Mystery at the Ballpark by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read Free Book Online

good about yourselves,” Coach Warren said as they piled into the van. “You did a great job, especially for your first real game.”
    “I made a ton of mistakes,” Jessie said.
    “Me too,” said Nicole.
    “That’s okay. A good player learns from her mistakes. She practices harder to keep from making the same mistakes again. And that’s what I expect you to do.”
    “I think he just said that to make us feel better,” Nicole said to Chuck when Coach Warren moved away.
    “No, he really means it,” Chuck said seriously. “We all make mistakes, and hey, what would baseball be without errors and strikeouts?”
    “Even big-name players strike out,” Henry pointed out. “Nobody’s perfect.”
    The next morning, the Aldens arrived at the dugout early, and Benny headed for the locker room. He was surprised to see Mr. Jackson fumbling with the combination lock on his locker.
    “Oh, hello, Benny,” Mr. Jackson said nervously, smoothing his gray hair. “I didn’t hear you come in.” He quickly moved away from the locker and wiped his hands on his overalls.
    “What are you doing?” Benny asked curiously.
    “Just checking the lockers,” Mr. Jackson answered. He tried to smile, but his voice was tense.
    “What for?” Benny persisted.
    Mr. Jackson avoided looking at him. “Well, I … I’m thinking of repainting them,” he stammered. “The paint’s getting pretty chipped in spots, you know.”
    Benny looked at the gleaming row of bright green lockers and frowned. Chuck had told him that the lockers had been freshly painted a few months ago! Was Mr. Jackson lying to him? Was he really trying to break into his locker?
    Later that morning, Jessie stopped to refill her water bottle and saw Mr. Jackson deep in conversation with Mrs. Sealy.
    “I can’t wait to see the look on Coach Warren’s face,” Mr. Jackson said.
    “Neither can I,” Mrs. Sealy agreed. “He’s going to be in for the shock of his life.”
    Chuck blew his whistle just then, signaling the end of break time, and Jessie returned to the playing field. Were Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Sealy plotting something? Mrs. Sealy called it “the shock of his life.” Were they going to do something that would embarrass Coach Warren? Surely neither one of them would have any reason to sabotage the team, would they? But what was the big secret? Jessie thought about it all morning, and couldn’t come up with any answers.
    It wasn’t until they were eating lunch at the long picnic table that Nicole nudged her. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You’re so quiet!”
    Jessie hesitated. Was this the right time to bring up what was really bothering her? She glanced around the table. Only Nicole and Michael had joined the Aldens for lunch. The others had preferred to sit under the shade of a giant elm tree. Maybe if they all put their heads together, they could come up with an explanation.
    “I think we need to clear the air,” she said softly, and everyone turned to look at her. “There’ve been some strange things going on lately …” she began.
    “I’ll say,” Benny interrupted her. “Someone’s been going around stealing teddy bears!” He missed Stockings and continued to look for him every day.
    “I know, Benny,” she said sympathetically, “but I’m talking about more than just teddy bears.”
    “Weird things have been happening right from the start,” Henry spoke up. “Remember when Ann’s bat was missing and ended up in Susan’s locker?”
    “And that was just the beginning,” Violet said. “Jessie’s glove was taken, and someone tried to trick her with a phony one.”
    “I never did get back my glove,” Jessie said.
    “I think it will turn up.” Nicole gently squeezed her friend’s arm.
    “Yeah, maybe the same person who took your glove took Stockings,” Benny piped up. “Maybe they’ll feel so bad about taking them, that they’ll return them both.”
    “And we nearly missed the game with the Pirates yesterday because