I

'Let's try the song once more, your

Moiesty,' soid Billy the Butler. 'Right,'soid Queen Norqh. She song, 'We're going to win the cup. We're

going to win the cup. Ooh ah the addio, we're going to win the cup.

How wos thot?' 3

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'Much better, your Mojesty,, sighed Billy. 'But do try to...' 'Try to whot?' snopped eueen Noroh. 'Well,' soid Billy. 'It would help if you sounded o little hoppier., 'lt's this song,'soid eueen Noroh. 'lt's got such silly words. But our footboll teom is in the cup finol ond I reolly must leorn it. ' 4

King Horry wolked in. 'Do you think we will win, deqr?' 'Of course we will,' soid Queen Noroh.

King HorrY. 'But the Corrot Costle teom ore such cheots, especiolly King Chorles, the monoger.' 'Yes deor,' soid

#**,:*::*#;iiii:h" lf

very keen to know whqt colour shirts our teom will be weoring., 'Green, I think,'soid King Horry. 'And his lot con ploy in red. Hos anyone seen Princess Jone? I om going to run o troining session for her ofter breokfost.' Coptoin fones giggled. 'And whot's so funny?' osked the King. 'ln my younger doys I wos known os the Wizord of the Dribble.' 'Thot,' soid Queen Noroh, 'wos becouse you couldn't eot rice pudding without putting most of it down your shirt.' There wos o crosh of broken gloss

from the holl.

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'Sorry,'colled princess fone. She come in corrying o footboll. ,I missed my kick.' 'Ah, |one,'soid eueen Noroh. ,I wos wotching you in troining yesterdoy. You didn't ploy well ot oll. Don,t forget you ore the teom coptoin. So I hove told one of the best troiners in the country to give you some help., King Horry blushed. ,I'm not quite thot good.' B

'Not you, you twit,' soid Queen Norqh. 'Mr Gool.' 'Missed o gool?' soid King HorrY. 'Don't you meon "scored a goal"?' 'Whot ore you tolking obout?' cried Queen Noroh. 'Thot's his nome. Mr |oson Gool. He's coming here this morning. I must dosh. I hove to try on my new footboll fon's outfit.' The Queen rushed off. 9

The dining room fell silent. 'Whot's the motter, deor?, soid King Horry. Princess fone let out o greot long sigh.

'Mum's right. I'm not ploying very well. I'm supposed to score gools. At the moment I couldn,t score ogoinst o mouse.' 10

'On your heod, fone,' colled King Horry ond he threw the boll ot the Princess. She jumped ot the boll. The boll bounced off her shoulder into the mormolode. 'See whot I meon?' she soid sodly. 'Never mind,'soid King Horry. 'BY the time you've put your kit on, Mr Gool will be here. You'll soon be scoring dozens of gools. But now it's time for us

to get to work.' 11

; Captoin Smith ond fones loved doing housework. Noroh thought thot housework wos o job for cleoners, not coptoins ond kings. So once o week the three men disguised themselves os the

?---.d

,\

Mosked Cleoning Lodies of Om.

King Horry ond CoPtoin Jones were polishing the connons when they sow o mon wolking towords

King Horry ond his two coptoins roced out of the dining room. Minutes loter, dusters in honds, qnd dressed os the fomous cleoning lodies, they were qt work tidying the costle. 12

the costle. 'Thot must be Mr Gool,' soid Coptoin fones. Just os Mr Gool reoched the drowbridge onother mon jumPed out of the bushes. He begon tolking with

Mr Gool. 'Woit o minute,'soid King Horry. 'It's King Chorles of Corrot Costle.' 13

The three cleoners stopped for o cup

of teo in the kitchen. 'Well,' soid King Horry. 'There doesn't seem to be onything funnY going on.'

King Chorles spoke to Mr Gool ond then wolked oway. 'Whot did he want?'osked Coptoin fones. 'There's something funny going on. We'd better keep on eye on him,,soid

King Horry. King Horry qnd the two coptoins cleoned oround the costle for the rest of the morning. But they mode sure thot one of them wos olwoys wotching Princess fone ond Mr Gool. 14

'I sow the Princess put the boll in the net dozens of times,' soid Coptoin fones. 'She wos heoding the boll perfectly when I went by,' soid CoPtoin Smith. 'There's nothing to worrY obout,' soid King Horry. 'Now perhops we cqn tockle

the grime round the cooker.'

aU fl Princess fone stuck her heod round the door.

'How ore things going, deor?,osked King Horry.

'Brilliontly,' soid Princess fone.,I,ve never ployed better. I've just popped in to soy thot we're hoving one lost troining session. We will be in the Iibrory. Mr Gool soys thot he does not wont onyone to come in., She wos gone in o flosh. 76

'Thot sounds o bit odd to me,' soid Coptoin fones. 'Very odd,' ogreed CoPtoin Smith.

'I think thot it's time to Polish the bross,' soid King HorrY. 'The bross next to the librory?' soid Coptoins Smith ond fones. 'Of course,' soid King HorrY. L7

'Well,'whispered King Horry ,whot con you see?' Coptoin fones wos peering through the keyhole. 'They ore sitting focing eoch other,, he soid. 'Yes. Yes,' soid

King Horry. 'Now Mr Gool is swinging o wotch on o choin, bockwords ond forwords,, soid Coptoin |ones. 1B

'He's telling the Princess obout

lost-minute gools,' soid Coptoin Smith. 'No he's not,' gosped Coptoin fones. 'He is hypnotizing Princess Jone.' 'l wonder why?' soid King Horry. 'To help her remember toctics,' soid Coptoin Smith. 'I still don't like it,' soid King Horry.

t9

'l must go ond work on my penoltY

Princess |one donced into the

kitchen. 'He's gone.'

'How do you feel?'osked King Horry.

'Brilliont,'soid Princess fone. 'I feel reody to score loqds of gools.' '|olly good,' soid Coptain Smith. 20

kicks,' soid Princess fone. 'By the woy, Coptoin Smith, I love your new overoll.' 'Thqnk you, Princess.' 'Green reolly suits you,' loughed the Princess os she ron off to the gorden. The three cleoners Iooked ot eoch other.

'Green!' they soid together. 'But my overoll's red,' soid CoPtoin Smith.

'It's thqt Mr Gool,' roored Coptoin Jones. 'He's hypnotized her to think

thot red is green.' 'Why does he wont her to think thot?' osked King Horry. 'Becouse,' gosped Coptoin |ones, 'Corrot Costle ore ploying in red. If the Princess thinks thqt red is green she will poss to the Corrot Costle teom insteod of ours.'

'So thot's why King Chorles wos

tolking to Mr Gool,' soid King HorrY. 'Con't we snop her out of it?' osked Coptoin Smith. 'Con't we throw o bucket of woter over her?' 'No,' soid King Horry. 'Thot could be dongerous. I hove o better ideo. Follow me to Cqrrot Costle.' 22

23

The Mqsked Cleoning Lodies stopped outside the kitchen of Corrot Costle. Mrs fumpkins wos pegging out

the Corrot Costle red footboll shirts. The cleoning lodies got off their horses. They pretended to look ot the shirts.

'Oh deor,'soid King Horry. 'Oh deor, oh deor,, odded Coptoin fones ond Coptoin Smith. 24

'Whot's the matter?' osked Mrs |umpkins. 'When ore you going to wosh these shirts?' osked CoPtoin Smith. 'Whot do you meon?'snoPPed Mrs

fumpkins. 'I'm iust Putting them out to dry.' 'You coll this cleon?'soid CoPtoin fones. 'Yes

I do,'soid Mrs fumPkins. 25

'It's the dungeon for you then,, soid King Horry. 'Dungeon?' soid Mrs fumpkins. 'Whot's the dungeon got to do with me?,

'Leove it to us,' soid King HorrY. 'We con wosh, dry ond iron these shirts in

'Thot's where the lost wosherwomon ended up,' soid Coptoin Smith. ,And she honded in shirts cleoner thon this., ' Oh my,' mooned Mrs fumpkins. 'I hoven't got the time to do them ogoin. The teom ore ploying in the cup

finol this ofternoon.' 26

holf on hour.' Holf on hour loter the King honded o porcel to Mrs fumPkins. 'There you ore. All done' Now whotever you do, don't toke the kit out of the bog until the teom ore reody to ploy. Then the shirts will look perfect.' 27

PiN

The two royol fomilies took their ploces side by side in the royol box. Queen Noroh looked amazing in her new footboll fon's outfit. She even

hod o hot in the shope of o footbqll pitch. The crowd cheered os the two teoms ron out onto the pitch. Princess fone's teom wos Corrot Costle wos in green. 28

in red ond

'Woit o minute,' gosPed King Chorles. 'The teoms hove got the wrong shirts. Cqrrot Costle ore supposed to be in red.' 'Surely,' soid King Horry, 'it doesn't mqtter whot colours they ploy in? They must be different colours, thot's oll.' King Chorles put his heod in his honds ond grooned. 29

'Six nil. Six nil. Six nil,, chqnted Queen Noroh. 'Oh well done!, 'We ore so proud of you, fone,, laughed King Horry. ,scoring oll six gools.'

'It's oll thqnks to Mr Gool, my troiner,, soid fone. 'I must show him the cup., 'Not todoy,'soid eueen Noroh. ,It is for too dirty. Nobody con see the cup

until those cleoning lodies hove given it ct

proper polish.'

King Horry. ,I,ll they'll see to it next time

'Yes deo4,' soid

I meon they come.' 30