All Keyed Up (4 page)

T
he rest of the first half was a disaster for the ’Cats. Jerry couldn’t seem to get his head into the game. Time after time,
he flubbed a pass, had the ball stolen, or missed a chance to score. By the time the ref blew the whistle, the score was Torpedoes
3, ’Cats 0.

Coach Bradley tried to cheer up the ’Cats.

“Okay,” he said, “so we’ve missed a few shots we shouldn’t have and let a few go by we should have stopped.” He spread his
hands wide. “No big deal! Just keep trying your hardest out there. Plug up the holes on defense and find the holes on offense. These guys aren’t so tough.” He jerked a thumb toward the water cooler. “Now get something
to drink and get ready to blast those Torpedoes out of the water!”

The team gave a shout and headed for the water.

“Jerry, wait a sec,” Coach Bradley said.

Jerry hung his head but didn’t say anything.

“You know, everyone has off days,” Coach Bradley said kindly. “But it seems to me there’s something bothering you. You’re
dragging around out there like a puppet without any strings.”

“I’m sorry, Coach,” Jerry whispered. He hesitated a moment, then started to explain about the missing key. “Stookie’s going
to hate me!” he finished with a wail.

“Well, I doubt that,” the coach said. “I’m not saying he won’t be upset. But it seems you’ve done all you could to find the
key.
You’ve also done your best to keep an eye on his house and his gerbils. You can’t do any more than your best, right?”

“I guess so,” Jerry said, suddenly feeling a little better.

“Well, I know so,” the coach said. A whistle blasted, signaling the game was about to start again. “And your best is all I’m
going to ask you to do. No more puppet, okay?”

“Okay!” Jerry gave the coach a grin.

“All right! Then let’s go! Go ’Cats!”

Jerry ran onto the field with his teammates. He was determined not to let the coach down.

“No more puppet,” he murmured to himself as he waited for the ref to place the ball in front of him. “No more puppet.”

The ref blew the whistle. Jerry toed the ball to Roy Boswick, the left striker. Roy tried to dribble downfield, but he got
into trouble right away. Two Torpedo halfbacks double-teamed him.

Jerry was ready. He swooped in, calling for
a pass. Roy shot him a grateful look and booted the ball in his direction.

Jerry caught it cleanly on his instep. The Torpedo halfbacks moved in. Jerry looked up to see if Lou was in the clear. He
was. Jerry fired the ball to him.

Lou took off like a rocket. Jerry charged down the field alongside him. One Torpedo halfback covered Lou, the other stayed
with Jerry.

Jerry tried to outrun his opponent. But the halfback was quick and stuck to him. Meanwhile, Lou was starting to have trouble.

What would Stookie do now?
Jerry wondered. He thought back to the last game. He remembered how Stookie had fooled the defense when he’d stopped dead.
Would that work now, too? It was worth a try.

Jerry slammed on the brakes. The Torpedo halfback kept going. Suddenly, Jerry was wide open!

“Here! Send it here, Lou!” he shouted.

L
ou didn’t hesitate. His defender was ahead of him, trying to stay between Lou and the goal. He wasn’t expecting Lou to pass
backward.
But that’s just what Lou did.

Jerry trapped the ball neatly. Then he waited. Sure enough, the Torpedo halfback charged him. With a quick move, Jerry dodged
her. He dribbled madly for the goal. The fullbacks tripped all over themselves to get to him. But Jerry remained calm. Out
of the corner of his eye, he saw Roy streaking up the sideline.

Jerry waited a beat, then sent the ball rocketing to Roy. Roy stopped it ten feet in front of the goal. He seemed surprised
to have the ball, but only paused for a second. With a swift kick, he sent the ball flying into the net for the ’Cats’ first
goal!

“Wow! Great pass, Jerry!” Roy cried happily. Jerry grinned.

But that was the only goal the ’Cats made. When the game ended, the final score was Torpedoes 3, ’Cats 1.

Jerry was disappointed they hadn’t won. But he knew he’d done his best, at least in the second half. The coach thought so,
too.

“Glad to see you got rid of the puppet,” Coach Bradley said.

“Yup, that puppet is ...” Jerry’s voice trailed off. His jaw dropped and he clapped a hand to his forehead. “That’s it!”

Without another word, he grabbed his sweatshirt and ran off the field. He didn’t stop running until he reached home —and
then it was only to open the door. He pounded up the stairs and into his bedroom.

“Good gracious, where’s the fire?” his mother hollered. But Jerry didn’t answer. He had crossed the room to his bed, where
Otter was sitting.

Breathing hard, Jerry picked Otter up and turned him over. He stuck his hand inside the hole in Otter’s back and wiggled his
fingers into Otter’s arms.

He gave a whoop that brought his mother running. Slowly, he pulled his hand out. In his fingers he held the missing key!

“It must have slipped inside Otter when I put it into the knapsack at Stookie’s house!” Jerry cried.

His mother hugged him. “What made you think to look there?” she asked.

Jerry dangled the key from his finger. “It was something the coach said about puppets,” he answered. “And in a way, you helped,
too.”

His mother raised an eyebrow.

Jerry explained. “The one time I wasn’t thinking about the key was when I figured out where it might be. Just like you said:
Sometimes the answers come to you when you stop thinking about the problem.”

Mrs. Dinh ruffled his hair. “Glad to have helped. Now what do you say we go check on those gerbils?”

“You bet!”

#7

All Keyed Up

Matt Christopher

Illustrated by Daniel Vasconcellos

When Stookie Norris asks Jerry Dinh to take care of his gerbils while he’s away on vacation, Jerry is thrilled. He’s wanted
to become better friends with Stookie ever since his family moved next to Stookie’s house. But then something terrible happens
that ruins all of Jerry’s hopes. Will Stookie ever forgive him?

Here is the seventh entry in Matt Christopher’s Soccer ‘Cats series, an exciting line of first chapter books perfect for sports
fans ready to start reading on their own.

Matt Christopher
is the name behind more than seventy-five bestselling sports novels for young readers. For a list of books
in the Soccer ‘Cats series, please refer to the last page of this book.