Read Online Hat Trick! by Brett Lee - Free Book Online

the top corner of each page were becoming clearer.
    I knew I had to be quick or Rahul would drag me back.
    ‘Toby!’ he hissed at me. ‘What are you doing? Why can’t we look at the book at the big table over there, like normal people?’
    I got to page 920 then flicked on a few more pages, trying to focus on the headings at the top. I didn’t know exactly what page the Test would be on. ‘Rahul, was the tie in the first Test match?’
    ‘Yes. Can I see?’
    I had a thought. ‘Good idea. You find the correct page, then give it to me.’
    Everything was racing. I didn’t have time to think about what I was doing. Maybe it wouldn’t work. Maybe I needed Jim here, with his magical powers. My heart was thumping. I would just give Rahul a taste. Just prove to him that we could go there. Go anywhere! It would be so exciting to show someone else. Especially Rahul. He would be amazed.
    He passed the book back to me. I stared with total concentration at the top of the page. I could just make out the word India in a swirly mix of white and black. Rahul was close by.
    ‘India,’ I said quietly, staring at the word as it materialised into letters.
    There was a gentle knocking, thudding noise going on somewhere in my head. I grabbed Rahul’s wrist. The thudding turned to a roar; to a great, whooshing rush of what sounded like air and water surging through my head. I could hear Rahul talking about how useful the match report would be for his project, when suddenly he seemed to stop in mid-sentence.
    I opened my eyes. It was as if we were standing in an oven. The heat was amazing. It wasn’t just heat; it was sticky, dense heat that squeezed at you from all sides. And there was a terrible smell of really gross toilets. For a moment I thought I was going to be sick.
    Beside me Rahul gasped and fell to his knees.
    ‘Rahul,’ I cried. ‘Get up!’
    Slowly he struggled to his feet.
    ‘Wh—what?’ he stammered.
    We had arrived a little behind the crowd. We were inside the ground but couldn’t see the oval. It was like last time. I knew, without knowing exactly why, that we had arrived without anyone knowing. Somehow that seemed important.
    Taking him by the shoulders, I forced Rahul to look at me. He wasn’t looking too good.
    ‘Rahul, as soon as you’ve got over being totally freaked out by what’s happened, the sooner we can get a look at the game. Okay?’
    I was giving it to him straight up. He stared back at me, his eyes not blinking.
    ‘We are in India,’ Rahul whispered.
    It was more a statement than a question, but I answered anyway.
    ‘Correct.’
    ‘In the year—,’ Rahul looked at me.
    ‘1986.’
    ‘I’m not even born yet.’
    ‘Well, that’s debatable. I can see you.’
    ‘My mother is alive in this city somewhere. My father too,’ Rahul said.
    ‘Yeah, well, let’s take a quick look at the cricket. Then we’ll head back, okay? Rahul?’
    But Rahul looked as if he had other things on his mind.
    The noise and the heat closed in around us. Men wearing really long shirts streamed past us, kicking up dust that stung my eyes. There was a dull roar coming from near the oval and an amazing mixture of smells. Half the crowd seemed to be behind the stand here, with us. Everyone was babbling, shouting, pushing and hurrying.
    ‘It’s time to go, Rahul. C’mon. Let’s move away from here.’
    I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him in the opposite direction to the people rushing at us till we were near a fence. Rahul was resisting. At this rate we weren’t even going to see any cricket.
    ‘Listen!’ I yelled. ‘I’m not supposed to do this with someone else.’
    I was beginning to worry about having Rahul here with me, especially with Jim’s warning about not taking anyone else with me. And Rahul was not looking himself.
    ‘We have to go back. Now !’
    But Rahul was in another world. He was looking at me as though I wasn’t there. Maybe he was thinking of his family. Then I realised that I