Free Secret Weapon by Matt Christopher

Chapter 1

    L isa Gaddy glanced at the scoreboard. 4–0. That would be a great score—if it were in favor of the Soccer ’Cats. But it wasn’t.
     The Panthers were ahead and there were only ten minutes left in the game.
    Lisa was miserable. At least one of those goals was her fault. As a fullback, she usually took the throw-ins after an opponent
     sent the ball over the side touchline near her. But Lisa wasn’t very tall, and her throw-ins often fell short of their mark.
     One time, the Panther center striker had easily snagged the ball andsent it rocketing past Bucky Pinter into the goal. Now, anytime Lisa got ready for a throw-in, the Panther striker yelled
     to his teammates to crowd around her as close as they could.
    For the moment, she was safe. The ball was at the other end of the field. She tried to concentrate on what was happening.
    “Come on, Jerry! Come on, Lou!” she yelled to the ’Cats strikers. “Send it into the net!”
    But neither Jerry Dinh nor Lou Barnes did that. Instead, a Panther fullback kicked the ball long and high, sending it back
     to midfield.
    Halfback Dewey London charged forward to meet it. So did a tall Panther striker. The two battled for the ball. The striker
     won. With a swift kick she sent it to a teammate, who dribbled quickly down the sideline.
    Bundy Neel tried to steal the ball away, but the Panther dodged him and headed straight toward the goal.
    “Okay, let’s stop ‘em!” shouted Brant Davis, another fullback. He rushed the ball handler. The Panther panicked and made a
     lousy kick across the field. Lisa and another Panther tried to stop the ball, but it bounced harmlessly over the sideline.
    “Lisa, take the throw-in!” Ted called to his sister. Lisa started toward the ball.
    “No, let Alan take it!” a voice interrupted. Lisa stopped short. It was Stookie Norris, the third ’Cats striker. “Go on, Alan!”
    “But Lisa’s closest —,” Alan started to say.
    “Just take it, Alan!” Stookie shouted. Alan gave Lisa an apologetic look, then hurried to the sideline to accept the ball
     from the referee. With a swift over-the-head throw, he hurled the ball as far as he could. Stookie caught it cleanly against
     his chest and dribbled furiously toward the Panthers’ goal.
    Lisa took a few steps down the field, then stopped. Alan stopped alongside her.

    “Uh, sorry about that, Lisa,” Alan said, pushing his glasses higher up on his nose.
    Lisa forced a grin. “Don’t worry about it.” Without another word, she ran back into position as play shifted away from the
     Panthers’ goal.
    Darn that Stookie
! she thought.
Just because my throw-ins don’t go as far as Alan’s, that’s no reason for me not to take them
!
    Or was it? How would she have felt if her throw-in had been captured by a Panther instead of a ’Cat? Though she was quick
     and wiry, she was a few inches shorter than most of her teammates, even her twin brother, Ted. Unless she could add two inches
     to her height overnight, her throw-ins would never go very far.
    And suddenly that seemed to be a very big problem.

Chapter 2

    T he game ended a few minutes later. Weary and disappointed at the loss, the ’Cats were quiet as they gathered their gear. All
     Coach Bradley said was that they had a lot to work on at practice the next afternoon.
    Ted and Lisa walked home together. Lisa was silent until Ted jabbed her in the ribs.
    “Give you a dollar if you tell me what you’re thinking about,” Ted said.
    Lisa snorted. “As if you didn’t know.”
    She was right. Most of the time, her twin brother knew exactly what she was thinking.

    “Okay,” Ted said, “so a couple of your throw-ins weren’t that good. Big deal. You weren’t the only one who made mistakes today.”
    Lisa kicked a pebble. “I know. But what if the other teams learn I’m lousy at throw-ins?” She kicked the pebble again. “Maybe
     I should just stop taking them. Stookie sure thinks I should.”
    Ted shook his head.