They all played games until their parents told them it was time to leave. It was almost completely dark out.
“That was awesome! We should do something like that again sometime,” Leah told Adara, as they were walking over to the van in the near-darkness.
“Yeah, that would be a lot of fun,” Adara agreed.
The girls and Michael climbed into their van, and Mr. and Mrs. Simpson thanked the Rethmans and then hopped in.
A little later the Davises and Evers left.
“That was fun. Thanks for letting us do that,” the girls told their parents, after having a total blast with their friends.
“Yes, that was a lot of fun. We should do it again sometime,” Mr. Rethman stated.
The girls nodded eagerly.
Elise was worried, though. What if the movement she saw in the woods had been the bear? Was it trying to get Blossom still?
CHAPTER 5
Cross Country Begins
A week later it was August first. Today was Lexie, Arianna, and Elise’s first day of cross country practice. They had all gotten new running shoes and were ready to begin their season. Adara and Austy were now going into fall volleyball. At two o’clock, all the sisters headed out the door and into the van to go to their practices. After parking the van, the three oldest walked over to the high school. Arianna and Elise walked over to the front doors of the middle school. Adara and Austy had volleyball practice the same time that the others had cross country practice, so it worked out well. When Arianna and Elise reached the Pisgah Middle School, they saw some kids there that they had never seen before. They were standing around in the recess field next to the school talking.
Elise gulped, “Uh, Arianna, I don’t feel so good.”
“It’s fine. Look! There’s Charity! She’s a nice girl. I did cross country with her last year, remember?”
The two girls walked up to Charity and Arianna introduced Elise. The trio soon became well-acquainted. Elise liked Charity right away. She always smiled and was very polite and inclusive and had long blonde hair and brown eyes.
There were five other girls and seven boys. The coach was nice. He introduced himself as Coach Dave Wilson. Elise introduced herself as well.
The boys and girls would all run together at practices. Coach Wilson told them that there would be no walking during practice unless they were directed by him to do so. He explained a couple things, and then they had stretched and begun their run. While they were running, Elise had felt like she couldn’t breathe. Eventually, by the end of the practice, she had developed a breathing pattern, and she found it much easier to breathe while running. Sometimes she could even talk to the others when she was running and not get out of breath. By the end of the practice everyone was exhausted.
Coach Wilson told them they had all done well for the first practice. The first practice hadn’t been too bad. Elise actually enjoyed it more than she thought she would. Arianna was pretty fast. Elise hadn’t been too far behind her. Besides Charity, Arianna, and two faster girls, everyone else had been behind Elise. The boys had been, of course, way up there. The two fast girls, along with Arianna and Charity, had run cross country last year. All the other girls were seventh graders. Everyone was really nice. The fastest girls were Ava Swallow and Tara Fisher. Ava was a little faster than Tara. They were amazing runners. Then there were Charity Watson, Arianna, Elise and then the seventh graders, Kendyll Swallow, Ava’s cousin, Caitlin Market, and Abigail Rogers. That was the girls’ team. The boys’ team was really good.
Arianna and Elise walked to the high school when their practice was done to wait for Lexie to finish her cross country practice and the oldest two girls to finish their volleyball practice.
The girls all rode home after all their practices.
“How was it?” Austy asked Arianna and Elise.
“I really enjoyed it,” Elise said. “My necklace from great-grandma kept flapping up and down while I was running, though. Next practice I’ll just tuck it in my shirt and pin it because I never take it off.”
“I thought you’d like cross country,” Lexie said when Elise had finished. “You two are sweaty.”
The three older ones questioned all about Arianna and Elise’s first practice, asking who all was running and if the kids were nice.
“It was great!” Arianna exclaimed, “We had a ‘track day’ today. We jogged around the school for five minutes, then we did the Indian run on the track, and then we did bleachers. The Indian run is where all the kids line up, and you jog in a single file line, and no one can pass you. Then when Coach Wilson blows the whistle, the person way in the back has to sprint all the way to the front, and so on, for four laps on the track. The bleachers were where we had to run up and down the bleachers without stopping, ten times. Then after all that, we ran around the soccer field. Elise and I weren’t the slowest ones. Tara and Ava were really fast, though. They stayed right behind the boys the whole way around the field, and they didn’t even seem that tired afterward. At least, they didn’t look tired. Charity, Elise, me, and the seventh graders were all huffing and puffing when we were done. It was kind of like last year’s first practice,” Arianna said and then asked, “What did you do for practice?”
“Our first practice was actually really hard,” Lexie said, and then she told her sisters all about it. When she was finished, she said, “It’s a good thing I’d been running all summer, otherwise I probably wouldn’t do as well this year. A lot of the other kids ran all summer, too, though. I think we’ll have a good team this year in comparison to last year’s team.”
They pulled into the lane and drove up the driveway. Adara parked the car. “Now you can tell Mom and Dad all about your first sport and your first practice,” she told Elise.
“I will. And I can’t wait for tomorrow’s practice!”
The rest of the practice days before the first cross country race were hard but worth it. They learned a lot and became better runners. The practices went by way too fast.
Soon it was August 20th, the day before the first meet. Elise was nervous, but Lexie and Arianna were confident and assured her that she’d do fine. Elise felt better after that, but still she worried. They had pasta for supper the night before the race. Elise had learned that that was one of the best things to have before you ran. Noodles, her coach said, were good to eat before you run and also a peanut butter banana sandwich. Arianna told Elise that she always ate nuts before she raced. The race, or meet, would be held in Waynesville.
“Hey, Lex, what’s a really fast middle school time?” Elise asked her older sister.
“Well, a phenomenal time would be under twelve minutes for your two miles. The first races are always slower because you’re just getting into the season.”
The three Rethman runners would be taking the bus with the rest of their teammates to the meet, and their family would drive up there to watch them compete.
Elise had seen Lexie run as a freshman last year at meets. Arianna had been a seventh grader in cross country as well, then. Now it would be different for Elise because she would be the one running instead of watching Lexie run. Lexie had always made it look so easy. But Elise now knew the kind of discomfort Lexie was feeling every time she ran, for it hurts to run sometimes; it hurts to do your best. She knew that she had to master her mind, which was her worst enemy while she was running. She was a little nervous about the race.
CHAPTER 6
The Race
The next day the two tense sisters stood at the starting line, getting ready to start their race at the course in Waynesville. The practices had really paid off. They stood with their team: the Pisgah Black Bears, along with the five other Haywood County teams who had come to partake in the two-mile cross country race. The high schoolers were there also, and Lexie had already run in her race, getting eleventh in the competitive 5k race. All the boys had also already run and the middle school girls had the final race. They were all very nervous.
“Y’all, I think
I’m gonna throw up,” Kendyll said nervously.
“You’ll be fine,” Coach Wilson said reassuringly, “The boys all did it.”
“Yeah, but half of them threw up,” Kendyll persisted, her arms shaking with anxiety.
“It’s just nerves. That’s normal. Now get ready, it’s about to start. Make sure y’all move around a lot to loosen up a bit so your muscles aren’t tight while you’re running. Come on, girls!”
All the girls moved around, jumping up and down and stretching their legs. They had been given “bib numbers” which where tags attached to the front of their uniforms displaying their number. Having those made it easier to identify who everyone was and to help the finish line people mark who got what place.
A little later the flagger called all the runners out into the center of the course, about fifty feet from the starting line, where he explained how the race would start. First, there would be a whistle, which meant “get ready.” Second, there would be a couple more fast whistles, which meant “get set.” Last, he would raise his flag and gun and shoot off the gun, which meant “go!” He then told them to run back to the line and get ready to start.
All the girls ran back to the start line. The spectators lined the edges of the hilly course, getting ready to cheer for the runners. Then the flagger blew the whistle and raised his flag and gun. Elise breathed in deeply and touched the necklace pinned under her shirt. She hadn’t taken it off for the race. She leaned forward to get in position, eyeing the course ahead of her. It was a long stretch to the corner. Then the moment came. The flagger shot off the gun. All the girls ran out. The race had begun! It would be a tight squeeze to the corner and everyone was trying to get there first so that they wouldn’t get blocked in. All the runners ran out fast, and Elise got blocked off once or twice. She ran fast and hard and had trouble breathing, as usual. It felt as though her lungs would burst by the time they got to the mile mark. Inhaling and exhaling and pumping her arms, Elise pushed herself hard. At the mile mark she was at seven and a half minutes. Elise could hear people cheering for her. Ava was in the lead. Elise hoped Ava would win. Arianna and Tara were a bit up there as well. Elise was surprising her family quite a bit.
“She’s gonna fall back! She can’t keep that pace!” Austy said as they cheered on Elise, who looked quite worn out, but determination was clearly seen on her face.
“Who knows,” Adara said, as they ran to another spot to cheer on the runners, “she may have a little surprise for us.”
At certain points during the race, Elise could hear her family cheering for her and it spurred her on, but she was wearing out fast. She could hear breathing right behind her at some points, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see girls from other teams catching up with her. But that made her go all the faster because she wanted to do her best for her first race ever. They had half a mile left, and this was when she was supposed to pick up the pace if she could. She saw Arianna up ahead a ways. Charity ran up beside Elise; she was breathing hard. Elise felt like she was going to die, and she felt like giving up for going at such a fast pace. Suddenly the finish line came in sight. Elise and Charity ran as fast as they could. Elise was so happy to finally see the finish line. “It’s about time it arrived,” she thought to herself as dribbles of sweat slid down her face. Charity began to pull ahead, but determination threaded through Elise and they raced it in together. Elise beat her teammate by less than a second. After she crossed the finish line, Elise started throwing up. Someone handed her water. She exited out of the finish chute and keeled over, throwing up more because she had given her best effort. She was quite surprised when not a lot of other people threw up. Arianna, Tara, Ava, Charity, and she were now all finished. Their other teammates were still running in to the finish line.
Her family ran over to her.
“You did great, Elise!” Lexie marveled.
Elise smiled and wiped her mouth, completely worn out. It had been a tough hilly course.
Ava got first place and a plaque, Tara came in third, Arianna was seventh, and Elise and Charity had finished in twelfth and thirteenth places, respectively.
Elise clutched her stomach. She looked up to finish seeing the end of the race and to see what time the rest of her teammates finished at. There were forty-two runners. The coach said it was a smaller race compared to others they would be competing in this year. Elise’s eyes popped open wide when he said this.
Arianna clapped Elise on the back and asked her what time she got. “I think it was fifteen thirty something,” Elise replied.
“Wow. That’s pretty good for your first race,” Arianna smiled.
“You girls did great for your first race,” Coach Wilson said, sounding pleased. “They’re about to announce what place you girls got as a team. I think you all did amazing.”
On the loudspeaker, the points and teams were called. Elise listened with many other people as the places for her race all got called from the last place team to the first place team. She got really excited because the man with the loudspeaker said, “And first place is the Pisgah Black Bears!” The girls went crazy with happiness. The team was given a trophy, and Coach Wilson said that it would be on the front desk at school for a while. Arianna and Elise looked at each other and shrugged. They were homeschooled so they wouldn’t get to see the trophy at the school desk. But they did admire it before they left. The Rethman girls were allowed to drive home with their family instead of riding the bus.
Arianna and Elise were congratulated by a lot of people. They didn’t even know that their grandparents on the Rethman side had come and also some of their aunts, uncles, and cousins. Elise didn’t even know some of the people who talked to her and Arianna, congratulating them. Elise ran up to her teammate, Ava, before they left. “You did great!” she exclaimed.
Ava smiled.
“What was your time?” Elise asked, knowing that at the finish Ava had been quite a ways ahead of her.
“I got thirteen thirty-eight,” answered Ava.
“Oh, wow! Great job!”
“Thanks.”
“What was your fastest time last year?” Elise questioned.
“Twelve fifty-two.”
“Oh my, that is very fast,” Elise’s eyes widened. “I wish I could run that fast.”
Ava laughed, “That was at the end of the season last year. This is just the start, so you’ll drop a lot of time.”
Elise nodded.
“Well, I’ve got to go. See-ya,” Ava waved and walked to where the bus was loading up the team.
Elise waved after her and then hurried to where her family was waiting, talking with the Simpsons.
“You did great today,” Mr. and Mrs. Simpson complimented.
Arianna and Elise smiled and said, “Thank you.”
“You want to run another race right now?” Mr. Simpson teased.
Elise’s eyes gave off such an obvious answer that everyone laughed.
“It had been a cool experience, but it was super hard,” Elise said.
When they had finished talking, the Rethmans all hopped into their van to drive home.
Mr. Rethman congratulated his daughters as they drove.
“You both did very well today, and I am very proud,” he said. “What was your time again, Lexie?”
“Twenty-three minutes and thirty-seven seconds,” Lexie answered. “I was so close to getting a medal. I was racing in the tenth place runner. She beat me, though. I was just one place off.” She was disappointed with her place but happy with her time for the start of the season. Her best time last year was under twenty-two minutes.
“Yeah, that’s pretty good for the first race of the season,” Mr. Rethman nodded, from over the steering wheel. “Don’t let yourself get too disappointed.”
“I won’t. Our team got first place, so I’m happy about that.”
“Can I see your medal one more time?” Adara asked Arianna.
Arianna took it off from around her neck and handed it over.
Elise wished that she could’ve gotten a medal like Arianna.
“This is a nice medal,” Adara said.
“Yeah, it is,” agreed Austy.
When they got home, Elise watched Arianna place her medal on the shelf, next to their team picture. “That was great. I liked it,” she said. “The pain was well worth the reward.”
“Yeah, at least you got a reward,” said Elise.
“Hey, you helped our team get first place,” Arianna reminded her.
“I guess.”
“Elise, no one is asking anything more than your very best, and that’s what you gave!”
Elise did a small smile.
Arianna said, “Next race, here we come!”
CHAPTER 7
Missing!
The next morning they started school again. It was a Wednesday and Elise always found it hard to jump into the school year after a whole month off over the summer. Co-op was always on Wednesdays, and next week they would start it up with the other homeschoolers. She stared at a problem in her math book, pencil in mouth. She didn’t understand the problem at all. Elise worked on her schoolwork in her bedroom where she was supposed to be able to concentrate well. However, her thoughts kept wandering back to the race the previous day. She was critiquing herself on the way she had run. Maybe if I had started out faster, I wouldn’t have gotten blocked in, she thought. Or maybe I should’ve tried to run with Arianna. I might have gotten a medal then. Elise looked out her window toward the pasture where her dad would have let the horses out to run around. She could see Midnight and Ranger galloping around, but she didn’t see Blossom.
“That’s odd. Blossom’s always out there with the other two. I wonder if Dad purposely left her in her stall.” She stood up from her desk and walked out of her room. When she went down the stairs and into the kitchen, her mom said, “Elise, you’re supposed to be working on your schoolwork.”
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