Rugby Rebel, page 4
Mr McCaffrey sat back in his chair and tapped his pencil off the desk.
‘Well, of course we will do our best to ensure that doesn’t happen. But we also must try to get your property back. Now show me where you are sleeping this year.’
The boys led Mr McCaffrey back up to their dorm where he made them stand by the door while he searched for the phone. When he couldn’t find it, he took his own mobile out and asked Alan what his number was, and then dialled it.
‘Ssssh,’ he went. The trio strained their ears to try to hear anything. And sure enough, there was a muffled ‘dring dring; dring dring’ sound coming from somewhere under the bed.
Mr McCaffrey laughed. ‘You just need to look a bit harder, boys. It seems like the great Headmaster Sherlock has solved another mystery.’
He turned and left, chuckling to himself as he wandered down the corridor.
Eoin ducked under the bed, but still couldn’t see any sign of a phone. Alan joined him and at once noticed what had changed.
‘That’s weird,’ he said. ‘I was down under here the first night and noticed this trapdoor, but it was sealed shut. Look how the varnish has cracked around it. Someone has opened it recently.’
Chapter 12
. . . . . . . . .
ALAN tried to work his fingers around the edges of the trapdoor, but it remained tightly shut.
‘You can probably push it open from the other side,’ he said. ‘That must be where the thief’s been coming from.’
‘Let’s move the leg of the bed on top of it,’ suggested Eoin. ‘That would slow him down a fair bit, whoever he is.’
‘Our phones are still down there though – we need to get them back.’
‘OK, I wonder does Mr Finn know anything about secret passageways?’
They wandered down to the staff common room and knocked on the door. Mr Carey answered it, listened to their request and told them to wait outside. Boys never got to cross the threshold of that room.
‘What can I do to help you?’ asked Mr Finn.
‘Sir, remember you said you were writing about the school’s history? Well, have you ever heard of a secret passage?’ asked Eoin.
‘Well … not really,’ Mr Finn answered cautiously. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘I think someone has been getting into our room through a trapdoor in the floor – and they’ve been stealing mobile phones!’ answered Eoin.
‘That’s very interesting,’ the old teacher replied. ‘I heard rumours about such a passage back when I was a student here, but no-one I know had ever found it and it doesn’t appear on the original plans for the college, which I have been examining recently. You must show me this trapdoor.’
The boys brought Mr Finn upstairs and lifted the bed off the mysterious doorway cut into the wooden floor.
‘Very wise. I’d keep that bed on top of it until we get to the bottom of this.’
He checked where the room was in the building and spent some time looking up and down the corridor outside.
‘Very mysterious,’ he said. ‘I will have to study this further. Don’t mention it to any other pupils. We don’t want them going off on a hunt for the culprit or his hiding place.’
Eoin was annoyed to lose his mobile, but Dylan let him text his mum to tell her, so she wouldn’t worry when he didn’t answer. With the schoolwork piling on and rugby training eating into every spare hour, he soon forgot about it. He was an unused replacement for the Js’ next two friendlies and was starting to feel a bit rusty.
‘I wish Carey would allow me to play with you guys,’ he told Rory in the dorm one evening. ‘I won’t be much use in an emergency if I haven’t played a game for weeks. I’ve had less than ten minutes on the pitch all season!’
‘I’ll ask him can you turn out on Saturday morning – we’re going down to play Rostipp in Tipperary and you could visit your folks,’ Rory replied.
‘Do you think he’d let me?’ Eoin wondered, ‘The Js don’t have a game and I’d love to get out of the school – and those training sessions – even for a day,.’
Rory was a skilled talker and Mr Carey proved more co-operative than Eoin expected. On Saturday morning he, Rory and Dylan got up early to join the rest of the Under 14s for the two-hour trip down the country. They were first on the coach and took the prime positions down the back. Eoin was tired and just wanted to doze off, but he was interrupted by Richie Duffy, shadowed as usual by his sidekicks Flanagan and Sugrue.
‘Ah, you’re back slumming it with us now, eh, Madden?’ Richie sneered. ‘Dropped off the JCT already.’
‘No, just back to show you how a real out-half plays,’ Eoin shot back.
Duffy’s face turned white. ‘But, but …’ he started, before walking up to the top of the bus where Mr Hoey was sitting alongside Mr Finn.
‘Who’s playing out-half today?’ Duffy asked the teacher.
Mr Hoey looked up from his crossword and stared at the boy.
‘Well, for a start, you need to address me as “sir”, and then you need to say “excuse me”,’ the teacher replied. ‘Then you need to go back to your seat while the bus is in motion. I’ll be having a discussion with the captain, Charlie Johnston, before we arrive in Rostipp. You will be informed in due course.’
Duffy walked back to his seat with his face like thunder. The rest of the team had heard Mr Hoey’s lecture and most of them were amused at Duffy’s discomfort.
Charlie turned in his seat and caught Eoin’s eye at the back of the bus, and gave him an exaggerated wink.
Chapter 13
. . . . . . . . .
ROSTIPP was only a twenty-minute drive from Ormondstown so Eoin wasn’t surprised that his mum, dad and grandfather had come out to see him play. They had brought Dylan’s mum too, and his sister Caoimhe, who gave the boys a big wave as they trotted out onto the pitch in the green and white hoops of Castlerock.
Eoin was selected to play at out-half, much to Richie Duffy’s disgust, and he settled into his favourite position without any fuss.
Although both teams were just a year younger than the players he had been training with this year, they seemed so much smaller, and judging by the way they threw the ball around in the warm-up, less skilled. Eoin felt that he had moved up several steps on the rugby ladder.
That wasn’t to say it was much easier – the big, bruising Savage brothers from his home town of Ormondstown made sure of that.
‘I hear you’re a bit of a rugby star up at Castlerock,’ George said as the teams lined up for the kick-off.
‘Well, you’ll be seeing stars by the time we’re finished with you,’ added his brother Roger.
Eoin laughed and hoofed the ball high into the air where it hung momentarily before Charlie Johnston caught it and the ruck formed around him.
Castlerock were a bit of a shambles in the first half, but Eoin kept them in it with his kicking and they changed ends 10-6 down.
‘We need more ball in the backs, Madden,’ Duffy complained as they sucked their slices of orange.
‘OK, hold it there please,’ Mr Hoey chipped in. ‘I have a few plans of my own and I’ll be obliged if you listen to me instead.’
Eoin listened to the coach, who had some good ideas on what needed to be done. As the players moved away to restart the half, Mr Hoey took Eoin aside.
‘Look, you’re our best player by far and you’re kicking well. But their backs look vulnerable so I’d like you to give ours a chance to expose them now and again.’
Eoin nodded, realising that his dislike for Duffy might be clouding his judgement and preventing him from giving him the ball.
He got a chance to atone early in the second half, but Duffy was too slow to the pass and knocked the ball forward.
‘Come on, Duffy!’ roared Charlie. ‘Keep your eye on what’s going on.’
Duffy glowered at Eoin, who shrugged back at him.
The next time Eoin had the ball in his hand he flung an inch-perfect pass to Duffy, but the inside-centre hesitated in deciding what to do next and was soon swarmed by the Rostipp forwards.
Eoin put over a tricky penalty goal, but with less than five minutes left Castlerock were 13-9 down.
‘Come on, Castlerock!’ came the high-pitched call from the touchline, and Eoin grinned at Dylan as his sister waved a home-made banner.
From the next line-out Eoin gathered the ball and, spotting a gap, decided to make a run through midfield. He rode a tackle and was only ten metres from the try-line when one of the Savage brothers came crashing in from his left. As he fell he twisted and spotted two team-mates chasing hard in support: Duffy to his left, Dylan to his right.
‘Pass!’ roared Duffy, but Eoin slipped the ball to Dylan who was very fast over short distances and nipped over the line and touched down under the posts.
‘Hooray!’ shrieked Caoimhe, and the rest of the Castlerock supporters joined in with her celebrations.
Eoin knocked over the conversion and with a three-point lead Castlerock concentrated on closing the game down for the last couple of minutes. At the final whistle he shook hands with the Rostipp boys and his team-mates and walked over to where his family were standing.
‘Well done, son,’ his father said, clapping him across the shoulders. His mum and grandad also congratulated him, and both slipped him some pocket money.
‘Any sign of your phone?’ his mother asked.
‘Not yet, but I hope we’ll get them back soon,’ replied Eoin.
A loud whistle called him back to the field where Mr Hoey wanted to have a warm-down and short discussion on how they had played.
Duffy continued to give Eoin daggers, but Mr Hoey was full of praise for Eoin’s late burst and the quick decision that saw him pass the ball to Dylan.
‘You’ll be back at out-half next week, Mr Duffy,’ he said, ‘but we need the sort of speedy decision-making that Mr Madden showed today from now on. Now, get yourselves changed and we’ll be back on the bus in twenty minutes.’
Eoin hurried over for a quick farewell to his family, and also thanked Caoimhe and Dylan’s mum for their vocal support.
‘See you at Hallowe’en, Caoimhe,’ he called out as he was leaving. ‘What are you dressing up as?’
‘She doesn’t need to dress up!’ laughed Dylan, as they clambered onto the bus.
Chapter 14
. . . . . . . . .
THE trip down the country had heartened Eoin. Although he enjoyed life in Castlerock, still missed his mam and dad, and his grandfather, of course.
Back at school the history teacher, Mr Dunne, had informed them that even though it was fantastic that Eoin had won the Historian of the Year competition the previous year, there just wasn’t enough time in the school timetable to defend his title. Eoin was secretly happy; he had worked very hard on the project, but he knew the reason he had won was the advantage he had been given by his ghostly friend Dave Gallaher.
Mr Dunne wasn’t letting them totally off the hook, however, as a project was part of the preparation for the state exams and he expected them all to come up with a strong topic by the next History class.
He collared Eoin as the class broke up.
‘I know you’re busy with rugby and everything else, Eoin,’ the teacher started, ‘But you really have a talent for history and I’d like you to spend a bit of time working out a good topic. You could be in line for an A next year if you get the right idea for a project. See what you come across and we’ll talk next week.’
It was a warm day so after school Eoin and Alan went for a ramble down to the woods. Eoin told Alan how Dylan had also been able to see Brian, but was a bit rattled by the experience.
Alan laughed. ‘I wish I could see Brian more often. He seemed like such a nice lad. And knowing a ghost is so cool …’
They stepped into the bushes and walked past where the stream flowed, where they saw someone digging at the base of the Rock.
‘Hello?’ Eoin started.
The young man stood up, and Eoin realised he had seen him some weeks before. Up close he recognised the Belvedere College rugby jersey that he was wearing.
‘Excuse me,’ the young man said, ‘I didn’t hear you coming. I recognise you from somewhere, don’t I?’
Eoin shrugged, ‘I don’t know how, my name is Eoin Madden, and this is Alan Handy. Who are you?’
‘I’m sorry, of course I should have introduced myself. My name is Kevin, Kevin Barry …’ he replied.
Eoin and Alan’s eyes widened.
‘The Kevin Barry?’ Eoin interrupted. ‘We went to Kilmainham Jail a few weeks ago… The tour guide told us all about your execution.’
‘Yeah, our teacher even sang a ballad about you on the bus back afterwards,’ said Alan.
‘I remember now,’ started Kevin. ‘I’m often up there too seeing some old comrades, and I was in that yard when you guys were being taken around – I remember Alan here acting the maggot – and heard the old teacher mention my name. I didn’t think anyone knew much about me anymore, except for that terrible song I keep hearing …’
‘What’s brought you to Castlerock,’ Eoin asked, ‘Was it because you saw us at Kilmainham?’
‘I’m not sure. There’s something going on, though. I saw another ghost here last night too. He told me that he only appears here when there’s a problem …’
‘That would be Brian,’ said Eoin. ‘He was killed playing rugby at Lansdowne Road.’
‘I remember playing at Lansdowne Road. I think I played rugby here once for Belvedere – we hammered you if memory serves me correct.’
‘Ha, well that wouldn’t happen anymore!’ Eoin grinned.
‘Do Belvo still play?’ asked Kevin.
‘Yeah, they do,’ replied Alan. ‘They’re not bad, but even Castlerock would expect to beat them and we’ve won nothing in years.’
Eoin stared at the new arrival. He was perplexed by the arrival of a third ghost at the school. Why me? he thought.
‘Has anyone else been able to see you since you died?’ asked Alan.
‘No … I don’t think so,’ replied Kevin. ‘It’s hard to know, because sometimes I see people staring at me, but they never approach me. I was always a bit shy too, and I’m not mad on talking about the whole “being dead” thing.’
‘I don’t really understand the ghost thing either,’ said Eoin. ‘You’re the third I’ve met in about two years and no-one else was able to see them. But now Alan can see ghosts if he’s with me.’
‘Maybe it’s because there was a crisis when I saw Brian for the first time?’ asked Alan. ‘Maybe Kevin here is going to solve the mystery of the thefts?’
‘Hold up there, please,’ said Kevin. ‘I’m no detective, I’m just a long-dead medical student. I’m no good at all at mysteries.’
‘All right,’ grinned Eoin, ‘don’t worry about that. I don’t want to even start explaining mobile phones to you!’
The trio sat chatting about school and rugby for a while, before Eoin had a brainwave.
‘Would you mind if I interviewed you about your life?’ he asked Kevin. ‘We have a big project to do in history class and you would be perfect.’
‘So I’m a part of history now?’ sighed Kevin.
‘Yes, kids in school are taught about you. Don’t you know that?’
‘No, I didn’t. But I suppose that’s nice, really. I just did my bit. It wasn’t much.’
‘I really would like to find out more about you. Please?’
‘Well, alright then. Bring your ink-pen and jotter down here tomorrow and we can talk.’
‘Eh … “ink-pen”? I think you’ve got a lot to learn about modern schools! OK then, I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Kevin disappeared and Eoin and Alan wandered back to the dorm.
‘Smart idea, Eoin,’ Alan said. ‘Sorry I didn’t think of it first.’
‘Yeah, well that’s why I’m Young Historian of the Year and you’re not,’ he laughed, turning up the pace and leaving Alan behind as he raced up the staircase.
Chapter 15
. . . . . . . . .
THE Junior Cup team’s first game was against St Osgur’s, and Eoin took his place on the touch-line in Donnybrook. These games always drew a large crowd both of pupils and past pupils of the schools, heaping even more pressure on the players.
That wasn’t something that concerned Eoin, who had kept his nerve to kick a last-second conversion in front of an almost-full Aviva Stadium to win the Father Geoghegan Cup. That had been an amazing experience, which capped his first year at Castlerock – and his first playing rugby.
It was different now – he was acknowledged as a very good player and his promotion to the JCT squad was recognition of this.
The teams lined up for press photographs, and as they broke up Eoin gave a wave to his classmates as they fooled around in various green and white outfits, carrying banners proclaiming the greatness of Castlerock.
The players certainly showed it on the field, romping to a 24-0 lead at half-time.
‘That was good work, lads,’ Mr Carey said at the break. ‘We are in good control up front, and the backs have kept everything simple. I want to empty the bench over the second half, to give you all a taste of a big crowd, but I won’t do anything till the last twenty minutes. Keep doing what you’re doing and try to build on that lead.’
The second row, JD Muldowney, scored two tries for Castlerock and widened the margin between them and St Osgur’s, and Mr Carey brought on four new forwards half-way through the second period. He nodded to Eoin and the rest of the replacements, and opened his hand wide to show them they would be on in five minutes.
Eoin kept his focus on the game, afraid to even think about his nerves, just preparing for his call-up.
‘Right, Madden, Touhy, Gillespie, warm up there. You’re on at the next break in play.’
