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spots from a forkful of chow mein. Then he carefully addressed an envelope to the wrong office at the Ministry, affixed insufficient postage, and rushed out to mail it. *** Cathy Burton was back and better than ever, which meant that Elmer Drimsdale had recovered from the flu. He was back attending classes and working with his bush hamsters. The practices were even tougher, with Kevin Klapper firmly at the helm, preparing the Warriors for their next contest. The defense he drilled relentlessly, and the offensive team was working constantly, catching, running, and hitting for two hours a day. The crowd was much thinner for this, the Warriors' third game, but Henry Carson had ordered up just as many zucchini sticks as for the previous contests. So there were already a good number of sticks under the bleachers before the opening kickoff. Bruno was disgusted with the turnout. "Some school spirit!" he grumbled, looking up into the sparsely populated stands. Boots shrugged it off. "If you had seen us play last week, would you come again? Besides, Scrimmage's is all here." "To support Cathy!" snorted Bruno. "I'll tell you Boots, every guy who didn't show up today should be barred from our rec hall when we get it." As the game began, it was obvious that this was a new Macdonald Hall team. The hours of practice and expert coaching were beginning to pay off. Certainly there were still mistakes, but Cathy continued to throw brilliantly, her pass defense to perform heroically, and the defense became stronger and tighter. At halftime, the score was tied, 14-14. "Okay," said Kevin Klapper excitedly in the dressing room. "Don't panic. We aren't winning, but we've got them playingour game. Now we go out and get some points." They did exactly that. Dave Jackson caught two touchdown passes in the third quarter, one on a long bomb pass, and the other after it bounced off Sidney Rampulsky's helmet. Myron Blankenship ended his field goal drought, which gave Macdonald Hall a big lead going into the fourth quarter. But the Chiefs, a middle school team from Niagara Falls, weren't ready to lie down and die so easily. They fought back with a vengeance. Macdonald Hall held on, and the last few minutes of play had Kevin Klapper, Henry Carson, and Coach Flynn jumping up and down on the sidelines, screaming encouragement at the defense, who were being pounded on every play. Finally when the gun went off, the score was 31-27, Macdonald Hall. ** zictory ** proclaimed the Scoreboard. Elmer spent the game in the clubhouse in the spare equipment room, taking notes and experimenting with his Manchurian bush hamsters. Suddenly Cathy burst in, cleats clattering. "Okay, Elmer, you're on! Get in the shower, and by the time everyone else gets here, I'll be out of your equipment and gone!" Meekly Elmer nodded his assent, and headed for the shower room. Page 56 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "Hey," called Cathy, "aren't you going to ask how we did?" "How?" rasped Elmer, his throat closing. "We killed them," she grinned. "Tell Mr. Klapper he's a genius!" So it was that when Mr. Carson led the jubilant team into the locker room, they found the quarterback's uniform and equipment draped over a bench, and Elmer, wrapped in a towel, just steppingout of the shower. The big ex-linebacker ran up to embrace him, but Elmer fled fearfully to the other side of the room. "Drimsdale," said Carson lovingly, "you're one in a million!" The celebration that night was even greater than it had been after game one. As Pete Anderson put it, "Let's face it. The first game was kind of a fluke, and last week we got killed. Today wereally won!" Across the highway, Miss Scrimmage's celebrated right along with them. Officially these were two separate parties, but that didn't stop Cathy and Diane from raiding the entire dessert section of Miss Scrimmage's kitchen, and sneaking it across the road to Bruno and Boots's room, where a number of boys were relaxing before lights-out. The boys were eternally grateful. "Don't forget we're in the zucchini zone," Wilbur reminded them, setting to work on a large slab of chocolate fudge cake. "This is great," he added, his mouth full. "It's the least I can do for my teammates," said Cathy grandly. Diane looked around the room. Plates of zucchini sticks were piled on every available surface, including parts of the floor, in places stacked three or four high. She whistled. "How many orders of that stuff have you guys got?" "With Hank the Tank, the sky's the limit," replied Bruno. "But don't worry. In a couple of hours, all this'll be gone. Who's on zucchini disposal duty?" "Sidney just took the last batch down," Boots supplied. "See?" said Bruno to the girls. "He should be back any minute. Then we send somebody else." He indicated the zucchini plates with a sweeping gesture. "We're looking at two, maybe two-and-a-half more hours here. Our bush hamsters could eat the Faculty Building and everybody in it." They waited, but Sidney did not come. Mark, Sidney's roommate, was the first to become edgy. Boots was next, but soon even Bruno was alarmed by the amount of time Sidney had been gone. "Maybe he just met some guys and he's hanging out with them," Diane suggested. Bruno shook his head. "We've got to go find him." With Cathy and Diane following in the shadows, the boys maich°d out to the football stadium clubhouse. The door of the spare equipment room was open. Boots got there first, and gawked. "Bruno! Look!" Page 57 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html The rest of the group ran up to the door and stared. The bush hamsters' cage was mangled beyond recognition. The bars were badly bent, and the door was broken off. About three feet away lay Sidney, flat on his back, out cold. Instantly Mark wet a towel and set about restoring his roommate. Sidney's eyelids fluttered, and he sat up woozily. "Oooh! I had a little accident." "What happened?" asked Bruno impatiently. "I tripped over the cage," Sidney admitted, touching the bump on his head experimentally. "And I had a little trouble getting up, because there were zucchini sticks all over the place, and I kept slipping on them." Diane looked around. "I don't see any zucchini sticks." "That makes sense," said Boots. "The bush hamsters ate them before they before they " Suddenly his face drained of all color. "Bruno, the bush hamsters are gone!" "Oh,no!" moaned Bruno. "When Elmer hears about this, he'll freak out!" *** "No-o-o-o!" Bruno swallowed hard. He had never seen Elmer this upset. "Don't worry, Elm. First thing in the morning, we'll go looking for them. We'll get them back to you. " "My head hurts," said Sidney plaintively. "Keep quiet!" thundered Elmer in outrage. "This is all your fault, you you accident-prone personage!" Purposefully he stepped around a small computer and began rummaging through his closet. "We must find those bush hamstersimmediatelyl" "It's five minutes to lights-out," protested Boots. "How can we look for furry little animals on a totally dark campus?" "With infrared glasses, of course!" Elmer pulled out a small carton that contained several devices that looked like scuba-diving masks. "Everybody take one!" "What are you doing with infrared glasses?" asked Larry in amazement. "How else can one see in the dark?" Elmer responded. "You've heard of a flashlight?" asked Wilbur. Cathy fitted the rubber strap behind her head and peered out the window. The dark campus seemed perfectly visible through the infrared lens. "Hey, wow, these things are great! Everything looksgreen, but it's light as day! I've got to get me a pair of these!" Elmer was so agitated that his throat hadn't closed up, even in the presence of the girls. "No dallying! It's urgent that we find those animals!" [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |
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