“On the floor where you left them?” George asked.
“No,” Nancy said. She shook her head. “They’re gone!”
3
Missing Shoes and Enemy Clues
That’s terrible!” Julia said. “I can’t believe someone would steal your shoes.”
“Me, either,” Nancy said. “It’s so mean.”
Nancy felt her face growing hot. All these pranks were taking the fun out of being on the soccer team.
But then Nancy remembered what her father always said to do when she was trying to solve a puzzle or a mystery: “Stay cool. Think clearly. And don’t jump to conclusions.”
That meant, Don’t make up your mind until you know the facts.
“Maybe they’re not stolen,” Nancy said. “Let’s look around.”
Nancy, George, and Julia began to search the locker room. Nancy looked under the wooden benches. She looked on top of the lockers. She opened all the empty lockers.
Then she looked behind a metal cabinet that was at the end of the room.
“Hey, look what I found!” Nancy cried.
George came running over. Julia had gone to the office to tell her mother about the missing sneakers. “What?”
“An empty jar of red currant jelly,” Nancy announced as she held it up.
“What’s red currant jelly?” George asked.
“It’s made from red berries, called currants,” Nancy explained. “I had it once in a restaurant.”
“What is red currant jelly doing here? That’s weird,” George said.
“I think I know,” Nancy said. “It’s icky. And slimy. And red. I think this is what someone put in Amara’s shoe.”
“You’re so smart,” George said, smiling at her friend.
Nancy put the jar back where she had found it. Then she walked over to her notebook. She picked up her purple pen and wrote, “Clue #1: Red currant jelly in Amara’s shoe.”
“Who do you think put it there?” George asked.
“I don’t know,” Nancy said. “But it’s definitely a clue. So don’t tell anyone.”
“Okay,” George said. “But we still haven’t found your sneakers. And I’ve looked everywhere.”
“I know,” Nancy said. “I guess I’ll have to walk home in my soccer cleats—or my socks.”
Nancy put her hands on her hips and let out an angry sigh. “How could someone on my own team steal my shoes?” she asked George.
“I know how you feel,” George said. She put her arm around Nancy’s shoulder.
Then George bent over and picked up her backpack. “Oh, no!” George shouted.
There on the floor, under George’s backpack, were Nancy’s shoes!
Nancy and George burst out laughing.
Just then Coach Santos and Julia came back into the room. “What’s this about missing sneakers?” the coach asked.
“I must have put my backpack on top of them,” George said. “I didn’t even notice.” She handed them to Nancy.
“You’re the thief!” Nancy yelled. She laughed as she put the sneakers on.
Still giggling, Nancy grabbed her notebook. She picked up her purple pen and started to write.
“What are you writing?” George asked.
Nancy gave George a teasing smile. When she finished, she turned the notebook around so George could see.
It said, “Note to Nancy: Remember—when shoes are missing, the number one suspect is George Fayne!”
George laughed and helped Nancy pack up her soccer gear. They waved at Coach Santos and Julia as they left. Then the two girls walked to Nancy’s house.
Nancy lived in a big house on a tree-lined street. Her house was only a few blocks away from school. When she and George got there, Hannah Gruen had a snack waiting for them.
Hannah was the housekeeper. She had lived with the Drew family ever since Nancy was three years old. That’s when Nancy’s mother had died.
Now Hannah was like a mother to Nancy. She gave Nancy a hug when she came in the door.
“Mmmmm! Blueberry muffins!” George cried out as she dropped her things on one of the kitchen chairs.
“Don’t eat too many,” Hannah said to George. “Your cousin is coming over. Save some for her.”
“Bess?” Nancy said, sounding happy.
Hannah nodded. “Your father made plans with Bess’s and George’s parents. Since it’s Friday night, he’s taking all three of you girls to the mall. For dinner and a movie.”
“Yay!” Nancy and George both said at once.
Twenty minutes later Bess Marvin arrived. With straight blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and a round face, Bess looked nothing like George. But she was George’s cousin and Nancy’s other best friend. The three of them always did everything together.
While Bess ate two blueberry muffins, Nancy told her about the soccer pranks.
“It sounds like Carrie Rodis did it,” Bess announced when Nancy finished talking. “I’ll bet she’s really jealous of George. I wouldn’t trust her if I were you.”
“Well, I’m not sure,” Nancy said. “I’m going to wait and see.”
For the next hour the girls played in Nancy’s room. Then Carson Drew came home. He took them to the mall for dinner. Then they all walked around the mall, waiting for the movie to start.
“Hey, look who’s here,” Nancy said.
She pointed to three girls and two grown-ups. They were looking in a store window.
“It’s Carrie,” Bess said. “But who is she with?”
“Her friends from her old school,” Nancy answered. “Margot and Tonya.”
“She still hangs out with them all the time,” George complained. “And look. Carrie is wearing purple and white—their school colors.”
Nancy turned to her father. “Daddy, can we go look in that store window?”
Carson Drew nodded. “But don’t go anywhere else. I’ll be waiting for you right here, where I can see you. On this bench.”
Nancy, Bess, and George hurried over to the store window. It was filled with storybook toys and books about fairy-tale characters.
Margot, Tonya, and Carrie were looking at a comb and mirror set that had a picture of Snow White on it. They didn’t see Nancy coming up behind them.
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,” Bess said loudly to Nancy. “Who’s the fairest of them all?”
Carrie and her friends jumped. They spun around quickly.
“Oh, hi!” Carrie said, sounding surprised.
“Hi,” Nancy said.
“Hi,” Bess said.
“Are you getting ready for our soccer game tomorrow?” George asked, staring at Carrie.
Carrie frowned. “What do you mean? I’m just shopping.”
“Well, do you think you should be shopping with our team’s enemies?” George said.
“That’s not fair!” Carrie said angrily. “These are my friends.”
“I know,” George said. “That’s what I mean.”
Carrie looked upset. “I don’t see what’s wrong with being with my friends,” she said.
“That depends on what you’re telling them about our team,” George said.
“Come on,” Nancy said, grabbing George by the arm. “Let’s go.”
She took Bess’s arm, too, and started to pull her friends away. But Tonya called after them.
“I hear your team is jinxed,” she called. “I hear bad things happen all the time.”
George turned around and glared angrily at Carrie.
“I guess you tell your friends everything,” she snapped. “I guess you’ve told them all our plays, too!”
“I did not!” Carrie said.
“I don’t care,” George said. “It won’t matter when we play the Bluejays tomorrow. We’ll still win. And we’ll win when we play your team next week, too.”
“Really?” Tonya said. “Even if your goalie has goo in her shoes?”
Carrie and her friends started giggling again.
“What do you
know about that?” George demanded.
“All I know is, I’m glad I’m not on the Tigers team,” Tonya said. “In fact, I’d be careful tomorrow, if I were you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” George asked.
“It’s just that everyone is saying . . .” Tonya said.
“What?” Nancy asked.
Tonya gave Nancy a mean smile. “That being a Tiger is bad luck!”
4
Bad Luck Tigers
Go, George! Get in there! Steal the ball! Run!” a man shouted from the sidelines.
Nancy knew the voice. It was Melissa Adams’s father. He came to every game. He always shouted a lot.
It was early in the first half of the Saturday morning game against the Blue jays. Already the Tigers were losing. The score was 1-0.
“Go, George! Run! We’ve got to score!” Mr. Adams screamed at the top of his lungs.
George dribbled the ball with her feet until she was close to the Bluejays’ goal. But all nine Bluejays were bunched up in front of her. She couldn’t get a good shot.
“Pass! Pass it, George!” Mr. Adams screamed.
“Go, Tigers!” another parent on the sidelines yelled. “Yay, team!”
Nancy looked around. There was no one to pass it to, except Carrie. George saw that Carrie was free, too. But instead of passing the ball, George kicked it toward the goal.
The ball went straight to one of the Bluejays’ players. The player headed the ball. That is what it was called when you hit the ball with your head. Nancy had just learned how to do it. It sort of hurt, but it was fun, too.
“Keep trying!” one of the parents shouted.
“George! You should have passed!” Mr. Adams yelled. “Next time pass the ball! Now come on, Tigers. Let’s go! We’ve got to win!”
Nancy didn’t run up to the Bluejays’ goal. She was a fullback. That meant she was supposed to stay in the back part of the field. She was part of the defense.
“Come on, Nancy, get in there!” Mr. Adams yelled.
Boy, I’m glad he’s not my father, Nancy thought. Mr. Adams yelled at everyone all the time.
And Melissa wasn’t even playing just then! She was sitting on the sidelines, waiting her turn.
For the next ten minutes the Tigers tried hard to score a goal. The parents cheered and screamed. But when the whistle blew, the score was still Bluejays 1-Tigers 0.
Nancy ran to the sidelines, panting and thirsty. All the players were hot and thirsty, even though it was a cool spring day. The Tigers gathered around the big water cooler that George’s mother had brought to the game.
“Good job, Tigers,” Coach Santos said. “You held them to only one goal. Have a drink and then I’ll tell you who’s playing next half.”
Nancy grabbed two cups and gave one to George. They waited for their turn at the water cooler. Lindsay Mitchell was first.
She filled her paper cup and then took a huge gulp.
Suddenly she spit out the whole mouthful, all over the grass. Some of it dripped on her blue-and-orange soccer uniform.
“Oh, yuck!” Lindsay said. “It’s salt water!”
“Blechhh!” Erin said. She had just taken a drink, too.
“What’s wrong?” Coach Santos asked.
“George’s mom brought salt water,” Lindsay said.
“No, she did not!” George said.
“Well, someone put salt in it,” Lindsay said.
“Not another prank!” Coach Santos cried. “Okay, George. Where is your mother right now?”
“She had to go somewhere,” George said. “She dropped me off with the cooler and then left. She’ll be back when the game is over.”
Coach Santos picked up the cooler. “I’ll ask another parent to go get us some fresh water,” she said. “Let’s not panic.”
Nancy wasn’t panicking. But she was really thirsty. She didn’t want to play another half without a drink.
“I have a box of juice in my backpack,” Erin Kelly said. “I’ll get it. Maybe we can all share.”
“That’s nice of you,” Coach Santos said. “But I don’t think one box of juice is enough for fourteen girls. You drink it, and we’ll wait for the water.”
“Can I play next half?” Melissa Adams asked. “I’m not thirsty or tired at all.”
“Not yet, Melissa,” Coach Santos said.
Nancy pulled George aside.
“Look,” Nancy said. She pointed at Carrie, who was pulling something from her backpack. “Carrie has her own water bottle. She doesn’t even care about what happened.”
“Do you think she was the one who put salt in the water?” George asked.
“I don’t know. Erin has her own drink, too. So they are both suspects,” Nancy said. “But I don’t think Erin would do something like this. She’s too nice.”
“I think Carrie did it,” George said.
George walked up to Carrie and stared her right in the face. “How come you just happened to bring your own water bottle?” George asked.
“I always bring my own,” Carrie said in a snooty voice. “That’s what they taught us to do on the Lions team. The best players always do.”
Nancy and George didn’t know what to say. They turned and walked away. Nancy was still thirsty. And being thirsty made her really angry at whoever had played this trick on the team.
Finally Amara’s father returned with a cooler of fresh water. Nancy and George ran over to get a drink.
Then Nancy looked around at the crowd of parents and kids who were watching the game. Were Carrie’s friends at the game, too? There were so many people, Nancy couldn’t tell.
Soon it was time to start the second half.
For the rest of the game the Tigers played hard. Carrie scored one goal and tied up the game. But after that no one scored. Not even George!
“I guess you are the Bad Luck Tigers,” Carrie said as she and Nancy came off the field.
“What do you mean ’you’? You’re a Tiger, too,” Nancy said. “Remember?”
“Oh, yeah?” Carrie said angrily. “Well, I sure don’t feel like one!”
5
In the News
Nancy woke up early Wednesday morning. She climbed out of bed and sat at her desk in her nightgown. She stared at her special blue notebook.
“Hey, there, Pudding Pie,” Nancy’s father said. He was standing in the doorway to her room.
Nancy smiled. She liked it when her father called her Pudding Pie. It was his special nickname for her.
“Hi, Daddy,” Nancy said.
Carson Drew came into the room.
“Why aren’t you getting ready for school?” he asked.
“Because I’ve decided,” Nancy said. “I’m not getting dressed until I solve the soccer mystery.”
Carson Drew laughed. “What’s the problem?” he asked.
Nancy pointed to her list of suspects. “I have three suspects,” she said. “But I don’t know if any of them did it.”
She held up the notebook so he could see the three names: Carrie, Margot, and Tonya.
“Do you have any clues?” her father asked.
“Just a jar of red currant jelly,” Nancy said.
Carson laughed. “How about witnesses?” he asked. “Did anyone see anything?”
“Nope,” Nancy said.
“Hmmm,” Carson said. “I see the problem.”
“So what should I do?” Nancy asked.
“Well,” Carson said, “maybe it would help to figure out who didn’t do it.”
“You mean, make a list of people who aren’t suspects?” Nancy said. “That’s a great idea! Thanks, Daddy.”
Right away Nancy thought of a few people who couldn’t be guilty. People like Julia Santos. She was the coach’s daughter. She would never play tricks on the soccer team.
There were others, too. But Nancy didn’t have time to make the list just then. She had to get dressed. She was almost late for school!
Quickly she put on sweatpan
ts and a sweater. She packed up her books and soccer gear and hurried downstairs. She ate some cereal and drank a glass of juice. Then she ran most of the way to school.
When she got there, all the girls were huddled together in a circle. It looked as if they were reading something—but what?
“What’s going on?” Nancy asked as she ran up to join them.
“Nancy, look at this,” George said. She held up a piece of paper in front of Nancy so Nancy could read it.
It was a homemade newspaper, written by Brenda Carlton, another third grader. Brenda made copies on her computer at home and brought them to school.
Nancy wrinkled her nose. She didn’t like Brenda very much. Brenda didn’t like Nancy, either.
The newspaper story read:
TIGERS LOSE WHEN CAPTAIN
BRINGS SALT WATER TO
SOCCER GAME
The soccer game between the Tigers and the Bluejays on Saturday was a big mess. None of the Tigers played very well after the first half. Could it be because the water cooler was filled with salt water?
Yes, it’s true! George Fayne, captain of the team, brought a whole cooler full of salt water to the game!
Of course the team lost. Who can play soccer when they are so thirsty?
Many pranks and tricks have been happening to the team lately. Last week Amara Shane found a whole jar of red currant jelly in her soccer shoe!
The big question is: Who is doing this? And why isn’t the captain doing anything?
If the Tigers are going to win, they’ll need a captain who can really be a leader.
Nancy’s mouth fell open as she read the story.
“I don’t believe this!” she said to George. “The Tigers didn’t lose. We tied.”
“I know,” George said angrily.
“And how can she blame you for the salt water?” Nancy went on. “She doesn’t know what happened. She wasn’t even at the game!”
“Yes, she was,” Julia Santos said.
“She was?” Nancy asked.
Julia nodded. Lindsay Mitchell nodded, too.