Touchdown Tony Crowne and the Mystery of the Missing Cheerleader (11 page)

“Ready! Set! Hut! Hut!”

Putting his head down, Judd took one long stride, stopped, backpedaled twice and waited for the ball. Nick’s throw was high and to the right. Judd, realizing he had to jump to catch it, sprung up as hard as he could and stuck his left hand high into the air. The football spiraled into his palm, deflected down and Judd cradled it next to his chest with his right hand. Landing off-balanced and disoriented, Judd took a step toward the wrong end zone, recognizing his error, he spun around and charged up the field for a gain of twenty yards before being shoved out of bounds.

“Who-o-o whee! That seventy-five is dynamite!” Hunter Dunwoody yelled out loud. “That ball was sailing high and he managed to bring it down and gain a huge chunk of field.”

Smilin’ Bob turned to Dunwoody and joked, “Hmm, those ‘dirt’ plays seem to be working just fine for the Bobcats!”

Dunwoody glanced back with a frown and murmured, “Ahem, yeah, well, maybe I was a bit harsh about that, ahem.”

“All right, listen up,” Nick barked. “Coach Tiny wants a run play, but with a twist. We’re gonna run the same formation, except everybody goes long, including you Judd. Just run straight for the end zone. I’m gonna drop back, act like I’m gonna pass, then slip the ball to John for a draw play. Got it? This time on one. Hike on one, hike on one! Break!”

“Ready! Set! Hut!”

As Nick dropped back with his arm cocked, most of the Lions also dropped back into a pass defense. When Nick got behind John Flores, the tailback, he reached around him and slid the ball into his midsection, slapped him on the back and shouted, “Go! Go!”

John, with a huge hole in the Lions’ defense staring at him, dug his cleats into the ground, pumped his arms to gain speed and took off up the middle of the field.

Coach Chuck and the rest of the Lions, saw Nick hand off to John and tried to alert their defense, waving their arms and yelling, “Run, run! Draw, draw!”

Gaining five yards before a defender could react, John was met at the twenty-four yard line by the first Lion who lunged wildly, but could only manage a glancing blow. Another Lion also took aim, but John easily side-stepped him, gaining another five yards before being gang tackled by a wall of four Lions.

When the fourth Lion got off of John, the referee bent down, spoke to John, stood up, whistled, waved his arms above his head in a crisscross fashion and yelled, “Time out! Injured man!”

As Doc Claiborne and Coach Tiny ran onto the field to check on John, Tony turned to the bleachers to look for Detective Bouguereau. He spotted him off to one side having an animated conversation with Felicity Whittaker. He also saw a miserable looking Mel and Josie sitting nearby, no doubt he just interviewed them, thought Tony. I almost wish I was over there helping him get to the bottom of Ash’s disappearance. I bet I could—.

“Tony! Coach Tiny wants you in the game!” Coach Buck slapped him on the shoulder pads and brought his attention back to the action on the field.

While Doc Claiborne continued to examine John, Coach Tiny called the team into a huddle and explained, “Unfortunately, Doc thinks John has a separated shoulder and won’t be able to play for several weeks. So, here’s what we’re gonna do: Tony, you’re the quarterback. Nick, you’re the tailback. Everybody else stays the same. All right, here’s the next play. We’re gonna take advantage of having two quarterbacks on the field. Tony, you reverse pivot and toss to Nick for a sweep right. Except Nick, you’re gonna pull up and throw it to Judd. Judd, you’re gonna line up next to the right tackle and run a square out to the near sideline, like this,” Coach Tiny drew a diagram in the grass of the route he wanted Judd to run.

“I really and truly do not believe this!” Hunter Dunwoody threw his hands into the air in exasperation and groaned, “Don’t the Bobcats have a playbook? Even the head coach is drawing plays in the dirt! Amazing!”

A visibly aching John Flores walked off the field with Doc and Coach Tiny while the fans from both of the teams stood up and cheered for him. Smilin’ Bob announced, “First down for the Bobcats at the Lions’ nineteen-yard line.”

“Ready! Set! Hut! Hut!”

Tony deftly tossed the ball to Nick who grabbed it out of the air and ran at half-speed parallel to the line of scrimmage. He faked turning up the field, took one step back and fired the ball to Judd. Many of the defenders bit on Nick’s fake and rushed toward him, leaving Judd one-on-one with the safety. Nick threw a perfect spiral and Judd snagged it at the nine-yard line. In an attempt to bring Judd down, the safety jumped on his back and rode him like a bucking bull at the rodeo. At the four-yard line, two more Lions went low and Judd, falling like a chopped tree, extended his arm, trying to get the ball into the end zone , but fell short of the goal line with the referee marking the ball at the half-yard line.

A collective moan issued from the Bobcats’ fans.

Signaling the play into Tony, Coach Tiny called for a “22 Dive” which is a run up the gut with Nick jumping the line of scrimmage if the gaps are stopped up.

The defense crowded the line of scrimmage with ten players and the free safety backing them up in hopes of stuffing the ball carrier.

“Ready! Set! Hut! Hut!”

Nick realized before he received the ball that he was going to have to leap over the Lions. There were just too many of them for the Bobcats to create a hole. At the second hut, he broke for the line, received the hand-off from Tony, took two steps and flung himself into the air. The free safety, Matt Bishop, recognizing where Nick was going broke for the line and leapt into the air as well.

Reaching the line of scrimmage, Nick sailed over his center and held the ball out with his arms in hopes of breaking the plane of the goal line. Matt Bishop’s helmet, however, collided with the football and launched it high into the air. Tony saw the football go straight up and knew he had to go get it. In front of him, a defender was on all fours and Tony took the opportunity to use him as a springboard. Two other defenders also realized the football was up for grabs and jumped up to snatch it. Thanks to the unlucky Lion on the ground, Tony leapt higher than the other two, plucked the football in mid-air and landed on his back in the end zone. The next thing he saw was the referee standing over him, with both arms raised, signaling and whistling a touchdown for the Bobcats.

Chapter 19- The Investigation

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Booger-row,” grumbled Felicity Whittaker as she stood with her pom-poms lodged on her hips and with a petulant look on her face.

“She doesn’t know what you’re talking about, Booger-row,” parroted Mel and Josie as they stood with their hands on their hips behind Felicity.

Tony had warned Detective Bouguereau about Felicity and her toadies and he was ready for them. He leaned down to their level, looked them square in the eye and proclaimed in the most authoritarian voice he could muster, “First of all,
mademoiselles
, when you address me, you do it properly. My name, to you, is Detective Bouguereau. You pronounce my name Boo-gah-roo.” He reached into his coat pocket, produced his detective badge, flashed it to them and said, “The last person who mispronounced my name is still on community service, raking the leaves around the courthouse.” He arched his eyebrows, narrowed his eyes and warned, “And you realize there are many trees at the courthouse whose leaves need to be raked.” He raised his hand and put his index finger close to his thumb and continued, “All three of you
mademoiselles
are this close to getting your own rake.” At the same time he put his other hand behind his back and crossed his fingers indicating that he really did not mean it.

“Oh!” A gasp escaped from Mel and Josie’s lips, they’re eyes bulging and their hands cupping their mouths. Felicity dropped her petulant look and stared at her feet.

Bouguereau felt the tide turning in his behalf and kept up the pressure. “Miss Amelia Mackey?”

“Yes, Detective Bouguereau,” Mel squeaked, “That’s me.”

He turned his full attention to Mel and asked, “Have you seen Miss Richardson today?”

Under his intense glare, Mel could barely utter a tiny, “No, sir.”

“Thank you, Miss Mackey.” He turned his head, zeroed in on Josie and asked, “Miss Josephine Barnes? Have you seen Miss Richardson today?” Josie nervously looked at Felicity and then at Mel. “
Excusez-moi
, Miss Barnes.” He put his finger to his eyes and said, “You do not look at anyone else but me. Now, once again, have you seen Miss Richardson today?”

Josie inhaled a gulp of air, raised her right hand and blurted in a rapid-fire speech, “Oh, no sir, Detective Bouguereau. I hope I said that right. I got up this morning at 7 a.m. and ate breakfast, washed the dishes, helped my Mom clean the house, watched my Dad cut the grass, then went over to Mel’s house, talked about school, talked about boys, then we walked over here to the game and I never saw Ash anywhere, I swear!”

“Miss Mackey and Miss Barnes, please go and be seated in the bleachers while I speak with Miss Whittaker.”

“Are we going to have to rake leaves, Detective Bouguereau?” Mel and Josie asked sincerely.

Bouguereau chuckled silently to himself while presenting a stern face to Mel and Josie and replied, “That will depend upon the answers I will receive from Miss Whittaker. Now, I must talk to her. Go. Time is of the essence.”

Bringing his full attention to Felicity he said, “Before we were interrupted by your two friends, Miss Whittaker, I had asked you if you knew anything about a threat to Miss Richardson. The answer you gave me was clearly not well thought out because there is a witness who overheard you.”

Felicity threw her pom-poms to the ground, clenched her fists and answered, “Okay, okay, I admit I did say some things about Ash, but I was angry and upset! I was supposed to be on the cheerleading squad instead of her!” She looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks and cried, “But we never did anything about it. It was all talk!”

He nodded and said, “That is a much better answer, Miss Whittaker, I commend you for your honesty and I sympathize with you. You may now return to your cheering for I must question many more people. Thank you for your time.” Bouguereau bowed, tapped his cane on the ground twice and strode off.

“We ain’t giving up! No! We ain’t giving up! No!” Yelled a small core of fifth-graders as they started their own cheer in the bleachers after Tony’s touchdown and it rapidly spread throughout the entire crowd with the cheerleaders picking up on it as well as the pep band.

“J.B.! J.B.!” Shouted Maria as she hung over the bleacher railing and tried to get Bouguereau’s attention, but the revitalized fans and the new cheer drowned her out. “Oh, he can’t hear me!” Maria mumbled to herself as she turned and hurried down the steps to catch up with him.

He had exited out the ticket gate by the time she caught up with him and tapped him on the shoulder.

Out of breath, Maria put her hands on her hips, took a couple of deep breaths and gasped, “Anthony just called me...
pant
...found a pom-pom...
pant
...near the school...could be Ash’s...
pant, pant
.” She took her football program and fanned her faced a few times and breathed a “Woo!” Caught her breath and continued, “Anthony said Miss Dingledine lives practically next door so she’s going to unlock the school and let the patrolman and him search inside.”

“Good, I have my doubts that Miss Richardson is at the school, but if she is, I hope they find her. Maria, have you ever wanted to be a detective?”

“What? Well, it looks like fun on the telly, but I don’t know—”

Bouguereau peered over Maria’s shoulder for a second and said, “Ah, those three took the bait. Oh, look, so did she. The game is afoot!” He grinned and turned his attention back to Maria. “I need you to play detective for a little while. Would you be so kind as to accommodate me?”

“Oh, J.B., I’d do anything to help find Ash. Are you going to swear me in?” Maria asked with a knowing grin.

“Hmm, there’s not much time, but here goes. Raise your right hand. Do you, Maria Crowne, swear to uphold the law?”

“That’s it? Seven little words?”

“Maria!
Mon amie
, we must hurry!”

“Okay, okay, I do solemnly swear! What’s my assignment, Chief?” Maria clicked her heels and saluted.

Bouguereau grabbed her shoulders, turned her around and whispered into her ear, “Do you see those three little girls coming out of the gate?”

“Yes, I see them. That’s Felicity, Mel and I think the third one’s name is Josie.” Maria whispered back.

“Your assignment is to follow them and see where they go. They might know who you are, so do not let them see you under any circumstances. You have to be sneaky, very sneaky. It is possible they know where Miss Richardson is located—”

“You mean those little girls could be involved in Ash’s disappearance? Oh, what is this world coming to?”

“You have my number, call me if anything turns up. Now go, before you lose them!” He gave her shoulders a slight nudge and off she went. Bouguereau stuffed his hat in a side pocket, removed his glasses and ditched his cigar in a nearby trash can. Satisfied he is looking reasonably different than he did a few moments ago, he felt that familiar surge of adrenaline course through his body as he ducked behind an elm tree and waited to tail his suspect.