Casketball Capers Read online

  Casketball Capers

  Peter Bently

  Illustrated by Chris Harrison

  Albert Whitman & Company

  Chicago, Illinois

  For Theo and Tara

  P.B.

  For my family

  C.H.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  School Time

  Chapter 2

  Bat Lessons

  Chapter 3

  Boris the Bat

  Chapter 4

  Growler the Fouler

  Chapter 5

  Mr. Tut in a Tangle

  Chapter 6

  Boris to the Rescue

  Chapter 1

  School Time

  Lee Price was nine years old. He lived with his mom and dad in an ordinary house in an ordinary street and, like most nine-year-olds, he went to school every day.

  Or rather, every night.

  That’s because St. Orlok’s Elementary School was no ordinary school, and Lee was no ordinary boy.

  St. Orlok’s was a school for young vampires. Young vampires like Lee Price.

  At St. Orlok’s, Lee and his friends learned to do all the things that vampires do.

  Like cloak-swishing…

  Scary staring…

  Tying a bow tie…

  Losing your reflection…

  Flossing your fangs…

  And cooking without garlic.

  Early one night, Lee’s mom called up the stairs, just like she did every evening.

  “Lee! Time to get up for school!”

  Lee blinked sleepily in the bright moonlight.

  “Aw,” he groaned. “Just five more minutes!”

  “No, dear. It’s already ten past eight. If you don’t get up now you’ll be late.”

  Lee got dressed and went down to the kitchen for breakfast.

  Dad was getting ready to go to work. He patted Lee on the head.

  “See you later, Lee,” he said. “Have a good night at school. And good luck in the game. Don’t let any of those werewolves near the casket!”

  “Thanks, Dad, I won’t,” grinned Lee, gulping down a mouthful of blood-orange juice.

  Lee was on the St. Orlok’s school casketball team. Casketball was the vampire version of basketball. Today they were playing in the Junior Interschool Series against the werewolves of Chaney Street Elementary School.

  With a little POP! Dad changed into a bat and fluttered out of the kitchen window.

  Then Lee remembered.

  “Hey, Mom! We’re starting bat lessons today! We’re learning how to turn into bats and how to fly. I can’t wait!”

  “Come on then,” said Mom, looking at her watch. “Got your casketball uniform? Good. Now put your cloak on and run upstairs to comb your hair. And don’t forget to brush your fangs.”

  Chapter 2

  Bat Lessons

  Mom left Lee at the gates of St. Orlok’s. She gave him a peck on the cheek, said, “See you at half past three,” then with a POP! she turned into a bat and flapped back home.

  Lee ran to join Bella Williams and Billy Pratt, his best friends at school. They were all in Miss Gargoyle’s class and were very excited about their first bat lesson.

  “Being a bat will be great,” said Lee. “We’ll be able to fly to the tops of trees instead of climbing them.”

  “No way!” said Billy, who didn’t like heights. “The best thing will be flying really fast.”

  “Did you know that there are over a thousand types of bats?” said Bella. “Mom bought me a book about it. I wonder what kind we’ll turn into…”

  “Duh,” said Lee. “Vampire bats, of course.”

  Lee, Billy, and Bella reached their classroom just as Miss Gargoyle was about to take attendance.

  “Settle down now, children,” said Miss Gargoyle. “Tonight I will show you one of the most important vampire skills—how to turn into a bat!”

  The children all gathered around.

  “First of all, you must think really hard about being a bat,” said Miss Gargoyle. She closed her eyes.

  “My arms are not arms but bat wings. My legs are little bat legs. My body is small and furry. My head is a bat’s head with big bat ears. Got that?”

  “Yes, Miss Gargoyle,” chorused the class.

  “Next, I say these words to myself—

  I’m a bat, a bat is me,

  A bat is all I want to be.”

  With a soft POP! Miss Gargoyle changed into a little brown bat flapping in front of the blackboard.

  “See?” squeaked Miss Gargoyle. “To change back, just say—

  Pointy fangs

  and swishing cape.

  It’s time to take on

  vampire shape.”

  With another POP! Miss Gargoyle changed back into a vampire.

  “Remember, don’t POP! too loudly or Fangless folk might hear,” she said. “Right, now you all try.”

  Lee, Bella, and Billy soon found that changing into a bat wasn’t as easy as it looked.

  At first, Lee only managed to change his arms…

  And Bella changed everything except her head…

  Billy changed himself into a cat…

  and then a rat.

  But finally there was a POP! and suddenly Lee was flapping around the room.

  “I did it! I did it!” he squeaked. “I’m a bat!”

  Chapter 3

  Boris the Bat

  By lunchtime the classroom was full of little bats giggling with glee.

  “Well done, class!” said Miss Gargoyle. “After recess we’ll practice hanging upside down. There’ll be a little time before the werewolves arrive for the casketball game.”

  At recess Lee and his friends hurried outside. They couldn’t wait to practice turning into bats.

  It was a lot trickier without Miss Gargoyle there to help. First of all, Lee’s left half became a bat but his right half stayed the same…

  Bella turned into a huge ball of bat fur…

  And Billy turned into a bag.

  But at last they did it. With a POP! POP! POP! they were all fluttering around the playground.

  “Come on,” said Bella. “Let’s all play hide-and-seek! I’ll count to twenty.” She shut her eyes.

  “One, two, three—”

  Quick as a flash, Billy darted out of sight. Lee looked around for a hiding place. On a window ledge? No, Bella would spot him too easily.

  “Four, five, six—”

  Inside the school trash cans? Poo! Too smelly!

  “Seven, eight, nine—”

  “Aha!” thought Lee. “Behind the school gates!”

  But Billy was already hiding there.

  “Buzz off, Lee!” he said. “You’ll give us both away!”

  “Ten, eleven, twelve—”

  “Yikes!” cried Lee. “This is harder than I thought!”

  “Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen—”

  DONG! The school clock struck midnight.

  “That’s it!” Lee thought suddenly. “The clock tower! What better place for a bat to hide than in a belfry?

  “Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen—”

  Lee made it to the tower just as Bella cried, “Nineteen, twenty. Ready or not, here I come!”

  Lee darted through a hole in the school clock—and bumped straight into another bat.

  “Hey, watch where you’re going!” said the bat.

  “Sorry!” said Lee.

  He didn’t recognize the other bat, so he said, “My name’s Lee. What’s yours?”

  “Boris,” grunted the bat gruffly.

  “Hi Boris,” smiled Lee. “I’m in Miss Gargoyle’s class. Which class are you in?”

  “Class?” snorted Boris. “Oh, I’m not one of you silly vampire kid
s. I’m a real bat.”

  “A real bat!” gasped Lee. “Wow! Cool!”

  “That’s right,” said Boris. “You vampires think you’re so clever, turning into bats and all. But you can’t do half the things a real bat can do. Watch this!”

  Boris folded his wings and dropped like a stone, all the way down to the bottom of the tower.

  “Hey!” yelled Lee in terror. “Watch out!”

  Boris was just about to hit the ground when he opened his wings and pulled up at the last moment. He fluttered back up to Lee.

  “See?” said Boris. “Now you go and play with those vampire friends of yours. Belfries are for real bats.”

  “But I’m supposed to be hiding,” said Lee. “Can’t I stay for a while? I’d love to learn some real bat tricks. They’re so cool!”

  Boris shrugged. “Well, all right. Just for a little while though. I don’t want any of my friends to think I hang out with vampires.”

  Lee was delighted. With Boris to help he tried dive-bombing…

  looping the loop…

  and dodging things with his eyes shut.

  “Not bad,” said Boris with a grin. “Not bad at all. For a vampire.”

  Just then the school clock struck one.

  “Yikes!” cried Lee. “That was loud!” Then he remembered. “One o’clock! I’ll be late for class! See you soon, Boris. And thanks for the tricks!”

  Chapter 4

  Growler the Fouler

  Lee zoomed out of the belfry and back to his classroom. The others had already started to practice hanging upside down.

  “Come along now, Lee Price!” said Miss Gargoyle sternly. “You’re late. Don’t hang around. Or rather, DO hang around. Hurry up and find an empty place.”

  Billy and Bella had saved Lee a space on the curtains.

  “Where were you hiding?” whispered Bella.

  “Yeah, we couldn’t find you anywhere,” said Billy.

  “I was in the clock tower,” said Lee. “I met this real bat called Boris. He’s so cool.”

  He was about to tell them more when they heard a toot-toot and saw a bus driving through the school gates.

  “Look,” said Bella. “The werewolves are here!”

  “Aha!” said Miss Gargoyle, fluttering over to the window. “Lee, Billy, and Bella, you’d better go and get ready for the game. The rest of us will be waiting to cheer you on!”

  By the time the St. Orlok’s team got changed, the Chaney Street werewolves were already out on the field warming up under the floodlights.

  Lee jogged over to Ollie Talbot, his friend on the werewolf team.

  “Hi Ollie,” he said. “Guess what? We had our first bat lessons today!”

  “Cool!” said Ollie. “So this means you’re even battier than usual.”

  “Ha-ha, very funny,” groaned Lee. Ollie was always making terrible jokes.

  Just then, a big werewolf pointed at them and sneered.

  “Uh-oh, here comes Robbie Growler,” sighed Ollie. “Just ignore him.”

  “What! Growler the Fouler?” said Lee.

  “That’s him,” said Ollie. “The dirtiest player in Chaney Street. He’s our new shooter.”

  There were two forwards, called shooters, on each team, and they scored most of the points. The vampire shooters were Bella, who was tall for her age, and an older girl named Naz Patel.

  There were also three dodgers, whose main job was to keep the ball away from their own casket and pass it, dribble it, roll it, or throw it into the hands of the shooters.

  Billy, who was small and very fast, was a fantastic dodger. The sixth player on each side was the ghoulkeeper, who defended the casket. That was Lee’s job.

  “Hey, Ollie,” cried Growler. “Why are you talking to that sucker, huh? Get it? Sucker! Huh-huh-huh!” He loped up the field, snickering stupidly.

  Lee was furious. He picked up a stick.

  “Lee, no!” gasped Ollie. “He’ll make mincemeat out of you!”

  Lee grinned.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hit him. Just watch.”

  Growler turned around and snarled. Lee whistled as if he were calling a dog, then threw the stick toward him.

  “Here boy!” he called. “Good boy! Fetch!”

  The vampires all laughed, and so did Ollie and most of the other werewolves—when Growler wasn’t looking.

  Bella and Billy were in stitches. Growler glared at Lee.

  “Come here, you little squirt,” he growled. “I feel like a snack.”

  “Now, now!” said Mr. Tut, the

  mummy referee. “There’ll be none of that, please! I want a good, clean game!”

  Chapter 5

  Mr. Tut in a Tangle

  The two casketball teams took up their positions. Mr. Tut blew his whistle and the game began.

  Billy got the ball and whizzed past the three werewolf dodgers before bouncing it to Naz Patel.

  The vampires cheered Naz on as she charged toward the Chaney Street casket—with Growler close behind.

  “Go on, Naz!” cried Lee.

  Then he noticed that Growler kept looking at Mr. Tut, who was fiddling with a loose bandage on his head.

  Growler’s up to something, thought Lee.

  He was right. Just then, the loose bandage slipped over the referee’s eyes and Growler grinned.

  “Watch out, Naz!” cried Bella, who was already up by the Chaney Street casket.

  It was too late. While Mr. Tut was busy with his bandages, Growler grabbed the back of Naz’s shirt and punched the ball out of her hands.

  “That’s a foul, ref!” cried the vampires.

  But it was no good. Mr. Tut hadn’t seen a thing.

  “Thanks for the ball, sucker,” cackled Growler, as Naz stumbled and fell to the ground. “Huh-huh-huh!”

  Growler headed off toward the vampire casket.

  “Stop him, Billy!” cried Lee, as Growler closed in on the St. Orlok’s dodgers.

  But the huge werewolf snarled at Billy so fiercely that he leaped out of his way in terror.

  Now there was nothing between Growler and the casket except Lee. Growler made a move to the left, and Lee followed him. But then the werewolf quickly swung the other way, pounced high off the ground—and slammed the ball into the casket.

  The werewolf supporters all cried, “Point!” and howled and whooped in delight. Five points to Chaney Street!

  So it went on. Every time Mr. Tut’s loose bandage slipped over his eyes, Growler pushed, pulled, or tripped up one of the vampire players and kicked or punched the ball out of their hands.

  By halftime the vampires still hadn’t scored.

  “It’s no use,” moaned Lee as the teams went off for the break. “We don’t stand a chance with Growler on their side.”

  “I know,” agreed Bella. “It’s not fair. He’s such a cheater.”

  “Yeah, and the ref is as blind as a bat,” said Billy.

  “Blind as a bat,” Lee said to himself, “I wonder…”

  With a POP! Lee suddenly turned into a bat.

  “Back in five minutes!” he said, and flitted off.

  “Hey, where’s he going?” asked Bella.

  “Dunno,” said Billy. “Looks like he’s heading for the clock tower…”

  Chapter 6

  Boris to the Rescue

  In the second half of the game, St. Orlok’s managed to keep the werewolves from scoring, but Growler made sure that no one got anywhere near the Chaney Street casket.

  Even when he wasn’t cheating, he was so big and fierce that most of the vampires were terrified of him.

  One minute from the end of the game, the score was still 5-0, and it looked like the werewolves were going to win. Then Billy got the ball and skillfully bounced it to Bella.

  “Go Bella!” cried Lee, as Bella zipped past several werewolves.

  “Watch out for Growler!” yelled Billy.

  Sure enough, Mr. Tut was soon fiddling with the flapping bandages over his
eyes. Growler saw his chance to cheat and thundered down the court after Bella. But just as he reached her, a small black thing dived out of the sky and grabbed hold of Mr. Tut’s loose bandage.

  It was Boris the bat!

  Boris lifted the bandage just in time for Mr. Tut to see Growler giving Bella a great shove. With a SPLAT! she landed on her bottom in the mud.

  “Huh-huh-huh!” chuckled Growler, running off with the ball. “So long, sucker.”

  Mr. Tut was blowing his whistle.

  “Foul! One penalty point to the vampires and a free throw at the casket!”

  “Nice one, Boris!” grinned Lee.

  “Don’t mention it,” said Boris.

  Growler pointed angrily at Boris. “Hey, ref!” he cried. “One of them’s changed into a bat!”

  Turning into a bat was against the rules. Any vampire caught doing it would be benched at once.

  “Nonsense!” said Mr. Tut. “Vampire bats have got big fangs. And besides, we’d have heard it go POP! This is a real bat. And it’s very useful, too. Play on!”