The Hockey Mystery

  The girl ahead of Jessie moved up the course, carefully controlling the puck with her stick.

  When she had finished, she passed the puck to Jessie, who stopped it with her stick. Now it was Jessie’s turn. She took a deep breath and set off. She had to concentrate hard not to lose the puck. She’d only recently started skating with a stick.

  Controlling the puck, especially around things, was tricky.

  “Go, Jessie!” she heard the girls on her team shouting.

  Jessie was halfway done when she lost control of the puck. It slid off her stick and over to the boards.

  “Oh, great,” she heard someone grumbling. “That was a dumb mistake.”

  Suddenly Jessie realized it was Cathy talking. Why was she being so mean? Jessie felt her cheeks burning as she skated after the puck. She hooked her stick around it and got back to the course as quickly as she could.

  “Come on!” Cathy called impatiently. “Hurry up!” She was next after Jessie and the last in their group to go.

  Jessie managed to control the puck for the rest of the course and passed it to Cathy.

  “Finally!” Cathy muttered under her breath as she started off. She zoomed up the course, weaving around the mittens and gloves easily. She never once lost control of the puck. But their side had already lost so much time that the other group won easily.

  “Hooray!” the other group was cheering.

  “Good job, everyone,” Kevin said. As he went on to explain the next drill, Jessie stole a glance at Cathy. Cathy was looking straight ahead, her mouth set in a grim line. This is supposed to be fun, Jessie thought. What’s bothering her?

  CHAPTER 2

  Strange Things Are Happening

  When the practice was over, Henry handed out the light blue jerseys and gave everyone a printed schedule.

  “Our first game is in a week,” Kevin announced. “We’ve got to work hard to get ready. A regular season is usually fifteen or twenty games. But this is just a mini-league, to give you a little taste of what hockey is all about. So we’ll have five games and then the final tournament at the end of the month. I’ll see you all here the day after tomorrow at six.”

  After the team had skated off, Benny and Violet came onto the ice for their lesson with Kevin.

  “Ready to work those legs?” Kevin asked.

  Violet nodded.

  “We sure are,” Benny said eagerly.

  “I’ll go put all these things back,” Henry said, walking off with an armful of gloves, hats, and mittens.

  “What do you think happened to the missing cones?” Jessie asked.

  “Do you think they were stolen?” Benny asked, his eyes wide.

  “Why would someone steal a bunch of orange cones?” asked Kevin. He smiled. “I’m sure they’ll turn up sooner or later.”

  As Benny and Violet began their lesson, Jessie went to change out of her hockey gear. On the way to the locker room she passed her figure skating teacher, Tracey.

  “What were you doing with all those hats and gloves on the ice?” she asked Jessie.

  “We were doing a skating drill,” Jessie explained. “Coach Reynolds was going to use cones, but they disappeared.”

  “They disappeared?” Tracey repeated.

  “Coach said he put them in his office last night, and this morning they were gone,” Jessie said.

  Tracey rolled her eyes. “He’s planning to build a whole new rink, and he can’t even keep track of some cones?” And with that remark, she walked off.

  Jessie walked slowly into the locker room. Beth had a locker next to Jessie’s. “Hey, Jessie,” Beth said. “Do you remember me? I’m Beth Davidson. I was in your figure skating class last year. With Tracey Lippert.”

  “Oh, yes! Hi,” Jessie said.

  “Tracey was pretty upset when I told her I wasn’t going to be taking her class again,” said Beth.

  “She was upset with me, too,” said Jessie.

  “I love watching figure skating on TV,” said another girl on the team. “Do you guys wear those fancy costumes?”

  “Sometimes, for competitions,” Jessie said. “But most of the time I just wear a regular skating dress with a sweater.” Jessie dug in her bag and pulled out her turquoise dress. “Like this one. And these are my figure skates.” She held them up. “I had to get different skates for hockey.”

  Jessie noticed that Cathy Reynolds was on the other side of the locker room. She had finished dressing and was watching her closely but not saying anything. She had a strange look on her face that Jessie couldn’t figure out. Then all of a sudden Cathy packed up all her gear, swung her bag over her shoulder, and began walking quickly out of the locker room.

  The other girls were crowded around, chatting about hockey and figure skating and who their favorite teams and skaters were.

  “Cathy!” Jessie called. “Cathy!” She’d been looking forward to showing Cathy around Greenfield. “Are we going to The Scoop?”

  Cathy stopped walking and turned around. She looked very upset. “Not now. I’ve got to go. There’s something I’ve got to take care of.” And with that, Cathy was gone.

  Jessie was left watching Cathy walk away. “First Tracey, now Cathy. What’s going on today?” Jessie said to herself. She wondered what was so important that Cathy had to take care of.

  Jessie sighed, then turned back to her locker and finished getting dressed. When she had packed up her things, she left the locker room with Beth Davidson.

  A woman was waiting by the door. She was wearing a Scouts jersey with the number fifteen on it.

  “Mom!” called Beth.

  “Hi, honey! How was practice?” the woman responded.

  “It was great!” said Beth. “Mom, this is my friend Jessie Alden. She’s on the team, too.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jessie,” said Mrs. Davidson.

  “I like your jersey!” Jessie told Beth’s mother.

  “My mom has a jersey from almost every team,” Beth said. “A couple of them are actual jerseys the players wore, with their signatures on them. Our house is like a hockey museum! We have pucks signed by famous players and pictures with their autographs, all kinds of hockey stuff.”

  “Sounds like you’re a big fan,” Jessie said.

  “My husband and I love hockey,” said Mrs. Davidson. “We have season tickets for the Scouts. So I couldn’t believe it when I heard that Kevin Reynolds was moving back here!”

  “Is that a real Kevin Reynolds jersey you’re wearing?” Jessie wanted to know.

  “No, it’s just a copy. I’d do anything for a real one!” Mrs. Davidson said. “Or one of his signed sticks. Of course, they’re much too expensive.”

  Jessie spotted Henry standing by the ice watching Benny and Violet as they finished their skating lesson with Kevin.

  “Come meet my brothers and sister,” Jessie said. She led Beth and her mother over to the ice.

  “Thanks, Mr. Reynolds,” Violet was saying as she stepped out of the rink.

  “My pleasure,” he replied.

  Jessie introduced the Davidsons to Kevin and her sister and brothers.

  “I’m a big fan of yours,” Mrs. Davidson told Mr. Reynolds.

  “Thank you,” he said warmly. “Everyone in Greenfield has been so great to me.”

  Just then a thin, balding man walked over to join them. He moved gracefully, and the children noticed he was humming softly under his breath. “Hello, Kevin,” he said in a quiet voice.

  “Hello, Scott,” Mr. Reynolds said, slapping him on the back. Kevin turned to the others. “Scott and I learned to skate together as kids. He runs this rink. And he’s letting me rent space here while I get my own rink started.” He turned back to his friend. “Do you know the Aldens and the Davidsons?”

  “I’m Scott Kaplan. Nice to meet you,” Scott said to the group gathered around Kevin.

  “This is a great place,” Benny said. “We love skating here. And the hot chocolate at the snack bar is the best.”

  ?
??I’m glad you like it,” Scott said, smiling. He turned to Kevin. “I was watching your practice. Why were all those hats and gloves on the ice?”

  “Oh, that,” Kevin said. “I bought some cones to use for that drill, but they disappeared. So Henry suggested using the stuff from the lost-and-found bin.”

  “I thought maybe it was some crazy Scouts drill,” Scott teased his old friend, a big smile on his face. “I remember you were always a little unusual, but I didn’t think you wanted the whole town to know that!”

  “I was sitting with a man from the town council,” said Mrs. Davidson. “He—both of us, really—wondered what you were doing with all that stuff on the ice.”

  “Better watch what you do, Kev,” Scott warned in a joking voice. “The council may not approve the plan for your rink.”

  “Where is the new rink going to be?” Mrs. Davidson asked.

  “On Overlook Road,” Kevin said. “There’s a big empty piece of land near the elementary school.”

  “That’s what I’d heard,” said Mrs. Davidson.

  “We live right around the corner from there!” said Beth. “Cool! I’ll be able to walk to the rink!”

  Her mother did not look as happy. “I’m worried it will bring a lot of traffic and noise to our quiet little neighborhood.”

  “We’ve taken that into consideration,” said Kevin. “We’ll make sure it won’t be a problem.”

  Mrs. Davidson did not look convinced. “Are the plans final?”

  “Just about,” Kevin said. “As a matter of fact, the architect just dropped off a set of plans this morning. They’re in my office. Would you all like to come see them?”

  “Sure,” said Scott, speaking for everyone.

  The Aldens exchanged looks. Mrs. Davidson sure looked unhappy about this new rink!

  CHAPTER 3

  An Unexpected Spill

  After Benny, Violet, and Kevin got out of their skates, the group followed Kevin to his office, which was off the lobby. It was right next to Tracey’s office. As they walked by, Jessie saw her old teacher inside, sitting at her desk filling out papers.

  Kevin’s office had a large desk in the center of the room and a Scouts poster on the wall. On his desk was a puck mounted in a glass box. Jessie picked it up and read the small plaque at the bottom: GAME-WINNING GOAL—STANLEY CUP FINALS. She also noticed a blue-and-red desk set with the Scouts logo on it and a bottle of ink and a fountain pen in it.

  In the center of the desk was a large flat plastic envelope. Kevin picked it up and opened it. “These are the only set,” he said, pulling out some large sheets of paper, “so we’ll have to be careful with them. I couldn’t wait to see them, so I asked the architect to bring them over right away—before they’d even made a copy.”

  “I’m sure they have this all stored on the computer, though,” Scott assured Kevin.

  “Normally they would, but they told me their computers went down last night,” said Mr. Reynolds.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll be careful,” said Jessie.

  Scott, Beth, Mrs. Davidson, and the Aldens all crowded around Kevin as he held the drawings up one at a time. The first showed what the outside of the building would look like.

  “What a beautiful building,” said Scott.

  “Yes, I think it will be,” Kevin responded.

  He held up the next drawing, which showed how the rink and seats around it would look. There were some other drawings showing how the whole building would be laid out, with the lobby, offices, and locker rooms.

  “Where’s the snack bar going to be?” Benny asked.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Right here,” said Kevin, pointing to a far corner on one of the plans. “And I’ll make sure we serve hot chocolate.”

  “What will happen to this rink when the new one opens?” Violet asked Scott.

  “I don’t know,” he answered. “But it won’t be up to me. I’m retiring and moving out of Greenfield.”

  “Really?” Kevin said.

  “Yeah. I’ve been thinking about moving for a long time—going someplace warm,” Scott said. “I’ll stay for the mini-league, but then I’m leaving.”

  Just then the phone rang. While Kevin spoke to the person on the other end, the others looked over the drawings.

  “That was my wife,” he said, hanging up the phone. “I’m going to go meet her for breakfast.” He carefully replaced the plans in the large envelope and laid it on his desk.

  “Now that you have the plans, what happens next?” Mrs. Davidson asked as she and the others made their way out of Kevin’s office.

  “The town council has to approve them,” Kevin said. “I’m going to bring them to the meeting tonight. And assuming nothing unexpected happens, we’ll start building at the end of the month.”

  Mrs. Davidson looked as if she were thinking about something. “Come on, Beth,” she said, heading off. “Sounds great, Mr. Reynolds.” She flashed a quick smile. “Assuming nothing unexpected happens.”

  Jessie and Henry watched as the Davidsons walked away. “What do you think she meant by that?” Jessie asked Henry.

  “I don’t know,” Henry said. “It almost sounds as if she expects something to go wrong.”

  “I’ve got to run,” said Kevin. He walked quickly to the main exit. “See you later!”

  Saying a quick good-bye to the Aldens, Scott also left to go back to his office.

  “I’m hungry!” Benny said.

  “Didn’t you eat breakfast?” Violet wanted to know.

  “Yes, but it was so early I need another breakfast,” Benny said.

  “Let’s get a snack after we skate some more,” Jessie said.

  “I noticed on the schedule that there’s a special hockey practice session. We could work on your stickhandling, Jessie,” Henry said.

  “That’s a great idea! Violet and I can skate more, too!” Benny called out.

  Henry went to call home to let their grandfather know about the change in plans. They were happily surprised when, soon after, Mrs. McGregor arrived at the rink with a basket of warm muffins for them!

  They skated for nearly an hour. Benny and Violet skated around the outside of the rink, working on crossovers, which Kevin had taught them that morning. Henry and Jessie stayed in the middle, working on her stickhandling.

  After a little while, Benny and Violet skated to the center. “Can we take a break?” Benny asked.

  “Sure,” said Jessie. “I’m ready for a break, too. How about a hot pretzel with mustard?”

  “And some hot chocolate?” Benny asked.

  “And some hot chocolate,” Jessie assured him.

  The Aldens walked out to the lobby. Suddenly they heard a shout from Kevin’s office. The children looked at one another and then ran across the lobby. Tracey came out of her door at the same moment, and all of them went into Kevin’s office.

  “Coach Reynolds, what’s wrong?” Henry asked.

  Kevin was standing at his desk with his coat on, his back to them. He was looking down at his desk. He seemed to be frozen there.

  “The plans for the new rink!” Kevin said. “They’re ruined!”

  Tracey and the children came closer and looked down at his desk. The plans they had looked at just a few hours earlier were spread all over the desktop. And something black was spilled across them.

  “Quick, maybe we can save them,” Jessie said. “Are there paper towels anywhere?”

  “The snack bar will have some paper napkins,” Tracey said. She ran out the door, with Jessie right behind her.

  “What is that—ink?” Henry asked. He dipped a finger in the black liquid and looked at it more closely. Then he noticed the ink bottle lying on its side across the plans. There was only a little bit of ink left inside. “This must have spilled.” He handed the nearly empty bottle to Kevin.

  Jessie and Tracey returned with a stack of paper napkins. Everyone grabbed a few and tried to blot up the ink. But it was no use.

  The ink
had already soaked through the papers, destroying most of the drawings.

  “How could this have happened?” Coach Reynolds asked. “I put the plans back in the envelope before I left. What were they doing spread all over my desk?”

  “Do you think someone came in to look at them?” Jessie asked.

  “And then they accidentally knocked over the ink?” Henry added.

  “I guess it’s possible, but wouldn’t they have done something, instead of just leaving it here like this?” Coach Reynolds asked.

  “Maybe they knocked it over as they were leaving and didn’t realize,” Jessie suggested.

  “How could they not realize?” Kevin asked.

  “Or maybe they were afraid to admit it—afraid they’d get in trouble,” Benny offered. He remembered when he’d broken a glass bowl in the living room at home. He had been afraid to tell his grandfather. At last he had gotten up his courage and admitted what he had done. Grandfather had been proud of Benny for being honest.

  “The plans are ruined now.” Kevin sighed heavily. “I’d better call the architect.” He gathered up the inky papers and shook his head. He looked very sad. “Now I won’t be able to present these plans tonight. This will really set back the building of the rink.”

  Tracey and the Aldens left Kevin’s office so that he could make his phone call. Tracey went back into her office. The Aldens looked at one another glumly. They all felt bad for Kevin.

  “We might as well go get our snack,” said Jessie. “There’s nothing more we can do for Coach Reynolds.”

  When they were sitting at a table sipping hot chocolate, Benny said, “Do you really think someone spilled that ink by accident?”

  “I don’t know,” said Henry. “It does seem pretty strange that someone would go in when Kevin wasn’t there, take out the plans, leave them all over the desk, accidentally knock over the ink, and then just leave.”