“What are you saying?” Jessie asked. “That someone did it ... on purpose?”
Henry nodded slowly.
“But why? Why would someone do something so terrible?” Jessie asked.
The children sat quietly for a moment, picking at their pretzels. No one really felt much like eating.
At last Henry spoke. “Maybe not everyone is happy that Kevin is building another rink.”
“You think someone wrecked the plans because they were angry about the new rink?” Jessie asked.
“Maybe,” said Henry.
“Like who?” Jessie asked.
“Well, like Scott,” said Henry. “If Kevin builds that nice new rink, maybe no one will come here anymore.”
“But he’s Kevin’s old friend,” said Violet. “I can’t believe he’d ruin the plans.”
“And Scott’s moving away anyway,” said Jessie. “So it doesn’t matter to him.”
“That’s right,” said Henry. He took a bite of pretzel and chewed it slowly. “Well, what about Mrs. Davidson? Remember how upset she was when she learned that the rink was going to be right in her neighborhood?”
“I thought she was happy it would be so close,” said Benny.
“No, that was Beth,” Henry said. “Her mother was worried it would cause a lot of noise and traffic.”
“But she’s such a big fan of Coach Reynolds,” Violet pointed out. “I don’t think she’d do that.”
“Can you think of anyone else?” Henry asked.
Jessie took a sip of her hot chocolate. Then she spoke. “I’ve noticed that Tracey seems really angry that people are switching from figure skating to hockey.”
“Maybe she’s worried that she’ll lose her job if no one wants to take figure skating lessons anymore,” Henry suggested.
“But do you think one of these people spilled ink all over the drawings?” Benny asked.
“They might have,” said Henry. “Let’s think about this for a minute. Which of these people knew that the plans were there?”
“Scott and Mrs. Davidson did,” said Benny. “They were both looking at them with us.”
“And Tracey’s office is right next door, so she might have overheard us talking about them,” Jessie said.
“Coach Reynolds said those were the only set of plans, remember?” Henry added. “So whoever did it knew that if they were ruined, it would cause a big problem.”
“I just thought of someone else,” said Jessie, eating the last bite of her pretzel.
“Who?” asked Henry.
“Cathy Reynolds,” she said.
“Coach’s own daughter?” Violet said.
“At first she seemed nice and asked me to show her around Greenfield,” said Jessie. “Then all of a sudden she became really unfriendly—even a little bit mean during the practice. After practice, she said she had to take care of something and left in a big hurry.”
Benny’s eyes grew wide. “What did she have to take care of?”
“She didn’t say,” Jessie said. “But she would certainly know that her father had just gotten the plans. And she probably knew that he was going out to breakfast with her mom.”
“That means she could have sneaked in and wrecked the plans,” Benny said.
“What would her reason be?” asked Henry crumpling up his empty hot chocolate cup.
“I’m not sure,” Jessie said. “But it’s hard to move to a new town and make new friends. Maybe she’s angry at her dad for taking her away from her old school and her old friends.”
Suddenly Benny sat up very straight in his chair. “I just thought of something else!”
“What?” said Henry and Jessie at the same time.
“Do you think that the person who ruined the plans also stole the orange cones?” Benny asked.
“Maybe,” said Jessie.
Henry seemed doubtful. “I can see why ruining the plans would delay the rink’s being built. But what would stealing the cones do?”
“Remember what Scott said?” Jessie asked. “The town council has to approve the rink. If they don’t trust Coach, they might not let him go ahead with his plans.”
“You mean someone might have stolen the cones to make Coach look irresponsible?” said Henry.
“Exactly,” Jessie said. “In fact, that reminds me of something Tracey said when I told her about the missing cones. She said, ‘He wants to build a whole new rink and he can’t even keep track of some cones.’ ”
The Aldens gathered up their empty hot chocolate cups and crumpled napkins and threw them in the garbage. Then they put on their coats and got ready to leave.
“Is there anything we can do to help Coach Reynolds?” Benny wondered aloud.
“I think the best thing we can do,” said Henry, “is keep our eyes and ears open and try to figure out what’s going on—before anything else bad happens.”
CHAPTER 4
A Secret Plan
A few days later, the Aldens were back at the rink for another practice. In the days after their talk in the snack bar, Jessie had gone to the rink for a few practices on her own. She was getting used to waking up early. She and the others had been watching for any other strange events. But no more mysterious things had happened.
“Do you think maybe we got carried away the other day thinking that someone was trying to keep Coach Reynolds from building the rink?” asked Jessie.
“Maybe,” said Henry.
“I still think there’s a mystery going on,” said Benny. “And I plan to solve it!”
Benny and Violet went up into the bleacher seats and sat down to watch the practice. Kevin had promised to give them another skating lesson when it was over.
Meanwhile, Henry laced up his skates and went onto the ice with Kevin. Jessie headed for the locker room to change. As soon as Jessie got onto the ice, she called out, “Hey, Coach!”
Kevin smiled at her. “How are you doing?”
“Fine,” Jessie said. “Any news about the plans?”
“The architect is working on them,” Kevin replied. “As soon as they’re ready, I’ll take them to the town council.”
Jessie skated over to Cathy. “Hi!” she said. She wondered if Cathy would be nice today.
“Hello,” Cathy replied with a friendly smile.
“Have you gotten to see much of Greenfield yet?” Jessie asked.
“A little bit,” Cathy said.
Just then, Beth came onto the ice and waved. She skated over to Jessie in a figure skater’s arabesque, her leg stretched out behind her. It looked funny in her hockey gear, and Jessie giggled.
“Do you miss figure skating?” Beth asked.
“I do,” said Jessie. She turned back to Cathy. “So have you been to The Scoop yet?”
“The Scoop is the best,” said Beth.
“No, I haven’t been yet,” Cathy said. Her voice was suddenly cool and she didn’t seem interested in talking to Jessie.
“It’s great—we could go today after practice,” Jessie said. But as soon as she started talking, Cathy bent to fix her skate. Cathy acted as if she didn’t hear Jessie.
Jessie was about to say something else when Coach Reynolds started the warm-ups. And for the rest of practice, there was no time to talk.
When practice was over, Beth and Jessie were in the locker room, packing their gear into their hockey bags. “Want to come over to my house?” Beth asked.
“Sure!” said Jessie. “I’ll tell my sister and brothers that I’ll be home later.”
A few moments later, the girls had slung their bags over their shoulders and were walking out to the parking lot. Mrs. Davidson was waiting there in a blue minivan.
“Hello, girls,” Mrs. Davidson greeted them with a big smile.
“Hey, Mom!” Beth said.
“Hi, Mrs. Davidson,” said Jessie, piling into the backseat with Beth. She remembered what she and her brothers and sister had talked about the other day. Now it seemed hard to believe Mrs. Davidson could be the one causing the trouble. She
was so friendly and nice.
“How was practice?” Mrs. Davidson asked as she pulled out of the lot. Today she was wearing a New York Rangers jersey.
“Good,” said Beth. “He worked us pretty hard.”
“You’re such a good skater,” Jessie said.
“So are you,” Beth responded.
“Not when I’m trying to control the puck,” Jessie said.
“It just takes practice,” Beth insisted. “You’ll get it.”
After they’d been driving for a little while, Beth pointed out the window. “See that empty lot?”
Jessie looked out and saw a large field surrounded by a few trees.
“That’s where they’re going to build the skating rink,” Beth said.
They turned the corner. “And this is my street!” Beth said.
“Wow, you will live close to the new rink,” said Jessie.
Mrs. Davidson pulled into the driveway of a yellow house and parked the car in the garage. “We’re home!” she said.
When they went inside, Jessie was amazed to see that her friend had not exaggerated. The walls of the family room were covered with hockey posters. Draped over the couch was a blanket with the Scouts logo on it. Several shelves on the bookcase held nothing but hockey memorabilia.
“Here’s a picture of Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky.” Beth showed it to Jessie. “And here’s a puck signed by Gordie Howe.”
“Cool!” said Jessie.
“Let’s get a snack,” Beth said, leading the way into the kitchen. “I’m always really hungry after practice.”
“Me, too,” Jessie agreed.
Mrs. Davidson was in the kitchen, putting away some groceries and talking on the telephone.
Jessie hadn’t been paying attention to Mrs. Davidson’s telephone conversation, until she heard her say, “Yes, I’ve heard about the new rink.”
Suddenly Jessie wanted to hear what Mrs. Davidson was going to say. But before Beth’s mother said any more, Beth called out, “Mom, did you get more pretzels?”
Mrs. Davidson was listening to the person on the other end of the phone. “I know,” she said. “The traffic will be horrible. I’m worried about it, too.”
Again Beth said, “Mom, did you get more pretzels?”
“Just a minute,” Mrs. Davidson whispered to Beth, her hand over the telephone receiver. Then she returned to the person on the telephone. “I know, I think—”
But her daughter interrupted her again. “Mom, we’re hungry!”
“All right,” Mrs. Davidson said to Beth. She turned her attention back to the phone. “Listen, I’ve got two hungry girls here just back from hockey practice, so let me call you later. But don’t worry—I’ve got a plan. If it works, this rink definitely will not be a problem. Trust me.” She hung up the phone.
Jessie couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. What did Mrs. Davidson mean by “a plan”? Was it what Jessie and the other Aldens had been talking about?
“What can I get you girls?” Mrs. Davidson said.
“Mom, who was that? What were you saying about the rink?” Beth wanted to know.
“That was our neighbor, Mr. Rosen,” Mrs. Davidson said. “Like me, he’s worried about the rink causing noise and traffic here.”
“So what are you going to do?” Beth asked.
Mrs. Davidson looked at the girls for a moment before answering. “Let’s just say I have an idea about how to keep it from ...” Mrs. Davidson paused as if looking for the right words. “From being a problem,” she said at last. “You know what I always say: You can’t just sit back and wait for things to happen—you’ve got to take action.”
Why is Mrs. Davidson being so secretive? thought Jessie. Was it because her plan involved spilling ink and stealing cones?
“Now, about those pretzels ...” Mrs. Davidson went to a cabinet to find the girls a snack.
Jessie took a pretzel from the bowl Mrs. Davidson offered her. She tried to pay attention to the story Beth was telling her. But she kept wondering just what Mrs. Davidson’s plan was. Why was it such a secret?
CHAPTER 5
Hidden Away
A few days later, Violet, Benny, and Grandfather were sitting in the stands for the first Polar Bears game. Jessie was in the locker room with the rest of the team, putting on her uniform. She was excited to be wearing her blue-and-white Polar Bears jersey. Henry was on the ice with the coach, getting ready for the game.
Benny and Violet looked around at all the people in the stands. There were parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers, and friends of the players. Benny spotted Mrs. Davidson sitting with her husband. Violet noticed Scott Kaplan and Tracey Lippert sitting together.
“Hey, look, there’s Jessie!” Benny shouted when he saw his sister skate onto the ice.
“She looks like a real hockey player in her uniform,” said Violet, smiling proudly.
When all the Polar Bears were there, Henry led the girls in a quick skating and shooting drill to warm up. Then it was time for the game to begin. The other team was called the Cobras, and their jerseys were red.
Beth was playing center, with Cathy on her right wing and a girl named Joanne on her left. Each girl skated mostly in her own area of the ice, according to her position. As forwards, Beth, Cathy, and Joanne were supposed to lead the way up the ice, getting the puck away from the other team and shooting at the other team’s goal.
Allison and Kaitlin were playing defense. They were taller than most of the other girls and very strong. Their job was to stay behind the forwards as the team moved up the ice. If the forwards lost control of the puck, the defense tried to get it away from the other team.
A girl named Susan was the goalie. She wore heavy pads over her legs and a mask to protect her face if someone shot the puck high into the net. Her gloves were different from the other girls’, since she used them to block or catch the puck. Her stick was also different. It was flat and wide, because she used it to keep the puck from going in the goal.
As center, Beth began the game with the opening face-off against a tall girl from the Cobras. She and the Cobras’ center stood in the middle of the ice. The referee dropped the puck and Beth got it. She drew it back to Allison, who quickly passed it to Cathy.
Cathy was a fast skater. She moved quickly up the ice. Beth and Joanne kept up with her. The three Polar Bears forwards passed the puck back and forth a few times as the Cobras tried to protect their goal.
Polar Bears fans in the seats yelled, “Shoot it!”
Coach Reynolds called out, “Good passing, girls. Now take a shot!”
At last Cathy saw an opening between two Cobras. She shot the puck, snapping her wrists hard, sending the puck toward the goal. It slid past the goalie’s legs and into the net. The Polar Bears had scored! They were winning, one to nothing!
The Polar Bears fans roared from the stands. The extra Polar Bears players who had been sitting on the bench all stood up and cheered.
“Great shot!” said Beth.
“Good job!” Joanne added.
Cathy just gave a small smile.
The Polar Bears changed lines—a new group of girls came in to relieve the tired players. Skating up and down the ice was tiring. Unlike other sports, hockey players replaced each other frequently, only playing for a couple of minutes at a time.
“Jessie, play left wing,” Coach Reynolds called. Jessie got up off the bench and took a deep breath. She felt nervous but excited.
The referee dropped the puck. This time the Cobras got control of the puck and began skating toward the Polar Bears’ goal. But a moment later, one of the Polar Bears stole the puck away and the players moved back the other way.
“Jessie!” a girl named Shannon shouted, passing the puck to her.
Jessie stretched out her stick to catch the puck, but it slid just out of her reach. Jessie skated fast to try to catch it, but one of the Cobras got there first. The play moved back in the other direction. Jessie was disappointed she had not
been able to get Shannon’s pass. She knew she’d have to try harder.
When Jessie saw Coach Reynolds wave to her, she skated over to the side and Joanne went onto the ice to replace her. Jessie was glad, because she was breathless from skating so hard.
Over the next few minutes, the Cobras scored two times, but Shannon scored to tie the game. Then Cathy scored again, breaking the tie. Once again, the Polar Bears were winning.
A moment later the whistle blew, and the first period was over. The Polar Bears grabbed their water bottles and gathered around Coach Reynolds. “You’re doing a great job,” he told them. Then he gave them some pointers to improve their game in the next period. “We’re winning by one goal,” he reminded them. All the girls smiled.
Beth called out, “Hooray for Cathy and Shannon.”
Jessie noticed that while Shannon was grinning from ear to ear, Cathy was frowning again!
Coach went on, “Keep up the good playing. Let’s try to get a couple more goals.”
The whistle blew, and it was time to start the next period. The Cobras scored in this period, tying the game. The Polar Bears struggled to score another goal but failed. When the period ended, the score was tied.
In the third period, Jessie was determined to do better. She concentrated on controlling the puck and didn’t miss any more passes from her teammates.
Joanne and a girl named Marisa each scored once, but the Cobras also scored two more goals, keeping the game tied.
Jessie wanted to help her team, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to score.
Soon there was only one minute left to go.
“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.