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  Sturgis and I head down to the ballpark, just on a whim. Shannon and Rita are already there, and the four of us build a snowman on the pitcher's mound, looking back over his head in anguish as an imaginary baseball flies past him.

  Pretty soon we're joined by Steve, David, Kazuo, and the others. Google has never seen snow before and is beside him-self with wonder, making snow angels in the outfield. Eventually, we're joined by other people in town. Even Dad is there; he's taken the day off work.

  We populate the field with snow players, re-creating the last play of the game yesterday. We load the bases and set the runners in motion. We put all the Sinister Bend defenders out on the field. Someone uses a long stick to place a snow-ball in midair a foot above the webbing of the snowman left fielder's glove. We line up snowmen along the Moundville dugout, waiting for the chance to bat.

  Finally, we build the snowman batter. Rita gives the batter such a round-eyed and goofy expression that we all laugh until our stomachs hurt. Even when we're done, I still hear a kind of echo of laughter on the icy wind.

  When the snow stops, the deep cold settles in, putting a frosty glaze on everything. It's like living in a freezer. The smart part of me thinks it's my imagination, while some other part of me—the part that believes in luck instead of percentages—thinks it's Ptan Teca after all, exacting his cold revenge from the spirit world.

  The thing is, if I could do it over again, I would do exactly the same thing. I don't care if there's a whole new ice age coming and Moundville is trampled to dust by woolly mammoths. I'm going to swing at that pitch every time, no matter what happens.

  I've read on the Internet that Moundville now has the record for most consecutive days below freezing, at least outside the Arctic and Antarctic circles. So if you happen to drive by, be sure to stop at the ballpark. You can see our snowpeople, acting out the last at bat that was ever played there.

  You can see it there, literally frozen in time: my own defining moment.

  I want to thank all the people who helped nudge me and Mudville along:

  My wife, Angela, for encouraging me to take this project up again, and for always being willing to read and reread pages hot off the printer (even after she'd gone to bed).

  The old friends who were the least surprised to learn I'd made this dream come true, including Terry Aman, Nathan Irwin, Tony Kiendl, and Colette Lunday Brautigam.

  Readers of the first few drafts, including Jim Anderson, Amanda Coppedge Bosky, Amy Brenham, Gillian Chan, Brad Cohen, Megan Meyers, Jennifer McNeil, and Giuliano Kornberg.

  Batgirl, for her brilliant baseball writing, and her close personal friend, Anne Ursu, for her excellent advice and support.

  Tina Wexler, for guiding me through the publishing world.

  Allison Wortche and the other wonderful people at Knopf.

  Lisa Elbert, for sharing her expertise of Dakota language and culture.

  Noam Kritzer, whose kindness compelled me to rethink my positions on both lawyers and Yankees fans.

  My favorite baseball writer, Mark Harris, who casts a shadow on every page of this novel.

  Kurtis Scaletta was born in Louisiana and grew up in New Mexico, North Dakota, England, Liberia, Brazil, and a few other places. He now lives in Minneapolis with his wife and several cats. He got the idea for Mudville, his first novel for young readers, during a rain delay in a game between the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers. He wondered, What if it just kept raining?

  Find out more about Kurtis on the Web at www.kurtisscaletta.com.

  THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of

  the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or

  dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2009 by Kurtis Scaletta

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf,

  an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  “Foxey Lady” written by Jimi Hendrix, © Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. Used by Permission /

  All Rights Reserved

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Scaletta, Kurtis.

  Mudville / Kurtis Scaletta. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: For twenty-two years, since a fateful baseball game against their rival town,

  it has rained in Moundville, so when the rain finally stops, twelve-year-old Roy, his friends,

  and foster brother Sturgis dare to face the curse and form a team.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89156-4

  [1. Baseball—Fiction. 2. Foster home care—Fiction. 3. Rain and rainfall—Fiction. 4. Family

  life—Minnesota—Fiction. 5. Blessing and cursing—Fiction. 6. Dakota Indians—Fiction.

  7. Indians of North America—Minnesota—Fiction. 8. Minnesota—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.S27912Mud 2009

  [Fic]—dc22 2008000166

  v3.0