by Danny Scott
“ARGH!” Lewis shouted as he fell to the ground. “Ref! He did that on purpose!”
“It was an accident,” the referee said, looking down at Lewis. “We’ll restart with a dropped ball.”
“Sorry,” Brandon said flatly. He held his hand out to help Lewis up. Lewis tried to get up himself but his dead leg was too sore. Mr McKlop jogged onto the pitch to help.
Their coach walked Lewis back to where Calum was sitting at the sidelines and put his hand on Calum’s shoulder. “You’re back on. Same role as before.” Mr McKlop paused thoughtfully. “You do know why Brandon fouled you, don’t you?”
Calum shook his head.
“He’s scared you’ll show him up. He knows you’re a better player than him.”
The fire in Calum’s belly was burning like a furnace now.
“I want you to go out there and show the rest of this crowd what he’s scared of,” said Mr McKlop.
Lewis gave a half-grin, half-wince in agreement, clutching his leg. “Come on, Cal, show him how we play football in Caleytown!”
“You go Cal!” shouted Erika in agreement, clapping him as he ran on.
Calum’s boots creaked and groaned but he wasn’t listening to them any more. He sprinted over to stand nose-to-nose with Brandon, ready for the restart.
14
Penalty!
“Was that your girlfriend sitting next to you on the sidelines?” Brandon asked. Calum ignored him. It was surprisingly easy to do so.
The ref dropped the ball.
Calum was first to react and thumped it to Leo. He sprung forward and barrelled past Brandon, pointing to where he wanted Leo to put the ball. Leo smiled and chipped a lovely pass in behind Castle Rock’s defence.
Calum, with Brandon in pursuit, flew past Castle Rock’s last defender like a racing car past a grandstand. But as he got ready to shoot he felt Brandon’s studs rake right down the back of his leg, trap his boot-heel and pull his old boot clean off.
Not this time, Calum thought. He kept his balance and smashed the ball past the Castle Rock keeper with nothing but a sock on his foot.
A huge cheer went up around the pitch.
Calum didn’t celebrate his equaliser, or rub his stinging foot. Instead, he picked up his boot and strolled past Brandon, who just stood, staring at the ball in the back of the net. 1–1.
***
Castle Rock could win the tournament with a draw in this match, and they made sure they kept possession in Caleytown’s half to wind the clock down. Leo hopped up and down on his toes in frustration.
“Be ready!” Leo shouted to Calum over his shoulder.
Calum didn’t even have time to shout back “For what?” before his friend disappeared into a group of blue strips.
Moments later, he reappeared with the ball like a high-speed train out of a tunnel.
Calum’s feet started moving before his brain had time to figure out what was happening. On the wing, Leo jinked past a challenge and took off up the pitch.
Brandon Cramond arrived right on cue to keep Calum company, but Caleytown’s gifted number nine was full of confidence. Calum dummied Leo’s pass and let the ball roll through his – and Brandon’s – legs. He spun round his confused opponent and met the ball on the other side.
The crowd cheered.
Calum was in full flow now. To beat the last defender, he scissored his left leg over the ball but went right. This was it. This was the big chance.
Calum drew his leg back to shoot and…
OOFT!
He felt a knee smash into the back of his left leg.
Calum collapsed to the ground. He could hear the crowd jeering. Brandon was standing over him and smirking.
15
Take Two
The referee blew his whistle.
PEEEEEEP!
Oh no, it can’t be full-time already? Calum thought, holding his leg where it hurt. Caleytown still needed another goal to win the game, and the tournament.
Suddenly some of the crowd’s jeers turned to cheers, and vice versa. Calum looked up to see the referee pointing to the spot! It was a penalty to Caleytown!
“No way referee!” Brandon shouted. “Look! His lace is untied again. He clearly tripped himself up!”
“That’s enough Mr Cramond,” the referee said. “You know exactly what happened. You weren’t even trying to get the ball that time.”
Jordan came sprinting forward and grabbed the ball for the penalty but then stopped. He looked down at Calum on the ground trying to tie the lace on his old boot. Then he took a good look at Brandon Cramond.
“Go on then, Museum Boots,” Jordan said, pulling Calum to his feet. “You’d better score this time though.”
***
“This is the last kick of the match, lads,” said the referee.
Calum felt a hundred pairs of eyes watching him as he placed the ball on the penalty spot. This time it was Erika, not Brandon, standing behind the goals. She smiled and nodded.
Calum took three steps back and heard Brandon say, “Careful not to hit your girlfriend.”
“Shut it,” said Jordan, of all people. The referee shot him a look.
Calum breathed out slowly, picked his spot and started his run up.
Step
step,
step…
THWACK!
The crowd held its breath as the ball swung towards goal. The keeper had chosen the right way and stretched his arm out. The ball brushed his finger tips and…
CLUNK!
Calum’s shot hit the underside of the crossbar and…
SWOOOSH!
flew into the back of the net!
The referee blew his whistle for full-time. 2–1! Caleytown had won! Calum disappeared under a pile of yellow Caleytown players.
Calum looked around for Brandon. He had already vanished into the crowd.
16
The Ceremony
“I like the way this feels around my neck,” Leo said, admiring his gold medal. Calum nodded.
“Me too,” Erika agreed, polishing hers with a sleeve.
Behind them, Mr McKlop was speaking to Coach Brown. “I think we might be ready to enter a bigger competition, you know.”
“Awesome, Iain. Let’s do it!” said Coach Brown with her usual enthusiasm. “We’ve got great teams on our hands here.”
Calum and Leo smiled at each other and bumped fists. But Calum’s excitement was being ruined by the dread of having to tell his parents about his yellow boots. Mr McKlop had done everything he could to help find them. It was no good; they had vanished.
Mrs Tait started another speech. “The coaches have picked their players of the tournament.”
Calum and Leo looked at each other.
“Please step forward… Erika Brown and Calum Ferguson!”
Mrs Tait started clapping and the rest of the crowd quickly joined in. Calum stood frozen to the spot.
Leo pushed him forwards. “Go on Cal!”
Calum walked past Brandon in the crowd. He was picking mud out of his boots to avoid clapping.
***
Calum didn’t see Brandon again until he was on his way back to the bus. Castle Rock’s captain was standing next to an expensive car waiting for his dad to get off his phone. They were both wearing sunglasses.
Brandon nodded as Calum passed him. “Congratulations, Calum Ferguson.”
“Thanks,” Calum said, a little confused by Brandon’s politeness. He’d had more than enough of him for one day and just wanted to get on the bus.
“Maybe we’ll play again some time in the future?” Brandon said. He had his tracksuit top tied around his waist but you could still see juice stains on his trousers.
“Maybe,” Calum said. He had to bite his lip to stop himself from accusing Brandon of stealing his boots. Judging by his dad’s fancy car, he didn’t need to nick other people’s kit.
Brandon stared at Calum’s feet. “Listen,” he said. “I—”
“Stop chatt
ing to your wee friend and get in the car, Brandon, we’re already late,” Brandon’s dad barked.
Brandon turned his back on Calum and slid into the passenger seat. His dad revved the engine and they spun away.
“What was all that about?” Leo asked, appearing at Calum’s shoulder.
“No idea.” Calum shrugged.
17
Bus and Boots
At the team bus, Coach Brown was counting the Caleytown players back on. Calum tapped Jordan on the shoulder.
“Hey Jordan, thanks for letting me take the penalty.”
“Whatever. Just as well you scored,” Jordan said, before turning round to Lewis who was limping up the stairs. “You’d better not barf on me, Hop-along!”
“Don’t worry Jordi,” Sally sang from behind Calum. “You can always wash it off in your bubble bath tonight!”
The girls’ team all burst out laughing. Coach Brown turned away but you could see her shoulders shaking with giggles. Jordan could have heated the water for his bubble bath with his bright red face.
Back in their seats, Leo grinned. “That. Was. Ace. Sorry about your boots though.”
“Yeah, I know,” Calum sighed. “My dad’s going to go mental. I’m so sure—”
The bus driver woke the engine up and Leo started yawning right away.
“Unbelievable,” Calum laughed. Leo just winked. Calum leaned forwards towards Erika’s seat, squeezing his face between the gap. “Hey Erika, could I borrow that book you were talking about? Sleeping Beauty is already drifting off.” He pointed at Leo, who was mid-yawn again.
Calum didn’t hear Erika’s answer. He was distracted by the noise of what sounded like a dog running along the bus’s roof as the driver rolled out of the car park. He followed the noise with his eyes as it made its way along the roof until… two flashes of yellow dropped past the bus’s window!
“MY BOOTS!” Calum shouted. “STOP THE BUS!”
Mr McKlop had heard the noise too and was already asking the driver to stop. Calum bounded down the aisle.
“You won’t need your trophy to fetch them, Calum,” Mr McKlop said, smiling. Calum looked at his hand and laughed. He was still clutching his player-of-the-tournament award. Mr McKlop offered to hold it.
Curious eyes watched Calum from the bus as he ran around it. Sure enough, there on the ground lay his brand new yellow astros. The laces had been tied together. Someone must have lobbed them on the bus’s roof.
At that moment, Calum didn’t care if Brandon had done it or not, he was just relieved to have his boots back.
“Maybe leopards like to play with yellow astros, Mr Ferguson?” Mr McKlop said from behind Calum. “Come on, let’s take our trophies back to Caleytown.”
Calum smiled and followed his teacher to the bus door. He took one last look at Arthur’s Seat. He knew he would never forget playing in his first proper tournament, under the gaze of the ancient lion’s rocky eyes.
Copyright
Young Kelpies is an imprint of Floris Books
First published in 2016 by Floris Books
This eBook edition published in 2016
Text © 2016 Danny Scott. Illustrations © 2016 Floris Books
Danny Scott and Alice A. Morentorn have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988 to be identified as the Author and Illustrator of this work
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the prior permission of
Floris Books, Edinburgh
www.florisbooks.co.uk
The publisher acknowledges subsidy from Creative Scotland towards the publication of this volume
British Library CIP data available
ISBN 978–178250–2–739
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