The Mysterious Abductions by Tracey Hecht

curled up, revealing the dark gap where his missing tooth used to be. The wombat clenched her jaw and tightened her paws around her kiwi. No one was going to score on her goal again. Without a second thought, she shot like a bolt down the marble toward the two advancing players.
    â€œNo you don’t!” Cora hollered, leaping into the air with every drop of strength in her legs. The crocodiles raised their kiwis to start their backswing, but Cora was there to block the shot. She came down hard on her bottom, right on top of the furry spider. Splat!
    â€œWZZZZ!” The bats whistled through their crooked teeth, waving their wings madly.
    Harry’s eight limbs splayed out in every direction underneath the wombat’s behind. His fangs were stuck like ice picks into the marble slab.
    â€œOhhhh,” Harry groaned. His eight eyes were crossed and spinning in their sockets. “I got biffed by a buttock!”
    â€œOh! Oh, I’m sorry!” Cora repeated her apologies over and over as she lifted herself up off of Harry. “I don’t know what came over me.”
    â€œLadies and gentlemen!” said Bismark. “Roughing the spider!”
    Boris clapped his claws and cheered at the top of his lungs. “Wonderful! Wonderful!” he screamed. “A power play for the Crocs! See you later, wombat!”
    Shocked, Cora glanced at the fox. But Dawn confirmed the call with a shrug. By the rules of the game, the wombat was forced to sit out for the rest of the period, leaving the Nocs one player short.
    Cora slumped toward the sidelines, her gaze glued to the floor. She had tried to be great and heroic, but she had only been clumsy and harmful. “He’ll be so disappointed,” she muttered, looking back at her brother. But when Cora met Joe’s gaze, his eyes were full of pride.
    â€œWZZZZ!” The bats whistled to restart the game. With a sigh, Harry curled back into a ball and squeezed his eyes shut.
    Clack! With a powerful strike, Miss got a hold of the spider.
    â€œPlease be gentle!” begged the kiwi. “My beak is terribly scratched from this hard floor!”
    â€œQuiet!” snapped Miss. With Vee right beside her, the croc moved skillfully around the defense. In an attempt to use up the time, she played the spider back to her own goal. Then, in the period’s final moments, Vee slapped a shot straight through Tobin’s legs.
    The bats whistled to send both teams to the bench for intermission. The score was three to zero in favor of the Crocs, and there were still two more periods left to play.
    â€œ Qué lástima ! We have a tragic night in the making here, ladies and gentlemen,” groaned Bismark. “Can our beloved Nocs pull themselves together, or willwe be spending the rest of our nights in this cave? I, for one, have not lost hope yet!”
    Boris clapped as his team gathered round. “Wonderful! Now that’s how you move the tarantula!” With a big, toothy grin, he congratulated each of his players. Then he turned toward the sideline. “Jerry!” he called.
    The jerboa hesitantly shuffled toward him.
    â€œListen, jerboa, I have you to thank for helping me scout these newcomers. Did you see that fox?” Boris shook his head in awe. “What agility, what speed! Those coachers are going to flip when they see the squad I’ve put together!”
    Boris’s love for the game was so heartfelt that Jerry felt a confusing twinge of enthusiasm. “R-right on, sir,” said the jerboa.
    On the other end of the marble, spirits weren’t so high.
    â€œOh goodness,” said Tobin. “I’m trying my best, I really am. They’re just so fast and I can’t—”
    Dawn stopped the pangolin. “You’re not the reason we’re behind. We’re giving them way too much space to take shots.”
    The team bowed their heads.
    â€œBut we’re getting better,” she