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? |