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Gruber!”
    “Works for me,” Tim said with a grin.
    “That last hook shot was working for you, too,” Wanda said. She repositioned herself behind the clown. “Gruber and I are ready whenever you are!”
    Tim practiced the hook shot for another twenty minutes. He used his right hand most of the time, only shifting to his left at Wanda’s suggestion. He bricked every attempt from that side. But when he started to get down on himself, Wanda made a joke or said the trouble was with Gruber the clown, not Tim.
    They called it quits when Wanda realized she’d been away from her cabin for more than half an hour. They turned off the lights and went outside. She locked up the gym, bid Tim a hasty good-bye, and took off at a run. The puppet bounced above her, the cloth around its neck flying out behind it like a cape.
    Seeing the cape reminded Tim of Keanu zooming around like a superhero. Too bad capes are only used in basketball during the NBA Slam Dunk contest, he thought as he walked back toward the Eagles Nest. I bet Keanu would like basketball if he got to wear one during practice. I can see him now: cape around his neck, arms reaching up as he leaps to take off in flight!
    He chuckled at the image. Then suddenly, a new thought struck him. He stopped in his tracks. Arms up as he leaps , he mused. That’s how a defender blocks a shot. I wonder …  

12
    T he campfire was just ending when Tim returned. He managed to slip into the crowd unnoticed. Billy was already in their room when he reached the cabin.
    “Where’ve you been?” Billy demanded.
    Tim explained about Wanda and the clown puppet.
    “If Wanda hadn’t turned on the lights just then, I would have been right behind you,” he added so that his friend wouldn’t feel embarrassed at having fled. “That clown is beyond creepy!”
    Then he told Billy about the idea the puppet had given him. When he was done, Billy nodded thoughtfully.
    “You might as well give it a try,” Billy said. “If the kids go for it, great. If not”—he shrugged—“what’s the worst that can happen?”
    The next morning after breakfast, Tim arrived at the basketball courts carrying white sheets he’d gotten from the arts and crafts center, plus a handful of clothespins. Mike and his mentees were already hard at work at one end of the courts. When Tim saw them, he almost changed his mind about putting his new plan into action.
    What’s the worst that can happen? he echoed Billy’s question from the previous night. I can make a fool of myself in front of Gruber again, that’s what!
    Then Keanu raced past him, arms outstretched and making zooming noises, and Tim decided he might as well try it after all.
    Tim called his boys together. “We’re going to work on defensive positioning today,” he told them. He expected them to groan—and he wasn’t disappointed.
    “We already did that,” Red complained.
    “Yeah, well, today we’re going to do it differently. Keanu, come here.” When the boy came forward, Tim pinned a sheet around his neck.
    Keanu opened his eyes wide. “Cool!” he cried, twisting around to admire his new apparel.
    Red and Peter jumped up and demanded capes of their own. Tim put one around each of their necks and let Red tie one around his own neck, too. Then he turned to Keanu. “Show me what a superhero looks like when he takes off to fly.”
    Keanu’s arms snapped straight up over his head.
    “Freeze!”
    Keanu froze.
    “This is how you should look when you’re guarding a shooter,” Tim said. “When your arms are up, it’s a whole lot harder for him to get the shot off. And as you know,” he improvised, “superheroes have to jump to take off. So do basketball players who are defending the hoop.”
    He held his arms overhead and jumped as if blocking a shot. The boys imitated him. As they did, Tim noticed one of Mike’s kids watching them.
    Tim beckoned Red, Peter, and Keanu closer. “I think we need a secret code name for this move,” he