Kirsty felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine. She glanced at Rachel and could see that her friend was thinking exactly the same thing: Could The Mean Green Basketball Team be a group of goblins?

Chapter 2 - Rachel and Kirsty Join the Team

Abby bit her lip nervously. “The problem is,” she went on, “two of our players haven’t shown up. The game is starting in a few minutes, and we don’t even have a full roster! I was just on my way into the rec center to see if I could find some people to help us out. Each team is supposed to have seven players. Five play at a time, and two others rotate in.”

Rachel glanced at Kirsty again. She knew they needed to find out if the green players were goblins, and this was their chance!

“Kirsty and I could play for your team,” Rachel offered. “Couldn’t we, Kirsty?”

Kirsty nodded as a smile brightened Abby’s face.

“Oh, you’d do that?” Abby said, eagerly. “That would be great!”

“But we don’t have uniforms,” Kirsty said, glancing at the warm-up pants she and Rachel were wearing.

“Don’t worry about that,” Abby told her, leading the girls toward the court. “No one does! It’s a practice session, not a real game. I can get you some extra pinnies.”

“OK,” said Kirsty. “But I’d better warn you, I’m not very good at basketball.”

Abby smiled. “Don’t worry. No one’s playing very well today except The Mean Green Basketball Team,” she confessed. “Everyone seems to have butterfingers and two left feet, even me.”

Rachel looked sympathetic. She and Kirsty both knew why everyone was being clumsy. It was because Brittany’s magic basketball was missing.

“Well, we’ll do our best,” Rachel declared in a determined voice, and Kirsty nodded.

“Rachel, I’ve seen you playing basketball at school, and I know you’re good at shooting,” Abby said as they reached the court. “So you can be our secret weapon!”

Rachel blushed. “I’ll try to get a couple of baskets,” she promised.

Abby found two pinnies on the side of the court and handed them to Rachel and Kirsty.

“Rachel, you can play center. Kirsty, you’ll be a forward,” she explained as they ran onto the court. “You can mostly play defense. Now come and meet the rest of the team.”

Abby took Rachel and Kirsty over to a small group of girls, who were standing at one end of the court. They all looked nervous.

“Cheer up, everyone!” Abby exclaimed. “I found two more players!”

The rest of the team brightened up immediately.

“That’s great!” said a tall girl with fair hair. “We’re going to need a full team. The Mean Green Basketball Team players are really good!”