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intimidate him, even if this was
     just a scrimmage and they were on the same team.
    “Down! Set! Hut! Hut! Hut!” quarterback Zane Corbett barked.
    On the third “Hut!” Lance lunged forward, his elbows stuck out like V-shaped prongs. At the same time, Scott dodged to the
     side, turning his body to slide through the gap between the opposing tackle and guard.
    For the next couple of seconds, Scott avoided being touched, which allowed him to chargeahead and bring down the running back, who had just taken a handoff from Zane. It was a five-yard loss.
    “Nice play, Kramer!” Coach Zacks yelled.
    Scott resisted the temptation to smile and say thanks. No sense in risking jealousy from team members by being too friendly
     with the coach, he thought. He was sure he had already spoiled any hopes of being friends with Lance Woodlawn on that last
     play.
    On the next two plays, Lance was still determined to try to block Scott or knock him down. Scott could hear the taller boy’s
     grunting breaths as Lance bore down on him, but Scott always managed to slip away and bolt past him—except once, when the
     taller boy grabbed his arm and held him.
    “That’s holding, Lance,” Scott said evenly.
    “Is it?” Lance snorted and let him go.
    They scrimmaged about half an hour longer before Coach Zacks blew his whistle, calling a halt to it.
    “You guys did fine,” he said to Scott and Kear. “I’d like to have both of you on our team, but I understand that only Scott
     is available.”He studied the husky, dark-haired boy. “Well, what about it?”
    Scott grinned. “Thank you, sir!”
    “You must get a physical,” Coach Zacks reminded him. “The sooner the better. Then bring a copy of the report to me. The garage
     that sponsors us will pay for it and also for your insurance, so you won’t have to worry about that. Okay. See you tomorrow
     night—same time, same place.”
    He started to turn away, then paused and added, “One more thing: take the pads and face mask home with you. I’ll have a uniform
     for you tomorrow.”
    “Thanks,” Scott said.
    He kept the pads on and hung the face mask on the handlebar of his bike as he and Kear rode home.
    “Well, you’re back in the saddle again,” Kear said. “Feel better?”
    “Yeah,” Scott said.
    But Lance Woodlawn came into his mind, spoiling some of the good thoughts about playing football again. He hated playing with
     anyone who had a grudge against him. And it hadtaken only a couple of plays to make Lance feel that way about him.
    The thought led back to his duffel bag. Had he been framed by someone who had a grudge against him? Again, Peg came to mind.
     And Monk. But he could go crazy thinking about it. He didn’t know if their grudges were serious enough, and he had no proof.
    The minute he stepped into the kitchen with the shoulder pads and face mask, his mother confronted him. “Well, you needn’t
     tell me what you’ve been up to.”
    “I’m going to play with the Cougars,” Scott explained, plunking down onto a chair and dropping the face mask beside it.
    “Oh, you are? And what do you think your father will think? He won’t be happy about it. He wanted to ground you, you know.”
    “I know, Ma,” Scott said. “But he didn’t. And, like you said, isn’t it enough that I got kicked off the Greyhawks, the team
     I
really
liked to play with?” Scott thought of another argument to convince his mother. “This is more than just a chance for me to
     play football.”
    “It is?” She looked skeptical.
    “It’s a chance for me to find out who framed me,” he said, determined. “I’m going to prove I didn’t put those joints in my
     duffel bag.”
    “And how do you plan to do that?” she wondered aloud.
    Scott frowned. “I’m not sure. But I’ll come up with something.”
    “I thought it was too late to sign up with another team, anyway,” Mrs. Kramer said.
    “The Cougars aren’t in a league,” Scott explained. “That’s why I