“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! |