Myra Kaine

Lesson for teacher

Chapter One

The ball arced high in a wide curve through the brilliant blue of the sky and a roar went up from the young throats to follow the speeding ball in its wake. Gulls squawked excitedly and scissored their wings frantically above the rough dirt diamond laid out on the playground that had been dug out of the high meadow by the Pacific.

Glittering in the sun like spectacles, the windows of the shabby square white schoolhouse looked down on the wild game. A steep path connected the dusty playground to the steps of Rio Sur School, wound on below to a storage shed and then to the ribbon of highway above the sloping green meadow that slid to the narrow beach and the water's frothy edge.

The dirt diamond was churned with dust and the air filled with it as a tall, shapely legged teacher flew around the bases, her softly braided blonde pigtail flying out behind like a flag. The screams were frantic now and the students raced to try and stop her flight. Finally one plump perspiring boy dug the ball out of the grass by the highway and flung it up to the yard in a mighty heave.

"Quick! Hurry! Get it here!"

"Hurray! We won!"

"S'not fair! Miss Fenton's too good! Her teams always wins!"

"Gee, Miss Fenton… you're better'n we are. You always hit a home run."

Valerie stood panting and laughing behind home plate, flinging the pigtail she had woven to keep her long silken hair out of her eyes back over her shoulder and wiping her Grace Kelly like face. She waved the outfielders in with one arm and they came struggling up, complaining and grumbling.

"Stop complaining," she laughed, trying to get her breath. "Everybody has the same chance, besides, I'll be on the other team tomorrow."