Buch lesen: «The Barry Loser Series»

First published in Great Britain 2018 by Egmont UK Ltd, The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Text and illustration copyright © Jim Smith 2018 The moral rights of Jim Smith have been asserted.

ISBN 978 1 4502 8714 2 eISBN 978 1 7803 1804 2

barryloser.com www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

Printed and bound in Great Britain by the CPI Group

67190/1

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Ever since the World Cup started, everyone in school has been comperleeterly into football.

Like the other Saturday when my best friend Bunky was playing keepy uppy in Mogden Park.

‘A hundred and seventy seven, a hundred and seventy eight, a hundred and seventy nine . . .’ he counted, showing off how many times he could do it.

‘Pull the other one, Bunkoid,’ burped Darren Darrenofski, slurping on a can of World Cup flavour Fronkle. ‘Even Ronaldio Donaldio can’t do it that many times!’

Ronaldio Donaldio is the keelest footballer in the whole wide world amen. He plays for the Smeldovian football team, who everyone reckons are going to win the World Cup easily.

‘Ronaldio Donaldio?’ sniggled Nancy, looking up from the book she was reading. ‘That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard!’

Sharonella leaned her head on Nancy’s shoulder like she was a parrot. ‘Oh my days Nance,’ she squawked. ‘You trying to tell me you’ve never heard of Ronaldio Donaldio?’

Nancy shrugged. ‘I’m just not that into football,’ she said.

‘You don’t know what you’re missing, babes!’ said Sharonella, whipping a football card out of her pocket.

Gordon Smugly sidled up with his sort-of-servant, Stuart Shmendrix. ‘Ronaldio Donaldio?’ he said. ‘Yeah, he’s alright I spose.’

‘Think you’re pretty good then, do you?’ said a voice from behind us, and I turned round.

Standing in front of me were five really tall, smug-looking kids wearing shiny green football kits. On the front of their T-shirts were the words ‘Green Giants’.

Darren crumpled an empty Fronkle can in one hand and kicked it towards a bin. It flew straight over and donked a squirrel off a branch.

‘Who are you lot when you’re at home?’ barked Darren as the squirrel limped off.

‘We’re the Green Giants,’ said the kid at the front whose blonde hair was combed so neatly it looked like Nancy’s open book. He pointed at his T-shirt. ‘Can’t you Mogden losers read?’

Stuart Shmendrix pointed at Nancy. ‘We can read,’ he said. ‘Look, she’s reading right now.’

‘Whatever,’ said the kid next to the blonde one. ‘Come on Tarquin, let’s get out of here - it stinks!’

‘That’s cos of Mogden Sewage Works?’ said Sharonella, as if that was a good thing. ‘The smell blows over this way when the wind’s going in the right direction?’

‘Delightful,’ chuckled Tarquin. ‘Of course, we don’t have that problem up in Avocado Hill.’

Avocado Hill is the posh little village that sits on top of a slope overlooking Mogden Town.

Tarquin dropped the ball he was holding and kicked it back up with his foot, ducking to catch it on the back of his neck, then flicking his head to make it bounce into his hands again.

‘Pretty impressive,’ said Nancy. ‘And I don’t even like football.’

Tarquin turned to Bunky. ‘I was watching you keepy uppying,’ he said. ‘Not bad for a Mogdener.’

‘Fanks!’ grinned Bunky, who thinks he’s the best at football out of all of us, probably cos he is.

‘Tell you what,’ said Tarquin. ‘We’ve got a little stadium up in Avo Hill - nothing fancy, just a few hundred seats. You lot fancy a game next Saturday, after the World Cup final?’

Bunky looked at the ball in Tarquin’s hands and gulped. ‘Oh, er . . . I’m busy then,’ he said.

‘Me too,’ squawked Sharonella. ‘I’m going to the, um . . . toilet.’

‘With me!’ burped Darren, putting his hand up in the air.

Gordon pulled his phone out of his pocket. ‘Do you know what,’ he said, tapping the screen. ‘I’m fully booked for the next three weeks.’

‘He’s my boss,’ said Stuart, pointing at Smugly. ‘So looks like I’ll be tied up as well.’

I looked round at my friends. ‘How come I didn’t know about all these plans?’ I said.

Tarquin peered down at me. ‘You’re a funny little specimen, aren’t you?’ he chuckled.

‘What’s that sposed to mean?’ I asked.

The kid next to Tarquin rolled his eyes. ‘Your pals are making excuses,’ he explained. ‘They’re just afraid to play the Green Giants.’

You know when you’re the last person to work something out and it makes you feel all stupid, so you say something cocky to make yourself look keel?

‘We’ll see you on Saturday,’ I said, twizzling round to face the Green Giants. ‘And we’re gonna smash you avocados into a paste!’

The Green Giants wandered off and Bunky glared at me. ‘What in the name of unkeelness was that all about?’ he cried.

‘What are you afraid of, Bunky?’ I said, pretending it was no big deal. ‘I thought you were the best footballer in Mogden School!’

‘I spose that IS true,’ said Bunky.

‘But we don’t even have a team,’ warbled Stuart.

‘Well then,’ I said, still trying to make up for looking like a loser three minutes earlier. ‘We’d better make one!’

Bunky stroked the bit of his face where his beard’ll be when he’s older. ‘Hmm, let me see,’ he said. ‘I’d be up front, of keelse. Darren, you can go in midfield. Shazza and Stuart in defence and Gordon in goal.’

‘Wait a millisecond,’ I said. ‘What about me and Nancy?’

‘Leave me out of this,’ said Nancy, not even looking up from her book.

‘You don’t want to play do you, Barry?’ asked Bunky.

Darren cracked open another Fronkle. ‘Yeah Loser,’ he said. ‘You’re rubbish at football!’

‘No I’m not!’ I said, even though it was true. I scratched my head, and my brain wriggled inside its skull, immedikeely coming up with one of its amazekeel ideas.

‘I’ve got it!’ I cried. ‘I can be your football coach!’

‘You have got to be kidding,’ laughed Gordon.

Darren took a slurp of Fronkle. ‘Forgeddaboudit, Loser,’ he belched.

‘Oh PLEEEASE,’ I said, immedikeely losing my keelness and dropping to my knees. ‘Don’t leave me on the sidelines with nobody to talk to!’

Nancy looked up from her book. ‘Ahem?’ she ahemed.

‘No offence, Nance,’ I said, peering up at Bunky. ‘What d’you reckon, Captain?’ I smiled, calling him that so he’d go along with my plan.

Bunky ruffled my hair like I was his son. ‘It’s a nice idea, Baz, but you don’t actukeely know anything about football, do you?’

‘That fact might be ever-so-slighterly true,’ I said, getting up off my knees. ‘But I’m pretty good at bossing people about!’

‘And you think that’s all it takes to be a coach?’ said Gordon.

‘Oui,’ I said, showing off I could say ‘yes’ in French, because I’ve been learning it in school.

Sharonella’s nose crinkled up. ‘Urgh, we don’t need to hear about your toilet habits, Barry!’ she said.

‘Yeah, Losoid,’ said Darren. ‘Nice idea about the team, but I don’t think we’ll be needing your services, okay?’

‘Right that’s it,’ I said, stomping my foot and preparing to activate Operation Pain au Chocolat. ‘I didn’t want to do this, but it looks like I’m gonna have to.’