A World Without Heroes - Brandon Mull [77]
They walked on in silence.
After a time they remounted the horses and trotted them. Jason marveled at how tireless the horses seemed.
As dawn began to color the sky, Ferrin led them off the road. They went over the shoulder of a hill and made camp in a hollow on the far side. Ferrin tethered the horses while Jason and Rachel laid out their blankets.
“I’ll keep watch,” Ferrin volunteered.
Jason fell asleep quickly but did not slumber long. He awoke with the sun barely above the horizon. He walked out of the shade of their hollow into the morning light, stretching the sore muscles in his legs.
“If you’re up, I may catch a nap,” Ferrin whispered.
Jason gave a nod. About fifty feet away stood a limbless stump of a tree, with a hole in its side the size of a dinner plate. Jason selected five rocks of similar size. He stood as if he were on a pitcher’s mound, the first rock in his hand. He checked first base, went into a windup, and hurled the stone at the hole. Two of the five rocks went inside. Only one missed the tree entirely.
He wandered back over to the shade of the hollow. The horses nibbled at grass near where they were tethered. Rachel rested her head on her arms, her breathing slow and even. Ferrin lay on a patch of dirt, hands folded on his breast.
What a peculiar guy. He certainly knew how to handle himself in a fight. Whoever had jumped him and left him to die with his head in a sack must have really known what they were doing.
As Jason stood watching, the fingers and thumbs began dropping off Ferrin’s hands. They wormed off his body and squirmed toward Jason across the ground. Jason jumped back, his voice cracking. “Uh, Ferrin, you’re coming apart.”
Ferrin’s mouth bent into a small grin, and he opened one eye. “Did I startle you?”
“You are weird.”
Ferrin collected his fingers. “You have good aim with rocks.”
“Do you know what baseball is?”
Ferrin shook his head.
“It’s a game we have where I come from. One of the people in the game has to throw balls with a lot of accuracy. I used to do that.”
“I enjoy sports. Tell me the rules of baseball.”
Jason stared at the ground, wondering how to begin. He had never explained baseball to somebody with no knowledge of the game. “Well, there are two teams. While one takes their turn batting, the other team is on the field to defend against hits.”
“What is batting?”
“I’m getting there. A pitcher throws a ball, and the batter tries to hit it into play, or over the rear wall, which is a home run, unless it goes foul.”
Ferrin looked perplexed.
Jason rubbed his chin. “There are four bases arranged in a diamond shape, and the hitter is trying to advance around all the bases. When he gets to the fourth base, which is where he started, he’s home and scores a run.”
Ferrin began reattaching his fingers one at a time. “This is the most complicated game in all of history. I have no idea what you mean.”
“Wait. I’m just laying groundwork. I have to define a lot of stuff before you’ll be able to understand. I wish we could play a few innings. It’s much easier to pick up when you can see the game being played.”
“I don’t care about baseball,” Rachel moaned, her face buried in her arms. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“You can tell me more once we get on the road,” Ferrin told Jason. “Despite the long night, we should set off early today, just in case.”
The horses acted restive returning to the road, so Ferrin let them canter along the lane for a good distance before slowing to a walk. This time, under the light of day, Jason enjoyed the ride. Despite feeling a little sore, he could see how people could develop a passion for horseback riding.
When the horses walked, Jason continued explaining baseball. Rachel added occasional clarifications. Ferrin began to grasp the concepts, and eventually the displacer could explain the difference between a ground-rule double and a double play. He even came to appreciate