Everybody raced into the shower room. Nick was lying on the floor.
‘I fell, ’he moaned. ‘My leg really hurts.’
‘He won’t be able to play next week ,’said Steve sadly. ‘That’s the cup game against City, ’said Hilda.
‘That is all I need, ’groaned Ray. ‘A goalkeeper who can’t make saves and a tea lady who can’t make tea.’
‘What did you say?’ roared Hilda. The changing room fell silent. ‘I…’began Ray.
Suddenly ,Hilda gave a great sob.
‘Do you think I don’t know what goes on?’ she sighed.‘ I’ve seen people tipping their tea away .I’ve tried so hard to make a nice cup of tea. But I just can’ t. It always goes wrong.’
Then Hilda pulled her apron over her head and cried. The players had never seen Hilda cry. It was more frightening than any of her tempers.
Ray put his arm around Hilda’s shoulder.
‘I’m sorry, ’he said. ‘I should never have said anything about your tea.’ ‘But it’s true, ’wailed Hilda
‘What can I do to make it up to you?’ asked Ray.
Hilda slowly let the apron fall. A little smile crept across her face. ‘You could let me play in goal on Saturday.’
‘Impossible, ’said Ray.
‘But there’s no one else, ’said Steve. ‘I’ll think about it. ’said Ray.
‘Think about it,’ sniffed Hilda. ‘If I don’t play on Saturday, two things will happen. One, We will lose against City because we haven’t got a goalkeeper.’
‘And the other?’
‘I shall stuff you back in that tea urn for not letting me play.’ ‘Gentlemen ,’said Ray.‘ May I introduce Hilda, our new goalie.’
三A Proper Goalkeeper
The two teams raced onto the pitch to a great roar from the crowd. Hilda strode towards the goal at the City fans ’end.
Someone in the crowd yelled, ‘That’s not a proper goalkeeper. It’s the tea lady!’
Slowly Hilda turned.
‘Who said that?’She growled. The crowd fell silent. ‘I asked who spoke?’ She pointed into the crowd. ‘It was you. Come here.’
Nervously, a man wearing a long City scarf came to the front of the crowd. ‘Right, you squirt, ’snarled Hilda. ‘You sit here, by the goal, where I can keep an eye on you. As for the rest of you City fans, you may cheer your team ,but
no rude comments about me. Got it?’
‘Yes, Hilda, ’chanted the City fans.
The game began. Almost at once, City were on the attack. The centre forward broke through and rushed towards the goal. He was about to shoot when he saw Hilda running at him.
‘Yaar! ’screamed Hilda.
The player was so shocked that he kicked the ball over the bar and into the crowd. The City fans groaned.
‘Ball, please, ’snapped Hilda. Hilda booted the ball up the pitch . By half-time neither team had scored.
‘Well played, everybody ,’smiled Ray. As he went round talking to the players, he noticed something odd.
Everyone was happily drinking their tea.
The second half dragged and nobody looked like scoring.
Hilda looked at her watch. It was nearly time. She turned to the fans behind her.
‘What happens if it’s a draw? ’she asked.
‘You have to play half an hour’s extra time, ’shouted someone.
‘Another half an hour of standing around in the cold? ’said Hilda.‘ Blow that.’
She marched up the pitch. A City player had the ball. Hilda charged towards
him. He was so surprised that he passed the ball to Hilda instead of his own team.
Hilda steamed up the pitch, yelling, ‘I want this game finished. Out of my way.’
And that is what all the players did. Hilda scored.
The referee blew the final whistle and the Smalltown team carried Hilda round on their shoulders. They let her collect the cup.
‘If you all love Hilda, clap your hands, ’chanted someone in the crowd. The ground shook with the sound of the fans clapping.
‘Listening to that, ’shouted Steve. ‘They love you.’
‘You’re right,’ sniffed Hilda. ‘They do. Now let’s fill this cup with tea.’ ‘Hang on,’ cried Nick. He limped onto the pitch pushing a trolley. There was a slightly dented urn on the trolley. He poured the tea into the cup. All the players took a great gulp of delicious tea.
‘So it was you who made the tea, ’said Steve.
The simple end to this story would be that Nick went on making the tea and Hilda played in goal. But as soon as Nick’s leg was better he told Ray that he wanted to play again.
‘That’s great, ’said Ray. ‘What about Hilda? ’said Nick.
‘Leave that to me. ’said Ray with a smile.
Hilda was trying to fix the door back on the caravan. ‘Can you stop for a minute? ’said Ray.
Hilda put down her tools.
‘I’d like to thank you for playing in goal, ’he began.
‘But Nick’s leg is better and you don’t want me in goal any more ,’said Hilda.
‘How did you know what I was going to say?’
‘I’m not daft ,’said Hilda, dabbing her eyes with a hankie.
‘There’s something else, ’said Ray .‘I want the club to look more modern. S I’m getting rid of this old caravan.’
‘Oh ,’sniffed Hilda. ‘So you don’t want me at all.’
‘Yes ,I do, ’smiled Ray. ‘So do all the fans and the team. That’s why I’m going to put you in charge of a brand new automatic tea machine.’
‘Do you mean, ’said Hilda, ‘that I won’t ever have to make tea again?’ ‘Yes, ’said Ray.
‘I’ll take the job, ’said Hilda.
Hilda makes sure that the fans queue up in a straight line for their tea. She also checks that they put their paper cups in the bin. Nobody complains about the tea.
It has been a long time since Hilda stuck anyone on the goal post.
注释
half-time （比赛中的）半场休息 captain 队长 raced down to 飞奔到 changing room 更衣室 jogged in 慢步跑进来 Well done 踢得好 lads 小伙子们 in a minute 等一会儿
noticed 注意到
one player after another 球员一个接着一个 shower room 淋浴间
pouring his tea down the sink 把茶倒进下水道 What’s going on? 怎么回事？ leaped in the air 吓了一跳