Lucy on the Ball (5 page)

“Well, Lucy has definitely been making her own rules lately,” Mrs. Quinn said, shaking her head.

“A beagle like Lucy needs lots of exercise. Is she getting it?” Coach Morris asked.

“Maybe not enough,” Mrs. Quinn admitted.

“She needs her own chew toys so she doesn’t chew shoes,” the coach said.

Or gloves
, Bobby thought.

“She also must learn the meaning of the word ‘no,’ ” Coach Morris added. “We’ll make sure she learns it.”

Bobby frowned. Coach Morris sounded even more stern than he did on the soccer field. Mrs. Quinn seemed a little surprised by his serious tone, too.

Before she could say anything, the coach said, “Let’s start Lucy’s lesson.”

The next hour was an eye-opener for Bobby. Usually Lucy didn’t listen much to anyone. Not his mother. Not his father. Certainly not him. She had a mind of her own.

But right from the first, she paid attention to Coach Morris. Maybe it was the way he stood, as if he was in charge. Maybe it
was the firmness in his voice. Either way, when he told Lucy to sit or stop barking, she looked up at him for a moment and did what she was told.

Then Coach Morris said, “Now you two are going to try to control Lucy. It’s important that each of you learns to be a pack leader, the one in charge.”

Bobby and his mother exchanged glances. It was one thing for Coach Morris to look like a leader—he
was
a leader. But Lucy knew from experience that she could get almost anything from her owners if she looked cute enough—or if she barked long enough.

The lesson ended with Bobby and his mother learning how to act like leaders. They stood tall. They tried to imitate the strength Coach Morris had in his voice.

Lucy looked confused at first.
Who are you people?
she seemed to say.
Let’s play!

Bobby and Mrs. Quinn stayed firm. Only after Lucy had shown good behavior were they allowed to hug her or give her one of
the treats Coach Morris had in his pocket.

“I hope the next time we meet, Mr. Quinn will be with us,” Coach Morris said. “I like to have the whole family involved when it comes to training a dog. Every member of the family needs to know how to work with its pet.”

“I’ll see that he’s here,” Mrs. Quinn said meekly.

Wow
, Bobby thought. It seemed Coach Morris knew how to be the boss over everyone. Even his mom.

First Game

B
obby and his mother came home after Lucy’s lesson. They told Mr. Quinn all about it. He looked impressed.

“Coach Morris said you are going to have to get more involved, too,” Mrs. Quinn told her husband. “Maybe you could take Lucy out for a walk now and then. You both could use the exercise.”

When Bobby got up the next morning,
his father was coming into the house after walking Lucy. Mr. Quinn usually did what his wife asked.

“Lucy and I just spent some quality time together,” he said, smiling.

Lucy jumped on the sofa and curled up. It seemed like the walk had tired her out.

“Down, Lucy,” Mr. Quinn said.

Lucy just looked at him.

“Down,” Mr. Quinn repeated.

Lucy rolled over and scratched herself.

Mrs. Quinn came into the room. “Down!” she said in her best pack-leader voice.

Lucy didn’t look happy about it, but she did get off the sofa. She walked out of the room, her tail high.

“How did you do that?” Mr. Quinn asked his wife.

“I guess I’m just more of a pack leader
than you are,” Mrs. Quinn said with a smile.

Mr. Quinn shook his head and followed Lucy out of the room.

“Bobby,” his mother said, “Shawn called. He wanted to know if you could come over and practice before the game.”

Bobby shrugged. He took Lucy’s place on the sofa.

Mrs. Quinn sat next to him. “I take it you don’t feel like practicing,” she said.

Bobby shook his head. “I’d rather work on my Planet Man picture. I thought Shawn might want to work on our comic book. I asked him yesterday, but he never gave me an answer one way or the other.…” Bobby’s voice trailed off.

“Shawn’s mother told me how much he liked soccer when he played last year,” Mrs. Quinn said.

“He likes it this year, too,” Bobby said glumly.

“And you don’t?” his mother asked.

“It’s okay,” Bobby said.

Mrs. Quinn patted his hair. “You haven’t even played one game yet, Bobby. All you’ve done is go to practice sessions. It might still turn out to be fun.”

Bobby thought about his mother’s words while he was putting on his uniform. Soccer didn’t feel like fun. It felt more like taking a test. A real soccer game? That felt like a really big test.

Lots of people were at the park when Bobby and his parents arrived. Some people were sitting on the sidelines in folding chairs they had brought from home. Others were walking up and down the field.

“The nice weather has certainly brought
out a crowd,” Mr. Quinn commented.

“I think every single player on both teams must have someone here,” Mrs. Quinn added.

Too many people
, Bobby thought. He felt as if a soccer ball was rolling around in his stomach.

Coach Morris blew a long blast on his whistle.

Mr. Quinn gave Bobby’s shoulder a pat. “I think your coach is trying to get the Beagles together.”

Bobby slowly walked over and joined his teammates.

“Hey, Bobby, where’s Lucy?” Candy asked. “She should be here. She’s our team mascot, after all.”

“Lucy’s not ready to be here yet,” Coach Morris answered for Bobby. “She needs to learn how to control herself first. A game would get her too excited.”

Once all the team had gathered, Coach Morris began his pep talk. “I know this is your first game. But I expect to see good offense and defense out there.”

He called out several names, including Dexter’s and Tim’s. The coach told those kids they would be forwards, the players in charge of moving the ball toward the Rockets’ goal. Bobby was one of the defenders. He would help keep the ball away from the Beagles’ goal. Coach Morris picked Candy to be the goalkeeper.

Bobby looked at Candy. Even she seemed a little worried about having such an important position.

Coach Morris sent Dexter out with one of the Rockets for the coin toss. The kids who knew a lot about soccer called Dexter the striker. That meant he was the best kicker on the team.

Heads! The Beagles won the toss. Coach Morris told Dexter to kick off.

Dexter didn’t try to kick the ball too far. Coach Morris had told them the idea was to keep control of the ball and move it down the field. Dexter and a couple of the other kids passed the ball back and forth toward the Rockets’ goal. They didn’t do too well. One of the Rockets stole the ball away.

Now it was time for Bobby and the other defenders to stop the Rockets.

That didn’t happen. With one long kick, a Rocket put the ball inside the Beagles’ goal. Candy just watched it whiz by. Her mouth formed a big round O.

That was the way the game went for the first half. The Rockets had the ball most of the time. They made another goal. Bobby
ran up and down the field, but he never came close to having his foot on the ball.

At halftime the score was Rockets 2, Beagles 0.

Coach Morris said, “We’re two behind. But we can catch up. I want to see more kicking. Defenders, you were letting the Rockets control the field. I’m going to shake things up in the second half. Offensive players, except for Dexter, you go on defense. Defense, now you’re offense.”

Bobby was now an offensive player. He sighed. Trying to make a goal seemed even harder than playing defense.

As it turned out, it didn’t seem to matter if he was playing offense or defense. Once again, he didn’t get anywhere near the ball during the second half of the game.

Shawn kicked the ball to get it down the
field. Then he passed it to Dexter. Dexter made one hard kick. Goal!

The game finally ended. The Rockets won, 2 to 1.

All Bobby got for his effort was a lot of sweat and tired legs.

Coach Morris didn’t look too mad when the team gathered after the game.

“Beagles, we’ve got a lot of work to do.” He took off his cap and rubbed his fingers through his gray hair. “Our passing isn’t great. Except for Dexter, our shooting isn’t much, either. Candy, you did okay as goalie. But next time, I’m going to give someone else the chance to play that position.”

Coach Morris looked around the circle.

Bobby put his head down. The chance to play goalkeeper? The coach made it seem like a prize. Who wanted a prize like that?

Second Game

T
he Beagles’ second game didn’t go much better than the first.

This time they played a team called the Wasps. Their sting was pretty sharp.

With ten minutes left in the game, Coach Morris said, “Bobby Quinn, I want you in as goalie. Stop those Wasps!”

It was the longest ten minutes of Bobby’s life. He stood at the goal line hoping the ball
would not come to him. One time, it did come close. Good thing Shawn stole the ball away from the Wasp who was moving it toward the goal.

Bobby gave a sigh of relief. He was even happier when the game ended.