The Zucchini Warriors by Gordon Korman Read Free Book Online

members breaking training. Well, this was nothing unusual. Football players never obeyed the curfew. It was a tradition. Now, where would they be? His mind took him back thirty years to his own days at Macdonald Hall. Where would
he
be? Instantly he cast his eyes across the highway to Miss Scrimmage’s Finishing School for Young Ladies. Sure. Where else?
    He broke into a jog, crossed the highway at a trot and leapt over the fence in a single bound. The orchard. There were voices in the orchard. He cut his pace and moved stealthily toward the sounds. There, in a small clearing, a horrible sight met his eyes. Miss Scrimmage was holding a group of boys at gunpoint. And most of them were football players!
    “My team!”
Hank the Tank Carson took off like a thundering buffalo. Roaring into the clearing, he left his feet and sailed through the air, hitting Miss Scrimmage just below the knees. The Headmistress went down like a sack of oats. She and Carson hit the ground with a resounding crunch.
    Boom! Boom!
Both barrels of the shotgun went off harmlessly into the air. Echoes of the blasts reverberated about the countryside.
    “What a tackle!” breathed Cathy in awe.
    Miss Scrimmage scrambled to her feet.
“Assault!”
she shrieked. With a wild swing, she brought the butt of the shotgun down on Henry Carson’s head.
    “Mr. Carson!”
cried Bruno. He rushed over to the fallen zucchini tycoon. “Can you hear me? It’s Bruno!” But the ex-linebacker was out cold.
    By this time, the orchard was teeming with girls in pink nighties as Miss Scrimmage’s dormitories emptied. There were lights on at Macdonald Hall as well, and pyjama-clad boys were beginning to dot the campus, curious as to the source of the shotgun blasts. The more adventurous of them ran across the highway to witness the goings-on first-hand.
    Through the milling crowd rushed a familiar figure in a red silk bathrobe and bedroom slippers. Mr. Sturgeon took in the scene in one horrified instant. He turned burning eyes on Miss Scrimmage.
    “Woman, what have you done?”
    “She didn’t shoot anybody!” Diane blurted out. “She just hit him!”
    Carson stirred and tried to sit up. “Ooooh!” he moaned, holding his head gingerly. “Did somebody get the licence number of that truck?”
    “See?” Cathy said triumphantly. “He’s alive!”
    Mr. Sturgeon looked around. Boys and girls were everywhere, but it was easy to locate the guilty parties. They were the sweaty, smelly ones not in pyjamas. In some annoyance, he noticed that Kevin Klapper was there, wrapped in a grey dressing gown, leaning against a tree, making extensive notes on a small steno pad.
    Boots grabbed Bruno. “The Fish is looking right at us!”
    “Listen,” said Bruno soothingly, “there are ten of us. Sure, we’ll get nailed, but no more than the other guys.”
    The two watched in paralyzing horror as Myron Blankenship ran over to the Headmaster and began a long story, complete with gestures which left no doubt that he was describing every single action of the Zucchini Disposal Squad. He finished with his finger pointing directly at Bruno and Boots.
    “That Blabbermouth!” Boots exclaimed. “I’ll kill him!”
    “No, you won’t,” said Bruno through clenched teeth. “
I’ll
kill him!”
    Finally Mr. Sturgeon and a few members of the Macdonald Hall staff managed to gather up the boys and Henry Carson and herd them back to their own side of the highway. Before sending them off to their rooms, a red-faced Headmaster directed the ten culprits to be in his office at eight o’clock in the morning.
    “We’re doomed!” Boots predicted mournfully.
    “Come on, Sidney,” said Mark kindly. “Let’s get you into the shower.”
    Dave was trudging along ahead of the rest. “Three downs, and now this,” he muttered, shaking his head. “You Canadians are nuts!”
    * * *
    Henry Carson, his head sporting a large white bandage, hefted his rake and regarded his neat mound of