On Tuesday morning there was still nothing new on the Legends noticeboard. We didn’t seem to be playing much sport. It was already the last week of the Legend of Basketball, and only three sessions were left.

Thursday was the big competition at the Kent Street stadium. Wednesday was the last proper practice session for the squads, and today were some after-school games for anyone who turned up.

Most of the Legend kids did show. Rat was there, but he still looked pretty miserable.

‘Hey, Mitchell, how many Legend points is that quiz worth?’ he asked, as Bubba joined our discussion.

‘Twenty per cent, I think.’

‘That’s not much, is it?’

‘You didn’t go so well on it, huh?’ I asked him.

He shrugged, looked up at me, then shook his head. ‘Nah, not so well.’

Bubba looked thoughtful.

‘Well, say you get seventy per cent for the games on Thursday, and the nearest kid to you gets sixty per cent. Then you only need to get half your quiz right, and that other kid, say, gets nineteen out of twenty for his quiz–’

‘Thanks for clearing that up for us, Bubbaman,’ I said, giving Bubba a gentle shove. Rat walked off, shaking his head.

Players from the firsts and seconds were mixed into two different teams, and we played a couple of games. Mrs Cartwright was refereeing, and doing a lot of bossing and talking. She’d take five minutes to explain a double dribble to someone and then even longer to explain a foul.

‘You gotta be grateful that we haven’t had any tech fouls yet,’ said Bubba, giggling at his own joke.

Of course, Fisk was on the other team. Rat was on the bench, and I don’t think Mrs Cartwright, who was making all the substitutions, even noticed him. He didn’t seem that interested in playing, anyway.

When he did finally come on, he hung about under the rings, occasionally getting the ball, but immediately passing it off to someone else. Mrs Cartwright kept ordering him to move this way and that.

‘I thought you said this guy could play,’ I said to Bubba.

‘He can! He’s up to something,’ Bubba said. ‘Or else the coach is.’

Fisk was getting more confident.

‘So, the little man can shoot but he can’t play, huh?’ he teased, staring at Rat. Rat just shrugged. Fisk was throwing his weight around. He charged into Bryce, sending him, and his glasses, flying. Mrs Cartwright’s whistle screeched, and we all settled in for another lecture on charging. But Bryce copped it for blocking. I couldn’t believe it. Mrs Cartwright lectured us for about seven minutes. Bryce walked off before she had finished.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ she boomed across the gym. Bryce shook his head slowly and kept on walking.

‘You’re out of the Legends, you hear me? OUT!’

The girls had stopped their game. Everyone stared at Mrs Cartwright.

‘Anyone else want to walk out?’ she screamed. The gym was silent.

‘Should someone take his place, Mrs Cartwright?’ a small voice piped up. For a moment I think the kid thought he was about to get kicked out too.

‘No. The team’s better off without individuals like Bryce Flavel,’ she snapped. ‘Now, where were we?’

Luci and Becky caught up with me after the session.

‘Mitch, we’ve decided to go and see Mrs Waite. This has got to stop. This teacher is weird. You can come with us if you want, but we’re going now.’

I told them I had to go home and that I’d talk to them about it tomorrow.

The Wednesday session went much like the afternoon before. Some of the kids in the thirds and fourths mucked around on the outside courts. They would be playing their games in the afternoon. The only thing different was that Mrs Cartwright was now simply coaching. Mr T was doing the refereeing. At least the games went more quickly. Mrs Cartwright talked at us, but nothing she said made much sense. We just went back out and did what we felt was right.

Rat seemed uninterested in basketball. Again, he spent most of the time on the bench.

Finally, I decided to approach Mrs Cartwright.

‘Excuse me, Mrs Cart–’

‘What?’

‘Well, I think you should have a closer look at Rat, here. He’s a legendary player. Really. I saw him shoot on the court–’

‘Really? A legend, is he?’

Mrs Cartwright was shouting at me, her face red. There was white spittle on her lips. All movement in the gym had stopped.

‘A Sandhurst legend? He should be playing with Wetherhood, that’s where he should be,’ she bellowed.

Rat was slowly walking out of the gym. ‘Rat, no!’ I shouted. ‘Don’t go! You’re one of us. We need you on the team.’

Mrs Cartwright had tensed. I reckon Fisk would have been looking pretty hopeful, too. Mr T seemed about to step in.

‘Off you go, Daryl,’ she said, so softly that I think only I heard her. It was as if she were willing him to go. She nodded. ‘This is not your place,’ she added, quietly.

It was the weirdest thing to say.

Rat stopped. He just stared at her, his bottom lip quivering.

‘I do think, Mrs Cartwright, that perhaps –’

Mr T’s voice trailed off as he watched Bubba move over to where Rat was standing. Becky and Luci joined him. Then I followed. Other kids joined us. I looked up at Mr T. Then he did the most awesome thing a teacher can do. He walked over and joined us.

‘You’re one of us, Rat,’ Bubba said, putting a hand on Rat’s shoulder. ‘She isn’t,’ he added, firmly.

No one moved.

‘Right,’ Mrs Cartwright called. ‘Let’s get back to it, then. You’ve all made your point.’

‘Strength in numbers. Works every time,’ said Becky. ‘Hey, Rat? We mean it, okay? You’re in the Legends. You’re a part of it now. And you’re coming around to Bryce’s house next Friday night. Do you hear me?’

I think that was the first real smile I’d seen Rat crack since he’d been here.

Five o’clock arrived. Normally, I’d wish that a Legends sport training session would go on forever. But basketball was different.

‘Good luck tomorrow, everyone,’ Mr T called. ‘With or without a football trophy, we can still be the holders of the quad trophy set! Soccer, football, netball and, if you guys get it right, basketball, too.’

He smiled at us, then looked across to Mrs Cartwright. ‘Isn’t that so, Mrs C? Do the kids know how the competition works? Did the details go up on the Legends noticeboard?’

Mrs Cartwright looked annoyed.

‘Why don’t you tell them? Then I won’t have to bother with the notice,’ she replied.

‘Like she bothers anyway,’ I whispered to Bubba.

‘Right,’ said Mr T. ‘There are four sections, as you know: firsts and seconds for girls, and firsts and seconds for boys. If you finish on top of your section’s ladder, you earn the maximum four points for Sandhurst. If you finish second on the ladder, you earn three points, and so on.’

‘Okay, so third gets two points and last gets one point,’ said Bubba, nodding.

‘Exactly,’ said Mr T.

‘Is there anything else we don’t know?’ Fisk asked, looking straight at Mrs Cartwright.

‘Time to leave, everyone. Hurry up. I’ve got to lock up,’ was all she said.

‘Hey, Rat!’ I caught up with him as he took off for the exit.

Rat turned around and looked at me. ‘How come you’re not really putting in?’ I asked. ‘I thought you were a gun at basketball.’

He looked to see if anyone was listening. ‘You know that Fisk kid I played against at lunchtime last week?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, the lovely Travis Fisk? What of him?’

‘He said he’d –’ His voice trailed off.

‘Yes?’ I prompted him.

‘Ah, doesn’t matter what he said. He can’t touch me. We’re on the same team, now.’

‘Don’t count on it,’ I warned him. ‘That hasn’t stopped Fisk before.’

‘Well, I didn’t want him to notice me. And Mrs Morris – I mean, Mrs Cartwright, she doesn’t give me a chance either. Anyway, that big kid thinks I can shoot and nothing else.’

‘What did you just call Mrs Cartwright?’ I asked.

‘Nothing. She just reminds me of someone,’ he mumbled. ‘Anyway, I’ll be on my game tomorrow. You’ll see, Mitchell.’

That was the first time he’d used my name.

‘Cool. So fireworks tomorrow?’ I said.

Rat looked at me and smiled. ‘There might be a few sparks flying,’ he said.

‘Hey, by the way, Rat, do you know anything about a tunnel that links up a couple of schools around here?’

He never even flinched. He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Nope. Do you?’

‘A bit,’ I said, and walked off.