Missing! Read Free Page B

then lashed at it with her right.
    It was heading straight at the keeper!
    He moved to stop the shot, but at the last minute the ball seemed to swerve in the air.It was like some kind of magic trick and it wrong-footed their goalie. His face dropped as he realized that he wasn’t in the right position. Everything seemed to turn to slow motion. The keeper tried to reach the shot but he couldn’t. It just evaded his fingertips. I froze to the spot as a low, moaning, cheering sound broke. The ball was in the back of the net.
    2-1. And Lily was the goal-scorer!
    The cheer brought the game back into focus and I ran over to Lily to congratulate her. But she was already being mobbed by the other players. Our parents were cheering and whooping with delight. I turned to see Luke looking ashen-faced.
    â€˜That’s Barbie!’ I told him with a grin, before taking my turn to congratulate Lily. Maybe things weren’t going to be as bad as we had thought. Not only could Lily play a bit – she was
good.
    We held out for ten more minutes and then disaster struck.
    Langton’s red-haired winger found himself on the left this time, facing Leon. He had the ball at his feet and was running into space. As he entered our penalty area, Leon managed to tackle him but only for the loose ball to fall to Luke. He swept it into his stride and skipped a challenge from Dal, only to be faced with Gurinder.
    But Gurinder got it all wrong. He didn’t wait for the shot or try to smother the ball. Instead he lunged at Luke with his feet, totally missed the ball and brought him down.
    Even though I knew it was coming, when the ref blew his whistle for a penalty, I was in shock. Surely we weren’t going to let another lead slip?

    As we trudged back to the edge of the box, Langton’s captain – a smarmy-looking boy who they called Beggsy – placed the ball on the penalty spot. He turned and walked back eight paces and then turned again. He was facing the ball, facing Gurinder and facing the goal. He waited for the ref to blow his whistle – and then he ran at the ball and smashed it home with his right foot. Gurinder went the wrong way and we were back to where we’d begun.
    2-2!
    Langton went crazy, jumping up and down and teasing us with shouts of ‘girls team’.
    Even some of their parents joined in and I started to get really mad. I ran and grabbed the ball from Gurinder and sprinted back to the centre circle.
    â€˜Come on, Reds!’ I shouted to my team-mates. ‘Not again!’
    But I had to wait for a few more minutesbefore I could restart the game. The Langton players were still celebrating and a couple of them were pointing at Lily and laughing. She sidled over to me with Dal in tow.
    â€˜My husband and I have a plan, Jason,’ she told me.
    â€˜I’m not your husband!’ protested Dal.
    â€˜Oh, do be quiet and listen,’ demanded Lily before turning to me. ‘When you get the ball,’ she told me, ‘try and look for me on the wing. Once I get it, run into the box and I’ll cross for you. I’m good at crosses. I’ll put it right at your feet . . .’
    I nodded, but I wasn’t sure about her boast. I looked at Dal, who shrugged.
    â€˜And you, Dal,’ continued Lily, ‘you make sure that his marker – that ugly boy with the freckles – is busy. OK, hubby dearest?’
    Dal shrugged again and went red.
    â€˜What are you trying to do?’ I asked.
    â€˜Get you into their box with a cleargoal-scoring opportunity,’ she replied. ‘What do you think?’
    â€˜But what if you can’t get the ball to me?’ I added.
    Lily pulled a face. ‘Just get the ball to me and get into the box, OK?’ she demanded.
    I nodded.
    It took me five minutes to even get the opportunity to pass Lily the ball, and then she couldn’t do anything with it because she was surrounded by Langton players. Instead