Hockey Mystery (6 page)

The next day, after hockey practice, something happened that was even stranger.

Cathy came out onto the ice late, so Jessie didn’t have a chance to ask her any more about the night before. Coach Reynolds worked them hard, giving them lots of hard skating, passing, and shooting drills. When the hour was over, Jessie was worn out. She went to the locker room and changed back into her regular clothes. Then she joined her family in the lobby, carrying her heavy skating bag over her shoulder.

“I’m hungry,” said Benny.

“Don’t tell me—you want some hot chocolate,” said Violet.

“What a good idea!” Benny said.

The Aldens walked to the snack bar. After choosing a small table in the back, Jessie sat down to get some change out of her bag. “Now, where is my coin purse?” she said to herself, digging through all the things in her bag. “I always leave it right on top.”

“Don’t tell me your things are out of order today,” Henry teased his sister. Jessie was the most organized member of the family. Out of all the Aldens, she was the one who always kept everything in the right place and kept track of anything important.

Jessie smiled, but suddenly her smile disappeared.

“What’s wrong?” Violet asked, seeing the strange look on her sister’s face.

“I don’t know,” said Jessie. She began pulling things out of her large sports bag.

“What is it?” Henry asked.

“I thought I just felt something ...” Jessie said, still pulling things from her bag.

At the bottom of the bag she saw something shiny.

Jessie pulled out her hockey socks and her jersey. She found the purse near the bottom, too.

There was something else at the bottom of her bag that was still partly covered by her skating dress. It looked like a skate blade.

Jessie reached down into her bag and pulled out—her figure skates!

“Weren’t you looking for those last night?” Violet said.

“And I thought you said you hadn’t found them,” Henry added.

“I didn’t,” said Jessie. “How did these get back in my bag? I took everything out of my bag yesterday. They definitely were not in there.”

“It seems as if someone
sneaked
them into your bag,” Violet said. “As if they didn’t want you to know.”

“And the only reason someone would do that is if they’d taken them in the first place,” said Henry.

“But why would anyone want to steal an old used pair of skates?” asked Jessie.

“And then why return them the next day?” asked Benny.

“I bet this has something to do with the other weird things going on around here,” Jessie said.

“I’m much better at thinking about weird things on a full stomach,” Benny said. “Let’s get some hot chocolate!”

During the next two weeks, the Polar Bears played three more hockey games and won all three. Jessie played well. She made a few assists, passes to the players who then scored the goals. She was glad to help her team any way she could. But she was disappointed she still hadn’t scored any goals herself.

One day after practice, Henry stayed on the ice with Jessie to help her practice shooting. Coach Reynolds gave Benny and Violet another skating lesson.

“Good work,” he told them when their lesson was done. “You two have improved a lot.”

Seeing that Benny and Violet were done, Jessie and Henry skated over.

“It looks like you’re improving, too,” Coach told Jessie, patting her firmly on the shoulder. “You’ll score a goal for us soon,” he assured her. “Now I’ve got to go meet with the architect who is working on plans for the rink.”

“How are things going?” asked Henry.

“The architect is almost finished redoing the plans,” Coach said. “The town council is meeting this Friday night. I’m hoping the plans will be done in time for me to bring them to the meeting.”

“And the championship game is Saturday,” said Jessie. “We’ll be playing in it if we beat the Tigers tomorrow night.”

“That’s right,” said Coach. “And if the plans for my new rink are approved, we’ll have a party here on Sunday to celebrate. I’ve been busy lately getting ready for that.”

“Anything we can do to help out?” Violet asked.

“No,” Kevin began. Then he said, “Well, actually, there is something. I’m getting together a bunch of hockey stuff to display at the new rink—old photos, trophies, that kind of thing. If you kids could help me organize it, that would be a big help. Are you any good at organizing?”

The Aldens all looked at Jessie.

“Did somebody say organize?” Henry asked. “My sister is a champion organizer!”

“Just what I need,” said Kevin. “Maybe we could get together one night this week and work on it.”

“You and your family can come to our house,” Jessie suggested. “We’ll make you dinner, and then we’ll go through all your things.”

“That sounds great,” said Kevin. He thought for a moment. “Tomorrow is the Tigers game, so how about the night after that?”

“That’s great,” said Violet. “We’ll just check with our grandfather. But I’m sure he’ll be happy to have you and your family over.”

“Grandfather is almost as much of a hockey fan as we are!” Benny said.

Kevin smiled broadly. “What can I bring for dinner?”

“We’ll take care of everything,” Jessie assured him. “Just bring the hockey stuff!”

“I left a box of things with Scott because I was going to ask him to help me,” said Kevin. “But he’s so busy. I’ll pick it up from him and bring it to your house.”

“We can get the box from Scott’s office,” Henry offered. “Then you won’t have to worry about it.”

“It’s pretty big,” Kevin said. “You may need two of you to carry it.”

“That’s okay,” said Henry. “We’ll ask our grandfather to come pick us up.”

“You kids are the greatest,” said Kevin.

The next night, the Polar Bears beat the Tigers seven to five. Jessie still hadn’t scored a goal, but she was happy that her team was going to be playing in the championship game that weekend.

The next day, the Aldens were on their way to Scott’s office to pick up Kevin’s box. “I can’t wait to see what’s in it!” Benny said.

Scott’s office was on the other side of the lobby, opposite Tracey’s and Kevin’s. The door was open, so the children poked their heads in. The office was dark and quiet. No one was inside.

Scott’s desk was under the window, and large posters of Olympic figure skaters covered the wall. On the floor in the corner was a large box labeled KEVIN REYNOLDS.

“That must be it,” said Henry. He lifted the top of the box and looked in. He saw some framed photos and a trophy. “Yes, this is it.”

“I’ll just write Scott a note so he’ll know we took it,” said Jessie. She went to Scott’s desk and looked for a pad of paper and a pen.

Scott’s desk was covered with papers.

“Wow, look at this,” said Benny, holding up a brochure. On the cover was a picture of a beach lined with palm trees.
Florida’s Most Beautiful Homes
was printed at the top.

“Remember he said he was thinking of moving somewhere warm?” Violet said. “I guess he’s going to Florida.”

Benny flipped through the brochure, admiring the pictures of sailboats and tropical fish.

“Here’s a pen,” said Violet.

“Thanks,” said Jessie. She’d found a blank slip of paper and wrote Scott a quick note. Then she and Henry each took one end of the large box and headed to the lobby to meet Grandfather.

After dropping the box off at home, the children went to the grocery store. Because it was a special dinner, the Aldens had asked Mrs. McGregor if they could make the meal. The children were very good cooks, so she’d agreed.

Once they were home, they got right to work. Jessie seasoned the chicken and put it in the oven to bake. Next she rinsed the string beans and trimmed off the ends so they’d be ready to steam for dinner.

Henry peeled and sliced apples for the pie.

Benny washed the potatoes and put them in a pot of boiling water.

Violet was in charge of the biscuits.

“Can I help?” Benny asked when he was done with the potatoes.

“Sure,” said Violet, letting Benny have a turn stirring the biscuit dough. Then Violet and Benny took turns rolling it out into a thin pancake on the board and cutting it into circles. When it was time for dinner, they’d bake the biscuits so they’d be fresh and warm.

Then the Aldens set the table for dinner. They used the pretty flowered plates and bright blue napkins.

“Blue like the Scouts!” said Benny. “Kevin will like that!”

“And blue like the Polar Bears,” Jessie added.

In a short while the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” cried Benny, running to the front door and pulling it open.

As expected, Kevin stood on the step. Beside him was Cathy and a small woman with brown hair.

“Hello,” said Kevin, reaching out his hand to Grandfather. “You must be James Alden.”

“I am indeed,” said Grandfather with a big smile. “And I certainly know who you are.”

“This is my wife, Amy, and my daughter, Catherine,” Kevin said.

When everyone had been introduced, the two families settled in the living room. Jessie chatted with Cathy, who seemed friendly but a bit nervous.

A short while later, everything was arranged on the table, steaming hot and smelling delicious. “Dinner’s ready,” Henry called into the living room.

“Great!” said Kevin in a loud voice. “I’m hungry!”

“And so am I!” said Benny in his smaller voice.

Everyone laughed as they headed into the dining room.

The meal was a great success.

“You kids cook even better than you skate,” said Kevin.

“Now can we look through your box of stuff?” Benny asked eagerly.

“We sure can,” said Kevin.

The Alden and Reynolds families both went back into the living room and gathered around the large box. Kevin lifted the lid and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here’s a list of everything that’s in here,” he said, handing it to Jessie. “I’m going to have all of this stuff on display at the groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday. You kids can help me decide how it should be set up. We also need to make signs explaining what all the pieces are.”

One by one, Kevin pulled items out of the box and held them up. “Here’s a picture of the whole Scouts team the first year we won the Stanley Cup,” he said.

Jessie checked the picture off on the list as everyone crowded around to see all the players they recognized in the picture.

“Here’s a trophy I received back in college,” Kevin said, pulling out a large silver cup. Jessie checked that off on the list as well.

“Everyone seems so excited about the new rink you’re building,” Grandfather commented.

“Not everyone,” Benny said.

“What do you mean?” Grandfather asked.

“A few mysterious things have happened at the rink,” Jessie said, “and they have made us wonder if maybe someone doesn’t want the new rink to be built.”

“What mysterious things?” asked Amy.

“The ink spilled on the plans,” said Henry.

“And the missing orange cones,” added Violet.

“You think those things are connected?” Kevin asked.

“They might be,” Henry said.

“And there have been some other things missing, too,” Jessie said. She was about to tell them about her skates when, all of a sudden, Cathy stood up.

“Dad, I have a headache,” she said. “Can we go home now?”

“Oh, yes,” Kevin said, putting his arm around his daughter. “I’m sorry you don’t feel well.”

“I’m sure I’ll feel better if I just go home and lie down for a bit,” Cathy said.

Grandfather got the Reynolds’ coats as everyone said good-bye.

“I’ll leave this box here with you so you can go through the rest of the things,” Kevin said.

“We’ll be happy to,” said Henry.

After Kevin and his family had left, the Aldens sat down to see what else was in the box.

“Look, here’s a picture of Kevin on his first hockey team, when he was about my age,” Benny said.

“And here’s his Most Valuable Player award,” said Violet.

Soon they had looked at everything and were putting the items carefully back into the box. Jessie was double-checking the list Kevin had made of everything in the box, making sure she’d marked everything off.

“Wait a minute,” she said all of a sudden. “There are two things missing.” She looked at the list one more time. “It says here, ‘An autographed Kevin Reynolds hockey jersey,’ and ‘An autographed hockey stick.’ ”

“Those would be worth a lot of money, wouldn’t they?” Benny asked.

“Yes,” said Jessie. “And they’re missing.”

“Show me what’s missing,” Henry said, taking the list from Jessie.

“A hockey jersey,” said Jessie, pointing to one of the items on the list. “And a hockey stick.”

Benny and Violet crowded around to look at the list, too.

“They definitely weren’t in the box,” said Violet. “We looked at everything, and there were no jerseys or hockey sticks.”

“We’d better call Kevin and let him know,” said Henry, going to the telephone.

A moment later he came back.

“What did he say?” Jessie asked.

“There was no answer,” said Henry. “Maybe they’re not home yet.”