Winter Festival Murder Read online

  Trevor got a sheepish look on his face, which he quickly covered by looking away. I scowled before I could stop myself, but thankfully I was wearing a scarf over my face so no one saw. Mandy still gave me a little glare as she knew what I had done without even having to see it. She knew me too well. Before either of us could do anything else about it, the sound of someone tapping on a microphone interrupted us.

  "Hello everyone, welcome to the Below Zero hockey game," Ronald said. He was standing at center ice with his signature smile on his face. I couldn't tell where Melinda was, but I was sure she was scowling somewhere in the crowd beneath a hat and scarf.

  "We are so happy to have you all here today," Ronald continued. "Thank you for coming for this friendly game, Waterville. Now, if you'd all please stand for the National Anthem."

  Everyone stood up and removed their hats. George Anderson shuffled his way onto the ice and took the microphone from Ronald. George was well past retirement age and he had been singing the national anthem at hockey games for decades. I actually wondered if he'd been doing it since he was a student at Shady Lake High School and I made a mental note to ask Ronald about that just out of sheer curiosity.

  We all turned to face the flag that one of the cheerleaders was holding up behind one of the hockey nets. George's anthem was beautiful and long, but not too long. He had been doing it so long that he knew exactly how to do the anthem justice.

  "Let's play hockey," George exclaimed at the end. We all applauded him and settled ourselves down to watch the game.

  The only bad part about not being at the arena was that I couldn't get my favorite food to eat while watching hockey: nachos. Those salty tortilla chips with the warm cheese they pump out of the machine. It was disgusting and also the most delicious thing to eat.

  The first period was pretty touch and go. Waterville scored first, which is always a true test to see how determined our team is. The Shady Lake players were undaunted by it and came back to score two quickly in a row. We ended the first period being up 3-2.

  The second period didn't have any goals, but was full of excitement. Tank and a Waterville defense player started gunning for each other and both ended up in the penalty box having almost started a brawl. My dad had a scowl on his face because he hated when Tank's temper got the best of him. I assumed he may also be scowling because he could no longer feel his feet.

  After the second period, I had to get up to stretch my legs while they smoothed the ice out. I spotted Lennie next to the stand where they were selling coffee, so I went to get a cup and see how he was doing. He was wearing a black, leather coat with a purple and yellow scarf on top. He must also be a football fan. He was also scowling down at a piece of paper in his hands.

  "Hello Lennie," I said. "I'm a little surprised to see you at the hockey game. You've been so busy searching for the medallion lately that I didn't think you'd be here."

  "How do you know I'm not searching while I'm here," he said dryly, his dark eyes boring into me.

  Lennie could be a bit unnerving. He wasn't from Shady Lake, but he was here so often that we knew him well. He worked as a seed salesman and he was always around chatting up farmers and seed stores. Lennie was known for being a very serious man and right now he seemed very serious about whatever he was reading in the letter. I caught a glimpse of the envelope. It was from Shady Lake Bank and Trust.

  "You've got a point," I said. I tried to think of something else to say but couldn't think of anything, so I decided to just move on. "Enjoy the rest of the game, Lennie, and I'll see you back at the B&B."

  "Yup," Lennie said before he wandered off towards a patch of trees.

  I watched his back as he walked away and I ordered myself a coffee. I actually ordered one for Mandy too because even though she didn't usually drink coffee in the afternoon, I knew she would want one today. Trevor could fend for himself.

  The third period kept us sitting on the edge of our seats. Waterville scored to tie it up 3-3. We scored again followed by Waterville to make it 4-4. They went back and forth down on the ice, shooting on the goal without much success. They were running out of time.

  With the clock running down, our center took the puck down the ice and everyone else followed. After a shot on goal, the puck bounced back to where Tank was patrolling the ice. He grabbed it up, noticed that there were only seconds left on the clock, and wound up to hit the puck as hard as he could towards the goal. The goalie leapt to try to deflect it with his arm, but missed.

  The puck hit the back of the net and fell onto the ice inside the goal. I jumped out of my seat, yelling and hooting at the top of my lungs. Thankfully, I had already finished my cup of coffee a while ago or it would have been all over everyone around me.

  The team were all celebrating, having jumped into a big dog pile on top of Tank. What an amazing end to the game. It was a great game for both teams, but I was so proud of Tank. I felt like nothing could bring down our family during this festival.

  Chapter Five

  Wednesday dawned with both a new clue and a new activity for the day. The clue in the paper read:

  Even though Christmas is done,

  We can still have holiday fun.

  The other clues had been making sense to me, but this one was very confusing. After a few minutes of thinking about it, I shoved the clue to the back of my mind because I wasn't looking for the medallion anyways. I needed to focus on the festival activity that I was helping to set up today.

  We decided to have something fun for the kids, so we were setting up a sledding event at one of the local parks. We were going to have hot chocolate available and a bonfire. It seemed like it would be a really fun time for both kids and adults. It had even snowed a few inches last night, which meant we would need to pack down the snow on the sled hill a bit, but the fresh snow would provide a soft place to fall.

  I'm not usually a morning person, but something about the excitement of the week long festival had me up and ready to go in time to help serve breakfast to the guests. Most of the guests were grandparents who were back to visit grandchildren during the festival. The odd man out was Lennie, who scowled into his coffee and only picked at his breakfast. Usually his appetite was voracious, but I assumed the medallion hunt must be frustrating him into not eating.

  As I cleaned up the dining room after the guests had left, I saw Max pull up in his car. He had a trailer attached that must have been carrying all of the supplies we would need for our sledding. My mom saw him too and gave me a nod, holding out her hand for my apron. I tossed it into her hand and ran over to the door where I had piled up my outdoor gear. I poked my head out the door and gave Max a wave so he knew I saw him.

  I jumped into my snow pants and layered up with my jacket, scarf, mittens and hats. Thankfully today wasn't as cold as it was during the hockey game. Of course, not as cold simply means that it is above zero, but still below freezing.

  Max's car was nice and warm. He smiled a big, handsome smile at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek before pulling the car out of the driveway and heading to the park. There was a large sledding hill at Evergreen Park where we would be sledding today.

  "We are not going to get too cold today," Max said. "Check the bag by your feet."

  I looked in the plastic bag that was sitting on the floor of the car. It was chock full of those instant hand and foot warmers you can buy at the gas station. I had to laugh. Leave it to Max to buy an entire bag full of them instead of just the few we would need.

  We pulled into the parking lot at the top of the hill in the park and I got out to take a look at our area. There was a large hill, but it wasn't too steep. Other hills in town were just as big but were so steep that they still scared me as an adult to think about sledding down. But this one was a gentle slope that even younger children could enjoy. There was also a large, flat area between the slope of the hill and the parking lot where we could set up the hot chocolate and a bonfire to warm us up.

  Max was already taking out t
he supplies from the trailer attached to his car. A big folding table was set up and I put some of the hot chocolate supplies on top. We didn't have the hot water yet, but we would go get it when it got closer to sledding time.

  There was also a fire pit that Max immediately set up and got a fire going inside. There was no reason to wait on the fire. It would help us keep warm while we got everything ready. In fact, I got a few chairs out of the back of the trailer and after setting them up, I plopped myself down in one to warm myself.

  "Taking a break already?" Max teased. He sat in the chair next to me and took my hand in his. For a few moments, we just stared at the fire. I had a flashback to some of the bonfires we went to together when we were in high school. In a small town like Shady Lake there isn't much for teenagers to do, especially activities that don't cost money. A bonfire was about the only thing that was consistently fun.

  "What else do we have to do?" I asked.

  "We can't get the hot water until it is much closer to the sledding time, but we can get the sleds out," Max said. "We should maybe sled down a few times also to make sure there are some paths for the kids and see if there are any areas we should maybe fence off."

  One of the best parts of this activity was that while children were welcome to bring their own sleds along, we provided a large selection of sleds for children who may not be able to afford their own sleds. In the trailer we had long plastic toboggans, small plastic circle saucers, and even a few of the sleds that have little seats inside for smaller children.

  In the very back of the trailer was some snow fencing that we could use to make a safe sledding course if we needed to. Looking down the hill, I was concerned about one group of evergreen trees in particular. There were three of them set behind a green park bench. I pointed them out to Max, who suddenly started to seem shifty.

  "Oh yeah, that might be a problem," Max said. "I can be the one to put up a fence around that. I don't really need your help."

  My mind flashed back to the medallion clue from that morning. It had mentioned Christmas and here we were at Evergreen Park. This is probably where Max had hidden the medallion, specifically it was probably down by that park bench at the bottom of the hill.

  "That's where the medallion is, isn't it?" I asked.

  Max looked around like someone might pop up and rush to the bench to get it. He started to grumble a little bit and kept gesturing with his hands without actually say anything. I would take this reaction as a yes, even if he wouldn't actually say it.

  "Don't worry," I said. "I won't go get it. I think it would be cheating if I did that."

  Max visibly relaxed when I said that, but he still looked a bit nervous. I don't think he had really thought through the fact that the medallion was here where we were also hosting a different activity. If he had, he may have moved one or the other to a different location.

  "I think it will also help that there is a slight drift down there in front of the bench," I said, pointing down the hill. "See? If people can't really get to the bench, they may not find the medallion if you hid it well enough."

  Max just shrugged at me. I got the sense that even though I had figured it out, he didn't want to actually say that the medallion was down there. I decided not to push it.

  "Let's get the rest of the chairs set up and then we can start testing the hill," Max said before he turned and walked back to the trailer where the chairs were leaning against the sides.

  I rolled my eyes at his back and followed him to get the chairs set up. As soon as I did that, I could get to the fun part of sledding.

  Chapter Six

  Finally, it was time to test out the sled hill. I was getting my toboggan all set up to take the first run. We didn't want kids to get stuck in the new fluffy snow, so we were going to go down a few times to pack it down to make for some good sledding.

  We had finished setting up most of the chairs around the bonfire and a few around the table with the hot chocolate. Besides going to get some hot water shortly before the event started, we were ready. So now we could take our turn at some good old fashioned sledding since we knew we would be mostly running security and safety during the actual sledding event.

  I picked out a big, purple, plastic toboggan. Max told me I could take the first run and then he would come down behind me on a plastic saucer. He knew I was so excited that I could barely stand it. But could you blame me? Fresh snow and a fun hill with no one else to dodge around. It was a sledding dream.

  I sat down and tried to angle the toboggan away from the bank of trees and the park bench that we were still considering putting a fence up in front of. We still had plenty of time to put it up if we decided it was necessary.

  "1, 2, 3," I called as I used my hands to slide back and forth to give myself some momentum.

  I pushed myself off with my hands and grabbed onto the rope handle that was attached to the sled. I'm not sure why I held on to it other than I felt like I was supposed to. I don't think it would do much to help me steer if I needed to. It only provided a false sense of security.

  Halfway down the hill, I hit a seemingly invisible little bump that sent me flying. I couldn't help but scream as it launched me into the air. I held on tight so that I wouldn't tip over and I landed with a bump that was hard enough to hurt my tailbone a bit. It didn't help that I couldn't see a thing. The crash back into the soft snow had sent snow up in a flurry. At least I was still upright.

  I could hear Max yelling at me from the top of the hill, but I couldn't really hear what he was saying and I certainly couldn't see him. Then the snow cleared from my sight and I could see the problem. The unexpected air launch had changed the direction I was sledding in. Instead of clear down the middle, I was now headed straight for the bench and the pine trees we had been worried about.

  The big snow drift we had spotted was still right in front of the bench, so I was hoping that would stop me instead of the bench. A big pile of soft snow would make for a much better crash than a hard park bench. To help myself slow down, I dropped the rope and stuck my hands out to the sides. As my mitten clad hands dragged in the snow, I started to slow down ever so slightly as I came up to the snow drift.

  CRASH

  Instead of the soft crash I had been expecting from the snowbank I ran into, I hit it head on and it was hard. I cartwheeled off of my toboggan, tumbling head over heels until I finally landed flat on my back. There was snow everywhere and my face was covered by it. Thankfully I had been thrown next to the park bench and not right up on top of it.

  I lay still for a moment before brushing off my face, fully aware that as a thirty year old woman, that crash I would have jumped up from as a child was enough to break an arm. But nothing seemed to be hurt worse than my pride, so I sat up as I heard Max yelling.

  "I'm coming Tessa, don't get up," Max yelled. His voice was deep and serious. He was not joking around after that crash.

  I looked up the hill and saw that Max was flying down the hill on his red, plastic saucer, his knees bent up almost to his chin. He looked ridiculous and I couldn't help but laugh at him. He had on his serious business, Mr. Officer face so I sat still and tried to swallow back the rest of my laughter so I didn't offend him. I'd heard of bicycle cops and horseback cops, but never a sled cop. That was probably because they were much tougher to take seriously.

  "Are you okay Tessa?" Max said as he jumped up off of his sled and ran over. I was a little bit impressed by how spry he was since we were the same age and I definitely wouldn't be able to just spring up off of the ground like that.

  "Yes, I'm fine," I said. I took his hands and let him help me up. "I thought that snowdrift would be soft and help me have a soft crash landing that might hurt less than the bench, but I guess not."

  "Yeah, there isn't anything in front of the bench normally and I can tell you that there wasn't anything there when I was here earlier in the week. Maybe we should see what it is so we can put a fence up."

  I brushed myself off and we walked
back towards the drift. What could be so hard under there? We couldn't have a kid running into something like that on their sled. So far the Below Zero Festival had a track record of no injuries and I'd like to keep it that way.

  The lump was still all covered with snow when we looked at it except for a small area where the sled had hit. The snow had fallen off there and exposed a little bit of color that looked like some kind of fabric. It almost looked like someone had lost a jacket, except it was much bigger than that and even a frozen jacket wouldn't be big enough or hard enough to toss me from my sled.

  I knelt down and started to brush some snow off of one end of the lump while Max brushed snow from the area I had hit. After a bit of brushing, something sickly white was starting to emerge from the snow. There was some hair and some lumps. I jumped back and shrieked a bit as I realized that what I was brushing snow off of was actually a human face.

  "Tessa, are you okay?" Max said. I looked at where he was brushing off snow and saw what I recognized now as an arm with a hand on the end covered by a purple mitten. Without the context of the face I had just found, Max couldn't tell what it was.

  I pointed towards what I had just uncovered. Max glanced over and took a quick step back. His face went pale and his mouth dropped open.

  "What in the world?" he exclaimed.

  The dead body of Gerald Pinkerton was staring up at us. As we brushed the snow gently off of him, the rest of Gerald appeared. He was curled up in a fetal position and he appeared to be clutching his stomach. There was some red colored snow underneath his torso. We also managed to brush off a gun. I would bet money that once they investigated him a bit more, they'd find a gunshot wound in his stomach.

  Max stood up and grabbed his phone to call for backup from the rest of the police force.

  "I don't think we will need to put up that fence," I said. "Because I don't think we will be doing any sledding here today."

  Chapter Seven