The big horses tipped over the water trough and hay manger to make them into goals, while Brisa and Sirocco dragged a stick across the paddock to draw their “soccer field’s” center line. Then Kona clopped her front hooves together.
“Perfect!” she said. “There’s only one thing missing.”
“What’s that?” Sumatra asked, perplexed.
“Well,” Kona responded, “Leanna and her friends had a grown-up working with them. Someone who knew all the rules and kept score. You know—a referee.”
“Okay,” Benny said with a shrug. “So we need a referee.”
“But who should it be?” Kona said, forcing her face into an innocent expression. “Are any of you interested?”
Sirocco snorted.
“Oh, please,” he said, waving a hoof at Kona. “We all know you’re going to be the referee. You know the rules of the game the best. And you want to be the referee the most. And besides, you’re too bossy not to be the referee.”
“I’m not bossy!” Kona protested.
She saw the big and little horses exchange glances and suppress giggles. Well, except for Thelma—who laughed right out loud.
Kona decided to ignore this slight. She didn’t want to give Thelma any reason to call off the game. Instead, she said primly, “Well, it is true that I paid the most attention to Leanna’s soccer game. So, Sirocco, if you were nominating me to be referee, I accept.”
Kona smiled at both teams generously.
This time, they all laughed out loud. But Benny also plodded to their soccer field’s center line and said, “Okay, referee, tell me which side of the field belongs to the Bigs and we can get this show on the road.”
“Um, that one!” Kona said, as she pointed to the south side of the paddock. “The hay manger is your goal and the water trough is ours. Now let’s flip a coin to see who gets the first kick.…”
“We’re horses,” Thelma interrupted. “We don’t have any money, nor do we have thumbs for flipping.”
“Oh … you’re right,” Kona responded, feeling embarrassed.
“Oh, forget it,” Benny huffed. “You Wind Dancers can have the kickoff. What does it matter anyway?”
“What does it matter?!” Kona sputtered. “The team with the kickoff gets to charge for the goal first! The other team can only defend itself. Our team would have a very good chance of scoring the first goal!”
“We’ll see about that!” Benny taunted.
Kona trembled with excitement as she lined herself up behind the ball.
The big horses asked for this, she thought. I just hope they’re not too upset when the Wind Dancer team makes the first goal!
Kona gave the ball the mightiest kick she had! It sailed up into the air and landed smack dab—on Fluff’s hoof!
“Ooh!” Fluff said in surprise. The ball bounced off her hoof and flew in the opposite direction!
The ball went so high and so fast and so far that it left the Wind Dancers in its dust! All they could do was chase it as it flew—straight into the water trough!
The big horses gaped as the ball bounced around the trough. Finally, Fluff stammered, “I … I scored!”
“Goooooooaaaaaaalllll!” Benny neighed, rearing back on his hind legs.
Thelma looked at Kona.
“That makes the score one-zippo,” she said with a grin. “I hope you’re not too upset that we made the first goal.”
Kona was grateful for the violet-black hair that hid the flush in her face.
“Upset?” she scoffed. “Not at all.”
In her head she added, I’m not upset. Oh, no—I’m too enraged, baffled, and embarrassed to be UPSET!
But now the Wind Dancers had the ball again. Sirocco kicked it to Sumatra, but Thelma knocked the ball away from the little Wind Dancer with one casual tap of her giant hoof.
“Hey!” Sumatra complained.
Whinnying, Kona dove for the ball, but before she could make her kick, Benny nudged her out of the way with his enormous nose! He bopped the ball with his knee. The next thing Kona knew—
“Goooooooaaaaaaalllll!”
This time it was Fluff who yelled out in triumph as the ball plopped neatly into the water trough.
“Whoops!” Brisa said with a giggle. “I think Benny, Fluff, and Thelma are outbigging us!”
Kona glowered.
“They may be big, but we’re tall,” Kona muttered to her teammates.
Sumatra and Sirocco glanced at each other—in all their four-inch-tall glory.
“Um, how do you figure that?” Sumatra wondered.
“Like this!” Kona declared. Kicking the ball out of the water trough, she juggled it from her knee to her head to her hoof, keeping the ball aloft. As she dribbled the ball, she flew up, up, up in the air.
She was so high up that Thelma couldn’t reach the ball even when she reared up on her hind legs!
“S-i-r-o-c-c-o!” Kona shouted, as she got ready to pass the ball to the colt. Sirocco zipped upward to field it.
“Hey!” Benny complained, while Andy again tried to launch himself into the air. “Get down here!”
“Sure!” Kona agreed as Sirocco passed the ball back to her. “I just have to do one thing first.”
With that, she head-butted the ball out of the sky—and straight into the big horses’ hay-manger goal!
“Whoo, hooooooo!” Kona celebrated.
Until three voices cried out, “No fair!”
Those voices belonged to Thelma, Benny—and Brisa!
“Brisa!” Kona said in shock. “What’s not fair about helping our team win?”
“Well, the big horses can’t fly,” Brisa said sweetly. “It just doesn’t seem sporting to play from way up in the air.”
“But they’re so much bigger than us—you said it yourself,” Kona blustered. “That’s not fair either, is it?”
“You’re right,” Fluff chimed in. “We’re too big for you to beat, and you’re too high-flying for us to beat.”
“Unless—” Kona began.
“Unless what?” Sumatra asked.
“Unless we evened things up by mixing them up,” Kona replied. “Two big horses and two Wind Dancers to a team.”
“Ooh, yes!” Fluff cried. “I get to play on a Wind Dancers team!”
“As referee, I’ll choose the teams,” Kona said bossily. “On my team, I’ll take Sirocco, Benny, and Thelma.”
As in, the fastest horse (Sirocco), the strongest horse (Benny), and the most stubborn horse (Thelma)! Kona thought, trying to conceal her smug smile.
“I don’t think so!” Thelma protested. “Nobody’s putting me on a different team from my foal!”
B-but … Kona thought, Andy can’t even say soccer, much less play it! With a wobbly little foal on my team, I’ll never win!
But, as Thelma licked Andy’s nose and Brisa tickled his ears, Kona knew she couldn’t say this out loud.
“Okay, fine!” she huffed. “My team will have Sirocco, Thelma, and Andy. Brisa, Sumatra, Benny, and Fluff can play on the other team.”
“Done,” Thelma agreed.
Andy bucked and whinnied in delight.
Sumatra wasn’t as happy.
“So you’re really doing it?” Sumatra asked sadly. “You’re breaking up the Wind Dancers’ team? Our family?!”
Kona felt a twinge of guilt. But one glance at the red ball still in the hay manger after her triumphant goal brushed that feeling away.
“C’mon, filly,” she responded scoffily to Sumatra. “Remember, this is just a game! Just because we’re splitting up here doesn’t mean we’re not a team everywhere else.”
“Not everything’s a competition, Kona,” Sumatra said, as her magic-ribbon halo drooped.
“But this game is!” Kona said, her eyes going bright as she eyed the red ball again. “Don’t you want to get going?”
Sunatra looked at Brisa and Sirocco, and rolled her eyes.
“There’s no stopping her,” she whispered. “I guess the only thing we can do—”
“—is play ball on our new teams!” Brisa finished.