Sweet Victory (4 page)

Kylie wanted to call Sadie and talk things over—they'd never had a fight before or gone three days without speaking. But it was clear from the cold shoulder her bestie was giving her that she needed time to cool off.

“Why's Sadie late today?” Lexi asked, noticing the clock on the teacher's lounge wall.

“Beats me.” Kylie covered for her. “She's probably so happy to be back at basketball practice she lost track of the time.” She hoped the argument between them hadn't kept Sadie away.

“We have to be out of here by five,” Herbie reminded them. “The custodial staff will have my head if we're not.”

Kylie sighed. They did have a lot of business and baking to do. There were orders to discuss, cupcakes to taste test, even a new piping-bag tip to try out.

“I say we start baking without her, and she can jump in when she gets here,” Jenna suggested. She held up a package of semisweet chocolate chips. “I'm starving and I'm about to break into the ingredients.”

“Oh, no you don't,” Lexi said, snatching the bag out of Jenna's hands. “Those chips are the spots on my ladybugs.” She held up a sketch she'd drawn of a cupcake frosted red with black dots.

“Yeah, you can't make a lucky ladybug without spots,” insisted Delaney. She studied the order sheet. “That's like a tiger without spots.”

“You mean a leopard,” Lexi corrected her. “Tigers have stripes.”

“If Sadie doesn't get here soon, I'm going to start seeing spots,” Jenna complained and pretended to swoon. “I'm so hungry, I feel faint.”

“Give her five more minutes,” Kylie insisted, handing Jenna a banana.

“This isn't as appealing as those Callebaut Belgian chocolate chips,” Jenna said. “Get it? Banana? A-peel-ing?”

Kylie giggled. “I get it. And I'm sure Sadie has a perfectly good reason for running late.” She glanced at the clock one more time. “I'll go look for her.”

She figured the gym was her best bet, but when she peered inside, it appeared quiet, dark, and empty.

“That's weird,” Kylie said to herself. “Sadie? You in here?” she called.

There was no answer, but Kylie thought she heard a noise—a drumming of sorts—coming from the far side of the gym. She walked in and found Sadie sitting on the bleachers, dribbling a ball at her feet.

“Hey,” Kylie said, taking a seat next to her. “Did you forget we had a PLC meeting after school today?”

Sadie shook her head. “No, I didn't forget. I just didn't feel like going, that's all.”

Kylie looked confused. Sometimes Sadie's basketball and baking schedules conflicted, but she was always a loyal teammate, both to the Blakely Bears and to PLC.

“You didn't feel like it? Why not?” Kylie asked. “Are you still mad at me? Honestly, I didn't mean to make you so angry.”

Sadie stood up, tied her hoodie around her waist, and walked to the door. In the light shining in from the hallway, Kylie noticed that her eyes looked red and puffy.

“Sadie, were you crying?” she gasped. “What's wrong?” She'd never seen her friend so upset. Sadie was always the strong one.

“Let's go,” Sadie said. “You're right. I shouldn't be blowing off our meeting.”

“Never mind the meeting,” Kylie said, grabbing Sadie's arm. “I'm your friend. Please, talk to me!”

Sadie took a deep breath. “If I tell you, you can't tell anyone, okay?” She knew she had told her coach she'd keep quiet, but she had to confide in someone! If there was one person she could trust, it was Kylie.

Kylie crossed her heart with her fingertips. “I promise.”

“It's Coach Walsh,” Sadie said. “I think she's really sick. She told me she has to take a leave of absence, and I noticed a site up on her laptop screen that was talking about cancer.”

Kylie stood there, frozen, too shocked to say a word. Her heart was breaking for both Coach Walsh and Sadie.

“Are you sure?” she finally asked.

“Nothing in life is sure,” Sadie answered. “Coach Walsh told me that. But yeah, I'm pretty sure.”

“I think you should tell Lexi, Jenna, and Delaney. And Herbie! We have to figure out some way to help Coach Walsh.”

Sadie took Kylie by the shoulders. “There is no helping, Kylie. There's nothing anyone can do. That's why I'm so upset. I feel like someone stole the ball out of my hands and won't give it back! I feel useless.”

Kylie thought for a moment. “That's not true, Sadie. There's always something you can do. Think about how awful you were feeling after your accident and how Coach Walsh was there to cheer you on.”

“You're saying I should be there for her?”

Kylie nodded. “Yes. And let us all be there for you.”

They returned to the teachers' lounge and Sadie took a seat. “Coach Walsh asked me not to tell until she was ready, so I don't know if I should…” she began.

“Sadie, if there's something we can do to help,” Herbie suggested. “I'm sure Coach wouldn't be mad at you for sharing it with us.”

Sadie finally filled them in on everything she knew.

“Oh, poor Coach Walsh!” Delaney exclaimed. “It's so unfair!”

“She's really stressed out about finding a new coach for the team,” Sadie told them.

“Well, I have a solution for that,” Herbie said.

“You do? You know someone who could coach a girls' basketball team?” Sadie asked, hopefully.

“I do. Me.”

Kylie had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing out loud. “You? You play basketball?” While their advisor was a whiz with robotics, she had never heard him discuss the score of a game or witnessed him shooting a hoop. In fact, she wasn't sure he even owned a pair of sneakers. Most of the time he wore shiny penny loafers.

“For your information, I was quite a cricket player in Canada.”

“Cricket? You throw those chirpy little bugs around a court? That's mean!” Delaney protested.

“Cricket is an open-air game on a large grass field using balls, bats, and two wickets,” Herbie explained. “It's quite a challenging sport, and I was an esteemed member of Cricket Canada.”

“Yay for you,” Jenna said, snickering. “And this helps Coach Walsh how?”

“I'm sure I could figure out the strategy for basketball,” Herbie continued. “You play one sport, you can play 'em all.”

“It's kinda like when you speak Spanish you can understand a little Italian,” Delaney interjected. “When I went to Rome with my family two summers ago, my
español
totally came in handy.”

“
Aye, dios mío
,” Jenna groaned. “
No es lo mismo!
”

“Yeah, what she said!” Delaney exclaimed, unaware that Jenna had just said Spanish and Italian were two very different languages.

Sadie wasn't buying any of this. “Herbie, it's really nice of you to volunteer and all, but we need someone who can coach us against the New Canaan Coyotes in two weeks. They have an undefeated record, and they creamed us last year.”

“At least give me the opportunity to do some research and present my case to Coach Walsh,” Herbie insisted. “I'm sure I can convince her I'm the man for the job.”

“It
would
be a great relief for Coach Walsh to know there was one less thing for her to worry about,” Kylie reminded Sadie. “I say we give Herbie a shot.”

“A jump shot!” he exclaimed. “See! I already know the lingo!”

“Fine.” Sadie couldn't argue with all of them. But she suspected Coach Walsh would never go for it.

Sadie was worried Coach Walsh would be angry at her for betraying her confidence. But instead, she looked relieved. “I think it's a wonderful offer,” she told Herbie. “If you want to coach the team, I'd be happy to hand over the reins to you.”

Sadie's mouth was hanging open. “But Coach, you're not serious! Herbie knows nothing about basketball!”

“Nor did I when I started coaching,” she said, handing him her playbook and clipboard. “Herbie will bring a breath of fresh air to the team—which is exactly what it needs right now.”

“Thanks, Elisa,” Herbie said, beaming. “It means a lot to me to know I have your vote of confidence.”

“And it means a lot to me to know my girls are in good hands. I see what a wonderful job you've done with the cupcake club.”

Sadie groaned. “This is never going to work.”

“It
will
work,” Coach Walsh insisted. “Because you are going to assist Herbie until you're back in uniform and can play again. For the next few weeks, I expect you to be Assistant Coach Harris.”

“Really? I can help coach the team?”

“I'm counting on it,” Coach Walsh replied. “And when I get out of the hospital, I expect a game trophy on my desk.”

Sadie gulped. “You're going in the hospital? When? For how long?”

“I'll make sure that Coach Dubois has my schedule. You just worry about how the team is going to beat the New Canaan Coyotes. They're the only thing standing between us and competing in regionals.”

“Coyotes, eh?” Herbie tried to joke. “That sounds like a howlin' good time.”

Coach Walsh looked Sadie straight in the eyes. “Don't let me down. Remember everything I taught you. Make me proud.”

• • •

Herbie spent days preparing for his first coaching session with the Blakely Bears. He decided it was best to tackle the game of basketball like a complicated electrical circuit he was wiring in one of his inventions.

“Hey, team,” he said, trying to sound authoritative and official. “I'm your new coach. You can call me Coach Dubois.”

“You ever play basketball before?” Gaby, one of Sadie's teammates, asked, looking him over. He was dressed in a button-down plaid shirt, khaki slacks, and a red sweater vest. He looked more like an absent-minded professor than a coach.

“Oh, I'm quite the fan…” Herbie said. “Love those Red Sox!”

“They're a baseball team,” Gaby corrected him.

“Right-o! I meant the Patriots.”

“Football,” Sadie said with a sigh.

“The Celtics are in the NBA,” Gaby explained. “Ever hear of them?”

“Of course, of course.” Herbie brushed it off. “I'm just such a big sports fan, sometimes I get all those teams confused.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. This wasn't going well. She had to say something.

“Look, I know this isn't perfect,” she began. “But you all know Coach Walsh is sick and needs us to pitch in while she's out.” The team nodded. Coach had shared the news with them and the rest of the school earlier this week when she knew that Herbie was on board to fill in.

“Come on, it's not so bad.” Herbie tried to lift their spirits. “I know I can't fill Coach Walsh's shoes, but at least I can mind the store in her absence.”

Gaby scratched her head. “Store? What store?”

“It's a figure of speech,” Herbie explained. “It means I'll be tending to all of you and your games until Coach is back on her feet.”

Gaby shrugged. “I guess. If that's what Coach wants…”

“So, I've come up with a game plan for us,” Herbie continued, checking his notes on the clipboard Coach Walsh had given him. He began drawing a diagram on the locker room chalkboard.

“Okay, if you go left and you go right, then that leaves this guy open here to advance the ball…” He mumbled to himself as he sketched a bunch of circles and lines.

“Um, first of all that ‘guy' you're referring to is a girl—and she's a center. The other two are guards,” Gaby corrected him.

“Didn't I say that?” Herbie tapped a piece of chalk on his chin. “It's called an early offense strategy. I read about it in my
B-Ball 101
book last night. Unless I'm confusing it with the Divide and Conquer?”

The team all looked baffled as Herbie continued sketching his plays. The chalkboard now looked like a tic-tac-toe board covered in scratches and scribbles. Sadie knew they had only a few days to prepare for the game against the Coyotes. And at this rate, they'd be running in circles!

• • •

The day of the game, Herbie gathered his team around him once again in the locker room. “Let's go through the plan one more time,” he said. At least he looked the part of a coach today. He was in a Blakely Bears T-shirt and jeans. But Sadie noticed he was frazzled and tired. His hair looked uncombed and there were big bags under his eyes.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” she whispered to him.

“Not a wink. I was going over everything again and again.”

Sadie actually felt bad for him. “Don't worry, Herbie. You'll do just fine.”

“I appreciate that, Sadie,” he said. “Let's hope you're right.”

He drew his diagram on the board. “Player 1 starts with the ball near the half-court line. Players 2–4 are lined up horizontally at the three-point line. Player 5 is near the basket behind Player 3. Player 1 passes to Player 2 on the right wing. Player 2 immediately passes to Player 3, in the middle, who then passes to Player 4 on the left wing…”

Gaby raised her hand. “I don't get it. Which one of those squiggly lines am I supposed to be?”

Sadie blew her whistle. “Listen up! All you need to remember is this: do your best. When we win today, it's for Coach Walsh.”

Herbie stepped back from his board. “Yes, well, I think Assistant Coach Harris has summed it up nicely. Go out there and play hard, but also remember to have fun. Oh, and win!” He pumped his fist in the air and yelled, “
Hoo-hoo-hoo!
”

The team gathered their things and headed out of the locker room toward the court.

“Toes crossed,” Herbie told Sadie.

“Don't you mean ‘fingers crossed'?” she asked.

“No. We need more than fingers to win this game.”