The Soccer Ball Monster Mystery Read online

  Frenchie’s phone rang. He answered it and heard someone shouting on the other end. When the pup hung up, Frenchie looked pale, as though he had talked to a ghost. “That was the mayor,” Frenchie said. “There’s been another incident at the stadium. All the seat number stickers were removed and scattered across the field.”

  “The curse!” Rora, Ziggy, and Westie shouted at the same time.

  A Sticky Situation

  When the P.I. Pack arrived at the Pet Life Stadium, the mayor and Mr. Meow were covered in seat number stickers. Both of them were running back and forth between the field and the stadium seats.

  “Don’t jusssst sssstand there! Help ussss!” cried Mr. Meow as he tried to separate the stickers covering his paws. The mayor was running in circles, chasing a sticker on the end of his tail.

  “What happened?” Rider asked as he helped the mayor.

  “We have no clue!” the mayor said. “One minute everything was normal, and then there was a terrible fog and a gust of wind, and all the seat number stickers flew onto the field.”

  “Is that bad?” Rider said.

  “It’s terrible!” the mayor cried. “Tomorrow’s game is sold out! Fans for both teams have their tickets, but they’ll never find their seats if we don’t get every single sticker back onto its correct place!”

  “Who could have done this?” Rider asked.

  “Who caressss?!” Mr. Meow hissed. “Without sssseats, there won’t be a game.”

  “I think I can help!” Westie said. He pulled out the remote to his Kooky Kicker. Rora and Westie flinched. “Don’t worry. I made some adjustments on the ride over here. It should be fine.”

  Westie pushed the on switch, and within seconds the mechanical legs ran into the stadium! Kick! Kick! Kick! Kick! Kick! Kick! Kick! It was kicking stickers left and right. In only a few minutes, the Kooky Kicker had kicked and fixed all of the ninety thousand seat stickers.

  The mayor and Mr. Meow ran across the field and hugged Westie.

  “You ssssaved the championsssship game!” Mr. Meow said.

  “You saved the day!” the mayor shouted.

  “Thanks, Westie.” Rider held up the dirty soccer shirt. “But there’s still a case to solve.”

  An alarm went off inside Rora’s head. “Oh no!” she said, pointing to the shirt. “Where’s David Geckom?”

  “You mean lucky number seven? He’s over there,” the mayor said.

  “Hurry, gang,” Rora said as she ran quickly toward the Dynamos players on the other side of the soccer field. “I think I know who’s about to get gecko-napped next!”

  “How?” Ziggy, Westie, and Rider asked, chasing after her.

  “The numbers on the uniforms we found! The first one led us to Lion L. Messy, who was lion-napped. Well, the jersey we found in the Catskills was Geckom’s number under all that dirt.”

  “Oh no! Not Geckom, too!” Ziggy shouted in a panic. “Foul ball! It’s too late!”

  The P.I. Pack stopped in their tracks. There was a Soccer Ball Monster on the field.

  The Dynamos players saw it and scattered. Only David Geckom stood his ground. “I’m not afraid of a giant soccer ball!” he shouted. “It’s my job to kick balls like you all across the country!”

  The giant monster charged toward Geckom. He was ready to knock the ball out of the park when the Kooky Kicker tripped the soccer star by mistake!

  CHOMP!

  The monster’s mouth swallowed the gecko in one gulp.

  Soccer Ball Monster Match

  “That Soccer Ball Monster just ate David Geckom!” Westie barked. “And it’s all my invention’s fault!”

  “There is no such thing as a monster,” Rider said.

  “Try telling that to him!” shouted Westie as the giant soccer ball began chasing the other Dynamos players. Its mouth opened and closed like a mechanical crocodile. Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

  “Monster or not,” Ziggy said as he pushed up his sleeves. “I’ve had enough of this nonsense. Let’s take that Soccer Ball Monster down!”

  “I’m with you, kid!” Rora said. “No one messes with my favorite game and gets away with it!”

  The P.I. Pack surrounded the Soccer Ball Monster. Westie pulled out a net and launched it at the monster—but he missed. Rider tried to tackle the monster, but it threw him off with ease. Even Frenchie tried to help, but all he did was trip over his own feet and get trapped in Westie’s net.

  Then Ziggy and Rora made a grab for the beast, but the Soccer Ball Monster rolled away.

  Mr. Meow and the mayor ran to join the fight too. “Rider Woofson, you have to fix this!” the mayor panted.

  “I’m trying, Mr. Mayor,” Rider admitted. “But how in the world do you defeat a giant soccer ball?!”

  “That’s the ticket!” Rora winked at Ziggy.

  The young pup detective smiled and pointed to his foot. “The way to defeat a Soccer Ball Monster is by using de-feet!”

  “Then let’s show off our soccer skills!” Rora coached.

  The pair of detectives raced after the giant soccer ball. Rora got in front of it and gave it a hard kick. The monster flew up way into the air. Then Rora passed the ball back to Ziggy, who bounced it on his knee.

  The detectives kicked the monster back and forth, dribbling it down the field. As they approached the goal, Rora shouted to her teammate, “Are you ready?!”

  “I’ll set you up for the trick shot!” Ziggy yelled back.

  Rora nodded, then Ziggy passed the giant soccer ball to her. She flipped over backward and smacked the monster right into the back of the net. It was a perfect bicycle kick!

  “GOOOOAAAALLLL!” screamed the mayor and Mr. Meow.

  As soon as the Soccer Ball Monster hit the net, it burst open. Dynamo Dog and Lion L. Messy both fell to the ground. They had been tied up with rope. David Geckom also tumbled out and dropped a remote control.

  “What’s this?” Rider asked, picking the remote up.

  He handed it to Westie, who pressed a button. The giant Soccer Ball Monster lurched forward then backward every time Westie used the remote. “Hey, this thing controls the Soccer Ball Monster!”

  The group looked at David Geckom. The lizard smiled a mean smile. He shouted, “That’s right. It was me!”

  Penalty kicks

  “How could you?” Ziggy and Rora asked at the same time. The detectives, the mayor, Mr. Meow, and Frenchie surrounded the soccer star.

  “The cost of fame is high,” he said with a shrug. “I wanted to be the star of the championship game. But everyone loves Dynamo Dog—so I had to get rid of him. I mean, how could soccer fans love a mascot more than the players?”

  “Uh, becausssse he’ssss totally awessssome,” Mr. Meow said, to everyone’s surprise.

  “See?!” Geckom said. “So I dog-napped him to get him out of my hair. While I wanted to win the championship for Pawston, I also wanted to be the MVP of the entire sport! So I got rid of Lion L. Messy to make certain the Catskills Cougars didn’t stand a chance.”

  “How dare you, ssssir!” hissed Mr. Meow.

  “I think we’ve heard enough,” Rider said. He pulled a pair of handcuffs out, but before he could arrest Geckom, the swift gecko leaped over his head. Geckom ran toward the practice area where there were dozens of soccer balls.

  One by one, he started kicking them at the detectives. Westie was knocked back and so was Rider. Ziggy and Rora dodged the most shots, but even they were no match for the soccer star Geckom.

  “He’s got my vote for MVP!” Ziggy said, grabbing his sore head. “The Most Villainous Player!”

  Frenchie escorted the mayor and Mr. Meow to safety, but when he went back to help the P.I. Pack, he was quickly knocked over by a soccer ball.

  Geckom began laughing. “You fools won’t get anywhere near me. I can do this all day! I’m a soccer ball–kicking machine!”

  “Kicking machine . . . ,” Rider said. “That’s it!” He grabbed Westie’s remote control and used it to bring out t
he Kooky Kicker.

  The machine marched onto the field and stood between the detectives and the villain. Then Rider switched it on, and the legs began kicking. “I may be no match for your soccer skills,” Rider told Geckom, “but I think we have something that has a leg up on your kick tricks!”

  Kick! Kick! Kick! Kick! Kick!

  It was almost too amazing to believe as Geckom and the Kooky Kicker went into a soccer match frenzy! Hundreds of soccer balls were flying back and forth at incredible speeds. But even Geckom couldn’t keep up with Westie’s invention.

  First one ball slipped past his defense, then he was pummeled by dozens more. Finally he threw up his arms in surrender from under a pile of soccer balls.

  “Frenchie, would you like to do the honors?” Rider asked, handing over the set of handcuffs. Then the police dog held up a red card. “Mr. Geckom, you’re ejected from the game and going to jail.”

  GOOAAALLL!!!

  At the beginning of the championship game, there was a surprise award ceremony. The mayor gave the P.I. Pack and Frenchie special gold medals for helping to break the Goalie’s Curse and saving the soccer match.

  Pawston and Catskills fans cheered from the stands as the detectives waved to the crowd. After the P.I. Pack stepped off the field, they were swarmed by reporters. Ziggy and Rora were the first to share their stories about how they solved the case.

  However, Rider wasn’t a fan of all this attention. “This is the dog you want,” Rider said as he pulled Frenchie in front of the cameras and microphones. “He’s the real hero.” The photographers surrounded the French bulldog and snapped hundreds of pictures.

  As Rider walked off, Mr. Meow was waiting for him. The cat stuck out his paw, and the two shook. “If not for you and your team, thissss ssssoccer game would have been ruined. Thank you, Detective.” Then the wealthy cat turned and retreated to his private box seats to watch the game.

  Rider was shocked. Mr. Meow had never ever thanked him for solving a case.

  Mr. Meow entered his luxury sky-kitty-box. As the richest cat in town, he could afford the best seats in the house, of course! Inside the room, there was a fancy spread of food, including catered fish sticks, saucers of milk, and caviar catnip.

  He fixed himself a plate and then went to take his seat. There was only one other soccer fan in the giant room—Rotten Ruffhouse, the criminal rottweiler.

  “Why are you smiling?” asked Rotten. “Rider ruined another one of your schemes.”

  “Hah!” Mr. Meow laughed. “I wassss never part of thissss mad-capped mysssstery. True, I am a Cougarssss fan, and I want to win the championsssship. But I would never sssstoop to ruining a soccer game. I may be a villain, but I have my honor.”

  “Really?” Rotten was shocked to hear that his diabolical boss didn’t have his claws in this big-time soccer crime.

  “Of coursssse,” Mr. Meow said. He put on a pair of dark sunglasses and smiled. “Now, let’s enjoy this wonderful game today. Tomorrow, we’ll go back to hatching more evil planssss.”

  Check out Rider Woofson’s next case!

  “I have a package for Labra-cadabra-dor from Rider Woofson,” said the delivery bird. He was a nervous bird. He’d never delivered a package to a prison before, let alone to The Cage—a prison that held only the most dangerous criminals.

  “We’ll take it from here,” one of the prison guards said. He held the box up to his ear and gave it a little shake. “Well, it’s not ticking. That’s a good sign.” Then the guard ran it through an X-ray machine. “Looks like we’ve got a cake.”

  “Run it through again,” said the warden. “You can never be too sure when it comes to Labra. Before he was an inmate, that pesky pup was the world’s most dangerous magical criminal.”

  The guard ran several more tests. He even opened the box. The cake had white frosting and a bunch of candy stars that spelled out “HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!”

  “Cute,” said the warden.

  “The cake is safe, Boss,” said the guard. “The only other thing in the box is a flimsy spoon.”

  The warden picked up the long spoon and examined it. “Okay, I’ll deliver it myself.”

  WALKER STYLES grew up reading kids’ books, so it makes sense that he’s writing them now. And when he isn’t writing books, he’s out solving mysteries around the city of Manhattan, where he lives. Just the other day, he lost the book he was reading. Following all the clues, Walker deduced the couch ate it! (Well, the book was under the couch cushions. Still, mystery solved!)

  BEN WHITEHOUSE is an illustrator based in Birmingham, UK. He has previously worked in the animation industry as a character designer, animator, and stop-motion puppet maker before finding his feet within the world of illustration. You can visit him at stopmotionben.com.

  RiderWoofson.com

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster

  New York

  Visit us at

  simonandschuster.com/kids

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Walker-Styles

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Ben-Whitehouse

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Little Simon hardcover edition October 2016

  Copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Also available in a Little Simon paperback edition. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact

  Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Designed by Laura Roode. The text of this book was set in Courier Std.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Styles, Walker, author. | Whitehouse, Ben, illustrator. | Title: The soccer ball monster mystery / by Walker Styles ; illustrated by Ben Whitehouse. | Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2016. | Series: Rider Woofson ; 6 | Summary: Rider and the P.I. Pack try to find the soccer team’s missing mascot, Dynamo Dog. | Identifiers: LCCN 2016010287 | ISBN 9781481471107 (pbk) | ISBN 9781481471114 (hc) | ISBN 9781481471121 (eBook) | Subjects: | CYAC: Mystery and detective stories. | Detectives—Fiction. | Dogs—Fiction. | Mascots—Fiction. | Soccer—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / General.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.S82 Sm 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016010287