“You tell those girls to win it,” he said fiercely. “I’d like to see one Canadian Cup in the trophy case here at Pineview before I go.”
Nancy left, feeling sorry for the old man. But she couldn’t help wondering whether there was something more between the art teacher and Mr. Garrison than they were telling her. Mr. Morse’s anger yesterday in the headmaster’s office had been so great. Even the suggestion of retirement didn’t seem enough to spark it.
“But then, I don’t know Mr. Morse,” Nancy reminded herself. “At least, not very well.”
• • •
When Nancy reached the parking lot outside the gym, George and Bess were already there. A few team members were kicking a ball around on the pavement.
“Well, well,” Nancy said. “Don’t tell me Bess Marvin is going to attend a soccer game.”
“I talked her into it,” said George. “I told her if she didn’t come I’d never go to another rock concert with her.”
“Blackmailer,” said Bess. “Your team had better win.”
“With George coaching, how can they lose?” Nancy asked.
“I was telling Bess about all the fun she missed yesterday,” George said.
“If you call getting shoved into a boiler room fun,” Nancy replied.
“Depends on who’s in there with you,” Bess said, her eyes twinkling.
By now more members of the team had arrived. Finally, Kate Boggs arrived. The coach looked tired and drawn, and she seemed upset. She walked straight into the gym without waving to George or talking to any of the players.
“I wonder what’s wrong with her,” George said.
“Maybe she just feels the pressure,” said Nancy.
“I’ll go help her get ready for the trip,” George said.
After George had run off, Bess asked, “What’s going on around here?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” said Nancy. “But it hasn’t been easy.”
When Janine arrived a few minutes later, she walked toward the group, wearing the same downcast look as her coach. It seemed as though no one at Pineview was happy.
“Have you found anything out yet?” Janine asked Nancy as soon as she reached her.
“Nothing definite, but I’m working on it,” Nancy said.
“My mother is a nervous wreck,” Janine said. “The insurance company told her they’re hiring their own detective. They said they won’t pay the claim until she’s been cleared.”
“She’s just got to hang in there a little longer,” Nancy said. “This will all work out.”
“Maybe,” Janine said. “But meanwhile it’s really getting to me. I almost didn’t come today. I don’t feel like playing. Kelly’s starting as goalie, and for all I care, she can have her dream come true and play the whole game.”
A couple of the other girls called to Janine to join them. Obviously they hoped to cheer her up.
Nancy watched some players pass the soccer ball, working up their spirit for the game. George and Kate returned from the gym, and Kate told the girls to get their equipment bags from downstairs. Before letting them go, she took a head count. Someone was missing.
“It’s Kelly,” one of the girls shouted. “She’s not here.”
“Where is she?” said Coach Boggs. “Kelly’s never missed a game before.”
“I’ll call her dorm,” Leslie Phillips volunteered. She ran inside the gym to use the phone.
“It figures,” Nancy heard Janine mutter. “The one day I don’t want to play, she’s not here.”
Leslie returned from the gym, out of breath from running. “Kelly’s not at the dorm,” she panted. “She must be on her way here.”
“We can wait another fifteen minutes, that’s all,” Kate said.
The time passed quickly as the girls gathered their gym bags and boarded the bus. When everyone was ready, Kelly had still not appeared.
“We have to leave,” Kate announced. “We can’t miss the game because of one player.”
The bus pulled out of the parking lot. Mr. Quinn, the custodian, was driving. Some of the girls looked out the back windows for Kelly, but she was nowhere in sight.
Nancy sat in the front seat next to Kate. George and Bess sat across the aisle, one row back. As the bus headed out onto the highway, Nancy asked Kate how things were going.
“Not great. I’m waiting to hear about something that could solve one of my problems. But then there’s still another one.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
Kate turned her sharp eyes on Nancy. “Look, I know you mean well,” she said. “But I guess I’m just a private person. I don’t like to make my problems someone else’s problems. I’ll handle it.”
“By quitting?” Nancy said in a low voice.
