by Susan Harper
“Yeah,” Monica said with a laugh. “Urrgah loves Brian. It’s sweet. Only thing louder than Urrgah last night was Coach Joanne-Jo shouting at all of them to go to bed—that they needed to rest up for the match!”
Abigail laughed. “Never heard a sprite get that loud before.”
“I’m so excited!” Holly exclaimed, emerging from the bathroom where she had just finished getting ready to head out to the fields. “My first time seeing a game other than a home play at Wysteria’s field. Is it really different being part of the visiting team?”
“Not really,” Monica said. “The fields are pretty much all the same.”
The ladies and two familiars headed out. Monica spied Brian downstairs at breakfast and hurried over to him to give him a good luck kiss. The ladies planned on doing a bit of shopping in Kabat, a town heavily saturated in tourist sights, before heading to the fields. They had the time. “Nervous, Brian?” Mona asked as she approached, giving Deimus a similar greeting.
“A little,” he said. “I mean, it’s my first game. What a way to break me in, right? The semi-finals!”
“You’re going to do great,” Gale said, growling slightly as it was awfully close to the full moon.
“You know, I think the old officials intentionally had the game set for today,” Joanne-Jo said, nodding to Bolt, who was scratching his unusually fluffy ears. “So close to the full moon. That’s going to backfire on them, though. I’ve never seen you kids more aggressive than during a full moon week.”
“Yeah, you’re not kidding,” Ida said, and she howled loudly of excitement.
Urrgah clapped stupidly, grinning. “Urrgah like dog people.”
“We like you too, big guy,” Bolt said. “Just don’t call us dog people, kay?”
Monica laughed just as a young troll child came bolting up to them. She jumped in surprise as the little troll had nearly knocked them all over. The child was wearing a Kabat Clovers jersey and hat, but he was holding up a large poster with the Wysteria Werewolves pictures on it, wanting Urrgah to sign it. Urrgah flushed incredibly. “Sweet! Sign it, Urrgah. You got yourself a little fan in Kabat. Who would have thought?” Deimus said, giving Urrgah a friendly punch in the arm.
Urrgah smiled and fumbled with his fat fingers to put his mark on the page. The little troll thanked him and gushed before hurrying off to his mother, who had been standing in the corner of the hotel lobby, smiling. She gave an approving nod to Urrgah before disappearing with her child.
“This just goes to show you,” Deimus said. “The Wysteria Werewolves are playing for a lot more than a championship title. We’re the only team in the league with a selkie. Only team in the league with a troll. Only team in the league with a mortal. And the only team in the semi-finals who is made up of more non-wizards than wizards. Never seen more than one werewolf or dwarf on a team before. We’re going to show the world just what this team can do.”
“Oh, I just love a good underdog story,” Holly said excitedly.
“What did she call us?” Bolt asked, sitting up and taking a chomp of bacon.
“It’s not a werewolf insult, Bolt,” Holly said.
“Yeah,” Brian said. “Underdog is a mortal term. It means that we’re the team everyone who thinks is going to lose, but we’ll come up on top and kick some butt.”
“Oh, I like that!” Bolt said. “Underdog!” He howled, which got Gale and Ida going as well. It was like a pack mentality they couldn’t escape.
Monica, Mona, Holly, and the familiars bid the team farewell after wishing them luck on the evening’s game. They headed into town, and the talk on the street was nothing but the Wysteria Werewolves and their chances of winning.
“I don’t know, have you seen that troll? He could crush one of our players.”
“Yeah, but he’s going to be stuck on his play podiums,” countered a wizard who seemed to know it all. “Those springs couldn’t possibly launch him to the center field. It’s a disadvantage, I’m telling you.”
Another argument between a couple of witches was quite similar. “A mortal! Have you ever heard of such a thing? I’ve heard mortals are very fragile. Mind you, I’ve never met one myself, but that’s what I’ve heard.”
“True, but so are selkies, and that selkie has been playing on the Wysteria Werewolves all season and has been doing fine.”
“You’ll see. One of those weak-boned creatures are going to get hurt, and the Sorcerer’s Council is going to overturn their judgement about what the game officials can and can’t do! Mark my word.”
Eventually, it came time to head to the stadium. They had excellent seats. Abigail sat on Monica’s shoulders so that she could see past the tall warlock sitting in front of them. The man was muttering something about thinking it was going to be a short game—that it was going to be a total washout as the Clovers were one of the best teams in the league this year.
Monica ignored him, and she meekly applauded the home team as they made their way out onto the field. The crowd went crazy. “Ladies and gents, it’s the game you’ve all been waiting for!” the announcer called. “Welcome our home team, the Kabat City Clovers!” The crowd continued to cheer wildly. “And, now, this year’s surprise inner-city champions, the Wysteria Werewolves!”
Monica couldn’t believe it. The crowd went nuts for the Wysteria team too. The warlock in front of her jumped in surprise. It was only then that she got a real look around. The crowd was filled with werewolves, trolls, goblins, vampires, dwarves, hobbits, and all other creatures. She had never in her life seen such a diverse crowd at a Romp-A-Roo game. She realized suddenly that most of the crowd was not there for the home team at all. These people had traveled far and wide to see the Wysteria Werewolves play in their first semi-finals game.
“Unbelievable,” Abigail said, and she sounded happy. “I have never seen anything like this in my life.”
A few rows up, Monica spotted the little troll child from that morning. He was standing up in his seat clapping wildly and cheering, “Urrgah! Urrgah! Urrgah!”
“That has got to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Mona said, nodding toward the little troll.
The game began. Brian stood on his podium next to Deimus, and the two men gave each other a thumbs-up. The Wysteria Werewolves had elected to give Trixie the dwarf’s podium the spring for their side. Only female players and the goalie would be able to use it. The only other springs would be the one in front of the goalie on the other team, on another females-only playing board, and the one at the very center of the field that was open to everyone.
The game began, and Urrgah jumped directly in front of him onto one of the center yellow podiums just as the ball came down. The warlock from the opposing team looked like he was going to have a stroke seeing the enormous troll come his way, and he panicked and jumped on the center spring too soon, missing the ball as it came down. Urrgah grabbed it out of the air, and the crowd went nuts.
“The troll has the ball!” the announcer shouted.
Monica watched Urrgah, wondering what he was going to do. Would he remember the strategy? “Right here, big guy!” Brian called just as he jumped on the center podium and was sent catapulting onto one of the male-only green podiums on the opposing team’s side. Urrgah flung the ball hard. Monica winced slightly as Brian caught the ball and landed on his side, but he held on tight. The opposing team’s player, the only vampire on the team, attempted to stomp Brian in the side to get the ball from him, but Brian tripped him and jumped back up.
“I’m open!” Ida hollered. She had just performed a quick double-bounce from Trixie’s springing podium to the center yellow podium and was currently flying clear over Brian’s head toward the opposing team’s female-only blue podiums. Brian tossed the ball, and Ida caught it in midair as she came to a steady landing on an unoccupied blue podium.
The witch on the podium next to her leaped over, but she was too late. Ida flung the ball hard, and it went straight into the goal behind the goalie. The crowd
went crazy. “First goal to Wysteria Werewolves! Ironically, by one of its werewolves, Ida! An impressive play involving the teams two newest players, Urrgah the troll and Brian the mortal! Beautiful play, folks, wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself!”
The Kabat Clovers scored the next two goals, but the Wysteria Werewolves came back with vengeance. They used their surprise play of sending their lightweight dwarf all the way across the field to toss the ball straight into the goal after being launched from her podium. She made the goal in mid-air before just barely sticking her landing on the furthest podium she was allowed to be standing on. The crowd stood up in awe. “Never in my life!” the announcer shrieked. “Never in my life have I seen such a maneuver… I’m being told now, folks, that this is a Wysteria Werewolves specialty, a move they recently used to claim a grand victory that got them here tonight. Trixie, the dwarf, is the first female dwarf to ever play professional Romp-A-Roo. Oh! The selkie has the ball! The selkie has the ball!”
Monica watched in anticipation as Clowdia used her feet to dribble the ball, an unusual but not illegal choice in handling of a Romp-A-Roo ball. A female witch from the opposing team was currently trying to get the ball from her, using her hands to dive after it, but Clowdia was too quick. She kicked the ball up toward Deimus. Urrgah knocked a warlock out of his way and gave him a boost, throwing him up and onto the center yellow podium. Deimus launched himself to the edge of the yellow podium and tossed the ball to Clowdia, who seemed to have materialized at the end of the field. She had launched herself as soon as Deimus had gained control of the ball to wait for the pass. He tossed it to her, and Clowdia scored.
“The first selkie to ever play in the professional leagues, Ms. Clowdia, has just scored her first goal in the professional leagues! Give her a round of applause, folks! Oh, looks like Ms. Renowa of the Clovers has gotten the ball, and yes, yes! She scores! The mortal has the ball. Passing it to his teammate… Oh, wait, warlock Marthall has gotten the ball…and an excellent block by werewolf Gale! Oh, wait, Gale’s leaving her post, a risky move! Oh my word, she’s launching herself clear across the field to the yellow— Wait, she’s on the opposing team’s side! Never in my life… She scores! She better get back to her goal post soon! A goalie scoring, honestly!”
Gale hurried to the blue podium and jumped, being caught by Urrgah, who was much stronger than the podiums, evidently, because he was able to toss her clear across the field and back to her goal post before the ball was ever back in play. “What just happened…” was all the announcer managed to say.
Monica clapped wildly when Brian managed to get the ball and score a second goal. The back and forth play was painfully exciting. The game was close. The score was seventeen points Wysteria Werewolves to 16 points Kabat Clovers, and the Clovers were fighting back hard. They were keeping all the players covered constantly, and a witch flung the ball toward the goal. Gale caught it. The ball went all over the place. The announcer was losing his mind. “Gale passes to Ida, Ida to Clowdia. Intercepted by the Clovers… Wait, Trixie performs a shin kick to the witch, Ronda. She’s got the ball! Trixie passes it back to Ida. Ida to Clowdia—those ladies are fighting hard to get that ball away from their goal! Ronda’s got the ball back… Oh, Trixie kicked her again. Got to watch out for those dwarves. They have an ironic height advantage and can get you in your legs without you expecting it! And…yes! Trixie’s got the ball. Trixie to Bolt. Bolt is running to the center— Oh, warlock Morris has the ball— Wait, Bolt got it back. Bolt passes back to green podiums… Oh, Deimus has got it! Deimus has— Oh, he’s surrounded! The warlocks are all over him… Brian the mortal has come in to back up his teammate! What a hit! He’s bloodied a fellow’s nose! Can’t tell who in the tussle. Looks like the mortal has finally figured out this is a contact sport!”
There was a bit of laughter through the crowd. Brian had been holding back his swings for most of the game, and he had been getting beaten up pretty harshly, but it looked as though Brian had finally accepted that he was going to have to be way more aggressive. “Brian’s got it! He’s going! He’s going!” the announcer yelled. “Wait… What’s he… The troll is on the yellow spring podium? Wait… Brian’s passed it to the troll!”
Monica bit the inside of her cheek. Surely Urrgah wasn’t going to launch himself? He was far too heavy. “Don’t do it, Urrgah!” Monica yelped as though he could hear her.
“Oh, he’s going to hurt himself!” Mona cried, covering her eyes.
Urrgah caught the ball and launched. He went up about ten feet in the air and threw the ball, scoring. He landed hard exactly one yellow podium over. “Wait…” Holly said, looking confused. “Did… Does… Does that count as a three-point goal?”
The game was paused when the Wysteria Werewolves started celebrating a bit early. The referees were all gathered on their broomsticks at one end of the field, whispering to one another. “That’s at three-point goal, right?” Holly asked. “He scored in mid-launch, right? That’s a three-point goal?”
“Yeah, but no one has ever launched and only gone over one podium before,” Mona said. “I think they’re trying to decide whether or not they count it as a two-pointer or three-pointer. If it’s three points…”
“Wysteria Werewolves reach twenty points and win,” Abigail said.
The whole crowd was quiet, waiting to hear from the referees. This wasn’t exactly something on in the rulebook. Monica could tell even from the great distance that Urrgah was painfully nervous. Brian had hopped over next to him on the podium, giving him a friendly punch in the side to let him know he did good. Brian was standing awfully close to the edge in order to stand by Urrgah, who took up most of the podium himself.
At last, one of the referees flew out to the center of the field and gave the signal. The referee screamed, “Wysteria Werewolves win! Wysteria Werewolves win! Ladies and gentlemen, the Wysteria Werewolves are going to national finals!”
Monica screamed, as did Mona and Holly. Even Abigail and Lenore were jumping about hissing and cawing excitedly. Urrgah nearly knocked Brian off the podium. The whole crowd erupted into applause and a bit of laughter when the team tried to pick Urrgah up on their shoulders but were wildly unsuccessful. Then, in a lovely display of sportsmanship, the Kabat Clovers’ team captain came over and stuck out a hand to shake Urrgah’s. Urrgah’s shake nearly jerked the warlock’s arm out of place, but it was a fine gesture all the same.
“I can’t believe it,” Monica said, and she saw the little troll child cheering so wildly that he had begun to cry. “They did it! Wysteria Werewolves are going to finals!”
15
The celebrations had gone on for what felt like days, but eventually, Monica had to reopen her shop. Aunt Wilma had watched the shop for her for a day, but after that, they had simply closed the doors because she had still wanted Holly to be able to participate in the celebrations.
But now, the shop was up and running once again, and she and Holly were busy working on getting the place cleaned and back in order.
“All right,” Abigail said, hopping up onto the back counter. “I think it’s time we take a look at that goblin gold. It’s been sitting in this bag behind the counter all week, and I want to see how much we earned.”
“Does goblin gold transfer to regular spending money in Wysteria?” Holly asked.
“It’s just like gold reserves here in the United States,” Abigail said. “Gold transfers to dollars. You just have to exchange it. Now, hurry up. I don’t have thumbs, so I can’t open up this sack.”
Brian entered the shop, smiling and looking eager for his morning coffee. “Check it out! It’s the mortal who plays professional Romp-A-Roo!” Holly said, and Brian laughed.
“Please, no autographs,” he said, winking. They had hardly been able to talk about anything other than the Romp-A-Roo victory all week.
“Ha, funny,” Holly teased as she began working on Brian’s usual coffee drink. “Don’t get a big head on us, Brian.”
“Yes,” Abigail said, her voice muffled since her mouth was full of a lump of the pouch.
“Abigail wants to count it to make sure it’s all there,” Monica laughed. She came over and took the bag. “I’ll help you, Abs.” Monica opened the bag and poured the numerous, clinking bits of goblin gold onto the table.
“Whoa,” Brian said. “Would you take a look at all of that…”
“Wow!” Abigail exclaimed. “You could do a lot of renovating around the shop if you wanted to with all this. Get yourself a new broom—a racing broom. I know you were talking about that. And some more potions ingredients.”
“Well, half of it is yours, Abs,” Monica said. “What would you want to do with your half?”
“Save it for when I’m human again. Remember, I only got another twenty years!” Abigail said proudly. “And after speaking with Beatrice, I wonder if we were to file for another hearing if they would consider bringing that down even more.”
“It kind of makes me sad,” Monica admitted. “The idea of not having you as a familiar anymore.”
“Come on, kid,” Abigail said, stretching her back a bit. “You think once I’m back up on two legs again I’m just going to ditch you? Where would I even go? I wouldn’t know. Everyone I ever knew back when I was human is dead, like long gone by a couple hundred years. I outlived them all since I’m living out this sentence.”
Monica smiled. “That’s good to know, Abs. I suppose it would be kind of fun having another gal pal.”
“What, we’re not gal pals now?” Abigail teased, and Monica laughed.
“Hey, what’s this?” Brian asked suddenly. He had been sifting through the gold, and he held up a small coin. On one side was what looked to be a brand new, shimmering gold coin with an hourglass emblem. When it was flipped over, the back side held the same emblem, but that side of the coin looked old and worn—like it was hundreds of years old.
