The Football Fiasco Read online

  ALSO BY #1 BESTSELLER MIKE LUPICA

  Travel Team

  Heat

  Miracle on 49th Street

  Summer Ball

  The Big Field

  Million-Dollar Throw

  The Batboy

  Hero

  The Underdogs

  True Legend

  QB 1

  Fantasy League

  Fast Break

  Last Man Out

  Lone Stars

  Shoot-Out

  No Slam Dunk

  THE ZACH & ZOE MYSTERIES:

  The Missing Baseball

  The Half-Court Hero

  The Soccer Secret

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  375 Hudson Street

  New York, NY 10014

  Published simultaneously in the United States of America by Puffin Books and Philomel Books, imprints of Penguin Random House LLC, 2018

  Text copyright © 2018 by Mike Lupica

  Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Chris Danger

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  Names: Lupica, Mike, author. | Danger, Chris, illustrator.

  Title: The football fiasco / Mike Lupica ; illustrated by Chris Danger.

  Description: New York, New York : Puffin Books, 2018. | Series: Zach and Zoe mysteries ; [3] | Summary: “Zach and Zoe find their recess football deflated from a hole near the laces, and set off in search of clues to discover how it happened”— Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018013788| ISBN 9780425289433 (paperback) ISBN 9780425289426 (hardcover)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Mystery and detective stories. | Football—Fiction. Schools—Fiction. | Brothers and sisters—Fiction. | Twins—Fiction. BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / Football. JUVENILE FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stories. JUVENILE FICTION / School & Education.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.L97914 Foo 2018

  DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018013788

  Puffin Books ISBN 9780425289433

  Ebook ISBN 9780425289440

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Version_1

  For the Lupica boys, Chris and Alex and Zach, and all the other participants in our family’s annual Turkey Bowl.

  CONTENTS

  ALSO BY #1 BESTSELLER MIKE LUPICA

  TITLE PAGE

  COPYRIGHT

  DEDICATION

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ONE

  Zach and Zoe Walker were getting ready for one of their favorite parts of the school day at Middletown Elementary:

  The touch football game they played with some of their classmates at recess.

  Not everybody chose to play football at recess. Some of the other kids played basketball. Some kicked a soccer ball around. Some played on the jungle gym, or played freeze tag.

  But Zach and Zoe were even more excited to play football than usual today, because it was the Friday before Thanksgiving. That meant it was almost time for the big Walker family football game they called the Turkey Bowl, before they sat down for Thanksgiving dinner.

  Now it was just a few days before Thanksgiving break, and Zach and Zoe couldn’t wait to get outside and practice for the big game.

  “Remember how last year’s Turkey Bowl ended?” Zach said to his twin sister.

  “How could I forget?” she said. “You’re the one who keeps reminding me how Grandpa Richie threw you the game-winning pass!”

  “The only person happier than me last year was Grandpa Richie,” Zach said.

  “He’s the one who came up with the idea of the game in the first place,” said Zoe. “It’s why he always has more fun than anybody in our family.”

  That day, Zach was starting as quarter-back for one of the teams. He had the best arm in their grade. But their friends Malik and Mateo got to play quarterback, too. So did Kari and Zoe. The teams were different every day. The only thing that never changed was their sad-looking old ball. It had been around since before Zach and Zoe started elementary school.

  The ball really wasn’t much to look at. But they were used to it by now, almost as if it were an old friend. It had “NFL” written on the side, for National Football League. It also said “Junior Touchdown.” The laces were worn down, and the seams were loose, but it was still their ball.

  Every time they played with it, Lily would make fun of the ball, telling them it should have “Senior” written on it instead of “Junior,” because it looked older than all of them put together. She was always complaining that it was time for the school to get them a new one. But it was all they had. To Zach and Zoe, the condition of the ball didn’t matter, as long as they could use it to play.

  There were eight players in all, four to a side. It was Zach and Zoe’s turn to pick teams. Zach chose Malik first, and then Kari Stuart and Brian Koppelman. Zoe took Mateo and Lily and finally another boy in their class, Jimmy Evans. Jimmy was a small, thin boy who wore glasses. He didn’t say much, but he always joined them for recess football.

  The most important rule they had came from Zach and Zoe’s dad. It was something he always told them about sports.

  “Have fun! If you don’t enjoy yourselves, then sports are about as much fun as cleaning your room.”

  They played nonstop for the next twenty minutes of recess. Zoe’s team ended up with the ball in the last drive of a tie game. By then, she was playing quarterback. On the second-to-last play, she’d thrown the ball to Jimmy, just because she couldn’t remember anybody throwing it to him the whole game. Jimmy was open, but he took his eyes off the ball at the last second and dropped it.

  All of a sudden, the bell sounded for the end of recess. They had time for one last play. Mateo broke away from Zach, and Zoe threw him a touchdown pass that won the game for their team.

  Even though Zach was on the other team, he was the first to run up to his sister for their special high five. The one that began with them bumping elbows and hips and then finally jumping into the air. It was the same today as in any game they played, whether they were teammates or not. As much as they both loved to compete, they loved each other more. No matter who won or lost, nothing ever beat that.

  As they walked back inside, Zoe thought that Jimmy looked a little sad, even though their team had won.

  She walked up alongside him. “Why do you look so sad?” Zoe asked. “We won!”

  “Nobody ever throws me the ball,” he said. “And when you finally did today, I dropped it.”

  “I dropped one a few plays before that,” Zoe said. “It happens to everybody. Zach’s really good at football, and ev
en he dropped a couple today. It’s all part of the game.”

  She smiled at him, suddenly wanting to cheer him up.

  “The best thing about recess is that there’s always another game next time,” she said.

  “Maybe you’re right,” Jimmy said, but he didn’t sound convinced. Then he walked ahead of her into the school building.

  Zach had been walking behind with Mateo, but he caught up with Zoe as she was walking through the door.

  “You looked pretty good throwing that ball around today,” Zach said.

  “Maybe I should be one of the starting quarterbacks in the Turkey Bowl,” she said.

  “I thought you liked being a wide receiver better.”

  “Maybe I was just trying to fake you out the way I did a couple of times in the game today,” Zoe said, winking.

  “Or maybe you were just trying to be mysterious,” Zach said, “as usual.”

  Anybody who knew Zoe Walker knew how much she loved a good mystery. Any kind of mystery.

  But neither she nor her brother knew that the latest mystery was about to start.

  TWO

  The weekend flew by, and now it was Monday. Zach and Zoe were having lunch in the school cafeteria. While they were eating, they overheard one of the lunch aides complaining to Ms. Moriarty. With a frown, she grumbled about how dirty some of the kids were when they came back inside after recess.

  The lunch aide’s name was Ms. Gundy, and this wasn’t the first time they’d heard her complaining about something. It was why Zach and Zoe thought of her as Ms. Grumpy, though they never shared the nickname with anybody else.

  “They should just stay inside and study,” they heard Ms. Gundy say to Ms. Moriarty now.

  “I actually think the children can sometimes learn as much from sports as they can from books,” Ms. Moriarty said. “And besides, being outside before the weather gets too cold always does them good.”

  “What could they possibly learn from sports?” Ms. Gundy said, sneering.

  “A lot of things,” Ms. Moriarty said. “They learn about hard work, being on a team, and getting back up after you get knocked down.”

  “Well, from the looks of them when they get back inside,” Ms. Gundy said, “all they do on that field is get knocked down.”

  Ms. Moriarty looked past Ms. Gundy and saw Zach and Zoe looking back at her. She winked at them.

  “So if they do get knocked down as much as you say,” Ms. Moriarty replied, “just think how much they’ve learned!”

  “One of these days,” Ms. Gundy said, sounding grumpier than ever, “somebody should hide that football of theirs so they’re forced to stay inside and study.”

  * * *

  There were always two footballs available in the storage room for recess. The fifth graders had already finished their lunch, and took the football they usually played with before heading outside. The fourth graders normally played with the fifth graders, but they had a class trip scheduled for that afternoon at the town firehouse, and were leaving right after lunch. And the kindergartners and first and second graders didn’t play football.

  Zach finished his lunch and headed to the storage room next to the cafeteria to get their football for recess. The athletic equipment was kept in a wire bin. Piled inside were soccer balls, basketballs, a volleyball, Nerf balls, and Wiffle balls. Then Zach noticed something. At the top sat their NFL Junior Touchdown football. Except now the ball was completely deflated. Flat as a pancake, as his mom liked to say.

  In that moment, Zach felt almost as deflated as the ball.

  There were lots of other balls in the bin. But no other footballs. It meant there wouldn’t be a game at recess today unless Mr. Parker or somebody at school could pump up the ball or quickly find another one.

  When Zach came outside with the deflated ball, Malik looked confused. “Are you sure that’s ours?” he asked.

  Zach sadly showed him the NFL logo.

  “I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did,” Lily said, rolling her eyes.

  “Could somebody else have used the football after school on Friday?” Mateo asked. “Maybe they did something that took the air out of it.”

  “It’s possible,” Zoe said. “But even if it was an accident, whoever it was should have told us about it. Especially if they know how much we like to use that ball!”

  “I’ll go find Mr. Parker or Ms. Moriarty and see if they can pump it up,” said Zach.

  He ran over to where Ms. Moriarty was standing on the basketball court and showed her the deflated ball. “Let me go look for Mr. Parker,” she said. “He’ll know what to do.” Mr. Parker was the school’s custodian. Ms. Moriarity went looking for him, and a few minutes later, she returned to the basketball court. This time, Mr. Parker walked alongside her. He was holding a small pump with a needle attached to it.

  “This ought to save the day,” he said.

  “Mr. Parker to the rescue!” Zoe cheered.

  “Okay,” Mr. Parker said. “Who wants to pump the life back into this old ball?”

  Zach volunteered, and started pumping away. The kids got excited, thinking there was still a chance they could have a game today. But something wasn’t right. The air was coming out of the ball just as quickly as Zach was getting it in.

  Finally, he gave up.

  “Uh-oh,” he said.

  Then he brought the ball up to his ear and listened. “There’s a hole in this ball, right near the laces,” Zach said. “I can hear the air coming out of it. Sorry, everybody.” He shrugged. “Looks like no game today.”

  It was as if the air went out of all of them at once.

  Ms. Moriarty looked at her watch and told them recess was nearly over. She suggested maybe someone could bring a ball to school the next day and they could have a few more games before Thanksgiving break.

  Mateo said he had a ball the same size at home and would be happy to bring it to school tomorrow. That made everyone feel a little better. It just didn’t explain how the hole ended up in the football.

  Zoe waited until they were on the bus home to talk about the mystery of their football with Zach. She and her brother did their best thinking when it was just the two of them. Sometimes it was as if they were using the same brain.

  “Do you think it might have been Ms. Grumpy?” Zoe said, keeping her voice low.

  “I know she said she wanted us to stay inside and study during recess,” Zach said. “But I can’t believe she’d actually put a hole in our football.”

  “But the storage room is right next to the cafeteria,” Zoe pointed out. “And the ball was still fine when you put it back in there after Friday’s game.”

  Zach saw his sister frown the way she did when she was focusing really hard on a problem. It was the same expression she had doing a math equation, or while thinking about a brand-new mystery.

  “You don’t really think she’d poke a hole in the ball,” Zach said. “Do you?”

  Zoe sighed. “I guess I don’t,” she said. “Ms. Moriarty says that as grumpy as she sounds sometimes, Ms. Gundy’s actually a really good person. But you know what Mom says when we’re trying to solve a mystery. You have to look at all the possibilities.”

  “What about Lily?” Zach offered. “She’s always making fun of how old our ball is. Maybe this was her way of getting the school to buy us a new one.”

  “I guess we have to put her on our list of suspects,” Zoe said, “even if she’s one of our friends.”

  When they got off the bus, their mom, Tess, was waiting for them. She had a huge smile on her face, as usual. Zach and Zoe always noticed. Every single day they got off the bus, their mom looked so happy to see them. It was as if she hadn’t seen them for weeks, even though they’d only been gone since breakfast.

  She also knew them as well as they knew themselves.

  “I see two
very serious faces,” she said, suddenly concerned. “What’s up?”

  “Not up,” Zoe said. “Something happened at school that kind of dragged us down.”

  They told her about the football as they walked into the house.

  “Well, it’s a good thing I made your favorite cookies, then,” said Tess. It was the only thing that could make them feel better at a time like this.

  They sat down at the kitchen table for oatmeal raisin cookies and milk. Then their mom said, “You think somebody intentionally punched a hole in the ball?”

  “Nothing else makes sense, Mom,” Zoe said.

  “It’s not like that time your car went over a nail and put a hole in the tire,” Zach said. “Footballs don’t run over nails.”

  “So who do you think could have done it?” Zoe asked their mom.

  Tess smiled again. “Hey,” she said, throwing up her hands, “you two are the detectives in the family.”

  “Somebody must have had a very good reason,” Zach said.

  “A good reason to keep us from playing football at recess?” said Zoe, doubtful.

  “We have to find the person,” Zach said, “and then we have to find the reason.”

  For the first time since they’d gotten on the bus, it was Zoe who was smiling.

  “Two mysteries in one!” she said, her eyes wide with excitement.

  Zach glanced over at his mom.

  “Uh-oh,” he said. “Here we go again.”

  THREE

  The Walker twins finally got to play some football later that afternoon. It was in the backyard, with their dad and Grandpa Richie before dinner. But only for practice. It was already Monday and there were just three days left before the big game.

  At one point, Grandpa Richie threw a long pass to Zach. He caught it like it was another game-winner in the Turkey Bowl.

  “Boy gets his blazing speed from me,” Grandpa Richie said to his son, the twins’ dad, Danny Walker. He was home early from the television station where he worked.