Granddad shook Jake’s and Alexis’s hands then turned to Barnaby And who’s this Oh hi Barnaby Woodstock said recognizing Barnaby for the first time Sorry I didn’t recognize you in that costume Granddad this is Barnaby Hello Bananaby Granddad said Alexis almost giggled Barnaby’s face turned more cherry than banana-colored BAR-NA-BY shouted Woodstock Oh never mind Barnaby can you help my granddad find a seat We have to go and get changed now Barnaby sighed as Granddad took his arm chatting away merrily Thank you Bananaby Unusual name Is it Scandinavian He dragged Barnaby off into the crowd Jake shook his head Poor Bananaby I mean Barnaby Woodstock chuckled Leave it to Granddad to come up with that one Yeah Barnaby really wanted to be on the team didn’t he Look never mind him Alexis said What’s important is that we win the Golden Ball trophy We did well in the first rounds and have been practicing extra hard As Mr Hyde always says what are we Winners Jake and Woodstock cheered but a sudden pang of worry hit Jake at the mention of their teacher Everyone knew that Mr Hyde was the best teacher in the universe Not everyone knew that Mr Hyde had an unfortunate habit of turning into a very naughty and chaos-creating creature when he got stressed or over-excited Let’s hope Mr Hyde doesn’t turn into Creature today he said We won’t be winners then we’ll just be in trouble We’ll help keep him as calm as possible said Alexis He said he’d sort out our jerseys and take them to the locker room Let’s go then Woodstock said The first game starts in about twenty minutes On their way Jake had a nagging feeling that something was wrong Then he
remembered what Amelia had said You’ll find out why I’m here in a bit What had she meant by that Uh oh What’s this Woodstock pointed as they approached the locker room Jake saw a small crowd of people Their two classmates Nora and Karl were there Facing them was the ponytailed pest Amelia Trotter-Hogg Even worse luck next to Amelia stood Mrs Blunt Mrs Blunt was dressed in a very sharp suit and huge sunglasses She was leaning toward Nora and Karl like a praying mantis about to strike
CHAPTER 2 Jersey Catastrophe Causes Chaos Jake Alexis and Woodstock ran up beside Nora What’s happening Jake asked her in a low voice Why is Amelia here Amelia is playing on our team now Nora said through gritted teeth What Why Alexis demanded Mrs Blunt leaned forward Rona was injured in a game yesterday and is unable to play today So I have decided to put Amelia on the team in her place But that’s ridiculous Alexis cried One of the substitutes should play Ralph or Oliver They’ve been to all the practices Amelia hasn’t been to a single one We’ve got a flawless game plan Nora added tapping her clipboard importantly Any change in line-up is going to cause major problems Amelia squinted at the clipboard What are all those numbers and scribbles That’s math not soccer Stick to what you’re good at boring Nor She shot a glance at Mrs Blunt and stopped
Nora looked as though she was about to whack Amelia with the flawless game plan Karl and Jake grabbed her Don’t Nora Jake muttered Mrs Blunt’s mouth twisted into what Jake imagined she thought was a smile but looked more like a shark getting ready to bite your legs off So it’s settled Amelia will replace Rona as vice-captain Mrs Blunt said Now if you’ll excuse me I have more important things to attend to She stomped away Alexis Nora Karl Jake and Woodstock looked at each other then at Amelia Amelia gave them an overjoyed smirk Alexis’s face went purple with rage I’m team captain and I’m not Helloooo What’s going on Jake looked up to see Mr Hyde bouncing toward them He was wearing a blue tracksuit bright orange shoes and a sweatband that made his hair stick up like a startled porcupine Over his shoulder hung a large bag
