Cauliflower Ears (4 page)

What a swansong. What a way to go out!

Chapter 14

Last try

The Reds got another try. The score leapt
from twelve-seven to seventeen-seven. Luckily for us they missed
the conversion. The margin was bad enough as it was, we couldn’t
afford for it to go any higher.

Then
we
managed to get a second
try:
Grubber
managed to get another one. I saw him sneak a look over to
where his dad was standing and I’m pretty sure I saw his dad
clapping and cheering along with the other Green
supporters.

Seventeen - twelve.

But the try was a corner and when Chips gave
me the nod I didn’t think anyone would expect me to convert the
ball from that hard angle. So no one, not even I, was surprised
when I didn’t, even though I’d been hoping like mad that I’d be
able to make up for my earlier disaster.

There were only fifteen
minutes left to play. The Reds, who we thought had been rough and
tough

enough, got even rougher
and tougher. We were run

down each time we made a break with the
ball. They tackled from the side, from behind, from out in front.
Grubber’s dad would be having kittens just watching. And we stayed
a man down. Poor Sprigs wasn’t able to return to the field. All we
could do was hunker down in defence and try our hardest to stop the
Reds sprinting over the try line.

Then, unbelievably, the Ref awarded us a
second penalty. Taggart, back from the sin bin, was called
offside.

This time Chip took the kick himself. I’d
had my two chances. This time the ball went where it was supposed
to, between the posts.

‘
That was a really easy
shot,’ Sprigs whispered to me, hoping to make me feel better. It
did, but not much.

Seventeen – fifteen.

Only five minutes left to go and it didn’t
look as if we’d have another chance to score before the whistle
blew. Then it really hit me. If it hadn’t been for me missing the
earlier penalty, we’d have been ahead.

I couldn’t help it. My mind drifted. Maybe
they’re

all glad I’m leaving, I
started to tell myself. Maybe

they’ve just been waiting for the day when I
played my last game with the Greens. Maybe because I’m . . .

‘
Wings,’ yells Chips.
‘Wake up!’

What’s happening?

I suddenly snap awake. The Greens have
possession!

The ball’s being unloaded as we sprint down
the field, the Reds on our tails.

Chip passes to Danny.

Danny passes to Grubber.

Grubber passes to me.

It’s a perfect break, a class formation. We
sweep across the field like a bird’s wing.

‘
Go for it Wings!’ Grubber
yells.

And I do. I’m the winger. I have wings so I
can fly. I can reach the try line. I can beat the odds, make up for
my earlier failures.

But can I? Really?

No, I can’t. There are too many players
marking me.

But I have to try. Give it better than my
best. One hundred percent plus, and then some.

So I swerve and swing,
duck and dive, skim out of

their way.

Where’s everyone else?

I’ve ended up in mid-field, too fast for the
other Greens to be in support.

Now the goalposts are right in front of me,
so close, but Taggart is looming, Spike’s on my heels. I’ll never
make it to put the ball down.

‘
Drop kick!’ I hear a
yell.

It’s Sprigs’ voice coming from the bench,
screaming at me what to do.

But I can’t kick. I’ve proved that twice
already in this game. I’m a useless, no-hoper kicker.

And I’m too close too the bar.

And then I fall flat on my face as I’m
tackled from behind.

And I can’t bear to look up to see what I’ve
done.

Chapter 15

Try

What’s happened?

The whistle’s happened, that’s what. The Ref
has blown his whistle and it’s all over, the game’s finished. We’ve
lost. I’ve lost.

Grubber and Chip and Danny and all the
others have crowded around me. Mr Marlow is suddenly there, too,
helping me to my feet.

‘
I’m sorry guys,’ I said,
‘I just couldn’t make it.’

I didn’t even try blaming the tackle, or
suggesting it was another one of the Red’s fouls. No, it was all
down to me.

‘
It was all down to you,’
Mr Marlow said.

I hung my head in shame.

‘
The chips were down and
you did it,’ said Chip, using his favourite joke.

Finally I looked up. I knew I’d have to face
them sometime.

Everyone was smiling.
There were no frowns or

scowls. Grubber was
hopping up and down like he

needed to go to the toilet, but this time it
was a dance of joy.

‘
Did what?’ I
asked.

‘
You got the ball over the
line without letting go of it, even when you were brought down,’
says another voice. It’s Dad, and Mum’s there too. ‘You got a try
right smack between the posts.’

Grubber’s dad has come
onto the field as well, and right now he doesn’t look like a man
who’s been at work for the past nine hours and has spent most of
the morning chewing his fingernails worrying about Grubber ending
up in Accident and Emergency.

Sprigs has hobbled over with his mum, his
ankle sore and bruised from that tackle.

‘
Knew that lace would do
the trick,’ he said.

‘
You mean I did it?’ I
said, still not believing it.

‘
Course you did,’ said
Chips. ‘You got five points for the Greens. We’ve won!’

Chapter 16

Three cheers

It was over. The Greens had won the Junior
Home World Cup. Our first Grand Final. Our first trophy. We danced.
We hugged each other. Then we lined up to receive the Cup.

We shook hands with Junior Home World Cup
organisers. Chip held up the cup for everyone to admire and
everyone, including some of the Reds, cheered. And we cheered them
as well and shook their hands, even Spike and Taggart’s.

‘
No hard feelings?’ I said
to Spike.

‘
Get real,’ said Spike.
‘If it hadn’t been for you . . .’

‘
It’s not fair’ said
Taggart, ‘letting girls play rugby. They completely stuff up the
game.’

I took no any notice of what Taggart said.
Neither did anyone else. So what that I’m a girl? I can play as
well as anyone and today I proved that, even though it nearly
turned out to be a disaster of a swansong.

There was a celebration afterwards at Mr
Marlow’s place. Everyone came: the Green Team, parents, supporters,
even Grubber’s dad although he soon dropped into a chair and feel
asleep.

I felt hugely happy, and hugely sad, both at
the same time.

‘
How’d you know we were
going to win?’ Sprigs asked Mr Marlow, looking at all the food laid
out on the table.

‘
I didn’t,’ said Mr
Marlow. ‘We’d have had a party regardless. You made it to the Grand
Final after all.’

‘
But
what if we
hadn’t
made it to the final?’ Sprigs said.

‘
We’d
still
have had a party,’ Mr Marlow said, ‘because the Greens are
such a great team.’

He looked at me. ‘And we’d have had a party
because Wings is leaving us and we have to give her a fitting send
off.’

I started to feel all sniffy.

‘
Speech! Speech!’ the
Greens yelled.

‘
I can’t,’ I
said.

‘
Yes you can,’ said Dad.
‘You always have plenty to say at home.’

There was silence as everyone waited for me
to finish blowing my nose. I took longer than I needed to because I
was trying to think of something to say. Trying didn’t work. The
words didn’t fall into my head. So I stopped trying to force them
out and I just said what I was feeling.

‘
I’m
really going to miss you guys. Miss you heaps. All the practise
sessions, and all the games. Not being here to defend the Cup next
year. But Mr Marlow is right about us. We
are
a great team and it’s because
we’ve got such great players.’

‘
And because we had my
lucky laces,’ said Sprigs. ‘Don’t forget them.’

‘
And because we’ve got
Sprigs’ lucky laces.’ I remembered the broken piece was still in my
sock so I pulled it out and waved it around my head.

‘
Sprigs’
grubby
laces,’ said Sprigs’ mum and everyone
laughed.

‘
It wouldn’t have mattered
if we hadn’t won today

because we would have given it our best shot
and that’s all that matters,’ I said.

‘
Liar,’ said Grubber
loudly.

‘
But true as well,’ said
Mr Marlow. ‘Some other

team will be lucky to be getting you as a
player Wings.’

‘
Three cheers for Wings,’
said Chips.

‘
No, for all the Greens,’
I said.

So we all shouted our
slogan: ‘
Three cheers for the Cauliflower
Ears!
’

And then we got stuck into the feed.