Hockey Mystery (8 page)

This time Cathy was smiling broadly, proud of what she’d done. Again, Jessie wondered why she seemed so different today.

The period ended a minute later, and the Polar Bears skated back to the bench, disappointed to be so far behind but excited by Cathy’s goal. After they’d rested for a couple of minutes and had some water, Coach Reynolds gathered the girls around him. “Now, I know they’re a good team. But you’ve just proved that you can score on them. You’ve got control of the game—don’t let go of it!”

“Come on, Polar Bears!” cried Cathy, and her teammates cheered.

The Polar Bears quickly scored a goal, and then added one more a few minutes later. Jessie played well. Although she didn’t score, she did have two assists.

When the whistle blew at the end of the second period, the score was tied at four.

Sitting in the stands, Violet said, “Can you believe it? In the first period they were losing four to nothing! And now they’re tied!”

The Polar Bears were determined to win, but the Sharks weren’t going to give up that easily. They scored a goal and the whole Sharks team went wild.

“Don’t lose steam,” Kevin called from the bench. “Don’t let them take control of the game!”

The Polar Bears knew their coach was right: They weren’t going to give up now.

Over the next few minutes, the play went back and forth. Sometimes the Sharks seemed to be doing better, other times the Polar Bears did.

There was only one minute left in the game when Rebecca scored off a pass from Jessie. The Polar Bears gathered around, roaring with delight. In the stands, their fans roared, too. The game was tied again.

Benny turned to Violet and Grandfather. “Did you see Jessie’s pass? That was great!”

Now it looked as if the game might go into overtime. Since Jessie’s line had just come onto the ice, Coach left them on for the last few seconds of the game. Jessie was skating up the ice when Shannon passed the puck to her. Jessie decided to take a shot.

As she swung her stick, she suddenly heard a loud cracking noise. And when she looked down, she saw that her stick had broken.

Jessie dropped the stick and quickly skated over to the bench. Henry handed her an extra stick. It felt a little bit funny, but Jessie figured it was because she was used to using her own stick. She adjusted her hands. She didn’t have time to think about it. There were only a few seconds left, and Jessie saw her chance.

The Sharks weren’t expecting her to come back so quickly. So when Shannon passed the puck to her again, Jessie was wide open.

Here goes,
Jessie told herself. She pulled back the stick and shot the puck toward the net.

To her amazement, the shot went in! With only seconds left to go in the game, Jessie had scored her first goal! And it was the game-winner!

Jessie’s teammates swarmed around her, hugging her until she fell over with everyone on top of her. On the bench, Coach Reynolds, Henry, and the other Polar Bears were jumping up and down with excitement.

Looking up into the stands, Jessie spotted Grandfather and Violet and Benny on their feet cheering.

The game ended a few seconds later, and the Polar Bears and Sharks formed two lines and shook hands.

When the handshaking was done, Jessie did a little spin on the ice. Beth, who was near her, smiled. “You may have scored the game-winner, but you’re still a figure skater at heart.”

Jessie smiled back at her friend—and realized that Beth was right.

Now that all of the excitement was over, Jessie took a moment to look down at the stick she was holding, the one she’d used to score her first goal. No wonder it had felt strange. The stick was much longer than the one she normally used and looked completely different.

Then she saw that something was written on the stick.

Turning the stick sideways, she held the stick up so she could read it.
Kevin Reynolds, Stanley Cup Game-Winner,
it said.

“Oh, my goodness,” Jessie said aloud. “This is the missing stick!”

Jessie skated quickly over to Henry, who was standing beside the bench congratulating the players. Violet and Benny were with him. Grandfather was still up in the stands chatting with some of the parents.

“Henry, Violet, Benny!” Jessie called out.

“Hey Jessie! You finally got your goal!” Violet said.

“And it was a great one!” said Benny.

“There’s something I’ve got to show you,” said Jessie, her voice urgent.

Now the other Aldens realized Jessie didn’t look as happy and excited as everyone else.

“What is it?” Violet asked.

Jessie led them off to one side. “Look at this stick.” She pointed to the signature.

“That’s the missing stick, isn’t it?” said Benny.

“How did you end up with it?” asked Henry.

“
You’re
the one who gave it to me!” Jessie said. “Remember, when my stick broke?”

“I just picked it out of the bin with the extra sticks,” said Henry. “How could it have gotten in there?”

“Wait a minute,” Jessie said. “Beth went to get the extra sticks before the game.”

“How did she end up with this stick?” Henry asked.

“I don’t know,” said Jessie. “I’m afraid the same way she ended up with the missing jersey.”

“I think we’d better show Coach,” said Henry.

The children didn’t want to interrupt the celebration that was going on around Coach Reynolds. All around him, players and parents were talking, cheering, and patting him on the back.

The Aldens waited until most of the people had left, and then they went over. “Coach Reynolds, take a look at this stick,” said Jessie, holding it up for him to see.

Kevin took the stick from Jessie and looked at it. “This is my stick.” He looked confused. “Where did you get it?”

“When my stick broke, Henry grabbed another and handed it to me. This was it!” Jessie explained.

“I don’t understand—how did it get mixed in with the extra sticks?” Coach Reynolds asked. “Wasn’t it in that box of stuff I gave you?”

“I’d been trying to tell you,” Henry said, “but you’ve been so busy I didn’t get a chance. There were two things missing from the box. One was this stick. The other was a jersey.”

“The jersey I know about,” Kevin said.

“You do?” said Benny.

“Yes, I can explain that later,” said Kevin. “But the stick ...”

“Remember you sent Beth to get extra sticks, from Scott’s office?” Jessie said.

“That’s right,” Kevin said. “I think we’d better talk to Beth and Scott and see if we can figure out what happened.”

Just then, Beth came out of the locker room.

“Beth!” Kevin called.

“Yes?” Beth said, coming over.

“Where did you get this stick?” Kevin asked her.

Beth looked confused. “Is that one of the ones I picked up from Scott’s office?” she asked. “They were in the closet in his office. There were a couple together, and then one by itself. I just grabbed them all.”

“Okay, thanks,” Kevin said.

“No problem,” Beth said. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Kevin said. “Nothing for you to worry about. You played a good game!”

“Thanks,” said Beth, turning to go.

Kevin turned back to the Aldens. “Let’s go talk to Scott and see if he knows how this stick got into his closet.”

As Kevin and the children walked to Scott’s office, they went past Tracey’s.

“Great game!” she said, stepping out from behind her desk.

“Thanks,” said Kevin.

Henry caught a glimpse of the orange cones in her office. He took a deep breath and decided to ask Tracey what they’d all been wondering. “Um, are those Kevin’s orange cones?”

Kevin looked where Henry was pointing. “Oh, that’s what I should have done,” Kevin said. “Borrowed Tracey’s cones.”

“So those aren’t yours?” Jessie asked.

“No, she has her own,” said Kevin.

“I use them for beginning skaters,” Tracey explained. “Why—did you think I’d taken Kevin’s?”

“Well, we did kind of wonder,” Violet said.

“Why would I do that?” Tracey asked.

“Because you don’t like hockey,” Benny said. “You said it’s too dangerous.”

Tracey blushed. “You know, after watching a few of your games, I may be changing my mind. It is a great game to watch.”

Kevin and the Aldens went on to Scott’s office. Henry and Jessie reached the doorway first. They heard him on the phone. “Yes, that’s right. I want the whole seating area around the rink refinished. And the lobby, too. The place will be as good as new—better than new.”

Kevin poked his head into the office. Scott waved and mouthed that he’d be off the phone soon.

Kevin motioned for the children to wait outside until Scott had finished his call and then started to walk away. They could hear Scott saying, “In a couple of months? Great—I can’t wait to see it! I can’t wait until everyone in Greenfield sees it!”

Suddenly Henry looked at Jessie, his eyes wide. “Do you think Scott could be—”

“The one who’s been causing all the trouble?” Jessie said, finishing her brother’s sentence.

Henry nodded and caught up with Kevin.

“Coach, before we talk to Scott, could we talk to you for a minute in your office?” Jessie said.

Kevin looked at the children for a moment, wondering what they needed to talk to him about. “Sure,” he said.

As soon as they were all in Kevin’s office, Henry shut the door behind them.

“Coach,” Jessie began, “we’ve noticed some strange things going on ever since you came to Greenfield. We think someone’s been trying to stop you from building the rink.”

“You mean by doing things like ruining the architect’s plans?” Kevin asked.

“Yes, and causing trouble for you so the town council would think you were disorganized—like stealing the orange cones and hockey stick,” Jessie added.

Kevin nodded slowly.

“We think it may be Mr. Kaplan,” said Violet.

“Scott?” Kevin said. “But why?”

“He’s probably worried about the new rink taking too much business away from this rink,” Henry said.

“But he’s not even going to be here,” said Kevin. “He’s moving to Florida.”

“Maybe that’s just what he wants us to think,” Jessie said. “But did you hear what he said on the phone just now? He’s planning on redoing the whole rink. He said it would take a few months.”

“That doesn’t sound like the kind of thing someone would do if they were moving away,” said Henry.

Kevin shook his head slowly. “No, it doesn’t.”

Just then, Scott came into Kevin’s office. “Congratulations! Great game!”

“Thanks,” said Kevin. “Er, Scott ... there’s something I want to ask you. Are you moving to Florida?”

“Yes, I am,” Scott said. “I’ll be out of here in a few weeks.”

“So you’re not worried about my building a new rink?” Kevin went on.

“No—no,” Scott said. He sounded tense.

“That will be someone else’s problem after I’m gone.” He laughed nervously.

“Then why are you planning on redoing the whole rink over the next few months?” Kevin asked.

Scott looked around at the Aldens. “So you heard what I was saying on the phone?”

“Yes,” Kevin said, his voice serious. “You’re the one who ruined the architect’s plans, aren’t you?”

Scott sank down in a chair, his head in his hands. After a moment he looked up and nodded slowly, his face pale and grim.

“And you took the cones, and the hockey stick, too?” Kevin went on.

“Yes,” Scott said quietly.

“But why?” Kevin asked.

Scott sighed. “I love this place—it’s my whole life. If you build that new rink, who’s going to want to come to this old place anymore? I’ll be forced to close.”

“But if you weren’t really planning on moving, how come we saw a brochure about Florida in your office?” asked Benny.

“I thought about moving, but I can’t do it.” Scott took a deep breath. “I know what I did was wrong, but I just couldn’t help it.”

Just then Tracey appeared in the doorway. “I have an idea that may help both rinks.”

“Tracey—” Scott said.

“Yes, I heard what you were talking about,” Tracey said. “I’m shocked at what you did, Scott, but I understand how you feel. With all this interest in hockey, I’ve been worried that there wouldn’t be as many people taking figure skating lessons. And if that happens, then I’ll lose my job.”