by Paul Cude
Towards the end of her supposed arc, Emma drew back her stick slightly, as if to make that same throw towards her captain and friend. Lunging in desperation, the defender chasing her tried despairingly to block the pass, but ended up instead crashing to the floor for her valiant efforts. The defenders in front of her reacted in almost the same way, throwing themselves between the two Salisbridge players. Not Attitude though, she stood her ground, front foot forward, looking as menacing as ever. It was then that Richie slammed the brakes on, dried mud and dust mushrooming up from the bottom of her shoes, so quickly had she drawn to a halt. Attitude's look of menace transformed immediately to one of confusion. Smiling as she watched Emma continue on her arcing run, Richie could barely contain her delight as her friend drew the goalie slightly, before flinging the ball across to Joey who'd sneaked in on the other post and, taking the ball first time, smashed it into the back of the net. The Avalon Avengers looked as though a hurricane had whirled down the centre of the pitch to devastating effect.
High fives all round for Salisbridge, followed by raucous cheering from the crowd, put a smile on each one of the girls' faces, including their captain, as once again they took their positions for the restart.
Salisbridge scored two more goals in quick succession, one for Emma and another for Richie. Attitude's disappointment was there for all to see, especially when her named nemesis scored. But the rest of the Avengers seemed to be coping with it all right, given that the match was for charity and they themselves had all raised sponsorship money to play in it.
It was at about this point that Richie started to feel like her old self again... well, almost. Something inside her seemed very different, but try as she might she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. She felt like a jigsaw puzzle with the very last piece missing, albeit an outside piece, one that made very little difference to the overall picture. At least that's the closest way she could get to explaining it. But beneath all the confusion, a bubbling concoction of anxiety and vulnerability trickled around her relatively new (not that she had any idea of that) body, masked at the moment by the flood of adrenaline from the thrill and excitement of the lacrosse that she loved so much, and which had become such an integral part of her life (both before and after her recent change in bodily circumstances).
After many more transitions (sloppy passes being intercepted from both teams seemed to have been a common theme for the past ten minutes or so) the match entered its final eight minutes. Currently the Avengers had the ball and were passing it around the goal circle, with the home side defending for their lives, working hard to pressure all the passers. The Somerset side were looking to exploit any holes in the Salisbridge defence, but the home team had made some defensive adjustments over the last few minutes and the holes that had been there had now disappeared.
Angela closed down her player behind the goal, giving her no room at all, weaving this way and that with her, keeping her stick in line with that of her attacker's. But the Avengers player, Fancy Trainers as Richie had named her within her head, had more than a modicum of calm about her. She didn't panic but continued to duck and weave, turn and dodge, all the time the ball cradled in the head of her stick, looking for the perfect pass to one of her teammates. Harriet darted back and forth in front of goal, trying to cover whichever side the Avengers player moved behind. Jan, Angela and Tina all stuck with their players, getting their bodies in front, staying tight on the woman adjacent to the ball, hoping to slow the flow of momentum by the ball carrier.
Fancy Trainers dropped her shoulder, twisted one way and then quickly turned back the other. Angela moved with her, but her foot slipped on the well crafted turf, allowing her opponent a slight advantage which she duly took, flinging the ball out wide left to the attacker who Richie thought of as Pony Tail, who had managed to just get in front of Salisbridge's Poppy. Both teams were in full swing now, totally absorbed in the match. To each and every one of them nothing else existed, each pumped full of adrenaline, each totally focused and immersed in their roles, with the sole purpose of winning the match.
Pony Tail charged towards goal, stick cradling the ball, its twisting and turning motion like the gears on a child's bike. Ali left her player, drawn towards the ball at speed. Giving it all she had, the Avengers player pulled back the head of her stick. But Ali had made up an incredible amount of ground, so much so that nobody would have believed it had they not seen it for themselves, and was able to make a beautiful check and come away with the ball. The Avengers were stunned, along with most of the home side. Not Sue though, who was off to the left, waving her stick frantically in the air, hoping her teammate would spot her. She did, and let fly with an inch perfect pass that Sue was able to snare on the run.
Peeling away from the position she'd taken up on the right, Richie was now heading in field to try and help Sue. Joey had continued her run down the left flank in front of Sue, but was being marked one to one by an Avengers defender who Richie thought of as Whippet. Meanwhile, Emma had crossed paths with Richie on a diagonal run, dragging her marker out wide right to where her captain had just come from, creating a great big hole for her friend to run into. Glancing up, Sue spotted Richie dashing towards her. With footfalls coming up fast behind her, Sue thrust out her stick, sending the ball on a trajectory towards her captain. Seizing the ball out of the warm air, Richie spun sharply, changing her direction and heading straight towards the opposition's goal, grasping her stick with just her right hand, although comfortable on the run with either. It would have been hard to find a better demonstration of stick handling on the entire planet at that precise moment.
Swarming all over the Avengers, the Salisbridge team's midfielders were breaking their necks to catch up with play, in the hope of scoring another goal. Turning her head, Richie hoped to catch sight of that elusive run from one of her teammates, one that she could pick out and then thread the eye of the needle, one that would almost certainly lead to a goal. But at the moment, it just wasn't on. So with little option, she kept hold of the ball, jinking and turning, ducking and dodging.
Sue had come inside from her left position, after her storming run up the outside and pinpoint accurate pass to Richie, and although slightly behind play, she had a pretty clear view of what was going on. And what she saw bothered her... A LOT! The Avengers' huge, muscular defender had murder in her eyes, the object of her rage being Richie, at least that's the way it looked to Sue. Not knowing what else to do, she pushed her burning legs as fast as they would move and beyond, hoping at the very least to warn her captain, who seemed momentarily distracted, looking around for that perfect pass.
Having slowed her run, Richie turned and cut inside, running in an arc right in front of the goal, but some way out, thinking about the possibility of a shot, as currently no obvious pass presented itself. In the past, despite the difficulty, she had scored from just this kind of range. As this thought flickered in and then out of her consciousness, her internal sense of danger sprang from nothing into a high pitched screaming voice, warning her of an impending threat. Tilting her head right, she could just make out Attitude charging at full speed towards her, stick in an almost horizontal position, about to make contact. The only thing she had time to think was, 'This is going to hurt.' But to her surprise, and that of the hulking great defender, Sue quite literally flew between the two of them, taking the full force of Attitude's stick on her right arm, a sickening sound echoing around the pitch from the contact. Immediately she hit the ground, shrieking out in pain as she did so. Instantly Richie was at her side, her stick with the ball still cradled in it discarded on the turf beside her.
Abruptly the official's shrill whistle rang out across the pitch, louder and sharper than it had sounded at any other point in the match. Storming across the pitch towards the villain of the piece, Attitude, the umpire pulled out a yellow card, held it out in front of her face, said the words, "Illegal contact," and signalled with his arm towards the penalty area, to which she duly trudg
ed off to serve her two minute suspension.
Most of the Salisbridge team, with the exception of Harriet the goalie and Angela the defender, had gathered around Sue, who was now at least sitting up on the pristine turf, nursing her injured arm. Suddenly, making a big fuss, a stern looking woman in a black uniform came barging through.
"St John's ambulance... let me through please. Clear the way!"
Both sets of players surrounding Sue all took a step back. Richie stayed where she was, right by Sue's side, as the woman placed her medical kit on the ground and started to carefully take a look at the damaged arm. Immediately it became clear that Sue would take no further part in the match, and judging from the dark purple colour that was rapidly spreading from the site of the impact, a trip to hospital looked inevitable. As indeed it was! Sue was led off to the waiting ambulance, with Jan promising to pack up her sticks and the rest of her kit and meet her there. Richie tried to accompany her friend on the walk across to the ambulance, but the stern looking woman waved her away, telling her in no uncertain terms to get back to her match. So reluctantly she did, wandering back to find her stick and the ball, as well as an... argument! Joey, the Salisbridge winger, was currently being restrained by Emma and Poppy, all the while telling the Avengers left on the pitch exactly what she thought about their new player. And although Emma and Poppy were trying to make peace (after all, this was a friendly match, being played for charity) they couldn't help but echo her sentiments. Richie intervened by stepping between Joey and their opponents.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"THAT," spat Joey, "was nothing short of deliberate. And everyone here knows it."
Quiet, impossibly so, that was a fitting description of the entire Avengers team. They had all seen quite clearly what had happened, with some now in a state of shock, and others unsure of how to deal with the situation. Normally you stuck by your teammates, but this was something else altogether.
The matter was settled by the Salisbridge captain who, like everybody else, knew that the attack was meant for her, and was very much premeditated.
"Enough!" she ordered. "We have a game to play, in front of all these wonderful spectators, and I for one want to show them what our sport is all about. Passion, power, aggression, agility, all channelled in the right way... into playing our beloved sport. But let's not forget fairness, sporting behaviour, teamwork and just the sheer exhilaration of actually playing. Let them see us all having fun. I for one don't turn up and do this because I have to and it's a chore. I play because I want to, because the thrill I get is like nothing else." At this point something deep within her subconscious tickled her brain, wriggling just outside her reach, elusive but there, promising something more, something else, something... forgotten! "I love playing this sport, as I'm pretty sure all of you do. Let's show everybody how it should be played, and let's damn well enjoy it!"
With the Avengers all nodding in agreement, echoing every sentiment that Richie had just expressed, Joey pulled free of her teammates and headed out towards the wing. Richie picked up her stick with the ball still lodged inside it, and everybody else took up their positions.
With the award of a free position, both teams stood ready to start, both a player down, with Sue heading off to hospital in the ambulance, Salisbridge not having any substitutes, and Attitude for the Avengers being consigned to the penalty area for the next two minutes. Turning to look at Emma, Richie gave her friend a very crafty wink, something Emma returned, unseen to everyone but Richie. They'd practised this over and over. Now it was time to see if it worked. The umpire blew his whistle. Richie took off towards the outside of the right post of the goal, legs moving as fast as they could, stick turning all the time. Emma crossed behind her friend, already a touch in front of the opponent marking her. The Avengers keeper stepped forward to narrow the angle. Just before she reached the goal circle, Richie swivelled round and, on the move, flicked the ball back across the front edge of the goal circle. Wrong footed for a split second, the Avengers' goalie had absolutely no chance as Emma swept up the ball and hurled it into the bottom left corner of the goal. Perfect!
Once again the team all rejoiced, much more muted this time though, due to Sue's injury. The match quickly resumed, with the Avengers controlling the draw and immediately going on the offensive. Richie watched, frustrated, as the opponents she liked to think of as Pony Tail and Rake combined a wicked one-two, resulting in Pony Tail getting a fabulous shot off. It looked like Harriet had saved the best for last though, instantly stretching out her leg, turning the ball just around the post with the tip of her boot, brushing the sweat away from around the chin strap of her helmet with her gloved hand (not easy at the best of times) as she leapt back up, ready for another onslaught. However, Salisbridge had gained possession, but a poor pass from Angela saw the ball that was meant for Joey out wide on the left, travel into the crowd, out of bounds. With a little over three minutes left, the umpire blew his whistle and signalled to Attitude that she could once again take to the field. As she jogged back towards the Avengers' goal, she turned towards Richie, an ominous snarl scrawled across her face.
With the clock ticking down, Salisbridge were on the back foot. Although leading 5-1, they were all determined not to concede another goal and if at all possible, regain possession and score at least one more themselves. To this end, they were all defending valiantly, marking tightly, throwing themselves into check after check, desperate to retrieve the ball. In the end, the one Richie thought of as Rake became ever more impatient, shooting from an almost ridiculous distance, never really standing a chance of beating a goalkeeper of Harriet's quality from that far out.
Knowing that there was still just time for one more attack, Harriet's oversized stick propelled the ball out near the touchline on the right to Poppy, who on capturing the ball took off at full pelt, leaving the tired and weary Avengers player who was supposedly marking her, well behind. Both teams knew this was the last play of the game, something that spurred the home team on, while at the same time drained their opposition, despite the Avengers now having a one player advantage. With superior numbers on this attack, picking a pass was relatively simple for Poppy, and after having laid it off to Rachel in the centre of the pitch, continued on with her run.
Rachel moved forward quickly, not quite at a sprint but certainly fast enough to show that she was aware of the time counting down. By now, and with both the delay at the start of the match, half time, and the time it had taken to deal with Sue's injury, all the other matches had long since finished, with most of the spectators and players crowding around what now seemed like a very tiny lacrosse pitch.
With the Somerset team having almost given up, Rachel, like Poppy before her, had more than a couple of options, but very single-mindedly knew what she was looking for. And then she saw it. Richie was making a sweeping run in from the right, her body language screaming for the ball. This was the pass that Rachel had been looking for, this was the one that would gain them the goal. Mechanically she cast the ball to the onrushing Richie, its target. But as if from nowhere, up popped Emma's stick, her route intersecting that of her captain's. With a flourish, she plucked the ball out of the air, all in one graceful move and at top speed headed towards the goal circle. Only two players remained between her and the ideal end to the game. Their goalie and Richie's nemesis... Attitude.
By now, Emma's body had decided on a course of action. Feinting left but cutting back right, she drew her stick back a touch before unleashing a rip-roaring shot that was heading straight for the bottom left corner of the goal as she looked at it. The shot was so good that she was already wheeling away, raising her stick aloft in celebration.
If Emma had been watching, she would have seen something absolutely amazing happen, probably in fact the best piece of skill in the game so far. Attitude the defender managed to intercept the speeding shot, her reactions akin to a Greek god.
A collective intake of breath from almost all those watching at
once, was Emma's first clue that all had not gone to plan. The lack of applause for the would-be goal just confirmed it.
Richie slowed to a halt, hanging a little back from Emma, who had just stolen the goal scoring opportunity away from her. She didn't begrudge the young forward her moment of glory, quite the opposite in fact. In Richie's opinion Emma deserved the man of the match award for her outstanding performance on and off the pitch, especially after her rousing speech at half time. As captain, she was just grateful to make it to the end of the game without anyone else getting hurt, and knowing that they'd put on a valiant display of lacrosse for everyone who'd turned out to watch and support this great event. Watching in admiration as Emma unleashed her shot, she'd just taken half a step in her teammate's direction to congratulate her, when it happened. Richie stood gobsmacked. The take was out of this world, and one that she herself could only have dreamt of. How the ball hadn't gone flying into the back of the net, she had no idea. But she had no time to dwell on that particular thought now, because Attitude was only a few yards away, ball firmly cradled in the crosse of her stick, eyes firmly focused on Richie, stomping very angrily towards her.
Fear welled up inside her. Proper, overwhelming, can't move a muscle fear. It felt like a completely new experience, which in itself seemed odd. Her mind screamed out at her to react but, momentarily, her body wouldn't obey, it was so afraid. In what seemed like a faraway place, the ring around her neck burned her flesh, almost as if trying to get her attention.
One word resounded through her head. 'REVENGE!' She knew what she had to do, and she didn't give a stuff about the consequences as she approached the woman who'd ruined it all.