Falling Star

by Robert Rayner

  But it could — when High Park scored again.

  This time it was Heather who rifled the ball into the net from Harry’s pass, after he had charged through Matthew’s half-hearted tackle and rounded Toby easily on his way to sending her the ball.

  The half was nearly over before Brunswick Valley mounted its first attack. Steve and Edison had been carefully marked by the home defence, with one marker always at their heels or standing right in front of them, and another close by.

  It was easy to see their plan for Steve. They were simply going to harass him all the time, frustrating his usual wide-ranging movement around the pitch. One defender was always practically standing on his cleats, and Edison saw Steve lash out angrily when the defender held his shirt as he tried to start a run.

  Edison was getting the intimidation treatment. His marker had clattered into him the first time he went for the ball, knocking him over. Two days ago, this kind of treatment would have upset him so much that he would have avoided the ball as much as possible. If he got possession, he would have passed the ball before the marker had time to make him look stupid and weak. Now he knew how to handle it. The next time he got the ball and the marker crowded him, he turned and faced him. The marker lunged at Edison, his foot scything at the ball. Edison skipped backward, easily avoiding the tackle, and waited for him to try again. The marker lunged, and Edison repeated the maneuver. He sensed the other marker approaching from behind, and when the front marker lunged again, Edison skipped sideways so the marker coming from behind crashed into his teammate, while Edison dribbled the ball away.

  Julie ended another High Park attack by scrambling the ball out of the Brunswick Valley goal area to Matthew. Edison slipped away from his marker to make himself available if Matthew wanted to pass. He glimpsed Steve doing the same. Two more defenders were moving in on Matthew, who hesitated, seeing the way ahead barred. He made a half-hearted feint to the left. The defender read the move easily and took the ball from him. Instead of trying to regain possession, Matthew threw up his arms in a gesture of hopelessness.

  A few minutes later, Jillian took the ball down the wing. Edison moved wide of the goal, taking his two markers with him and opening up space for Jessica, who was moving in from the other wing. The goalkeeper moved out to cover Jessica. Now, Edison thought, Jillian can do the safe thing and centre the ball, but the goalkeeper will probably outjump Jessica — so no goal. Or Jillian can try to dribble around her marker and rush at goal, giving herself an outside chance of scoring while the goalkeeper is distracted by Jessica. The second move was risky, because if Jillian lost possession, High Park would launch a quick counter-attack. But she needed to take the risk. Brunswick Valley badly needed a goal.

  Edison watched as Jillian played it safe, centering the ball.

  As the goalkeeper caught it, Edison realized his teammates were playing like they had in the first two games of the tour. They were so conscious of looking like a winning team that they forgot their success had come from playing with such fun and enthusiasm that they scrambled for every ball and never stopped hustling their opponents.

  He thought, We’re certainly not enjoying ourselves now. They were two goals down, the first half was drawing to a close, the crowd was against them, and the championship was disappearing fast.

  13

  Surprise

  At halftime, while the band marched up and down the field, the cheerleaders performed somersaults and pyramids, and the crowd kept up a constant cheer, the Brunswick Valley students stood and sat around their van.

  Mrs. Flood, who’d been hovering near the bench, beckoned Edison. “Mr. Field says it took you a game or two to adjust to Brunswick Valley’s style of play, but now you’re getting better all the time.”

  He grinned. “It’s a lot different from playing at Canterbury.”

  “It looks as if your team is going to win easily.”

  He started, “But we’re two goals down …” Then he realized she was talking as if he was already playing for High Park. He said, “Brunswick Valley’s my team.”

  “Of course, dear, but … Well, you know what I mean. Do you think I should speak to Coach Spear now?”

  “I think you’d better wait until after the game.”

  “You’re playing very well, but Brunswick Valley isn’t. I hope that won’t affect Coach Spear’s assessment of you.”

  As Edison rejoined the team, Shay grumbled, “We’re playing like kindergarten kids.”

  Mr. Field corrected him. “You’re playing like a team more concerned with looking like champions than with enjoying the game.”

  Edison burst out, “You’re playing like I was! You’re afraid of not looking good.”

  “You know who we should play like, don’t you, Edison?” said Mr. Field.

  Edison smiled and said, “The Dorchester All Stars.”

  “Right,” said Mr. Field. “Their expectation is to enjoy the game! Winning comes second. You’ve got to have the same expectation. And to prepare for it, have a scrimmage over there.” He pointed to a meadow of rough grass at the end of the pitch.

  Toby grabbed a soccer ball from the van and kicked it in the direction Mr. Field was pointing. Everyone chased after it. Edison reached it first, with Linh-Mai close behind. As he tapped it to Steve, he tripped and fell. Linh-Mai tripped over him, and Julie fell over her. Steve had the ball and kept it just out of reach of the twins, daring them to tackle him. Amy sneaked up behind and reached her foot around his ankles to steal the ball, but Edison, scrambling to his feet, raced between Steve and the twins, taking the ball with him. He stopped and turned. Julie and Linh-Mai were advancing on him. Toby was lumbering after everyone, holding a rock in each hand. He called, “The boys’ goal is between this rock …” He threw one down. “… And this one.” He placed the second rock about a metre from the first and stood between them, adding, “I’m the goalkeeper.”

  “That’s not a goal,” said Linh-Mai. “It’s a … a … mousehole.”

  “So where’s the girls’ goal?” Julie demanded.

  “There.” Toby pointed at two young hawthorn trees growing nearby. They were about ten metres apart.

  As Toby pointed, Edison chipped the ball over Linh-Mai and Julie. Toby kicked it into the girls’ goal and performed a little dance, proclaiming, “Boys — one. Girls — nil.”

  Edison looked across the meadow to where the High Park players were lined up before Coach Spear. Their attention seemed to be more on the Brunswick Valley pickup game than on their coach.

  When the referee walked onto the pitch for the start of the second half, Mr. Field gathered his players quickly to him. “We have to find a way of springing a surprise on High Park if we’re going to score, because most of the time they’ve got you guys …” he nodded at Steve and Edison “… bottled up.”

  Edison nodded, and Steve said, “Tell us about it.”

  “Their close marking is part of my plan,” said Mr. Field. “This is what we’re going to do.” The team leaned closer as he lowered his voice to describe the surprise move.

  When he finished, Shay said, “That’s crazy.”

  “That’s why it’ll be a surprise,” said Mr. Field. “But remember — we can only pull this stunt once. We have to hope it unsettles High Park enough for Steve and Edison to do their stuff.”

  “I have an idea for a surprise too,” said Edison. The team collected around him as he described his plan. It was a move the Eagles used to do. He finished uncertainly, “Do you think it’ll work?”

  “It’ll be fun finding out,” said Mr. Field. “Now — forget about winning or losing, and forget about expectations and reputations. Play with as much fun as you played in the meadow.”

  When the game resumed, High Park swept straight into the attack. Heather passed to Harry, sending him on a run at the Brunswick Valley def
ence. He left Brandon standing, brushed past Toby, and cantered toward Amy’s goal with only Linh-Mai left to beat. She planted herself in Harry’s path, her eyes fixed on the ball. He slammed into her. She staggered backward, but managed to keep her feet and gave chase. She caught up and was about to tackle when one of his pistoning elbows cracked her on the forehead. She reeled backwards and collapsed. The referee whistled and waved Mr. Field and Mr. Grease on to the field.

  “I’m okay,” Linh-Mai protested, struggling to her feet. “Stop making a fuss.”

  As Mr. Field returned to the sideline, he whispered to Shay and Edison, “First chance you get — spring surprise number-one.”

  A few minutes later, when Edison took the ball past Heather, she launched into a sliding tackle from behind. As her foot stabbed the ball from his feet, he made sure he tripped over her leg and fell. The referee whistled.

  Heather protested, “I got the ball.”

  The referee said, “Free kick.” He pointed to a spot halfway between the midfield and the Brunswick Valley goal. Edison placed the ball and backed up, ready to take a long run for the kick.

  Coach Spear shouted, “Stay close to your assigned player.”

  Edison started his run at a slow trot. He gathered speed as he went down the field, and was in full flight by the time he swung his leg to kick the ball. At the last second he slowed. Instead of kicking the ball, he passed his foot over it, then back-heeled it. At the same time his teammates burst into a frenzy of action. The twins set off running in a wide circle, following one another. Their markers moved with them, so that the four players ran in a circle. Shay and Steve raced toward their own goal. Their markers looked at Coach Spear, who called, “Stay with them!” Matthew and Brandon were on opposite sides of the field. They ran toward each other, passing in the middle. When they reached the opposite wing, they turned around and set off across the field again, their markers on their heels. Toby, Linh-Mai, and Julie, who had waited near the Brunswick Valley goal while Edison prepared for the kick, raced toward the High Park goal, overtaking Edison, who veered toward the wing. His marker tracked him closely. The ball, meanwhile, had rolled a few centimetres and stopped. As Edison headed for the wing, all his teammates, taking their cue from him, did the same. Their markers followed them, leaving the centre of the field empty — except for one player.

  Amy had sprung from her goal as soon as Edison headed for the wing and was racing down the pitch. She collected the ball without stopping and careened toward the High Park goal.

  Coach Spear screamed, “Never mind who you’re supposed to be marking. Stop her!”

  Amy, with only the High Park goalkeeper to beat, veered left. The keeper went with her. Amy swerved right, rounded the keeper, and stroked the ball gently into the net.

  Apart from a polite smattering of applause, the crowd and the band and the cheerleaders were silent.

  The only voice was Mr. Field’s. “Sur-prise!”

  As the game resumed, the High Park band struck up again and, with the cheerleaders’ encouragement, the crowd roared its support for the hometeam.

  Mr. Field tried to make himself heard above the noise, shouting, “We need two more goals. Two more!” He repeated, clapping with the rhythm of the words: “Two more! Two more!” Mr. Grease clapped too.

  When they stopped, the chanting and clapping continued. “Two more! Two more!”

  Edison heard the chant change from the coach’s hoarse voice to a lighter, higher sound, and looked across the field. Another minibus had pulled up behind Mr. Grease’s, and Casey was leading the Dorchester All Stars in the chant. As Edison watched, she pushed through the crowd with her companions, and they lined up behind the Brunswick Valley bench, still chanting and clapping. Ella waved to him. He waved back, then turned his attention to the game.

  Jillian had received the ball from Jessica’s throw-in and had sent it into the High Park penalty area. A defender cleared it, but only as far as Matthew, who dribbled past his marker and chipped the ball back into the centre. It landed at Edison’s feet. Two defenders immediately challenged him. With no space to move, and no one unmarked to pass to, he kicked the ball against one of the defenders. It rebounded out of play for a throw-in near the Brunswick Valley bench. Mr. Field retrieved the ball. As he tossed it to Edison he murmured, “I think it’s time for another surprise.” Edison nodded and waved Brandon over to take the throw. Brandon threw the ball to Edison, who set off toward the High Park goal, his two markers at his heels. He gathered speed, then stopped abruptly, so that both of them crashed into him.

  The referee whistled and said, “Free kick.” He placed the ball where Edison had fallen, about sixty metres from the High Park goal.

  Edison called, “I’ll take it.”

  At the same time Steve shouted, “I’ll take it.”

  They both ran to take the kick. Edison got there first and stood over the ball. Steve pushed in front of him. The High Park players were looking at one another, grinning.

  Shay ran across. “I’m captain and I say Steve takes it.”

  Edison complained loudly, “It’s my turn to take a free kick.”

  By now their opponents and the spectators were laughing so much some of them were doubled over. Heather called, “Do you always carry on like this in Hicksville?” Edison caught a glimpse of his mother with her hands on each side of her mouth. She was glancing uneasily at Coach Spear.

  The referee said, “Make up your minds.”

  Shay said, “We’re ready. Steve’s taking it.”

  Steve pushed Edison aside and backed up in preparation for taking the kick. As he started his long run up, Edison also started running, picking up speed until he crossed Steve’s path. Then he slowed. Coach Spear called urgently, “Watch them! They’re up to something,” but his warning was almost inaudible against the laughter of his team and the crowd.

  Steve flicked the ball sideways. Edison took two steps with it before stroking it with his foot so that it soared toward the High Park goal. At first it looked as if it would fly over and wide of the goal, but at the last second it bent and dipped and rocketed under the crossbar into the top corner of the net.

  Mr. Field’s shout of “One more!” was picked up by the Dorchester All Stars. Mrs. Flood was smiling and applauding. She had moved closer to Coach Spear.

  As the half wore on, with Brunswick Valley pressing for a winning goal, High Park retreated into a defensive wall, and Edison began to fear the game would end in a tie — a fair result, but not one that would earn Brunswick Valley the championship. He caught Mr. Field’s eye and pointed to his wrist to ask, How much longer? Mr. Field held up one finger.

  Edison watched as Shay intercepted a loose ball near Amy’s goal and slotted it into Steve’s path in the centre of the field. Steve raced to it and, without looking up, punted it ahead and chased after it. Heather barred his way and Harry was barrelling in from the side. Edison had stationed himself near the halfway line. He slipped away from his marker, so that he was free for a pass, knowing Steve would be aware of him. Steve, his head still down, crashed into Heather at the same time that Harry charged him from the side. Steve stabbed the ball toward Edison as he fell.

  Edison set off toward the High Park goal, thinking of what Mr. Field had said — just play … enjoy yourself — and the carefree spirit with which the Dorchester All Stars played. He could hear their voices chanting above the noise of the crowd. As he listened, he forgot all the special coaching he had received at the elite camps, and the drills he had been put through by all the advanced-level coaches he’d been sent to. He forgot that he was supposed to be a soccer prodigy, a star in the making. Instead, he thought only of how much he loved to dribble and kick and run with a soccer ball.

  He eluded the tackle of the first defender by pushing the ball right as he went left, rounding the defender before collecting the ball on the o
ther side. He passed his next challenger by feinting left, then stepping over the ball and pushing it right as he changed direction and followed it. From the corner of his eye he glimpsed his mother. She was talking to Coach Spear, who was nodding his head as she pointed to Edison. Harry, racing back, nearly intercepted the ball, but Edison put his foot on it and rolled it out of the path of the striker’s swinging foot before cutting behind him, as his momentum carried him past. Now only two defenders were between Edison and the goal, facing him side by side. He heard Heather’s feet thundering from behind. He kept going until he was almost in the faces of the pair of defenders, then turned abruptly and faced Heather. He tapped the ball between her feet and jumped sideways. As she crashed into the defenders, Edison retrieved the ball and turned toward the goal. He gave the ball a final push ahead and chipped it over the head of the advancing High Park goalkeeper — into the net.

  * * *

  When the game ended, Coach Spear approached Edison as he left the field. He shook Edison’s hand and said, “Congratulations on winning the game for your team. High Park was the better side — I’m sure you’d agree with me if you weren’t surrounded by your friends — but you made the difference. Brunswick Valley owes the championship to you.”

  As Mrs. Flood hugged Edison, she whispered, “Coach Spear is very impressed. He says you’re in!”

  14

  Nerve

  Edison and his friends waved as the Dorchester All Stars left High Park Academy. With hands and arms waving from every window, their mini-van looked like a strange multi-limbed insect. Casey had promised to bring her team down in the spring for an exhibition game with Brunswick Valley School.

  Mr. Field said, “We’d better get on the road too. Your parents are expecting you home tonight.”

  Edison looked around for his mother. She expected him to travel with her, but he didn’t want to go straight home. Toby and Linh-Mai and Steve were going for pizza in the little Brunswick Valley Mall before they went home, and had asked him to join them. They wanted to tell him about the soccer games they played when the regular season ended. Linh-Mai had already described some of them — the five-a-side street league in the dead-end road she lived on, the indoor games at the Boys and Girls Club through the winter, and the scrimmages every Saturday morning with some kids from Pleasant Harbour, Brunswick Valley’s neighbouring town. Sometimes, she’d told him, they even played in the cemetery, although they weren’t supposed to. Toby said if they got caught, there would be, “grave consequences.”