“W–what?” Sydney gave her a surprised look.
“That’s right. I paid the twenty-five dollar entrance fee for you this morning,” Aunt Molly said. “I prayed about it last night and felt a little nudge from the Lord to do it. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind? Mind? Oh Aunt Molly!” Sydney threw her arms around Kate’s aunt and gave her a warm hug. “Of course I don’t mind! How can I ever thank you? My mom will be so grateful!”
“Just go out there and ski the best you’ve ever skied.” Aunt Molly patted Sydney on the back. “But take care of yourself. It’s cold out and you’ll be in unfamiliar territory.”
“Where do we go?” Sydney asked. “Where’s the best skiing around here?”
“You need to ski the Rat,” Uncle Ollie explained. “That’s where the competition will take place, and it’s great for skiers at every level.”
“The…what?” Sydney looked stunned.
“The Rat,” he repeated. “That’s the name of the most famous ski run around these parts.”
“Ooo!” Sydney let out a grunt. “Why did they have to name it the Rat? Of all things!”
Uncle Ollie laughed. “I see your point. But don’t let the name stop you. It’s a great ski run. And if you make it from the top to bottom without falling, they give you a T-shirt.” He went into another room and returned a few minutes later with a brown T-shirt in his hand. “I got this one back in the eighties when my ski legs were still strong.”
“Wow.” Kate laughed as she looked at the shirt that said THE RAT PACK on the front. “That’s really cool, Uncle Ollie.”
He turned it around and showed them the picture of the Rat on the back.
Sydney shuddered. “I never dreamed when I said I’d compete that I’d have to ski on…a rat!”
“It’s just a name, honey,” Aunt Molly said. “And besides, you’ll never overcome your fear of rats without facing it head-on. So, if you’re going to teach Kate to ski, the Rat is the perfect place.”
Kate shook her head. “No thank you. No skiing for me, thanks. I’ll just hang out here and work on my supersleuth blog site.”
“Oh, come on, Kate,” Sydney implored. “If I can overcome my fear of rats, you can overcome your fear of skiing! And you can work on the blog site anytime! We’re on vacation now!”
“I’ve been a member of the Rat Pack for years,” Uncle Ollie added. “We’ve got to keep the tradition going in our family.”
“I–if I have to.” Kate trembled just thinking about it!
“Aw, don’t worry,” Uncle Ollie said. “I wish I could go with you girls, but I’ve got a project going in my workshop. Should I send along your Aunt Molly as a chaperone?”
Aunt Molly laughed. “A great one I’d be! I’d probably tumble right down the hill.”
“Well, maybe I could…” Kate’s mother started the sentence, but didn’t finish it.
“Could what, Mom?”
“Well, it’s been years since I skied,” her mom said, “but I’m willing to give it a try. To help Sydney out, of course.”
“Woo-hoo! We’re going skiing!” Sydney began to squeal, but Kate’s insides suddenly felt squishy!
Less than an hour later, she and Sydney arrived at the ski lift, along with Kate’s mom.
“Let’s put our skis on before we go up,” Sydney instructed.
Kate didn’t have a clue how to do that, but with help from her mom, she got the long, skinny boards strapped onto her feet.
“Now what?” she asked. She wrapped her scarf around her neck as the cold wind sent an icy shiver down her spine.
“Now we go up!” Sydney pointed up the hill.
“And we have to go up…in those?” Kate felt sick to her stomach as she looked at the little chairs.
“Oh, it’s a lot of fun,” her mother said. “Something you’ll never forget as long as you live.”
“I’m sure you’re right about that!” Kate said. Somehow she knew this whole experience was something she would never forget!
“This is the coolest ski lift ever!” Sydney said. “Like something out of the past. It’s so cute.”
“Cute?” Kate shook her head. “Doesn’t look cute to me. Looks scary.”
She stared up at the contraption, trying to figure out how it worked. After a minute or two, she relaxed. “It’s really just a pulley system, isn’t it? I know how pulleys work, so we should be safe.”
“See! You just have to look at this like you do one of your science experiments, Kate,” her mom said. “I’ll help you into a chair, then I’ll be in the one right behind you.”
“Let’s do it the other way around,” Kate implored. “You two go first and I’ll follow behind you.”
“No way!” Sydney laughed. “If we do that, we’ll turn around and you’ll still be standing on the ground. We need to make sure you actually make it to the top of the hill.”
After a groan, Kate agreed. “Just help me, okay?”
“Of course.”
A few seconds later, Kate was in one of the chairs, rising up, up, up into the air.
“Wow!” she hollered, her voice echoing against the backdrop of snow. “It’s beautiful up here!” She looked around, mesmerized. Everything was so white…so perfect. “I can’t believe I never did this before. It’s so fun!”
She reached inside her pocket and pulled out her tiny digital camera. Unfortunately, she quickly learned that taking photos from the air—especially when the ground was covered in glistening white snow—was almost blinding! She put the camera away and held on for dear life.
When they reached the top of the hill, Kate carefully scooted off of the chair, doing her best not to fall as the skis slipped and slid underneath her. It was so hard to balance!
“Now what?” she asked, as Sydney’s feet hit the ground.
Her friend offered a playful grin. “Now your mom and I teach you how to ski.”
“I can’t promise I’ll be a very good teacher,” Kate’s mom said, looking down the hill. “It’s been awhile since I’ve done this. Skiing is a little scary for me too! I’m pretty wobbly!”
“I’m sure we can teach Kate what she needs to learn to make it from the top of the hill to the bottom,” Sydney said. “And before long, she’ll be as fast as lightning!”
“Hmm.” Kate shook her head as she looked at Sydney. “I doubt that. Have I mentioned that I’m no good at sports?”
“Only a thousand times. But don’t think of this as a sport.” Sydney’s eyes lit with excitement. “I know! Think of yourself as one of those robots you and your dad like to build down in the basement at your house in Philly.”
“Huh?” Kate gave her a curious look. “Me? A robot?”
“Sure.” Sydney grew more animated by the minute. “If you had to build a robot that could ski—one that could get from the top of a hill to the bottom without falling down—how would you build him?”
“Well…” Kate demonstrated by putting her feet together and bending her knees. “He’d have to be really flexible. And he’d have to be able to shift to the right and the left to get the right momentum going, so his knees would have to bend. And he’d have to have a way to come to a quick stop, so I’d have to build him ankles that turned so he could stop in a hurry!”
“Exactly!” Sydney giggled. “You’ve got it! Just pretend you’re that robot.”
Kate laughed. “Okay. So what would you name me?”
“Hmm.” Sydney paused, deep in thought. After a moment her eyes lit up. “I know! We’ll call you Snow-bot!”
“Snow-bot it is!” Kate nodded. “So, show me what to do, O Sports Star, you!”
Sydney looked at her with a grin. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s hit the Rat!”
Kate looked down at the track winding alongside some trees. “Where does it lead?”
“Who cares?” Sydney called out. “That’s half the fun…finding out! So, c’mon! Let’s go!”
Just as they started to push off, a bo
y whizzed by them. He wore a red jacket and cap, but looked familiar. Kate watched as he soared down the hill, faster than anyone else.
“Oh, look, Kate!” Sydney pointed with a worried look. “It’s that boy…Michael.”
“I wonder what he’s doing here.” Kate frowned. Hopefully he wasn’t really going to enter the competition. Sydney needed to win, after all!
“He’s a great skier.” Sydney watched him closely as he zipped down the hill, moving gracefully around every curve. “Doesn’t look like he needs the practice.” They watched him ski all the way from the top of the hill to the first curve, where they lost sight of him. At that point, Kate groaned.
“Wow.” She didn’t know what else to say. Michael was good.
“I’ll bet he already has his Rat Pack T-shirt,” Sydney said with a sigh. “He probably has a whole drawer full! Let’s face it…I’ll never win that competition on Saturday if he skis.”
“Don’t say that,” Kate’s mother said. “I’ll bet you’re just as fast!”
“Probably even faster,” Kate added. “I don’t know anyone who can run as fast as you. So surely you’re just as fast on skis!”
“Only one way to know for sure.” Sydney’s expression brightened. “Let’s go!”
She pushed off and led the way. Kate looked down, took a deep breath, said a little prayer, and then inched her way forward with her mother at her side.
To her surprise, she went slip-sliding down the tiny hill without falling. In fact, she went even faster than her mother, who tumbled into the snow at the first big curve.
Down, down, down Kate went…feeling almost like a bird taking flight. The cold wind blew against her cheeks, but she didn’t mind. And though skiing was a little scary, Kate had to admit it was a lot more fun than she expected. Maybe I really am a Snow-bot!
On the other hand…she looked ahead. Sydney had almost made it to the bottom of the hill. Kate had almost caught up with her when something caught her attention. “Look out!”
Kate swerved to the right to avoid hitting a baby fawn. She tumbled head over heels, hollering the whole way. Thump! She ran straight into Sydney, who also took a tumble. Thankfully, Kate wasn’t hurt. But when she looked up, Sydney was sitting in the snow, holding her ankle.
“Oh man!” Sydney’s eyes glistened with tears.
“What is it?” Kate asked, drawing close.
Sydney groaned. “My ankle hurts. I guess I twisted it.”
“How bad is it?” Kate knelt down in the snow, shivering from the cold. “Is it my fault? Did I hit you with my skis?”
“No, you didn’t hit me. It’s my own fault. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Is it really bad?”
“I think I can walk on it.” Sydney took a few steps, groaning the whole way. Each step looked more painful than the one before it.
“Do you think it’s broken?” Kate asked. Poor Sydney!
“No. It’s just twisted. I’m sure it’ll be fine. When I get back to the inn, I’ll put some ice on it and elevate it.” After a few more steps, Sydney added, “Sure hope this doesn’t keep me from being in the competition.”
“We’ll pray about that,” Kate said. “The Lord knows you need that money for the mission trip. He’s going to provide it one way or another.”
Mrs. Oliver arrived. She took one look at Sydney and apologized. “I’m sorry we got separated! I made it down around the next curve before I realized you weren’t with me. I took a little tumble, then came back up to look for you.” She looked at the tears in Sydney’s eyes and gasped. “Have you hurt yourself, honey?”
“A little,” Sydney said. “My ankle hurts. I don’t think it’s very bad, but we should probably go back to the inn, just in case.”
She hobbled beside Kate as they walked back to the car. Just as the girls reached the parking lot, Michael passed by. He gave them a funny look, but kept walking without speaking a word.
“Hey, there’s Michael again.” Kate watched as he disappeared into a crowd of people. Something about that boy seems…weird. Just as quickly, she was reminded not to judge him before knowing all the facts.
“He’s really going to beat me now, especially if I’m injured.” Sydney groaned.
“Don’t talk like that!” Kate said. “You’ll be fine. And you were almost to the bottom of the hill when I knocked you down. It’s wasn’t your fault.”
“No, you don’t understand. It was already hurting before that. When I rounded the first turn, I think I twisted it!”
“When we get back to the inn, we’ll elevate your ankle,” Kate’s mom said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine in no time.”
They drove back to the inn, where Aunt Molly greeted them with hot chocolate and peanut butter cookies, straight from the oven. She scolded Sydney, her gray curls bobbing up and down. “Sydney, you need to be careful! You could have hurt yourself out there.”
“Oh, I’m fine.” She forced a smile, but Kate could tell her friend was really in pain.
“Still, I’ve been skiing for years and I’ve never gotten hurt before.” Sydney groaned. “It would have to happen the day I’m trying to teach Kate.”
“I’m not a very good student.” Kate shrugged. “I’m the reason she fell in the first place.” She buried her face in her hands, trying to stop the tears. “I told you I was no good at sports!”
“Of course you are! You were doing a great job,” Sydney said. “And I think you would have passed me too!”
“You do?” Kate looked at her, stunned.
“I do.” Sydney nodded. “So, don’t be so hard on yourself!”
“You’re a natural, Kate!” her mother added. “You need to stop saying you’re no good at sports.”
“Saying we’re no good at sports is an Oliver family trait.” Aunt Molly laughed. “Most of us in the Oliver family are more into technology.” She turned to Kate. “Did you know your Uncle Ollie is working on a new mixer for the creamery? Michael’s been helping him.”
“Michael sure isn’t helping him today,” Sydney explained. “We just saw him skiing. He’s really, really good.”
“Ah.” Aunt Molly nodded. “He’s decided to enter the competition, then.”
“I guess.”
“Well, don’t fret, Sydney. Let’s just pray and see what God does. In the meantime, you girls scoot on out to the barn and take a plate of these cookies to your Uncle Ollie. They’re his favorite.”
“Maybe I can help him with his project,” Kate said, growing excited. “I’d love to see all of the gadgets he’s working on out there. Maybe I’ll learn something new!”
Sydney laughed. “That sounds just like something you’d say, Kate. You’re always more excited about learning than anything else.”
“That’s a special gift God has given her,” Aunt Molly explained. “He’s gifted her with…”
“Lots of brains?” Sydney asked.
Everyone laughed.
“Well, I do get a pretty big head sometimes,” Kate said with a giggle, “especially when it comes to my science projects. But that doesn’t mean I have more brains than anyone else.”
“Still, you’re the smartest girl in our club,” Sydney said. “And I just know you’ll figure out what’s going on at the creamery. Before long this mystery will be solved.”
“Yes, but who knows if the creamery will reopen.” Aunt Molly sighed. “I talked to Geneva Hampton today, and she said the county health inspector is coming back for another inspection. Everyone is nervous they won’t pass this time around.”
“I still say there was something strange about that rat on the video,” Kate said. “It looked different from other rats I’ve seen. I can’t wait to hear back from McKenzie.”
She thought about it as she trudged through the snow to get to the barn, where Uncle Ollie greeted her with a smile. Enough worrying about rats! For the rest of the day, she just wanted to do what she did best…work on gadgets and gizmos!
Hi-Ho, the Dairy-O
&nb
sp; After the long day of skiing and helping Uncle Ollie in the barn, Kate finally fell asleep. Every muscle in her body ached from skiing, so she tossed and turned all night trying to get comfortable.
When she finally did fall into a deep sleep, Kate had a crazy dream. She was skiing through the Mad River Creamery, chasing rats! At the end of the dream, she fell into a humongous vat of curds and whey. For some reason, the woman in the white fur coat was swimming in there too with the mean man! And Michael was standing nearby with skis in his hand, talking about what a great competitor he was.
When she finally awoke, Kate found herself quoting the lines from “Little Miss Muffett.” Totally strange!
She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. Seven thirty in the morning? Too early to be up, especially on a vacation.
She rolled over in the bed, wondering where Sydney was. Had she been swallowed by a giant rat, perhaps?
Kate rose from the bed, brushed her teeth, and dressed in her warmest clothes. She had a feeling she knew just where Sydney would be. Sydney’s foot had felt back to normal when they went to bed the night before. Minutes later—after shivering her way through several snowdrifts—Kate arrived in the barn and made her way back beyond Uncle Ollie’s workshop to the small gym in the back. Uncle Ollie had added the gym, primarily for guests, a few years earlier. Sure enough, Sydney was on the treadmill. She looked at Kate and smiled, but never stopped walking.
“Hey, you’re up early.” Sydney dabbed at her forehead with a cloth.
“So are you.” Kate yawned. “But you actually look like you’re happy about it. I still want to be in bed!”
“I get up early every day now. Got to stay in shape, you know.” Sydney stopped the treadmill and turned to face her. “Morning is the best time to exercise. It wakes up your body and gives you the energy to face the rest of the day. But the roads were icy this morning, so I decided this would be safer since my ankle is still a little weak. Uncle Ollie said it would be okay.”
Kate Page 15
