Soon only Bart and Charlie and I, plus the rest of the Krashers, were left on the field.

"Let's get our stuff together," I said. "Looks like it's going to start pouring any minute now." Charlie left to pull the van around so that we could load it up, and Bart and I started to gather the equipment. The kids ran around pretending to help, but I noticed that most of them were playing, instead. Karen was trying to catch raindrops on her tongue. David Michael, Buddy, and Jerry were running and sliding on the wet grass. Jackie was practicing his batting stance, and Chris and Patty and Joey were playing "monkey in the middle" with one of our softballs.

Bart and I looked at each other, shrugged, and started to load up the van. "Okay," I said, when we were finished. "Let's get going!" Nobody paid attention. The rain was falling more heavily. Bart cupped his hands around his mouth. "Last one in the van is a rotten egg!" he yelled. That got them going. The kids piled into the van, jostling each other and calling out dibs on the window seats. Bart and I climbed in last, and as soon as we'd taken a quick head count, Charlie started the van and we were on our way.

Just as we reached the main intersection in Redfield, the storm let loose. I heard a tremendous clap of thunder and saw the sky flash with lightning. Rain poured down, making it hard to see through the windshield. Charlie peered ahead, then slowed down, watching for road signs.

In the back of the van, Patty burst into tears. "I'm scared of thunder!" she wailed. I reached my hand over the seat to grab hers.

"It's okay," I said. "We're safe in the van. Safe and dry, in our cozy little van." I ,was trying to sound soothing, but it wasn't easy. I happen to be a little scared of thunder myself. Well, not thunder, but lightning. I'm old enough to know that thunder can't hurt you, but lightning can.