The lifeguard, whose name was Rustum, turned out to be very nice. He listened to Davey as he explained that he wasn’t actually batting when the ball hit Mr Mudge.
Sunil, who’d followed them from a safe distance, also spoke up on Davey’s behalf. ‘It couldn’t have been Davey,’ he said, smiling so his dimple showed. ‘He was bowling.’
But Mr Mudge was adamant. He’d seen who was batting and it was Warner, definitely Warner. He peered over his glasses. ‘I’d know that face anywhere,’ he said. ‘And that silly grin!’
‘But the batter was wearing blue and grey,’ Sunil said. ‘Davey’s wearing a yellow T-shirt, look.’ He pointed and again smiled so his dimple showed.
Mudge briefly looked Davey up and down, then shook his head. ‘I don’t care what anyone was wearing! All I saw was this young nincompoop standing near the wicket with the bat at his feet. What I do know is, if anyone did this, it was Warner.’ Mudge pointed accusingly at Davey.
Rustum narrowed his eyes. Davey could see he wasn’t convinced that Mr Mudge had the right kid.
Phew, he thought. For once, someone believed him.
‘Well, young man, I’m willing to give you another chance,’ Rustum said, ruffling Davey’s hair.
Davey smiled gratefully. ‘Thanks, sir.’
‘But hey, if you’re going to spend the whole day down here on the beach, you better put on more sunscreen.’
Mudge interrupted. ‘And then there was the dog incident,’ he barked loudly. Davey noticed the teacher’s ears finally matched his shoes. ‘This young hooligan has already broken the law here once today, bringing his dog to the beach, spoiling it for everyone else.’ He shook his finger at Davey. It was like they were in class.
Rustum’s face changed. He hadn’t heard about Max and the flag race, but he seemed to know about Max. He glared at Davey. ‘You allowed that dog of yours to run on this beach without a leash?’ he said in a cold voice.
Davey nodded then shook his head. ‘Well, yes . . . no. I didn’t allow it so much as . . .’
‘Well, that changes everything!’ Rustum cut the air with his hand. ‘I think you better head home, young man. No more cricket for you today.’
He turned to Sunil. ‘And if I hear one more word of complaint about your game, I’m going to have to send you all home. Do you hear?’
Sunil heard. He grabbed Davey by the arm. ‘Come on, let’s go. You deserve an ice cream.’
But Davey had spent all his money on spades, so Sunil had to lend him some money.
‘Pay me back when you can, Warner,’ he said.
‘Thanks, Deep. And good luck!’ Davey slapped his friend on the back. ‘But we’ve still got a chance. You could get Tay out from behind the stumps. She’s a great bowler, but doesn’t get the chance very often.’
Sunil thought for a moment. ‘Yeah, I might. Good one.’
‘And give George a go at wicket-keeping. He’s quick,’ Davey said.
‘True,’ Sunil said.
‘And tell Kevin to give up on that treasure. I reckon it’s a fake.’ There, Davey had said it.
Sunil looked at the sky as if he was thinking. ‘You’re probably right,’ he said finally. ‘See you, then.’ He gave Davey another back-slap. ‘It’s going to be tough without you.’
‘Bye. And can you bring my bag home? Otherwise Mum’ll go ballistic.’ Then Davey realised that once his mum heard what had happened, she’d go ballistic anyway. He turned and was about to head off when he heard a shout.
‘Sunil! Davey!’
It was Bella. Red-faced, she was dashing across the sand towards them, her ponytail flying behind her like a kite tail.
‘Davey, Sunil, you won’t believe what’s happened!’ Bella was out of breath and her voice sounded strange, like she’d seen a ghost or there’d been a terrible accident.
‘Mmmm?’ Sunil had clearly had enough of Bella for one day.
‘The trophies have gone missing! Can you believe it? Someone’s stolen them!’
Davey and Sunil were about to speak, but the sight of a single tear running down Bella’s cheek shocked them into silence.
‘Are . . . are you okay?’ Davey said finally, touching Bella lightly on the shoulder.
Bella quickly wiped the tear away and seemed to pull herself together. Then she flicked her ponytail with such force it knocked Davey’s baggy green clean off his head.