Horrid Henry and the Soccer Fiend

  Horrid Henry’s mouth opened. No sound came out.

  “Wha—?” gasped Horrid Henry.

  “Gravity experiment?” said Mom. “What gravity experiment?”

  “Different science group,” said Henry quickly.

  “Oh,” said Mom.

  “Oh,” said Dad.

  A lovely warm feeling spread from Henry’s head all the way down to his toes.

  “So Bill’s not coming back?”

  “No,” said Dad. “I’m sorry that you’ve lost a friend.”

  “I’ll live,” beamed Horrid Henry.

  Acknowledgments

  Special thanks to Freddy Gaminara and

  Michael Garner for telling me so many

  exciting ways to cheat at soccer.

  About the Author

  Francesca Simon spent her childhood on the beach in California and then went to Yale and Oxford Universities to study medieval history and literature. She now lives in London with her family. She has written over fortyfive books and won the Children’s Book of the Year in 2008 at the Galaxy British Book Awards for Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman.