The Missing Hockey Stick: Buddy and Panda Mysteries, #1

By Lori Briley

Eva loves playing hockey, and she knows her new stick will make her a star.

Until it goes missing.

Now, everything has gone wrong. Her team is losing, and one of her best friends won't talk to her.

Can Eva's dogs, Buddy and Panda, solve the mystery of the missing hockey stick before it's too late to save Eva's season – and her friendship?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lori Briley
• Release date: Oct 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781734717242

Lori Briley

Lori Briley is mom to the real-life Buddy and Panda as well as two human daughters. When she's not writing about mystery-solving dogs, she loves to read, hike, craft and watch sports, especially hockey and her beloved Boston Bruins.

Book preview

Text, whiteboard Description automatically generated

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

THE MISSING HOCKEY STICK

First edition.

Copyright © 2021 Lori Fairchild.

Written by Lori Briley.

Cover designed by Miblart.

For my mom,

who convinced me Buddy needed his own book

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Don't miss out!

About the Author

CHAPTER ONE

The Box

I ran hard, my four legs hitting the ground in perfect unison.  I am a well-oiled, rabbit-catching machine. The rabbit is right there. I lean forward, put on a burst of speed, open my mouth and...

Buddy! A paw hits my face. My eyes flicker open to find Panda's short, black nose in my face.

Panda. How many times have I told you to leave me alone when I'm napping? I roll to my stomach and carefully put my feet underneath me on the hardwood floor. Wood floors are tricky. You never know when your feet will lose their traction, and you'll end up sprawled out on your belly. Plus, I'm not as young as I used to be. The only place I'm catching rabbits these days is in my dreams. Speaking of dreams, You ruined a perfectly good dream, Panda. What was so important you needed to wake me up?

Panda's tail smacks against my chest as she turns around to face me. Panda is shorter than me, so she moves her face up close to mine and strains her neck up to whisper in my ear. There's a box.

I stare at her, wondering why this is news. We have lots of boxes, Panda.

Panda's whole body begins to shake, which is a funny sight. While I'm a purebred German shorthaired pointer, Panda is a mutt. She's got a tiny head on an all black labrador's body with super short legs and a long tail that is constantly smacking me in

the face.  If I'm being completely honest, I'm kind of jealous of the tail since all I have is a stub. When I try to wag my tail, my whole butt shakes. But while my short tail fits with the lean lines of the rest of my body, Panda looks like some kid put her together out of random body parts, and right now all of those parts are shaking with excitement. Her tail is wagging so fast it's moving in a circle.

But this box is different. She runs over to the window on the side of the front door, her nails tapping on the wood floor. Come see.

I follow Panda at a much slower pace and peek out the window on the other side of the door. On the front porch, I see a long, skinny box leaning up against the house. I push my nose against the window to get a better look. Panda is right. This box is different. We've never gotten a box like this one before.

Panda bounces over to my window and pushes me out of the way. What do you think it could be? Before I can answer, she twirls around in a circle and says, Do you think it could be a bone for me?

I look at the box, then at the spinning Panda. Pretty sure that's not a bone. Did you see who brought it?

Panda returns to looking out the window. I heard someone, but by the time I got to the door they were gone. Didn't you hear me bark?

I look longingly back at my pillow where I had been taking my nap. No, Panda. I was sleeping.

Well, you're awake now. What do you think it is?

Panda could play this guessing game until Eva comes home, which is probably hours away. I'm pretty sure there's nothing in that box for us, so I head back to my pillow. I don't know, and it's not time for Eva to be home. I'm going back to sleep. Wake me up when she gets here.

I turn around twice on my pillow after pawing it several times to smooth out the bumps and lay down hoping to catch the rabbit this time.

CHAPTER TWO

The Unboxing

A paw hits my nose ... again. I slowly open one eye and send Panda a glare that could freeze water.

Why are you waking me up again?

Panda is bouncing up and down, her tail wagging furiously. She's home. Eva is home.

I cock my ear and listen. I can hear the crunch of the snow under her shoes as she walks up the front steps. Panda races to the front door. I carefully rise to my feet and reach the front door just as Eva inserts her key in the lock. She walks through the door and Panda runs to