Long Shot (8 page)

“Can you see the sock?” whispered Marek.

“There!” Roddy whispered hoarsely. “In Jack's hand.”

“What's he doing?”

“It's a fire! He's started a fire!”

To his horror, Roddy could see Jack dangling Jimmy's sock over the flames. He had to do something! With no time to think, he grabbed the football from Marek's hands, and stood up. He gave it an enormous kick, aiming to hit the sock away from the fire. But as his foot connected with the ball, something came hurtling down the tunnel with a wild, banshee wail.

Roddy, Marek and Jack whipped round to see what it was, and the ball hit Jack squarely on the back of his head. Jack dropped the sock, gave a tremendous howl, and fell over.

“We'll get the sock!” yelled Geno, who had appeared with the screaming banshee, which was actually a frantic Jimmy.

Marek leaped to his feet and ran to grab Jack, but Jack struggled to his feet and legged it up the tunnel.

“I think Jack's had more of a fright than we have tonight,” said Roddy. “He thought he was going to be the only person here, apart from Jimmy.”

“That shot must have
terrified
him when it hit the back of his head,” Marek snorted with laughter.

“What an idiot to start a fire, though,” said Roddy. “He could have burnt down the rest of the seats.”

“And even the Stadium pitch!” said Jimmy sounding shocked.

“At any rate, he's made a good job of burning your sock,” said Geno.

They all looked at the still-smouldering sock, dangling from Jimmy's hand. It was terribly charred, smelt awful, and was falling to pieces.

“Never mind,” said Jimmy uncertainly. “It's probably all right.”

“Listen,” said Roddy slowly. “I've been thinking. You don't need that sock, and I can prove it.”

“What do you mean?” said Jimmy.

“Well, remember that blinder of a match you played yesterday? At some point during the match, Jack nicked your sock. And yet you played some of your best football at the end of the game. How about that winning goal? You certainly didn't need the lucky sock then.”

“No… I suppose not,” Jimmy said reluctantly.

“And tonight,” Roddy went on, “you came over here all by yourself, although you're
terrified of ghosts. That was really brave, and you didn't have the sock to help you. You don't need that sock, really, you don't.”

Jimmy looked at the smelly, charred sock and then back at Roddy. “But we're going to need a lot of luck to get back to our room,” he said in a sad voice. “And if we're all caught, Charlton will probably lose the next match and maybe even the House Cup.”

“The luck has run out of that sock,” said Roddy firmly. He patted Jimmy on his back. “Come on. We have to make our own luck. And if we do get caught, well, we'll make sure that Jack's luck runs out, too. His trainers are going to be just as wet as ours from the grass, and with any luck he'll smell of smoke.”

“He might get expelled,” said Geno soberly, picking up the spooky ghost costume that Jack had left lying on the ground. “What shall we do with the stuff he left behind? There's this
torch with the green filter, which made him look so weird. He was really serious about scaring Jimmy, wasn't he?”

“He didn't enjoy being challenged,” said Roddy. “But I don't think he'll try anything like this again.”

“Let's dump everything in the bins,” suggested Marek.

Jimmy took a deep breath and gave his friends a wavering smile. “I'll put the sock in with them,” he said bravely. “I'm sorry I've been such a pain about it.”

“It's been worth it for all that fantastic defending you do,” said Roddy seriously. “Now, let's go. Follow me.”

“I want to go back up the tunnel.”

Roddy looked at Jimmy. “Are you sure?” he asked. “It's not the quickest way, and haven't you been scared enough for one night?”

“Well, I managed to run down it,” said Jimmy, “even though I was terrified. I just think it would help.”

“Come on, then,” said Marek. “Don't let's waste time.”

Even Roddy had to admit that the tunnel was spooky at night. He couldn't help being unsettled by the leaves rustling above them, and the ever-changing shadows cast by the half moon scudding through the clouds. It seemed to take ages to get to the other end,
but Roddy was determined not to hurry. There was just a chance that Jack might still be lurking somewhere, and Roddy didn't want them to run into trouble.

“Do you think there is a real ghost around here?” said Geno quietly.

Roddy sighed. “Before tonight, I'd have said definitely not. And I know it was only Jack messing about back there. But there's something about this place… Something a bit creepy.” He shivered. “I'm glad we're almost out of the tunnel.”

Everything was still and silent as they emerged at the back of the changing rooms. Roddy noticed a bin nearby, and Marek took the lid off as quietly as he could. They stuffed Jack's ghost outfit and the torch deep inside. Then Jimmy held out his sock. He hesitated for a moment, and then let it fall in, too. Marek replaced the lid with a soft clang.

“Well done, Jimmy,” whispered Roddy.

They made it past the front of the main building, and back to their boarding house without any trouble. The whole school was sleeping, and all the windows were dark. There was no sign of Jack. He must have got back safely already. But their window seemed a long way from the ground, now they were trying to climb indoors.

“I thought the ground was higher than this,” said Geno in a panicky voice, staring up at the window. “I'll never get in.”

For a few moments they stood there, wondering what to do. “I'll give you each a leg up,” suggested Roddy, “and then you can haul me in.” But, privately, he wondered if he'd be able to manage, with no one to help him.

“I am tallest,” whispered Marek. “I will be last. I can easily reach the window by myself.”

“OK,” agreed Roddy.

Jimmy and Geno were already inside, and Roddy was just scrambling up with Marek's help, when Jimmy appeared at the window and hauled him quickly through. “Someone's coming!” he hissed. “Get into bed!”

There was no time to warn Marek. And Roddy didn't wait to take off his tracksuit or trainers. He threw himself under his duvet and lay still, trying to control his breathing. Jimmy had been right. There
was
activity in the corridor outside. It sounded as if Mr Clutterbuck was going into each room in turn. But it was very late for their housemaster to be up and about.

Two doors in the corridor had already been opened and closed. It must be their turn next. Sure enough, the heavy footsteps came towards their door and it opened. Mr Clutterbuck stood there in his dressing gown.
Roddy imagined he wouldn't be in the best of moods. To his horror, the housemaster came into the room and peered closely at Geno's supposedly sleeping form. He seemed to be satisfied but, as he straightened up, he caught sight of the half-open curtains blowing in the breeze.

Mr Clutterbuck walked over to the window. Roddy was sure Marek would be discovered. He held his breath and waited, but the housemaster simply closed the window and turned back to the door. He hesitated for a moment and then left the room, shutting it quietly behind him.

They waited for the footsteps to fade away down the corridor, then Roddy scrambled out of bed and opened the window again. Marek was standing outside, with his hands on his hips.

“Why did you close the window?” he said,
glaring at Roddy accusingly. “This is a bad time for jokes.”

“Ssh!” said Roddy. “It wasn't our fault. Mr C's been here. It was him who shut the window.”

“He checked all the rooms in our corridor,” said Geno, throwing off his tracksuit and trainers. “It's a miracle he didn't see you.”

“That was him?” said Marek in horror. “I thought it was one of you, messing about.”

“Believe me,” said Jimmy with feeling. “There's been enough messing about tonight to last me a lifetime!”

“I don't know how you managed to stay so still when he was peering at you,” Roddy said to Geno.

“I just kept thinking of red cards,” said Geno with a shudder.

“Let's get to sleep,” said Jimmy. “We have to be up again in a few hours.”

Marek groaned. “I'm never going to stay awake in lessons tomorrow.”

In a few moments, they were all in bed. Roddy's feet were frozen, and the ends of his pyjamas were soaking wet. But nothing could keep him awake now, and soon they were all fast asleep.

Nobody felt exactly full of beans in the morning. They crawled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Roddy felt a bit better after a shower, but nothing like his usual enthusiastic self. The others were just as tired, but they
were
all anxious to see if anything would be said at registration.

Sure enough, after Mr Clutterbuck had taken the register, he didn't dismiss the students. “I just want to remind you that outside is out of bounds after bedtime,” he said, looking very serious. Anyone breaking this rule will be severely punished, with a red
card at the very least.”

Roddy tried to get a look at Jack, but he had turned away and Roddy couldn't see his face. Unsurprisingly, most of the students in the room looked confused. They had no idea what had gone on the night before.

“Right. That will be all,” said Mr Clutterbuck.

As soon as the housemaster had gone, the room erupted into loud chatter. “What was all that about?” someone asked Roddy.

Roddy shrugged. “I dunno,” he lied.

It soon emerged that Jack had been caught outside after bedtime, and had got a red card for it. According to Ali, his roommate, Jack had made the mistake of using the front door. Mr Clutterbuck had seen him from his bedroom window, and caught him red-handed.

“Thank goodness we climbed in at the back,” sighed Roddy.

Jack kept quiet about the real reason for his midnight walkabout, and everyone assumed he was just being his usual rebellious self.

“There's no point in telling everyone the truth,” Roddy said to his team-mates when they met again in the team talk room.

“I agree,” said Keira. “Humiliating Jack won't make him any nicer to know.”

“And if Mr Clutterbuck got to hear about what we were up to last night, we'd all be in trouble,” added Marek.

“It's a pity,” growled Jimmy. “Everyone would laugh at him and he deserves it for being so horrible.”

“But in a way, he did you a favour,” said Roddy. “Even though it's not what he intended. After all, you got over your need for the sock last night, didn't you?”

“I hope so,” Jimmy sighed. “We'll find out at the next match.”

As they broke up to go out to training, Keira hung back to walk with Roddy. “Well done last night,” she said in a low voice. “You handled it really well.”

Roddy looked at her in surprise. “I only did what anyone would have done,” he told her.

“I'm not sure I'd have kept such a cool head,” she admitted. “Anyway,” she gave him a shy smile. “I just wanted to say that if I was injured or something, I'd choose you as vice-captain any day.”

Roddy felt a warm glow inside. “Thanks,” he said. Then he sighed. “But Mr Jenkins will never know about last night. I won't get picked for the firsts on leadership qualities like you. I need to concentrate on playing my best football to get noticed.”

“We all do,” said Keira.

Although Roddy and his friends were tired, there was no opportunity for slacking, and
they all had to do their regular morning run.

“What's up with you today?” asked Mr Jenkins as Roddy came in halfway down the field for a change.

“Just didn't sleep too well,” Roddy explained.

“You're not the only one,” said Mr Jenkins. “What was going on in your house last night?”

Roddy shrugged.

“Well, I hope you'll feel more awake this afternoon,” said the coach. “It's coming up to a crucial point in the term. I'm going to be announcing who's in the first team shortly. After your next house match, in fact.”

“Really?” Roddy hadn't realised the squad would be named that soon. He felt a quiver of excitement mixed with trepidation. And that wasn't all there was to get excited about. The last house match of the term was coming up, against Stiles.

Heading into the last round of House Cup games for the term, Moore and Charlton were neck and neck on points. The crunch games were the head-to-head Charlton/Moore games to be played by both the second years and the senior girls, but every point from every match would make a difference.

The day of the first years' match against Stiles arrived quickly. Stiles would be without Jack because he'd got a red card from Mr Clutterbuck, and as their captain he'd be a big loss to them. Despite being such a bully, Jack was an excellent footballer.

If Charlton could beat Stiles, they'd have won their first three games in the House Cup.
Sam had told them not to be complacent against a weakened Stiles team, but Roddy couldn't help feeling relieved about Jack's ban. Jack wasn't even allowed to watch the game – he was doing some schoolwork in the library under Mr Clutterbuck's supervision.