Hockey Mystery (5 page)

“Jessie!” Beth called, passing the puck.

But Jessie missed the pass. One of the Cobras raced past her and scooped up the puck. Before Jessie knew what had happened, the Cobra player had zoomed by, carrying the puck. Suddenly the girl was in front of the Polar Bears’ goal, shooting.
Wham!
Before anyone could stop it, the puck slid into the net.

The Cobras were winning. Jessie felt as if it were all her fault.

There were still thirty seconds left in the game. Jessie decided she had to do something.

Cathy faced a Cobra player in the center of the rink. Cathy took the puck away! She skated up the ice with the puck. Jessie and Beth kept pace with her. When they got near the goal, Cathy tried to shoot, but there were two Cobra players in her way.

“Pass it to me!” Jessie called. “I’m open!”

Cathy looked at Jessie and quickly passed the puck.

Jessie pulled back her stick and fired the puck. The puck flew through the air toward the net. But to her dismay, it went wide of the goal. The puck missed the net completely.

The buzzer sounded and the game was over. Jessie had failed to score and tie up the game. The Cobras had won.

After shaking hands with the other team, Jessie and the other Polar Bears skated slowly off the ice. As they walked back to the locker room, no one spoke.

Jessie slowly got dressed and began to pack up her things. She was almost ready to go when Beth called her over. “Hey, Jessie, can you fasten the clasp on my necklace?” Jessie left her bag on the bench and went to help her. Beth’s necklace was a silver skate on a chain, which Jessie had often admired. As she attached the clasp at the back of Beth’s neck, Beth whispered, “Don’t worry, Jess. You tried your best.” She gave Jessie a warm smile.

Jessie gave her friend a weak smile in return. She wished she could have helped her team win. “If only I hadn’t missed that pass!” Jessie said. “If only I had scored at the end!”

“You’ll do better next time,” Beth assured her. “Want to go get something to eat?”

“No, I think I’ll just head home,” Jessie said.

When Jessie went back to get her bag, Cathy was standing right by her locker. When she saw Jessie, Cathy’s face suddenly flushed. She looked as if she were about to say something. But then she seemed to change her mind and turned away. Cathy quickly gathered some things into her bag and left the locker room. She didn’t even say good-bye.

Jessie wondered if Cathy was angry with her because she’d made the Polar Bears lose the game.
I’ll just have to try harder,
she told herself. Then she began putting the rest of her gear in her bag.

While Jessie was getting dressed, the Aldens were waiting by the rink for her. Henry was helping Coach collect and put away the equipment.

“Can I help?” Benny asked.

Kevin smiled at Benny. “Why don’t you take the pucks back to my office.” He handed Benny a bucket.

Benny reached in the bucket and pulled out a hard rubber puck. “They’re cold.”

“They have to be,” Kevin said. “Otherwise they don’t slide well on the ice. If they’re too warm, they stick. Before the game we ice them down.”

“I’ll come with you,” Violet volunteered.

“Thanks,” said Kevin. “You remember where my office is, don’t you?”

“Sure,” Violet called over her shoulder. She and Benny walked quickly to the lobby. Next to the main entrance to the building, there were two closed doors.

“Do you remember which door it is?” Violet asked. The doors looked exactly the same.

“I think it’s this one,” Benny said, pointing to the door on the right.

Violet knocked on the door.

“Come in,” a voice inside called.

Violet pushed the door open and saw Tracey sitting in a chair, looking at a catalog of skating costumes.

“Oh, hi, Tracey,” said Violet. “Sorry to bother you. I’m looking for Coach Reynolds’s office.”

“You’re Jessie Alden’s sister and brother, aren’t you?” Tracey asked.

“Yes,” said Violet. “We just watched Jessie’s first hockey game.”

Tracey sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “It worries me that so many kids are playing hockey these days. It’s such a dangerous sport. I’m afraid somebody’s going to get hurt—maybe Jessie. And when you watch the professional games, there’s so much fighting.”

“I love watching hockey,” said Benny. “I love the fast skating.”

“Sometimes players get a little rough, but it’s still a great sport,” Violet added. “And Jessie’s team doesn’t play rough.”

Tracey shook her head. “I’d do anything to steer people clear of that sport. Anyway, Coach Reynolds’s office is next door.”

“Thanks,” said Violet.

“No problem,” Tracey said, turning back to the catalog.

Violet was just stepping out the door when something caught her eye.

In the corner of Tracey’s office, partly hidden behind a chair, was a large stack of orange cones.

“Did you see that, Benny?” Violet whispered when they had stepped outside Tracey’s office and shut the door.

“See what?” Benny asked.

“The orange cones! In Tracey’s office!” Violet said. “Remember at Jessie’s first team practice, the orange cones were missing?”

“Yes,” Benny recalled. “You saw them in Tracey’s office?”

“Yes, in the corner, behind a chair,” Violet said.

“Wow—do you think she stole them from Coach’s office?” Benny asked. “It’s right next door.”

“I can’t believe she would do that,” said Violet. “Why would she want to?”

“You heard what she said,” replied Benny. “She wants to steer people away from hockey. Maybe messing up the practices is part of her plan.”

“Maybe so,” Violet said. She looked at the door next to Tracey’s office. “This must be Coach Reynolds’s office.”

She knocked on the left-hand door and waited a moment. There was no response, so she opened the door slowly. It was dark and quiet inside. Benny found a light switch and turned on the light. Then he put the bucket of pucks on the floor next to the desk.

“Wait until Coach Reynolds hears about those cones in Tracey’s office,” Benny said.

But when he and Violet got back to the rink, Coach Reynolds was nowhere to be seen. Grandfather and Henry were standing by themselves, talking quietly about the game.

“Hey, guess what we saw in Tracey’s office,” Benny said. “The orange cones!”

“What?” Henry asked.

“We went into Tracey’s office with the pucks by mistake,” Violet explained. “And we saw a stack of cones there.”

“Really?” Henry asked.

“She must be the one who stole them!” Benny said excitedly.

“Now, slow down,” Henry advised. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“That’s right,” Violet said. “There’s no proof she took them.”

“It is pretty suspicious,” Henry said. “But we’d better not say anything until we have some more information. We don’t want to accuse her of stealing, in case there’s a simple explanation.”

Just then Jessie came out of the locker room, walking very slowly and looking sad.

The Aldens did their best to cheer up their sister.

“You were great out there,” said Benny.

“Not great enough to help us win,” said Jessie.

Grandfather put his arm around Jessie’s shoulder. “You can’t win every game.”

“Coach was really proud of how everyone played,” Henry said. “And you’ll all do better next time.”

“You’re right,” Jessie said, looking around at her family, her face brightening. “I’m sure I’ll do better at our next game.”

“Now, how about a trip to The Scoop?” Grandfather suggested.

“All right!” Benny shouted, taking off for the exit. The rest of the Aldens looked at one another and laughed.

After studying the menus at The Scoop, they all ordered their usual favorites, and by the time they left the ice-cream parlor, Jessie didn’t feel sad anymore.

That night, Jessie unloaded her equipment and uniform from her bag. Her clothes had to be washed before her next practice. “Hey, wait a minute,” she said as she took everything out of the oversized bag. “Where are my figure skates?” Even though she hadn’t been using them, Jessie had left her figure skates and dresses in the bag, buried under all her hockey gear. But now the figure skates were missing.

“Violet! Henry! Benny!” she called out. “Have any of you seen my figure skates?” No one had seen them.

“Maybe you left them in the locker room when you were getting dressed,” Violet suggested. She remembered how much work it had been helping Jessie get dressed for her first practice. There had been so many pads and pieces of equipment—it would be easy to misplace something.

“I’m going back to the rink to see,” Jessie said.

“Now?” Henry asked. “The rink closes in half an hour.”

“Then I’d better hurry,” Jessie said. “I love those skates. I’ve got to see if I left them there.”

When Grandfather heard about Jessie’s missing skates, he was happy to give her a ride to the rink. “I’ll wait in the lobby while you check the locker room,” he said.

The building felt very different at night from their usual daytime visits. A janitor was mopping the floor of the lobby. Instead of the usual noisy crowd, Jessie saw only a couple of people gathering their skating equipment and leaving the building. Jessie ran through the double doors to the rink. The bleachers were empty, and no one was skating. The surface of the rink was smooth and shiny.

Jessie ran down the dimly lit hallway to the locker room. Her footsteps seemed loud. When she reached the heavy door to the locker room, she stopped and grabbed the handle. She was just about to open it when she had the feeling someone was behind her. She quickly turned around. All she saw behind her was the long, dark corridor.

Jessie pulled the door open and stepped into the locker room entryway. Walking around a short row of lockers, she entered the main room. Only some of the lights were on, so it was dark in the corners. There didn’t seem to be anyone else there.

But then Jessie heard a sound.

“Hello?” she called out. “Anyone here?” Her voice echoed in the large room.

There was no answer.

She walked slowly across the room to the locker she’d used that day.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. She stopped and turned quickly to see what it was.

Jessie smiled to herself when she realized it was just the curtain blowing on the slightly open window.

Jessie realized she’d been holding her breath. She exhaled. “It must just be a sound from outside,” she told herself. This empty, dark room was giving her the creeps.

Jessie opened the locker and peered inside. No skates. “Hmmm, where else could they be?” she said to herself. Her eyes scanned the rows of lockers and benches. She got down on her hands and knees to look under the bench.

Just then she heard a sound. Jessie stood up quickly. This time she knew she had not imagined it.

Someone was in the locker room with her!

Jessie heard the locker room door shut, and she heard footsteps in the entryway. She could see someone’s shadow against the wall. Jessie waited to see who would come around the corner.

A moment later, Cathy came in. When she saw Jessie sitting there, she stopped suddenly. She looked even more surprised than Jessie was.

“What are you doing here so late?” Jessie asked.

“I—I—I’m, um ...” Cathy started.

“You were skating?” Jessie asked. “I mean, no wonder you’re so good, if you’re here this late practicing.” Jessie laughed.

But Cathy didn’t respond. She seemed nervous. She wouldn’t look Jessie in the eye.

“So why are you here?” Jessie asked again.

“Oh, I was just, um ... well, why are
you
here?” Cathy asked in return.

“I’m looking for my skates—not my hockey skates, my figure skates,” Jessie said. “I just noticed they were missing from my bag.”

“Well, I haven’t seen them,” Cathy said. “I was just here, um, doing some stuff.” She grabbed her bag from her locker and quickly zipped it. “I’ve got to go. ‘Bye.” With that, she took her coat and bag and walked out.

Jessie still hadn’t found her figure skates, and she wondered what could have happened to them. But there was another question bothering her: What was Cathy up to so late at the rink?