Rugby Rebel, page 3
‘We have to put in our panel of thirty-five with the Leinster branch next week and I’d like to be sure you are up to this,’ he told him.
‘Thank you, sir,’ replied Eoin, still not sure whether he wanted to be part of the Junior Cup team at all.
Devin noticed the conversation and came over just as Mr Carey was leaving. He suggested to Eoin that they go out for a jog.
The pair ambled around the rugby pitch at a gentle pace, chatting about the games ahead and the great hopes Castlerock had for this year’s Js.
‘We haven’t won it for years but this team has done well coming up and our main rivals, St Benedict’s, have lost their two best players – emigrated to Australia, would you believe?’
‘Ronan’s really good,’ Eoin said, about the Js’ first-choice out-half.
‘Yeah, he is,’ said Devin, ‘but he’s an awful man for getting injured. He missed the Under 14s semi-final last year and we had to call up Paudie. He had a nightmare game and we were hammered.’
‘Is Paudie in the squad for this game?’
‘No, but I’d say we’ll be picking three guys who can play out-half or centre so he won’t be in the match-day 26, but he will be in the 35 we register with the branch. You should be ahead of him, so good luck if you get a run out.’
Two days later Eoin was standing around on the touchline, trying to keep warm, with just ten minutes left in the friendly. He had hoped he would get on at half-time, but it was Ronan’s first match of the season and he needed to get some game-time under his belt.
Eventually, Mr Carey called over to the group of replacements. ‘All right, you’re all going on. Seven or eight minutes left, let’s see what you can do.’
Eoin jogged on and took his position at out-half, the most important position on the team and from where all the big decisions are made. That fact came into his mind as he waited for play to resume.
Stay calm, just keep it simple, he thought to himself as play resumed with a line-out. Just concentrate on not making any mistakes.
The scrum-half, Paddy Buckley, flipped the ball back to Eoin, who ran three metres before being tackled and feeding it back neatly to the player following behind him. He sprang to his feet and got back in position as Castlerock’s forwards started getting a maul going upfield. The game might have been over as a contest – Castlerock were twenty points up – but the replacements all wanted to make their mark.
The maul collapsed just inside the 22 and the backs lined up, ready to go on the attack. Paddy burrowed into the pile of bodies and fished out the ball. He paused, checking left and right, before scarpering off through a gap towards the line. Just as he crossed he was held up, and Eoin moved smartly to take the ball as it came back to him. With one fluid movement he dropped to the ground, aimed for the tiny amount of the try line that he could see, and squeezed the ball onto it.
‘Tweeeeeeeeep,’ went the whistle, and the referee raised his arm vertically.
‘Nice one, Madden,’ said Paddy, as they hauled themselves out of the heap and got their feet. ‘You better kick it too,’ he grinned.
Devin came up alongside, and explained that Eoin was the best kicker left on the field, and that he would be taking the conversion. ‘Take it easy, it’s a handy one but watch out for that wind,’ he said.
Eoin took his time teeing up the ball, picking a few strands of grass and tossing them in the air to help gauge the wind speed and direction. Devin was right, there was quite a gale blowing.
He stepped back to his mark, then ran towards the ball, aiming away to the right. Almost as soon as he had hit the ball it was snatched by the wind and dragged back across the face of the goal. Incredibly, it hit the left hand goalpost with a clatter, fell like a stone and bounced again off the crossbar. Eoin blew out his cheeks, encouraging the ball over the bar, and sure enough, down it tumbled as the touch judges raised their flags.
‘Ha! That was jammy,’ grinned Devin as Eoin ran back, slightly embarrassed. ‘Still, it worked!’
Eoin murmured ‘thanks’ as his team-mates chuckled their gratitude for his dramatic contribution, and he was relieved that the rest of the game passed without incident.
‘Good work, Madden,’ Mr Carey grunted, as he caught up with Eoin as he walked back to the accommodation block at the end of the game. ‘You do the simple things very well and that’s often forgotten by rugby players. I’ll be sending your name off as one of our 35-man panel tomorrow. Congratulations, that doesn’t happen very often to second years in this school.’
Chapter 9
. . . . . . . .
BACK in the dorm, trouble was brewing. Rory’s smartphone had gone missing, and he was very angry.
‘The door was locked, and the only people who have keys are you three and the housemaster’s office. I’m going to go out for an hour and if it’s not on my bed by the time I get back then I’m going to the headmaster,’ he announced.
‘Hang on, Rory, you don’t think any of us took it, do you?’ asked Eoin.
‘I don’t know,’ said Rory, glowering at Eoin, Dylan and Alan in turn. ‘Did you?’
He stormed out the door and Eoin stood, shocked, staring at the other two.
‘That’s mad,’ he said. ‘Does he not trust us?’
‘Obviously not,’ said Dylan. ‘He probably thinks it was me because of my dad. He’s never liked me, anyway.’
‘Ah, stop that rubbish, Dyl. You had a few strops with him, but nothing serious. Sure aren’t you two the stars of the Under 14s this year? He’s just annoyed because it cost so much – I think he spent all his birthday money on it,’ Eoin countered.
‘Well, I’m not hanging around here either,’ said Dylan, storming off up the corridor, leaving Eoin and Alan alone.
‘If you nicked it I won’t tell,’ Alan whispered, looking across at Eoin with a serious face which broke into a grin after three seconds.
‘I hope this gets sorted quickly,’ Eoin muttered. ‘This place won’t be much fun if it doesn’t turn up soon.’
Alan lay down on his bed and rooted around under his pillow. He sat up quickly, and threw the pillow aside.
‘My phone!’ he gasped.
Eoin stood up and walked across to Alan’s bed. ‘Is it missing too?’
Alan nodded.
‘OK, let’s have a good look around for it, it has to be here somewhere,’ Eoin suggested.
They took all the sheets and blankets off the bed. Eoin crawled under it and searched around underneath. Alan took everything out of his locker and cleaned out his wardrobe and all the suitcases he had brought.
Nothing.
Eoin stood up, brushing the dust and chips of varnish off his hands.
‘This is terrible,’ he said. ‘I don’t think Dylan took anything but he’s right that people will think that he did. I hope the phones turn up soon.’
‘I can’t stick around here,’ said Alan. ‘Let’s go for a ramble.’
The pair headed off for a stroll around the grounds, and eventually ended up at the Rock, Eoin’s favourite place in the whole school, which lay beside the bubbling stream.
‘Oh, I forgot to tell you,’ he started. ‘I was here a couple of weeks ago and could swear someone was shooting at me.’
‘Whaaaaaaat?’ said Alan, stunned.
‘Yeah, I know it sounds mad, but when I went off the first night I came down here for a while. I heard two bangs that I’d swear were gunshots – I think they came from the school.’
‘Are you serious?’ said Alan. ‘That’s no joke – you should have told McCaffrey.’
‘I know. I know. But it seemed so stupid. And there was no harm done.’
‘And what happens if they decide to shoot now – and they hit me? Then there’s plenty of harm done. You need to report it.’
‘OK,’ muttered Eoin. ‘I’ll call in to him later.’
‘Any word from Brian or Dave this year?’ asked Alan. ‘I’d love to see them as often as you can.’
Alan had discovered he too was able to see the ghosts that visited Eoin, but they had so far only appeared to him once.
‘I don’t know, it’s a weird thing,’ Eoin replied. ‘Sometimes it seems I can call them up and other times they just appear when I really need them, but you just can’t tell. There’s something about this place here though. You can feel it’s a bit spooky at times, especially in the evenings when the light is starting to go. I wonder was there anything on the site here long ago?’
‘An ancient burial ground?’ joked Alan. ‘Maybe you could ask Mr Finn? He’s writing a history of the school, isn’t he?’
‘Good idea, I’ll have to be careful what I ask though.’
The boys turned to head back to their dorm, kicking a soft-drink can to each other as they dribbled across the field. Eoin suddenly felt a strange urge to turn around, and he stopped and looked back in the direction from which they had come. He saw a young man, dressed in a black and white rugby jersey, just standing at the entrance to the woods.
Eoin called out, ‘Hey, are you lost?’ but the man just turned and wandered back into the trees.
‘I saw him! I saw him too!’ said Alan. ‘Is it a new ghost?’
‘You’re obsessed with seeing ghosts!’ said Eoin, ‘but I’ve no plans to head back down there after him. I wonder what’s for tea?’
Chapter 10
. . . . . . . . .
HISTORY was the second class the next morning, and Alan gave Eoin an elbow in the ribs when Mr Finn came through the doorway.
‘I’m afraid your history teacher, Mr Dunne, is sick today, so I’ll be taking the class. What have you been studying recently?’ he asked.
‘The Easter Rising, sir,’ replied Hugh Bowers.
‘Ah, of course,’ said Mr Finn. ‘Sure weren’t we all in Kilmainham last week. Does anyone remember the names of the leaders of the Rising?’
A couple of hands went up and the class got under-way. Mr Finn was an inspirational teacher and soon had almost all the boys enraptured with stories from times gone by. He talked about the various flashpoints in the long search for Irish independence.
‘Does anyone remember the name of the young man who was hanged in Mountjoy Jail – he was the one who played rugby?
‘Barry, sir?’ asked Daniel Reeves.
‘Yes, that’s right, Kevin Barry. I’ve been researching the history of Castlerock and I had heard stories that he actually played against the school a year or two before he died. But I just haven’t been able to find any evidence, which is very disappointing. However, I will bash on, as indeed you boys must do now – to the science laboratory, I believe.
Right on cue, the bell to end class came, and the boys left for their science class. Eoin hung back and cornered Mr Finn.
‘Sir, can I ask you a question about Castlerock?’
‘Of course, young Madden, fire away.’
‘Well, do you know the little wood down by the stream? I just wondered what that was used for in the olden days. It has a strange atmosphere and I was wondering why it had been left as a wilderness when the rest of the school was used for buildings and playing fields.’
‘That’s a very good question, Eoin,’ said Mr Finn. ‘I confess I haven’t a clue, but I’m working my way through the – sadly incomplete – school records and may find an answer to your query yet. Now run along, Mr Magee won’t be happy if you’re late for his class.’
Eoin tapped Dylan on the shoulder as they were leaving the last class that day.
‘Fancy a run?’ he asked. ‘The Js are having a session for forwards only so I’m off the hook.’
‘Yeah, suppose so,’ muttered Dylan, who hadn’t been very communicative since the phones had gone missing. They went back to their dorm and quickly changed into tracksuits and trainers, locking the door as they went.
It was a bright, sunny autumn day and they enjoyed pushing themselves hard with sprints and chases through the fallen leaves. With the light closing in they finished off with a wind-down jog, which took them past the woods.
‘You’re always down here,’ Dyl panted. ‘What is it about it that brings you here so often?’
Eoin paused, not sure whether he wanted to bring another of his friends into his secret life on the edge of the spirit world. Alan hadn’t been fazed by it at all but he was worried that Dylan might blab about it around the school – or think Eoin was going mad.
‘Nothing really, I just like the atmosphere. It’s perfect when you need a bit of peace.’
They stumbled through the glade to the Rock, and Eoin was startled to see a young man standing there, wearing a red, yellow and black hooped rugby jersey.
‘What the …?’ gulped Dylan. ‘Let’s get out of here!’
‘No, it’s OK,’ said Eoin. ‘I know him. There’s nothing to be afraid of.’
‘Who is he?’
‘That’s Brian. I met him a couple of years ago. He was killed playing rugby—’
‘Killed? So he’s a … a ghost?’ Dylan whispered, looking rattled.
‘Hello, Eoin,’ said Brian. ‘Had you a good summer? It was a bit boring for me, but I woke up this morning and found myself out here. Is there something going on at the school?’
Brian had been a great help to Eoin as he struggled to master the skills of rugby and the loneliness of boarding school life. He always seemed to crop up at the moments Eoin needed him most and Eoin thought of him almost like a big brother.
‘Nothing major,’ Eoin started.
‘And who’s your friend?’
‘Dylan, Dylan Coonan,’ Eoin replied, glancing at Dylan, who was staring at Brian with his mouth open.
‘Yes, Dylan. You’re the winger aren’t you?’ asked Brian.
‘Yeah,’ Dylan replied, nervously.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Brian, stretching out his arm before he pulled it back, realising Dylan could be a bit frightened by shaking the cold, dead hand of a ghost.
‘What brought you to Castlerock?’ Eoin asked.
‘I’m not sure. There’s something funny going on though,’ said Brian. ‘I get a strong feeling that there’s another spirit around the place.’
‘That’s weird. I was down here last night and saw another guy in a rugby shirt – it looked like a Belvo one. He didn’t say anything and we didn’t stick around.’
‘Hmmm, there’s something afoot I fear,’ Brian muttered. ‘I also found this beside the Rock,’ he added, producing a brass bullet casing.
‘That looks very old,’ Eoin said, turning it in his hand. ‘It must have been there for a long time.’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Brian. ‘It’s still got its shine and I would have noticed it before. You hang on to it, Eoin. You might find out something about it.’
‘We’d better be getting back,’ said Dylan, clearly unnerved by the ghostly encounter.
‘Alright, well if you hear anything you know where I’ll be, Eoin,’ said Brian. ‘I don’t have an awful lot else to do …’
Chapter 11
. . . . . . . . .
IT was a big Champions’ League soccer night and most of the year was watching the match in the common room. Dylan still hadn’t made up with Rory so they sat on opposite sides of the room.
Richie Duffy strolled in with his buddies and immediately noticed the strained seating arrangements.
‘Heh, heh,’ he sneered. ‘So Baby Ror-ror and Baby Dyl-dyl are having a bit of a tiff … Hey Dylan, did you take away his soother – or was it something else?’
Dylan growled, but didn’t rise to Duffy’s jibes. Rory just looked away and pretended to concentrate totally on the football.
‘Let’s get out of here, Dyl,’ said Eoin, who was tired and wanted to get back to the dorm. ‘Don’t mind that Duffy,’ he continued as they left the room together, ‘He’s all wind. But were you a bit rattled by Brian earlier on?’
‘Well … yeah …’ said Dylan. ‘But what really surprised me was that you seemed to know him well. What was that about?’
‘Sorry, Dyl, I had to keep that from nearly everybody – you’d have thought I was mad. Brian has been around for a couple of years and has been a great help to me. He was the one that tipped off Alan about the kidnap at the Aviva last year – and saved me and Caoimhe.’
‘Oh! … I always wondered about that,’ Dylan admitted. ‘I couldn’t work out what Alan was doing in the car park so that he heard Caoimhe in the back. Still, I suppose I’d better thank Brian next time I see him.’
When they got back to their dorm, Eoin sat down on his bed and reached across to his locker. He slipped the key into the lock and turned it, reaching in behind the pile of books to where he had hidden his mobile.
But it wasn’t there.
‘Ah, no!’ he said. ‘My phone’s gone! It was here just before we went out for the jog. And the door was locked!’
Dylan looked at him, and his face darkened. ‘That’s brutal, Eoin, but at least Rory can’t blame me for stealing it.’
Eoin shrugged his shoulders, more concerned with losing the precious gift that Dixie had given him the year before.
Alan and Rory arrived at the door, and Dylan filled them in: ‘Eoin’s phone has been nicked. We locked the door and went out for a jog – together – and when we came back it was gone. So it can’t have been me…’
He slipped past the others and walked off down the corridor.
‘I told you it couldn’t have been him,’ said Eoin. ‘He’s a good guy and doesn’t need you to be at him about his dad. Even if you don’t say it, he knows where you’re coming from.’
Rory shrugged and wandered off in the opposite direction to Dylan.
‘We should go to see Mr McCaffrey,’ Alan said to Eoin.
The Castlerock headmaster was in his office when the boys knocked at the door.
‘Come in. Ah, Madden and Handy, how can I help you?’
Eoin explained what had happened, and how he was concerned that Dylan would be blamed for the missing phones.
‘I was with him all the time when mine was stolen, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have taken the other ones, sir. But Rory has jumped to conclusions and I’m afraid it could get around the school.’
