Read Online Top Wing by Matt Christopher - Free Book Online

way?”
    “He’s a lot better,” said Dana. “We expect him home any time now.”
    “Good,” said Ms. Thompson. “Then we can expect your work to start improving. We’ll give it a few days and then talk about
     a makeup test.”
    “Thanks a lot, Ms. Thompson,” said Dana, making his exit.
    Instead of eating lunch in the school cafeteria, he took his sandwich and carton of milk outside. He settled down in a quiet
     spot, mostly surrounded bytrees and bushes, to study for his afternoon classes. He had to do better on his schoolwork.
    Staring off into space, he tried to memorize some dates for history class. His eyes drifted to a corner of the school yard
     near the equipment shed. About half a dozen kids were hanging out there, trying to shelter one another.
    They were smoking. This was strictly against school policy, but some kids did it anyway. If anyone came near them, they threw
     the evidence into the nearby Dumpster.
    Dana caught a distant shout that sounded like “Hey, Bent!”
    He gazed across the field and saw Benton ambling toward the shed.
    When he got within twenty yards of the shed, Benton glanced back at the school building. For a split second, Dana thought
     Benton was looking right at him. But Benton turned away sharply and reversed direction. Putting on some speed, he jogged over
     to the side entrance of the school and disappeared.
    What was that all about? Dana wondered. Then the bell rang and, with a sigh, he closed his notebook and headed into the building.

    At the end of soccer practice that afternoon, Coach Kingsley had the team sit down in one long row on the bench. Then he walked
     up and down in front of them. He told them he was unhappy about the way they had been playing their games.
    “If you have problems off the field, leave them there,” he said. “This is a game of teamwork. You have to be looking around
     all the time to help out the rest of the team. And the rest of the team has to help you out. That goes for each and every
     one of you: wings, backs, goalie — the whole lot.
    “Now, we have a game with the Rams coming up on Thursday. When you show up for the game, show up to play on a
team
. If you can’t do that, don’t show up!”
    Dana caught the coach looking at him and Benton with more than the usual eye contact. Coach knows there’s something going
     on, he said to himself. Does he know what Benton’s been saying? Does he think the fire’s my fault — or my dad’s?
    But there was no sign that Coach Kingsley had anything on his mind except getting the Anchors to playing winning soccer.

10
    T he game with the Norristown Rams was about to start.
    Coach Kingsley gave the Anchors a few final words of advice.
    “We bungled our last two games,” he reminded them, “because we forgot we’re a team. Let’s not bungle this one! Forwards, set
     yourselves up to score. Halfbacks, set up the forwards. Fullbacks, you have to be the solid wall of defense.
    “You’re not going to win this game with a lot of fancy plays. But you have to keep your eyes open and take advantage of your
     opportunities. Move the ball around and play as a team!”
    “Team! Team! Anchors!” they all shouted, slapping high fives and tens all around.
    The coin was flipped. This time, Steve made the call.
    “Tails!” he shouted.
    Tails it was. The Anchors chose to kick. The Rams elected to defend the north goal.
    At the whistle, Steve kicked the ball to Jack. Jack aimed a kick right back at him, but booted it too hard. It landed midway
     into Rams territory before it touched down. Play was underway.
    Louie Ladd, the Rams’ center halfback, took it almost to the midfield stripe. Lance moved in on him and blocked him from gaining
     any more ground.
    They struggled for the ball before it squirted loose to the left side of the field. Abe was in position and snagged it. He
     started to move it toward the goal, then quickly passed it to Steve.
    The Anchors’ captain didn’t have an open shot at