Free Timberwolf Chase by Sigmund Brouwer Page A

always did that when he was going to yell at Johnny.
    â€œAre you crazy?” Coach Smith said. “Why did you hit me on the—”
    Then Coach Smith noticed the wig on the floor. He reached up and touched his head. His fingers touched the skin of a bald head. His face began to turn purple. The coach’s face only turned purple once or twice a season. It took something really, really bad to make Coach Smith’s face turn purple.
    Coach Smith opened his mouth to really, really yell at Johnny.
    Then he shut his mouth. A funny look crossed on his face. He looked down at his shirt. Johnny looked too. He noticed something move inside Coach Smith’s shirt. A little bump that was moving.
    So that’s where the mouse went
, Johnny told himself. It was in Coach Smith’s shirt.
    â€œIt’s a mouse,” he told Coach Smith.
    â€œA mouse? In my shirt?”

    The bump moved again.
    â€œA mouse,” Johnny repeated. “From my hockey bag. You see, my mom put my equipment in the shed for the summer because it smells bad.”
    â€œA mouse!” Coach Smith started to hit himself to try to get the mouse.
    The bump moved farther down Coach Smith’s shirt. Right down to his belt buckle.
    Coach Smith hopped and hopped. He hit himself harder. But he kept missing the mouse.
    Coach Smith finally screamed and ran out of the room. Everyone heard his screaming as he ran down the hallway.
    It was very quiet in the dressing room after that. Too quiet.
    Johnny picked up Coach Smith’s wig and dusted the dirt off.
    â€œHi,” Johnny said to the new player as he dusted the wig clean. “Welcome to the Howling Timberwolves. As you can see, this team is like a big happy family.”

Chapter Three
    â€œRun everyone!” Tom Morgan yelled. “Danger!”
    It was the day after the practice. Johnny Maverick was on the playground during recess. He was talking to his friend Stu Duncan about the hockey practice and the mouse. And how Coach Smith didn’t think any of it was funny.
    â€œIt’s a whale!” Tom yelled again. Tom was near Johnny and Stu. Tom was pointing at Stu as he yelled. “Everyone! Run away!”
    â€œWhat is the new kid yelling about?” Johnny asked.
    â€œI think he’s calling me a whale,” Stu said. “In front of everyone in the school.”

    â€œNo, everyone, wait!” Tom yelled. “Whale season just opened. Get me a harpoon. I’ll save us.”
    â€œHey,” Johnny said to Tom, “do you think you’re funny?”
    â€œNo,” Tom said. “I think Stu is fat. And he looks like a whale.”
    â€œFat?” Stu said. He turned to Johnny. “Do I look fat? Don’t lie to me. We’re friends. I can take the truth.”
    â€œNo,” Johnny told his friend. “You don’t look fat. Chubby. But not fat.”
    â€œDo I have a blowhole on my back?” Stu asked. He took off his jacket and handed it to Johnny. “Give me a second to get my shirt off. You can have a good look at my back and tell me.”
    â€œPlease stop,” Johnny said. “If you have as much hair on your back as your dad, I will throw up. Besides I would have remembered a blowhole from all the times we went swimming in the summer. I do remember bubbles in the water, but I don’t think they came from your back.”
    â€œSee,” Stu told the new kid. “I’m not fat. I’m chubby. And I don’t have a blowhole, even though sometimes I can make bubbles in the water. So I can’t be a whale. Maybe you need glasses.”
    â€œMaybe I need a better left winger than you,” Tom said. “Yesterday in practice you should have scored five times with the great passes I gave you. But you missed all of them because you are too big and too slow.”
    â€œThey were great passes,” Stu said. “You are a very good hockey player, and we are happy to have you on the team.