T.J. and the Hat-trick by Theo Walcott Page B

happened.
    ‘Nice one,’ called Jamie. ‘Oh!’
    TJ opened his eyes and saw the ball ballooning high over the wall and into the garden beyond. They all stood, listening.
    ‘I don’t think it broke anything,’ Tulsi said at last.
    Rafi looked around the playground. Janice was busy with a little girl who’d cut her knee and all the other dinner ladies were laughing together. No one was watching. ‘We can get it if we’re quick,’ Rafi said.
    ‘Jamie should go,’ said Tulsi. ‘It was a terrible cross.’
    TJ looked at the wall. He could climb it easily. ‘I headed it,’ he said. ‘I’ll go.’ And before they could argue he had pulled himself up onto the top of the wall and dropped into the garden below.

C HAPTER 3
    TJ HAD LANDED in the middle of some very prickly bushes. His heart was beating fast. What if there was a fierce dog? What if there was someone actually in the garden?
    He peered out from between the bushes. He could see a narrow strip of grass, and flower beds, and some garden chairs. He could see the windows staring down at him like eyes, but he couldn’t see the football. The shouts from the playground on the other side of the wall seemed a long way away. Then he heard Tulsi’s voice as her head popped over the wall.
    ‘It’s down there,’ she hissed, pointing. ‘By that chair. Quick!’
    TJ ran out from the bushes, dashed across the grass and picked up the ball. When he turned back, Tulsi’s face had gone. He ran to the foot of the wall, chucked the ball over, and began to climb. ‘It was easy,’ he said, as he reached the top. ‘I—’
    He stopped. There wasn’t a sound from the playground. He looked down and saw Janice and the other dinner ladies, all standing there looking up at him.
    But that wasn’t all. A woman teacher with a long skirt and a little black jacket was walking across the playground towards them. She had short grey hair and enormous glasses that made her eyes look huge. ‘You, boy!’ she yelled at TJ, waving her hand at him. ‘Get down from there at once.’
    Danny was walking by her side. ‘I told you, Mrs Logan,’ he said. ‘Mr Wood confiscated that ball this morning. I bet they nicked it from the classroom.’
    ‘No, we didn’t,’ Tulsi said. ‘Mr Wood brought us the ball himself. And he said we could play here.’
    ‘Be quiet, Tulsi,’ Mrs Logan snapped. ‘Give me that football, Rafi, and go and stand by the wall. And the rest of you too. No, not you,’ she said to TJ. ‘You can have a word with Mr Burrows. I haven’t met you before, have I?’
    ‘No, miss,’ TJ said. ‘I’m new. This is my first day.’
    ‘Wait,’ called Mr Wood, hurrying across the playground. ‘Is there a problem, Mrs Logan?’
    ‘I should jolly well think there is, Mr Wood. The children in your class have been causing havoc with this football, which they took from your classroom without permission.’
    ‘I think there’s been a misunderstanding,’ Mr Wood said with a smile. ‘I gave them the ball. And I asked these lovely ladies to clear a space for them to practise in. Isn’t that right, ladies?’
    Janice laughed. ‘It’s true, Mrs Logan. Rafi and his friends were playing nicely too.’
    Mrs Logan started to go red. She gave Danny a very nasty look. ‘Well,’ she said finally. ‘That doesn’t alter the fact that this boy was caught red-handed climbing over the wall. He’s in serious trouble.’
    ‘Well, it is his first day,’ Mr Wood said. ‘Do you mind if I deal with him, Mrs Logan?’
    ‘Fine,’ Mrs Logan said, after a long pause. ‘But I shall be keeping an eye on you, young man.’
    ‘Did you cause any damage?’ Mr Wood asked TJ as Mrs Logan walked away with her nose in the air.
    ‘No, Mr Wood.’
    ‘Well, even so, it wasn’t a sensible thing to do. Don’t do it again.’
    ‘I won’t. Sorry, Mr Wood.’
    TJ
tried
to look sorry, but it was hard, because he could see that there was a glint in Mr Wood’s eye as he gazed after Mrs