Operation Baby-Sitter (4 page)

“It didn’t matter if we screwed up a play,”she said,“even if it cost us the game. But if we got down on ourselves or yelled
at each other, he’d let us have it. So as his team captain, I tried to have a good attitude all the time.”

Bundy nodded his understanding. Silently, he vowed to never get down on his teammates or himself again.

B
undy was pumped for the game against the Torpedoes. He shouted encouragement to his teammates during warm-ups.

When the whistle blew to start the game, the ’Cats roared onto the field. Bundy pounded his hands together. He’d never felt
better prepared for a game.

It was the ’Cats’ ball. Stookie nudged the ball out of the center circle to striker Jerry Dinh. Jerry took off like a shot.

Stookie and Lou Barnes raced downfield
parallel to him. Jerry wobbled a pass in Lou’s direction. But it went behind Lou.

Amanda snared the ball moments before a Torpedo got it. She booted a strong pass straight ahead to Lou.

“Nice through pass, Amanda!”Bundy yelled.

Lou dodged one Torpedo, then was nearly trampled by two others. Dewey and Amanda raced in to help out.

The ball bounced from foot to foot, then squirted free. Dewey pounced on it and sent it sailing across the field to Jerry.

Jerry trapped it and made his move toward the Torpedo goal. The Torpedo fullbacks fought hard. Then Jerry gave the ball a
short, sharp kick, and the ball swished into the net. Goal!

The Soccer ’Cats jogged back into position, shouting with joy. The game wasn’t five minutes old, and already they were on
the scoreboard!

But the Torpedoes exploded when play started again. Over and over they threatened at the ’Cats’ goal. Finally, Lisa Gaddy
booted the ball hard and high enough to clear it from in front of the net.

Stookie was there to head it to Lou.

“Excellent! That’s using your head, Stookie!”Bundy yelled.“Go, Lou, go! We’re right behind you!”

Lou powered his way through the first line of defense. Then he fumbled and almost lost the ball. He just managed to get a
short pass off toward Bundy.

A Torpedo striker beat Bundy to it. Bundy gave chase.

Okay, this is it!
he said to himself.
Put all that practice to work!

He drew alongside the Torpedo, then got just a little ahead of him. Keeping his eye glued to the ball, he turned his body
sideways and reached his foot in.

But he had mistimed the play. Instead of foot meeting ball, it met the other player’s foot. Both Bundy and the Torpedo went
down. The Torpedo was awarded a direct free kick.

Bundy was crushed. But he stood up and shook it off as best he could.

“Okay, get ready for the kick!”he yelled to his teammates.

The Torpedo blasted the ball deep into ’Cats territory. Luckily, Alan Minter controlled it and sent it flying back in the
opposite direction.

Stookie caught it against his chest, then passed it to Jerry.

Jerry dodged around a Torpedo halfback. The halfback ran after him. The Torpedo tried to steal the ball away, but instead
of coming at Jerry from the side, he stuck his foot between Jerry’s legs from behind. Jerry tripped and fell.

Pheet!
The ref’s whistle announced what everyone knew. The halfback had committed a serious foul.

“Direct kick!”the ref said.

Jerry jumped up. Because the foul had happened in Torpedo territory, the ball was in a good position to be kicked into the
goal. Jerry just had to kick it where the goalie or his teammates weren’t.

Jerry put the ball on the ground where the penalty had happened. The Torpedoes lined up to protect their goal.

Make the goal, Jerry,
Bundy pleaded silently. The fans were silent, too.

Jerry connected solidly. The ball took a funny spin that caught the defense by surprise. Goal!

“Yes!”Bundy pumped his fist in the air, then joined the other ’Cats as they swarmed Jerry.

They all hurried back to their positions. When the horn honked, signaling halftime, the score was ’Cats 2, Torpedoes 0.

A
s the ’Cats drank water and ate orange slices, Coach Bradley congratulated them.

“There’s still plenty of time for them to win,”he reminded them.“So stay on your toes.”

The ’Cats did. Time after time, the Torpedoes threatened to score. But time after time, the ’Cats pushed them back.

The Torpedoes were determined, though. With ten minutes left to go, they finally scored against Bucky.

“That’s okay — we’re still up by one!”Bundy shouted to his teammates.“Let’s hold ‘em, hold ‘em!”

The Torpedoes were pumped up after their goal. They stole the ball from the ’Cats right after the center kick. With lightning-quick
passes, they moved the ball into scoring position. Then the worst thing happened. Ted Gaddy committed a foul in the penalty
area. The Torpedoes were awarded a penalty kick.

As the ’Cats and Torpedoes stood back, Bucky Pinter faced off against the Torpedo kicker.

The kicker placed the ball on the ground. He stood still for a moment, then took a few steps and booted the ball hard. Bucky
leaped to stop it, but he was too late.

’Cats 2, Torpedoes 2.

“That’s okay — there’s still time to get ahead!”Bundy shouted. The rest of the ’Cats took up the cheer.

But once again, a Torpedo got control of the ball right after the center kick. She streaked down the field toward ’Cats territory.

Oh, no, you don’t,
Bundy thought as he pounded after her.

He knew what he had to do — and he did it. He came alongside the striker, got one step ahead of her, and pivoted. With a flash
of his foot, he snagged the ball! A moment later, it was Bundy who was racing down the field with the ball!

“Yes! Yes!”Bundy could hear Mary’s voice from the stands loud and clear. Bundy passed off to Lou. Lou made a perfect pass
to Stookie, who sent the ball soaring into the net for the ’Cats’ third and final goal.

When the game ended a few minutes later, the ’Cats had chalked another mark in their win column.

After he slapped palms with the Torpedoes, Bundy looked for Mary. He gave her a big thumbs-up sign. Then, without thinking, he called,“See you at home later?”

Mary nodded, grinning, then turned to talk to Coach Bradley.

“Who’s that?”Dewey asked.

Bundy hesitated, but only for a moment.“Who, her?”he said.“She’s my baby-sitter.”

Dewey looked at Mary talking with the coach and simply said,“Cool.”

That night, Bundy finished the letter he’d started to his grandfather.

Dear Grandpa,

How are you? I miss you. Guess what? I“gave the baby-sitter a chance.”And you’ll never believe it, but…

SOCCER ’Cats

Matt Christopher
Illustrated by Daniel Vasconcellos

Bundy Neel is trying hard to be the best soccer captain he can be. He always has an encouraging word for his teammates, and
he works extra hard during practices and games. So why does his attitude change out of the blue? His teammates don’t know
it, but Bundy has suddenly been saddled with a… baby-sitter. Bundy can’t believe his parents won’t let him be home by himself
— he’s ten years old after all! — and he’s worried what his teammates will say if they find out. There’s only one thing to
do: launch Operation Baby-Sitter and get rid of“the girl”! But Bundy doesn’t count on the plan backfiring....

Matt Christopher
is the name behind more than seventy-five sports novels for young readers, including the Peach Street Mudders series of baseball
chapter books. For information on joining the Matt Christopher Fan Club, please see the last page of this book.