The Mystery of the Soccer Snitch Read Online Free PDF Page B

something away from someone else like that.”
    â€œBut you’re the kind of player who should be mascot,” Mia said.
    The girls sat on benches to change into their sneakers. Jessie put her shin guards and the extra balls she had brought into her soccer bag and slung the bag over her shoulder.
    Henry and Jessie walked home together. It seemed to Jessie that the entire town was moving in slow motion because of the heat. There were not many cars on the street, and only a few people on the sidewalk.
    â€œMrs. McGregor asked if we can stop at the market for some milk,” Henry said. “That’s why I brought this.” He pointed to the backpack he was wearing.
    â€œAll right,” Jessie said.
    They turned a corner toward the market and there, in front of them, was Kayla, heading toward her house. Kayla’s hands were in her pockets.
    â€œYou sure are right about those girls,” Henry said. “They can be mean.”
    â€œYes, they can,” Jessie agreed. “Ever since Kayla came to the school, the girls have been mean to her.”
    Kayla was walking faster than Henry and Jessie, so soon she was at the corner, ready to cross the street. Idly, as Henry and Jessie watched, Kayla took the golf ball from her pocket, looked at it, and rubbed it against her shirt the way a person might brush off an apple before eating it. Then she dropped it back into her pocket. She turned the corner and was gone from their sight.

    Henry and Jessie turned the corner toward the market. Henry looked down an alley where Gerry’s General Store used to be. The sign still said, “Gerry’s General Store,” even though Gerry had closed his store and moved from town over the winter. There was a “For Lease” sign in the window.
    â€œWould you look at that!” Henry said. “The window is broken!”
    Jessie peered down the street. “It is!” she said. At first she hadn’t noticed because the storefront was in shadows.
    â€œI wonder when that happened,” Henry said. “I didn’t notice it this morning. We should tell Grandfather so he can let the police know.”
    â€œMaybe we should look,” said Jessie, “to make sure nothing was left dangerous.”
    Henry and Jessie quickly walked down the alley to the store. Glass was everywhere. The wood casing was splintered.
    Just then a door opened and Mrs. Leob, a friend of Grandfather’s, came out of a nearby shop. Seeing the broken glass, she shrieked. She turned to Henry and Jessie, “Did you do this?”
    â€œNo, ma’am, we did not!” Henry said. “We saw the broken glass and came over to look.”
    Mrs. Leob looked closely at Henry and Jessie. “Oh! You’re the Alden children! I was so upset I didn’t notice! Did you see anything suspicious?”
    â€œNo, ma’am,” Henry said.
    â€œI will call the police right away,” Mrs. Leob said. “We do not put up with this sort of behavior in Greenfield. Whoever did this will find himself—or herself—in big, big trouble.”
    Just then, Jessie noticed something else. Cold air was coming from the inside of the store. “It seems like an air conditioner is on in there,” Jessie said.
    â€œYou’re right!” Henry said. “The air is freezing! How odd!”
    â€œWhat a waste of energy,” Mrs. Leob said. “I will have the police turn it off when they get here.”

CHAPTER 6
    A Friend in the Woods
    Meanwhile, Violet was at home. The purple team didn’t practice that day. Their coaches—two eighth-grade girls—said it was simply too hot. So Violet did her homework, then sat in the living room with her sketch pad. She was in an after school art class which met once weekly, on Mondays. Grandfather bought her a new sketchpad for the class. Already she’d filled most of her sketchpad with lovely drawings.
    She pulled a chair to the window. From the