Long Shot (5 page)

Roddy bit his lip. He had been thrilled at the win, but his high spirits soon evaporated as he remembered that at the moment he was more of a hindrance to his house than a help.

Roddy kept his head down as far as lessons went for the next few weeks. He was determined not to be given any more yellow cards. He got on fine with most of the teachers, and they could see he was doing his best, but Mr Mustard was another matter. It seemed that whatever Roddy did, he was in the wrong. Worse still, Mr Mustard liked Jack, who was really good at science. And Jack lost no time in goading Roddy about it. He even started making unkind remarks about Roddy's work during lessons, and Mr Mustard never told him off.

Several times, it was on the tip of Roddy's tongue to defend himself, but he resisted.
He was afraid that if he responded he'd end up with another yellow card, while Jack would get off scot free.

Several of Roddy's friends suggested that he should complain to Mr Clutterbuck, but Roddy refused.

“It wouldn't do any good,” he told Geno. “Teachers stick together, don't they? No, I'll just weather it. I'm not going to give anybody an excuse to give me another yellow card.”

Meanwhile, the older years had been racking up points in the House Cup. Charlton had been performing well. They were firmly in second place as things stood; a good few points ahead of Stiles and Banks, but still lagging behind Moore, who had made an excellent start to the season. The senior teams had already played two games, as had the juniors, and now it was the turn of the first years.

Roddy didn't need to check his fixtures calendar to know that Charlton were up against Banks – he'd been looking forward to the match since the first day of term and especially enjoyed the past week of intensive training. He was a little apprehensive about playing in his first match for his house, but with Keira, Geno, Jimmy and Marek by his side, they were pretty confident of a win.

The only real downer for Roddy was that Sam had chosen Keira to be captain, and not him. He realised that the yellow card he'd got from Mr Mustard had not helped his chances, and he tried his best not to feel jealous. Keira deserved her position – she was a good motivator, her enthusiasm was infectious, and she worked really hard. But not being captain was a new experience for Roddy, and he knew he'd find it hard to be told what to do by his midfield partner.

Sam had chosen the attacking formation that they'd worked on in training the day before, allowing both Roddy and Keira to make their incisive runs. Jimmy was playing in central defence as part of a back three, and the twins Eboni and Ashanti were in their natural positions on either wing.

Because of the way the houses were divided, Charlton didn't have a strong defensive team, but David and Sam had explained that the Charlton ethos was to play quick, attacking football, aiming to put as many goals past the opposition as possible. And with Marcel Temperley in goal, it was unlikely their team would let many in, either.

Roddy felt the familiar buzz as he jogged onto the pitch. He was wearing the ankle support his friend Bryn had given him, although fortunately his ankle was fine now and he was really just wearing it for insurance.

The students had turned out in good numbers to support their teams, but in Roddy's mind there were several thousand fans packed into the grounds to cheer them on. As he waited, his mind started to drift.

It's almost time for kickoff, and the surprise is that Jones has lost his captain's armband to newcomer Sanders. The captains shake hands in the centre circle and toss the coin with the ref. Banks win, and will kick off the first half. Their captain retreats to his position in goal, the ref blows his whistle, and the game begins! Charlton are looking like going all-out for victory in their first game, and have set up in a 3–5–2 formation with plenty of pace up front. Banks will be doing well to contain their opponents today, but they could be dangerous on the counterattack.

From the outset, Charlton are making good use of the ball, and forcing Banks to
chase them. Jones and Sanders are moving it about brilliantly, and surely it can only be a matter of time before the floodgates open.

Jones on the ball. He feeds it out right to Ashanti Nagel on the wing. Nagel knocks the ball past the full-back and uses her pace to pull away from him before firing a cross into the penalty area. It's a little long, and the ball sails over everyone, but her twin is waiting on the opposite flank and pulls it back to the edge of the area. Sanders has seen the opportunity, and arrives just in time to send a shot screaming into the roof of the net from 20 yards. A fantastic finish by the Charlton captain.

The team clustered together to congratulate Keira on her goal, but she waved them away. “The game's not over yet, we've got to keep focused,” she said. “Come on, let's score another one!”

Banks kick off, and now we'll see what they're really made of. They're a goal down, but can they pull it back? Their captain is shouting instructions from the goalmouth. Conceding may just have spurred them into action. Jones is battling away in midfield, showing real tenacity for a player without huge physical presence, but he can't contend with some of the larger players, and is muscled off the ball.

Banks are breaking towards the Charlton goal now, and the three Charlton defenders look vulnerable. Piper comes charging out of defence, and launches himself at the ball. It looked like he might have taken out the player, too, but the ref judges it to be a clean tackle and Piper gets away with it. He was lucky there – a different referee might have given a foul. As it is, the ball is collected by Mbeki and Banks are on the back foot again.

“Great tackle, Jimmy, but be careful!” warned Keira when she was within shouting distance. “You don't want to get sent off – you'll miss the game against Stiles!”

Charlton seem happy just to keep possession for now, passing the ball around as if they were on the training ground. At the same time, Banks seem to be employing a plan of tight defence, hoping to nick a goal on the counterattack. It's effective football, but not the most exciting stuff.

Sam was shouting instructions from the touchline, and was pleased with how things were shaping up.

“Keep it together, and don't do anything stupid. It's only a few minutes to half-time, just hold onto the ball.”

With neither side looking like altering the score, Charlton will definitely be the happier side. They're a goal up, and looking good for
the win. The whistle goes, and the teams walk off for a few minutes rest.

The Charlton players stood in a ragged circle by the side of the pitch to catch their breath, which steamed in the chilly air.

Eboni was rubbing her shin, which had been kicked in an untidy tackle, but apart from that the team were in great shape. They swigged energy drinks, while Sam gave them her opinion of their first-half performance.

“Well done. You're ahead in your first house match, and the way you're playing, you should win. Just make sure you don't let them get back into the game. Another goal or two would be brilliant, but don't forget about defending.

“Keira, great goal and it's good to see your leadership on the pitch, keep it up. Now get out there and let them have it!”

The second half begins, and Charlton seem
really fired up. They are pressing for another goal right from the start, and that's what we like to see. Jones and Sanders are continuing to wreak havoc in the Banks half. Charlton have a free kick in a dangerous area, and Sanders is letting Jones take it. He waits a moment to assess the situation, sees Dvorski's run, and plants the ball squarely on his forehead. The keeper manages to parry the header, but Perotti is waiting to tap in the rebound! 2–0 to Charlton!

The rest of the match played out without either side creating many chances, and Charlton was happy to sit on their two-goal lead. Eboni and Ashanti operated as wing-backs so Charlton had five in defence, and Marcel Temperley in goal hardly touched the ball. The final whistle blew, and Sam went up to congratulate the team.

“You did it! That's a fantastic start. A 2–0
win plus the bonus points for a clean sheet is a great result. It might even have given us a lead in the competition overall when we look at the points. But this will be one of the easiest games you play – don't think you'll beat everyone so easily. We've got Moore next, and they're going to be our main rivals for the cup, so it's vital to keep up the hard work in training. Well done, though, and enjoy your first victory!”

Keira went round the players, too, congratulating everyone. When she got to Roddy, she looked him straight in the eye. “Couldn't have done it without you,” she said. “We make a great team, don't we?”

Roddy nodded. He'd certainly hated not being captain, but it was easy to support Keira. “You led us really well,” he said, and meant it.

“Thanks!” said Keira, looking both pleased and relieved.

Roddy headed back to the boarding house with his roommates. They were going to be buzzing all night, and with good reason. Charlton had won their first house match!

Spirits rose as half term approached. Roddy was looking forward to seeing his family again – even his older sister Liz. And it would be great to catch up with Bryn, his best friend at home. Although they had texted each other quite a lot at the beginning of term, they had been keeping in touch less and less. They were both busy with their own lives.

It would be Hallowe'en over half term, but a few spooky bits and pieces had appeared to decorate the common room. There were masks, blow-up ghouls and even a few rubber bats. Jimmy did his best to ignore them, but Roddy could see that they irritated him.

At evening registration, the night before
the holiday, Jack flapped a rubber bat in Jimmy's face, completely taking him by surprise.

“Get it off me!” he told Jack, his voice shaking. “You're such an idiot!”

Several people laughed at that and Jack got angry, too. For a moment, it looked as if things might turn nasty, but Mr Clutterbuck arrived and the moment passed.

Afterwards, as Roddy and his roommates left the common room, Jack lunged towards Jimmy, brandishing the bat again. “Scared of ghosts and ghoulies, are you?” he jeered.

“Don't react,” said Roddy. Grabbing onto his friend's sleeve was becoming something of a habit. “He'd love it if you got into trouble.” Roddy glared at Jack as they passed. His friend hadn't got into trouble for fighting yet, but with Jack goading him, he worried that it was only a matter of time.

Back in their room, the boys each packed a small bag, so they would be ready for their parents to collect them in the morning.

“What are you doing over half term, Marek?” asked Roddy. “Are you going back to Poland?”

Marek shook his head. “My cousin will collect me,” he said. “He lives in London. I will stay with him and his family.”

“Sounds good,” said Roddy.

After lights out, Roddy thought about what he would do in the week ahead. But it seemed not everyone was thinking of home.

“When we come back, we must win our match against Moore,” said Jimmy's voice in the dark. “So we can improve our lead in the House Cup.”

“Yes,” agreed Roddy. They'd all worked hard this half term and things were going really well. It was great to be going home,
but he knew already that he would miss the excitement of Stadium School.

Roddy woke up with a start. It was pitch black in the room, and very quiet. For a moment he lay there, wondering what had woken him. Then a slight sound near Jimmy's bed made him turn his head.

His heart started thumping, and Roddy caught his breath. A terrible, glowing, greenish face was hovering there in the darkness. It was such a shock, he couldn't think straight. Then, just when he'd worked out what it must be, Jimmy woke up.

The frightened boy let out a blood-curdling scream as the face bent towards him. Roddy hurried to switch on his bedside lamp, but Jimmy's ordeal wasn't over yet. The ghost, in a white sheet and Hallowe'en mask, had got hold of Jimmy's pillow. Roddy immediately
thought of the precious sock. And then he saw it, dangling from inside the pillowcase.

So did Jimmy.

“My SOCK!” Jimmy's anguished cry filled the room and the “ghost” paused in obvious surprise.

Both Marek and Geno were awake now, and Geno leaped out of bed to tear the ghost's sheet away. They grappled together for a couple of minutes, but Geno wasn't going to let go, and eventually he yanked off the disguise. The disrobed ghost swiped at Geno's head with Jimmy's pillow, missed and then stood in front of them breathing heavily.

“Jack!” they shouted.

“Stop messing around,” said Roddy angrily. “Give Jimmy his sock back.”