Timberwolf Rivals Read online

  TIMBERWOLF

  Rivals

  SIGMUND BROUWER

  illustrated by GRAHAM ROSS

  ORCA BOOK PUBLISHER

  Text copyright © 2009 Sigmund Brouwer

  Illustrations copyright © 2009 Graham Ross

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in

  any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

  recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be

  invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Brouwer, Sigmund, 1959-

  Timberwolf rivals / Sigmund Brouwer ; illustrated by Graham Ross.

  (Howling Timber Wolves )

  (Orca echoes)

  ISBN 978-1-55469-107-4

  I. Ross, Graham, 1962- II. Title. III. Series.

  IV. Series: Orca echoes

  PS8553.R68467T5473 2009 jC813’.54 C2009-904580-X

  First published in the United States, 2009

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2009932872

  Summary: In this seventh book in the Timberwolves series,

  Johnny Maverick and his friends Tom and Stu pull more pranks on each other

  in an attempt to win the prizes at the Valentine’s Day dance contest.

  Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs

  provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Book

  Publishing Industry Development Program and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the

  Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council

  and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

  Typesetting by Teresa Bubela

  Cover artwork and interior illustrations by Graham Ross

  Author photo by Bill Bilsley

  ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

  PO BOX 5626, STN. B PO BOX 468

  VICTORIA, BC Canada CUSTER, WA USA

  V8R 6S4 98240-0468

  www.orcabook.com

  Printed and bound in Canada.

  12 11 10 09 • 4 3 2 1

  Contents

  Chapter One: The New Girl

  Chapter Two: The Tea Potty

  Chapter Three: Friends No More

  Chapter Four: Another Kind of Contest

  Chapter Five: What Does a Car Taste Like?

  Chapter Six: A Divided Twosome

  Chapter Seven: Who Looks Worse?

  Chapter Eight: The Truth Comes Out

  Chapter Nine: Stu Wants a Milkshake

  Chapter Ten: The Best Man Wins

  Chapter One

  The New Girl

  “Look,” Tom Morgan said to his friends Johnny Maverick and Stu Duncan. All three boys played for the Howling Timberwolves hockey team. “There’s the new girl.”

  It was a cold winter day. The boys stood near the flagpole on the school playground at recess.

  “I hear she’s a good dancer,” Johnny said.

  Stu didn’t say anything. He was eating a sandwich with his mitts on. He ate a lot of sandwiches, with and without his mitts on.

  “You think she’s cute,” Tom said.

  “Do not,” Johnny said. “No way! Yuck. Girls.”

  The new girl’s name was Connie. She couldn’t hear the boys talking, but she saw them looking at her. She smiled. It was a very friendly smile.

  Johnny’s face turned red when she smiled at them. He kicked some snow.

  “She’s a good dancer,” Johnny said. “And the Howling Timberwolves fundraiser is next week.”

  “Do you mean the Valentine’s Day dance contest?” Tom asked.

  “Yes. I want to win the grand prize,” Johnny said. “Even if it means going to a dance with a girl. The grand prize is a graphite hockey stick. Plus ten free dinners at the restaurant, and a bunch of other stuff too.”

  Johnny didn’t have to explain which restaurant. The town of Howling was small. It only had one restaurant.

  “Free dinners?” Stu asked. “Ten free dinners? Ten?”

  “Every business in town has donated something toward the grand prize,” Johnny explained. “It’s mostly parents that enter the dance contest. But I bet if someone danced with Connie, they would win.”

  “Ten free dinners?” Stu said again.

  Connie still couldn’t hear them talking. But she smiled at them again.

  That’s when Tom began to climb the flagpole. A rope ran up to the flag at the top. Tom pulled himself up the pole with the rope.

  “What are you doing?” Johnny asked.

  “I need Connie to be my dance partner,” Tom said. He was almost halfway up the flagpole. “I’m an athlete. I know how to get a girl’s attention.”

  He kept climbing.

  It wasn’t long before the students on the playground stopped what they were doing. Everybody gathered around the flagpole. Connie was there too.

  Tom reached the top of the flagpole. He held on to the metal ball at the top with one hand. He looked down and grinned at Connie and waved.

  She smiled back at him.

  Everyone clapped. She did too.

  The bell rang and recess ended. The students began to walk toward the school.

  “Wait for me!” Tom yelled. The students stopped and turned to look back up at him.

  Tom slid down the flagpole as fast as he could. He forgot about the part of the flagpole, near the bottom, where the rope wrapped around a metal cleat. The cleat stuck out on one side of the flagpole.

  Tom smacked into the cleat at full speed.

  All boys know hitting something like that, especially while sliding down a pole, is not good.

  Tom’s eyes opened wide. His face looked like a balloon that was losing air fast. He fell off the flagpole, curled into a ball and groaned.

  “Wow,” Johnny said to Stu, “he really does know how to get a girl’s attention.”

  Chapter Two

  The Tea Potty

  “Thanks for coming with me,” Eldridge said to Johnny and Stu.

  Eldridge played on the Howling Timberwolves hockey team with Johnny and Stu. After school, the boys walked to Connie’s house together.

  “Connie asked me to help her with her computer,” said Eldridge, “but I’m too shy to go to her house by myself.”

  “No problem,” Johnny said to Eldridge. “We have plenty of time before our hockey game tonight. Besides, I’m your friend. I’m glad to help.”

  “That’s not quite true,” Stu told Eldridge. “Johnny’s here because he wants Connie to be his dance partner at the Valentine’s fundraiser.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Eldridge said. “I hear she’s a great dancer. A person could win the contest with her as their partner. But I’m too shy to ask her.”

  “I just want to win the grand prize,” Johnny said.

  “I wonder if she has any cookies at her house,” Stu said.

  When they arrived at Connie’s house, Johnny rang the doorbell.

  Connie answered the door and smiled. Johnny’s face turned red.

  “Hello,” Eldridge said. “We’re here to help you with your computer.”

  “Hello,” Stu said. “Do you have any cookies?”

  Johnny was too busy being red in the face to say anything.

  “Come in,” Connie said. “My little sister Suzie is here too. She’s only four years old.”

  Connie’s house had a big living room. The computer was at a desk in one corner. The television was in another corner. Johnny and Stu sat on the couch in front of the television. They used the remote control to find a hockey game. Eldridge went straight to work on the compute
r. Connie stood beside him and watched the computer screen.

  “It would be nice to have some cookies,” Stu said.

  A little girl walked up to them, carrying a tray with a toy tea set on it.

  “Cookies?” Stu asked.

  “Pretend tea,” Suzie said. “Would you like to have a tea party with my dolls?”

  “Just dolls?” Stu asked. “No cookies?”

  “I would love a tea party,” Johnny told Suzie. Johnny whispered to Stu, “This is how to get a girl’s attention. Not by climbing a flagpole but by being nice to her little sister.”

  Suzie set the cups down on the coffee table. She poured water from the little teapot into the tea cups. She picked her dolls up off the floor and sat them at the table.

  “This is delicious,” Johnny said as he drank his tea. Johnny pointed at the dolls. “And I like your little friends.”

  Connie didn’t notice Johnny and Suzie’s tea party. She and Eldridge were trying to figure out a problem on the computer.

  “This is really delicious,” Johnny said loudly. It was no good being nice to Connie’s little sister if Connie didn’t notice. Johnny drank a second cup of tea. “Suzie, thank you for the tea party with your dolls!”

  Finally, Connie turned around.

  “Oh no!” Connie yelled. “I should have been watching my sister.”

  “It’s okay,” Johnny said. “I’m happy to play with her.”

  “I hope you didn’t drink the tea,” Connie said.

  “I had two cups already. And I played with her dolls. Because I’m nice,” Johnny said and smiled.

  “More tea please,” Johnny said to Suzie.

  “That’s not a good idea,” Connie said.

  “What? It’s not good to be nice?” Johnny asked.

  “You don’t understand,” Connie said. “Suzie is little. She can’t reach the taps on the sink.”

  “So?” Johnny asked.

  “The only place Suzie can get water for her teapot is from the toilet,” said Connie.

  Chapter Three

  Friends No More

  “You should have been there this afternoon,” Stu said to Tom. “When Connie told Johnny the water in her sister’s teapot was from the toilet, Johnny ran straight to the bathroom. He should have closed the door. All of us heard him throw up.”

  “Is that true, Eldridge?” Tom asked.

  Johnny, Stu, Tom and Eldridge skated out onto the Howling Timberwolves’ end of the ice. At the other end, the Sharks, a team from a small town nearby, warmed up.

  “It’s true,” Eldridge said. “Johnny threw up three times. Connie tried not to laugh, but she couldn’t help it.”

  “Wow,” Tom said to Johnny. “You really know how to get a girl’s attention.”

  “Ha, ha,” Johnny said. “Maybe tomorrow I should climb a flagpole and slide down as fast as I can.”

  “Ha, ha,” Tom said. “What color was the water you drank from the teapot?”

  Johnny and Tom started pushing each other.

  “Hey,” Stu said, “look!”

  Connie walked into the rink with a couple of girls from their school.

  Johnny and Tom stopped pushing each other to wave at Connie. She waved back.

  “She came to watch me,” Johnny said. “Today at school I told her about the game so she could see me play. That will make her want to be my dance partner. And then I’ll win the hockey stick and all the other prizes.”

  “Not so fast,” Tom said. “I told her about the game too. She’s here to watch me. I’m the one who’s going to the dance with her. She’ll want to go with me after she sees me play tonight. I’m going to beat you, Johnny, and win the dance contest.”

  The ref blew the whistle to start the game.

  Eldridge and Stu skated off the ice to the players’ box. Tom lined up at center for the face-off. Johnny was the right winger.

  When the ref dropped the puck, Tom knocked it toward Johnny.

  Tom shot forward and was open for a pass back from Johnny. But Johnny kept the puck. He stickhandled past the Sharks’ winger. The Sharks’ defenseman moved forward to block him. But Johnny poked the puck between the defenseman’s skates and kept control of the puck.

  Now it was two on one. Johnny and Tom against the other Sharks’ defenseman.

  “I’m open,” Tom shouted. He broke hard for a pass.

  But Johnny didn’t pass. He fired a hard, fast shot. The puck went over the goalie’s shoulders and into the upper right corner of the net.

  Goal!

  Johnny raised his arms and stick in the air. He turned in a wide circle toward the fans. He wanted to be sure Connie knew he had scored the goal.

  Suddenly, he skated over a hockey stick and tripped. He fell forward onto his chest and slid into the boards. Thump!

  The fans laughed.

  Tom skated over to him. “Are you okay?” Tom asked. He helped Johnny up.

  “Sure,” Johnny said. “What happened?”

  “I’m so sorry,” Tom said. “You accidentally stepped on my stick.”

  “Accidentally!?” Johnny shouted. He pushed Tom. “You did that on purpose.”

  “I was wide open,” Tom said. He pushed Johnny back. “You could have passed to me.”

  “But I scored,” Johnny said. He shoved Tom again. “And you didn’t. Plus you tripped me.”

  Tom shoved him back. The referee skated over and stepped between them. He stayed between them as they skated toward the players’ bench.

  “That’s it!” Coach Smith yelled. “You two aren’t playing until the third period!”

  Stu and Eldridge skated onto the ice. They would get a lot more playing time now that Johnny and Tom were benched.

  Stu stopped in front of Johnny and Tom.

  “Wow,” Stu said, “you guys really know how to get a girl’s attention.”

  Chapter Four

  Another Kind of Contest

  The next morning before school started, Johnny saw Eldridge and Connie sitting together at a table in the library.

  “Hey, guys,” Johnny said.

  “Hey,” Eldridge said.

  “Hey,” Connie said.

  “What’s up?” Johnny asked. He didn’t really care. He just wanted to talk to Connie. He hoped she would mention the goal he scored the night before.

  “I’m trying get caught up on my homework,” Connie said. Several books lay open on the table. “When you start at a new school, you start off behind. Eldridge is a big help.”

  Johnny waited for her to say something about the goal. She looked back down at her books instead.

  “Did you see my goal last night?” Johnny asked.

  “Tom scored a great goal too,” Eldridge said. “Good thing Coach Smith let you both back on the ice early.”

  “Hey, guys,” another voice said. It was Tom. “What’s up?”

  Johnny turned around.

  “What’s up?” Johnny said. “Just helping Connie with her homework.”

  “She would be smarter to let Eldridge help her,” Tom said. “Not a dummy like you.”

  “Maybe you should go back outside and climb a flagpole,” Johnny said.

  “And maybe you should drink some more toilet water,” Tom said.

  Johnny and Tom glared at each other.

  “This is what I think of you,” Johnny said. He put his left hand under his shirt and stuck it in his armpit. He flapped his right arm like a chicken wing. It made a loud rude noise.

  Connie and Eldridge giggled.

  “Is that the best you can do?” Tom said. “Listen to this one.” Tom made an armpit noise too. It was even louder than Johnny’s.

  “Ha,” Johnny said. “Well, I can do it behind my knee.” He proved it by pulling his pant leg up. He put his hand behind his knee. He squeezed his leg against his hand. It made a loud sound.

  Tom answered by making three quick noises under his armpit.

  Johnny was not going to let Tom win. He put his hand back under his shirt and di
d four more noises. Four very, very loud noises.

  But they were not as loud as the voice that came from behind a bookshelf.

  “What is going on here?” the loud voice said. It was Mr. Wright. He stepped out from behind the shelf.

  Mr. Wright was the school principal. He did not look happy. That was often the case when he saw Johnny or Tom. They had been in his office before. There was a sign on his desk that said The name is Mr. Wright, never Mr. Wrong. And don’t forget it.

  “What’s going on here?” Mr. Wright asked again.

  Johnny thought that wasn’t a smart question. Anyone who could hear knew the answer. Mr. Wright could hear. So why was he asking?

  “Tom was making trumpet noises,” Johnny explained, “with his armpit. He’s very good at it.”

  “So was Johnny,” Tom said quickly. “He’s even better at it. His were louder. And he wasn’t trying to sound like a trumpet. He was trying to sound like a—”

  “Enough!” Mr. Wright said. “Somehow I don’t think it matters who made the loudest trumpet noises.”

  “Oh, that’s good,” Johnny said. “For a second, I thought you would be mad at us and want to have another special talk.”

  Mr.Wright sighed. “Come with me,” he said. “I think both of you know the way to my office.”

  Chapter Five

  What Does a Car Taste Like?

  The next morning before the bell rang, Tom saw Johnny and Stu standing beside a car in the school parking lot. Their backpacks lay on the ground in front of them.

  “Hey, Tom,” Stu said. “Johnny is a big fat chicken.”

  Johnny shook his head. “I am not.”

  “You are too,” Stu said. “I even double-dog dared you, and you wouldn’t do it.”

  Johnny shook his head again. “I am not.”

  “Why is he a big fat chicken?” Tom asked. “What did you double-dog dare him to do?”

  “I double-dog dared him to lick the bumper of this old car,” Stu said. Stu pointed at the car beside them.

  “That doesn’t make him a chicken,” Tom said. “That makes him smart. Everybody knows on a cold day like this your tongue would freeze to the bumper.”