Free Missing! by Bali Rai Page A

that
they
missed.’ He nodded towards me an Steven.
    â€˜Now, now,’ said Mr James. ‘There’s no need to pick on anyone. It’s a team game, as Miss Rice has just told us.’
    Abs pulled a face.
    â€˜And that’s what we are going to concentrate on this evening,’ Mr Turner told us. ‘So go and get changed and we’ll see you outside.’
    I stood up and followed the rest of the lads to the changing room.
    â€˜Hey, Jason, now that the injured players are fit again we don’t need the girls anyway,’ Abs said as we walked in.
    Dal shook his head. ‘Four of the original squad have left already,’ he reminded Abs.
    It was true. After our first game, some ofthe other boys hadn’t come back. And there were even fewer after the second game.
    â€˜So it looks like we’re stuck with the girls,’ Dal added.
    Chris opened a packet of peanuts and stuffed them all into his mouth. He’s cool, Chris. He’s always smiling or eating nuts. When he’d swallowed them he counted the number of players in the changing room.
    â€˜There’s twelve of us – Steven, Byron, Leon, Corky, Ben, Pete, Ant and Gurinder plus us four. So even with the girls, including the new one, Gem, we’ve only got seventeen players,’ he said.
    â€˜What happens if we get more injuries?’ asked Abs.
    â€˜More girls probably,’ I replied.
    â€˜That’s not fair!’ squealed Abs, sounding like he was five rather than ten years old.
    â€˜That’s enough,’ said Mr James, who’djust walked into the changing room. ‘Let’s concentrate on the next game.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ said Chris, with a grin. ‘Stop complaining like a baby, Abs, and listen.’
    Abs gave Chris a glare but didn’t say anything else.
    Our next match was against another team which was new to the league – just like ours.
    They were called Langton Blues and they hadn’t won a game yet either. So I was feeling confident.
    â€˜We’re going to do something a little bit different today,’ Mr James told us. ‘Now hurry up and get changed . . .’
    â€˜What are we doing?’ asked Dal.
    â€˜Dancing,’ replied Mr James with a smile.
    â€˜Dancing?’
I said. ‘Why are we going to be—?’
    But Mr James had already left the room.
    â€˜This is getting stranger and stranger,’ Dal said to me.
    â€˜We’ll be wearing skirts next,’ added Abs. ‘You wait and see.’
    But we didn’t really dance when the training session began. It just looked like we were. Mr Turner put us in pairs and got us to face each other. I was with Abs. The coach told us to put our arms out and our hands on each other’s shoulders. Then he gave us a number. I was number one and Abs was number two. Each of the pairs was the same too.
    â€˜Now keep at arm’s length,’ instructed Mr Turner. ‘When I shout your number, I want you to run forwards. Your partner will follow you. You must not let go of your partner’s shoulders.’
    I was confused. ‘I don’t get it, sir,’ I complained.
    â€˜It’s simple, Jason,’ said Miss Rice. ‘Each of you will lead the other. If we shout "one!" then it’s your turn to run forwardsand Abs will run backwards. When the whistle blows, you switch immediately and Abs runs forwards with you going backwards.’
    I shrugged. ‘That’s about as clear as mud!’ I told her.
    â€˜Don’t be silly,’ I heard Lily say. I turned my head and saw that she was behind me, with Parvy as her partner. ‘Look – we’ll show you.’
    She started to run forwards and at the same time Parvy matched her stride for stride. Only Parvy was going backwards. After a few seconds Miss Rice blew her whistle and they switched. This time Parvy ran forwards and Lily matched her steps.
    â€˜It’s all about