Long Shot (7 page)

Jones is sprinting back to cover, but the Moore forwards have the ball and Piper is all alone. He's backing off, caught in two minds whether to close down the player with the ball or mark the other striker. Things look grim for Charlton, but suddenly Piper launches himself at the ball and wins it. Absolute brilliance from Piper there. He's saved an almost certain goal!

Roddy had time to give Jimmy a quick thumbs up before collecting the ball. He was panting hard, but dared not let up. As soon as
he started running, he was in danger of being closed down, so he looked for space to pass the ball on.

Jones collects the loose ball, and heads back up the other end of the pitch. His work rate today has been outstanding. This match is really starting to open out in the final minutes. Nagel receives the ball wide on the right, but is tackled. The ball bobbles loose, then goes out of play for a Charlton corner. Even Piper is coming up for this one! Sanders is asking Jones to take the corner. He crosses the ball beautifully, and it falls to Piper, who lashes it home! 1–0 to Charlton! Piper is the hero of this game, no doubt about it! His team-mates crowd around him, and the Moore players look gutted. They've dominated this game, but Piper kept Charlton in it, then scored the winner off Jones's inspired cross!

The ref restarted the game but, with only a
minute left, both sets of players knew it was all over. After the final whistle, Roddy came off the field, as elated at the rest of the Charlton team.

“Thanks for giving me the corner,” he said to Keira. “I enjoyed taking it.”

“You're better at them than me,” she said. “Especially from that side. And we wouldn't have got the goal without your cross.”

Sam was there to congratulate them as they left the field.

“That was brilliant, Jimmy! Some of the best defending I've seen for ages, and your goal was just the icing on the cake. Great cross from you, too, Roddy. You've all done fantastically well to win today. Don't forget though, the house competition's fifteen games long, not two. There's a long way to go yet. But well done for today. Now, go and get showered!”

Roddy threw his dirty kit into the washing basket. It was starting to become a habit to meet up in the team talk room after a match, so as soon as he was dressed, Roddy went through to see who was there. A lot of people had gone to get their tea first, but Keira was slumped at the table looking happy but exhausted. Roddy grabbed a cup of water and went over to join her.

“That's the hardest we've had to work so far,” he said. “But it was a great result. Don't you think, Jimmy?” he added to his friend, who had just appeared.

Jimmy didn't reply. Instead he sat down with his head bowed.

“You were great today,” Roddy went on. “You won the match for us. I still can't believe we did it… Jimmy?”

There was no reply. Instead, Jimmy just sat there. Roddy felt a horrible sense of misgiving. He'd been fine during the match, and afterwards. What could possibly be wrong now?

Roddy touched Jimmy's arm. “Are you OK?”

Jimmy didn't look at Roddy, he just handed him a crumpled piece of paper.

IF YOU WANT YOUR LUCK BACK, YOU'LL FIND IT AT THE STADIUM SEATS. MAKE SURE YOU COME DOWN THE TUNNEL ALONE AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT OR IT WILL BE DESTROYED. TELL NO ONE.

Roddy groaned. “Oh no!”

“What is it?” asked Keira.

Jimmy tried to snatch the paper back, but Roddy pushed his hand away.

“Anything that affects you, affects the team,” he said. He passed the note to Keira, who read it quickly and then bit her lip.

“I realised you were a bit superstitious from when we took Marek to the tree tunnel,” she mused. “But this is blackmail. What's going on?”

Jimmy explained about the lucky sock. He sounded both angry and embarrassed. “I didn't want anyone else to know,” he said. “I feel such an idiot.”

“But Roddy's right,” said Keira. “We're team-mates aren't we? We have to stick together and decide what to do for the best. Who do you think wrote the note?”

“It's Jack,” said Roddy flatly. “It has to be. Stiles didn't have a match today. He must have
sneaked in and left it here while we were playing. Has the sock gone?” he asked, knowing what the answer would be.

Jimmy nodded. “I went to check,” he said mournfully.

“He's just trying to wind you up, Jimmy,” said Keira. “Don't let it get to you. Why don't you take the note to Mr Clutterbuck? He'll sort it out.”

“I can't, can I?” said Jimmy miserably. “If I do, the sock will be destroyed.” He shivered. “I shouldn't have told any of you.”

“For goodness' sake. Get a grip,” said Roddy. “Jack's not all-powerful. He can't tell what's going on everywhere.” But Jimmy glanced fearfully at the door and Roddy couldn't help doing so, too.

He shook his head angrily. “You've got me at it now,” he complained.

As soon as the rest of the team arrived,
they could see that something was wrong, but it took a while before Roddy could persuade Jimmy he needed to take them into his confidence, too.
“I'll
tell them, and then you won't need to,” he coaxed. “The note is just for you. It doesn't say
nobody
must tell
anyone
.”

“All right,” said Jimmy, anxiously biting his lip.

They all sat as far away from the door as they could to reassure Jimmy that nobody could overhear, and held a council of war. But no matter what they said, Jimmy was determined to carry out the instructions in the note.

“But you were too scared to walk down the tunnel with us in the
daytime,”
Geno reminded him bluntly. “How are you going to manage it in the dark, at midnight, on your own?”

Jimmy looked at Geno with frightened eyes. “It's a
test.”
he said. “It's about how much it matters to me, isn't it? I've
got
to do it.”

“What about when you're caught and given a yellow card?” said Marek. “No, it'll probably be a
red
card for being out so late at night. That must be Jack's plan, to get you banned for our game against Stiles. We need you in the side, Jimmy. Are you going to throw our chances away … for a sock!”

“It's not just
any
old sock,” said Jimmy fiercely.

Eventually, after loads of talking they managed to get him to agree to do nothing that night.

“If you go there first thing in the morning, I'm sure you'll find it,” said Keira. “Jack isn't going to risk getting a red card himself. He'll just put the sock on the seats and be
sniggering to himself about you agonising over it. He knows you don't like spooky things, so he's sure you'll be freaked out. He's probably hoping you'll go to pieces and be hopeless when we play them next, but you won't be, because you'll have your sock back safe and sound.”

“At last! You've seen sense,” said Roddy. “Thank goodness for that!”

“And from now on we'll all keep a close eye on Jack,” said Keira. “If he tries on anything with any of you, don't keep it to yourselves, whatever you do. We're much stronger as a team.”

Those who hadn't eaten tea yet went inside in a much lighter frame of mind, although Roddy noticed that, unusually for him, Jimmy ate very little.

Jack was in the dining room, and Roddy would have loved to have gone over and
punched him on the nose, but Jimmy had made them all promise to say and do nothing. Besides, Roddy had to keep reminding himself that there wasn't any proof that Jack was behind it.

Everyone was tired after the match. Quite soon, they all headed back to their rooms to relax. Roddy and his roommates were all in bed before lights out, and nobody felt like talking.

“All right, Jimmy?” asked Roddy before they went to sleep.

“All right,” a small voice replied.

Roddy wondered if he ought to stay awake for a bit, in case Jimmy wanted to talk. But he was tired, and soon his eyes closed. It was much later when he felt a hand shaking his shoulder. He had been dreaming he was the only player against a whole team made up of Jacks. “What is it?” he asked, trying to rid
himself of the image.

“It's Jimmy,” said Geno. “He's gone!”

Roddy woke from one nightmare and was plunged into another. “Maybe he's just gone to the bathroom,” he suggested, struggling to sit up.

“Marek's just been to check,” said Geno. “He's not there. And his trainers have gone.”

Roddy groaned.

“Shall we tell Mr Clutterbuck?” said Geno.

“If we do, Jimmy will get a red card,” said Marek.

“We can't guarantee Mr C will find out who wrote the note and punish them,” added Roddy.

“You're right,” agreed Geno. “And that's the last thing we want.”

Roddy thought quickly. He pulled on his tracksuit over his pyjamas and grabbed his trainers. “I'm going to go and find him,”
he said. “He'll be a gibbering idiot out there on his own. But if I'm quick, maybe I can get the sock and bring Jimmy back indoors without anyone seeing us.”

“But if you get caught, that will be two red cards,” said Marek. “And there's no way we'll win our next match. We won't beat Stiles with two players down.”

“Jimmy will spend all night trying to pluck up the courage to fetch his stupid sock,” argued Roddy. “He'll
definitely
get caught. If I nip out and get it for him, we'll have a good chance of getting away with it. Look, I can climb out of this window, no bother. It faces away from Mr Clutterbuck's part of the house.”

“Isn't it too high?” said Geno. “We're on the first floor.”

“But the ground rises, too,” said Roddy. “I'll be fine.”

Geno started pulling on his tracksuit.

“What are you doing?” said Roddy.

“Coming with you.”

“That's stupid.”

“No, it's not,” said Geno. “Jimmy will throw a wobbly if you insist on going down the tunnel, because the note said he had to go alone. But if you go round the back of the main building, straight to the pitch end of the tunnel, you can collect the sock, sprint up the tunnel to us, and the job will be done before Jimmy realises. Just in case anything holds you up, I'll go to the changing-room end, where Jimmy will be, and look after him until you meet us with the sock.”

“That's genius!” said Roddy. “Let's do it.”

“Then I'm coming, too,” insisted Marek. “Because if I stay, and Mr Clutterbuck comes and asks where you are, I won't know what to say.”

There didn't seem any point in arguing. They all turned their pillows round in their beds so it looked as if they were still there, then Roddy opened the window and they climbed out, one by one.

The grass was very wet, and they were slightly worried about their shoes leaving tell-tale tracks in the dew, but it couldn't be helped. Roddy and Marek set off towards the Stadium pitch, while Geno headed for the changing rooms.

As they approached the main building, Roddy heard a car door slam. “Wait!” he hissed to Marek. They crouched down behind some bushes and paused while someone started up a car.

“One of the teachers must have guests,” whispered Marek.

“Oh no!” groaned Roddy. “It's Mr Mustard. If he sees us, I'm done for!”

The boys watched as the teacher got into his car and started it up. For a moment, the headlights lit up the bushes they were hiding behind. They held their breath, but the car drove on, down the drive and towards the main road.

Roddy and Marek got up cautiously. “Come on. Let's get this over with,” said Roddy. “What are you doing?” he added.

Marek was retrieving a football from where it had got wedged in the bushes.

“It's a shame to leave this here,” Marek explained. “It's a good ball. I'll take it to lost property in the morning.”

Roddy sighed, but waited for Marek to join him, then together they approached the Stadium pitch.

“What's that?” whispered Roddy. He pointed towards something moving amongst the preserved seats.

“It must be Jimmy!” said Marek. “He's done it – he's gone down the tunnel! Well done him!”

He was just about to speed towards the figure, when Roddy stopped him. “Wait a moment,” he whispered. “That doesn't look like Jimmy! But then who
is
it? And what are they doing?”

The figure
did
look rather strange. It was difficult to see in the moonlight, but it seemed to constantly change shape as it flitted between the seats. Its long clothes billowed first one way and then another in the breeze.

Marek crouched down and clutched Roddy's arm. “I have never seen a ghost before,” he said quietly. “But is that one?”

Roddy didn't know what to say. Maybe the ghost stories about the school were true after all. Then he checked himself. He was being stupid! There were no such things as ghosts.
It was Jack. It had to be! It would be just like him to try to freak Jimmy out. The greenish light that illuminated the swaying figure must be Jack's torch with a filter on it.

“We need garlic,” muttered Marek. “Garlic is good against ghosts.”

“No, we don't,” said Roddy. “It's not a ghost. I don't believe in them anyway. I bet it's Jack.”

“Really?” asked Marek. He peered at the ghostly figure again. “Maybe you're right. What an idiot! He's risking a red card just to get Jimmy in trouble.”

“But if Jimmy manages to get himself down the tunnel and thinks Jack is a ghost, he'll have a heart attack! Let's get a bit closer. We've got to try and stop him.”

The boys made their way along the side of the pitch as quietly as possible, keeping low and stopping frequently. Luckily, their
tracksuits were dark and eventually they were close to the beginning of the seating.