Free Touchdown Tony Crowne and the Mystery of the Missing Cheerleader by Peter Guy George Page B

Tony with one hand to her mouth in concern and her other arm draped over his shoulders.
    “I think he’ll be just fine, Maria. I’m going to perform a few more tests to rule out concussion or other injuries, but I’m of the opinion he just had the wind knocked out of him.”
    “I’m all right, Mom.” Tony looked up at her, then twisted his head to her other side and asked, “Where’s Dad?”
    “He went with the Richardson’s to search for Ash. They said she left early to meet with the other cheerleaders, but she never arrived. They didn’t know she had disappeared until they came to the game and saw Felicity in her spot. It’s all so strange. She’s never done anything like this before!”
    Tony took his helmet off, rubbed his forehead and asked, “Are the police involved?”
    “Yes, they take it very seriously when a child has disappeared. As a matter of fact, Detective Bouguereau is here now speaking to people.”
    “Ask the detective to talk to me, I’ve got something to tell him—”
    A roar went up from the visitor’s section as the Lions’ placekicker drilled the extra-point attempt even though Nick Miller had come very close to getting a hand on it. The Lions double-teamed Judd and that left a hole for Nick to run through, but the ball angled past his outstretched hands. Smilin’ Bob’s voice crackled through the air, “The extra point is good and the Lions lead the Bobcats, 7-0.”
    “What?” Maria bent down next to Tony, “I couldn’t hear you.”
    “Ask Detective Bou—”
    “That’s enough, young fella,” interrupted Doc. “Let me finish giving you some more tests and if you pass, then you can talk all you want.” Doc glanced at Maria, grinned and said, “Go on back to your seat, I’ll let you know the results as soon as I can.”
    “Thank you, Doc.” Maria ran her hand through Tony’s hair, smiled nervously and climbed back up to her seat next to the Judge.
    Nick Miller drifted back to the thirty yard line to await the Lions kickoff, running in place a little, working the kinks out of his neck, making sure he’s thoroughly warmed up for his run back. The Lions head coach, Charles “Chuck” Washington, well aware of Nick’s running and cutting ability, threw two fingers into the air and shouted at his kickoff team as they were lining up on the field, “Kickoff Two! Kickoff Two!”
    The Lions place kicker nodded at Coach Chuck’s instruction and re-arranged the ball slightly on the tee, backed up, put his hand in the air and waited for the go ahead to kickoff. The referee whistled for play to start and the Lions kicker, instead of booting the ball into the air, squib kicked it down the middle of the field.
    The football began as a line drive past the first row of blockers, dovetailed down, hit the ground, flipped end over end, bounced twice and on the third bounce the tip of the football caught the turf and careened into the air. The last bounce took Nick entirely by surprise, he was expecting the football to stay low, but it went high and the football ricocheted off his shoulder pads and caromed down to the fifteen-yard line.
    Nick was now in a footrace with two Lions to grab the live ball, all three pushing and shoving to get there first. At the eighteen-yard line, Nick and one of the Lions dove to recover the football, but they only succeeded in punching it further down the field and it dribbled into the end zone. The other Lions player who didn’t dive for the football easily recovered it in the end zone before any of the Bobcats could make a play on it.
    Coach Tiny, with his arms draped over his head, could only look on in disbelief as the Lions scored their second touchdown in a matter of seconds. “Touchdown! Number 47, Nathan Marley. 13 to 0.” Smilin’ Bob glanced at Hunter Dunwoody, mouthed a noiseless “Uh-oh” and watched the extra-point kick sail through the uprights. He updated the crowd with an echoing, “14 to 0, Lakeside Lions.”
    Walking up and