Skellig

Chapter 43

I WAS BRILLIANT AT SCHOOL NEXT day. Nobody could get the ball away from me. I did body swerves and dribbles and flicks. I skipped over tackles, back-heeled the ball to my teammates, scored with diving headers and with long shots curled into the corners of the net.

After the bell rang and we were trailing back to the school across the field, Leakey ran after me.

“Lucky dog,” he said. “You’ll never play like that again.”

I laughed.

“Luck? What about this, then?”

I dropped the ball and dribbled it round him. I flicked it between his legs and ran on with it. Then he got me with a thumping tackle into the back of my legs that sent us both sprawling.

“Foul!” I shouted. “Foul!”

We started wrestling, rolling over and over on the grass. He was bigger than me and he pinned me down, sat over me, pressed my shoulders into the ground.

He was grinning.

“Say it again,” he said.

“Foul! Bloody foul!”

He lifted his fist like he was going to smash me in the face but then he just laughed and flopped down and lay beside me.

“Bloody hell,” he said. “You were brilliant.”

We lay there laughing; then Mrs. Dando started yelling.

“Get in, you two! You’re going to be late!”

We walked together toward school.

“It’s like you’ve been miles and miles away,” he said.

“I know,” I said.

“Would you tell me about it?” he said.

We paused and I looked at him and I knew he really wanted to know.

“Someday I’ll tell you everything,” I said.

We saw Coot in the school doorway waiting for us.

“Might even tell that crazy nut,” I said. “If I think he might believe it.”

Then Mrs. Dando was yelling again.

“Come on, you two! Come on! Get in!”