitter,