anyone realized what had happened. He skated straight in, then faked a shot just as Killer got to him. The Bad Boy captain
tripped as he tried to block the shot, but Kirby had never intended to shoot. Not yet.
Now, with Killer on the ground and Trevor yelling for him to pass the puck, Kirby skated straight in on the goalie. Zigging
and zagging, he got the goalie off balance, then flipped the puck over the Bad Boy’s shoulder and into the net!
A wild cheer erupted from the E Street side of the parking lot. “That’s my boy!” he heard his father shouting.
Kirby was mobbed by his teammates, and the whole pile of them fell on top of him in total happiness.
But the game wasn’t over yet. There were still a few minutes left in which to win — or lose. Furious and stunned, the Bad
Boys turned up the heat, mounting rush after rush at the Skates’ goal. But Lainie was not about to give anything up. Not now.
Not after they’d come this far. Atthe end of regulation time, the score was tied, 2-2.
“Five-minute overtime,” Lainie called out, and the two teams formed up immediately. In the flurry that followed, both teams
played carefully, making sure not to lose the game by being out of position. There were a lot of stoppages of play as players
fired the puck down-rink or out of bounds. Then, with only seconds left, the Bad Boys mounted a two-on-one rush. Kirby was
way down at the other end of the rink, but he raced back toward his own zone, hoping against hope that he wasn’t too late.
Killer got off a slap shot. Lainie did a full split to block it, and the puck came out in front of the goal. But Spike was
there, waiting. Lainie tried to get back into position, but Kirby could see that she would never be able to stop the next
shot.
As Spike wound up for the slap shot, Kirby’s instincts took over. Lunging forward with his stick, he reached out as far as
he could. The tip of his stick fell just short of the puck. But as Spike’sstick came down, it hit Kirby’s stick instead of the puck. There was a loud crack, but no shot. Lainie sprang forward to cover
the puck, and the game was saved!
“Time’s up!” shouted one of the parents, who was acting as timekeeper. The overtime ended the way regulation had: 2-2, a tie.
There was the usual lineup and hand-slapping at the end, but the Bad Boys were in a foul mood. Kirby saw at least one of them
spit on his hand before offering it. He pulled his own hand back, avoiding total gross-out. Then, his arms around his teammates
shoulders, he skated back with them toward the sideline.
“We did it! We saved the game for Marty!” Jamal shouted happily.
“What are you so happy about?” Trevor asked. “Marty got hurt. And besides, we didn’t win.”
“We will next time,” Lainie said confidently. “Soon as we get Marty back, we’ll have a rematch. Next Saturday, same time,
their team said.”
“If we get Marty back by then,” Nick corrected.“If his shoulder is dislocated, won’t that keep him out of action all summer?”
They broke up to greet their parents. Although she didn’t say anything, Kirby sensed that his mother was troubled.
“Marty’ll be okay,” he assured her. “You’ll see.”
“I don’t know, Kirby,” his mom replied. “That could have just as easily been you. The pavement here is in very bad repair.
That boy Trevor nearly hurt himself, too.”
“It’s not that bad, Mom — really!” With a sinking heart, Kirby could see that he wasn’t convincing her. He could only hope
that Marty wasn’t too badly hurt and that his parents would let him play in the rematch.
He didn’t even want to think about what his summer would be like if they refused to let him play.
8
J ust as Kirby and his parents were coming home after the game, the phone rang. Kirby ran to answer it. It was Marty Bledsoe.
“So, did we win?” he wanted to know.
“Tied, 2-2,” Kirby said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m talking to
Elena Aitken
Kat French
Augusto Cury
James Patrick Riser
Pamela Ann
L E Thomas
Kirsten Osbourne, Culpepper Cowboys
A. J. Pine
BRET LOTT
Cheryl Bolen