by Betsy Haynes
Beth panicked. She was totally out of control, flying down the slope backward, knocking people over as if they were dominoes. With a sudden lunge to the side, she threw herself out of the towrope tracks just in time to avoid toppling the next person.
But now, she was careening down the hill frontward with the storage house looming in front of her. She tried snowplowing, but the snow under her skis had turned to ice, and there was no way she could stop. She was speeding faster and faster, and the building was growing larger and larger as she raced toward it.
Suddenly, as she braced to smack into the building, her reflexes took over. She went limp and threw herself to the side and backward the way Marcel had taught her, and slid feetfirst between the pilings and on under the building.
She came to a stop, flat on her back and her nose nearly touching the underside of the building.
"Am I okay?" she murmured, raising her head a little. She did a quick inventory of her arms and legs, waggling each one to make sure it was still attached and working. Everything was, and she let out a sigh of relief.
Then she heard someone yelling, "Beth! Beth!" and the horrible reality of what had just happened sank in. She had just knocked down part of her ski class, had schussed down the hill like a hotdogger, and had landed under the storage house! It was the most embarrassing moment of her entire life, and the last thing in the world she ever wanted to do was crawl out from under the building. She wondered whether, if she stayed quiet, everybody would go away and leave her to her misery.
She heard boots tromping toward her in the snow.
"Beth? Are you okay?"
It was Charles. She tipped her head up and saw him on his knees, peering at her through the opening between the snow and the floor of the house.
"Yeah," she said weakly, feeling a sudden spurt of tears in her eyes. "I'm fine."
Charles's face disappeared. "She's okay!" he shouted to the others, and a cheer went up.
Beth's skis had come loose, and she managed to turn over and crawl out from under the house, dragging the skis behind her. Hands reached for her and helped her up, and everyone crowded around, asking her if she was sure she was okay.
Marcel had been at the top of the hill when the accident happened. He quickly skied down and pushed through the circle of skiers gathered around Beth. "Are you all right, mademoiselle?"
"Sure, I'm fine," she mumbled. Actually her head was throbbing, and she wasn't sure how steady her legs would be. But she was too humiliated to admit it.
"You are a very smart young lady," Marcel assured her. "It was quick thinking to duck under ze storage house. Très bien."
Quick thinking? Beth blinked in surprise. Was he just saying that to make her feel better? Still, she thought, it had been a pretty dramatic performance, if she did say so herself.
Slowly a sly smile spread across her face. "Thanks," she said to Marcel. And in a louder voice, she added, "Just thought that since I was falling anyway, I'd do something to entertain the crowd."
Bowing theatrically to the sound of both laughter and applause, she headed to the end of the lift line for another turn on the slope.
CHAPTER 7
After the lesson Marcel instructed the class to spend the rest of the day practicing the techniques they had learned. Brian, Molly, Brittany, Julie, and Sarah went off without a word to Beth, but that suited her fine. She rode the towrope to the top of the hill and enjoyed being alone to really concentrate on turning and stopping. Sometimes, though, she couldn't help thinking about Winter Carnival. She sighed as she remembered the beautiful ice sculpture of a snowbird that had stood in the middle of the park and how kids from Wakeman had congregated there to talk and laugh. I'll try to call one of The Fabulous Five again later, she thought. I just have to find out what's going on.
As she stood in the lift line after her fourth run, she heard Todd calling her name.
"Hey, Beth! Wait up when you get to the top, and we'll ski down with you!"
Beth's heart sank as she saw Todd waving from the end of the line, because Jason and Mike were with him. "Just what I need," she muttered.
"We watched your last run, and you're looking good," Jason said, when the boys caught up with her at the top.
"That's right," agreed Mike. "A couple more days and you'll be ready for The Jaws of Death."
Beth laughed good-naturedly, but deep down she suspected that they were just buttering her up so that they could ask her for a loan again.
"If you want to go a little faster, just bend your knees a bit," offered Jason.
Beth looked questioningly at Todd.
"Try it," said Todd. "I told you these guys are okay."
"If you say so," Beth murmured as she pushed off and started her run down the slope. The boys started down, too, Todd on her left and Jason and Mike on her right.
"Like this," called out Mike. He crouched slightly and sped ahead of her.
Beth took a deep breath and bent her knees. She immediately picked up a little speed. It was fun, and when she snowplowed to a stop at the bottom of the hill, she was laughing.
Todd's skis sprayed snow as he stopped beside her. "See? Now will you trust us with a little loan?"
"Todd!" Beth shrieked. "I knew that was what you were up to! Now stop bugging me and get lost!"
Looking discouraged, the boys shrugged and skied off toward the lodge.
A little while later Beth flopped onto the bed she shared with Alicia, exhausted. She had skied the rest of the afternoon by herself, practicing everything Marcel had taught her and varying her speed by bending her knees.
She had passed Brian, Molly, Brittany, Julie, and Sarah several times on the slopes, but none of them had paid any attention to her. They were all too caught up in their new friendship with each other to notice her.
Now Brittany was in the room getting her outfit together for dinner, choosing the perfect sweater to go with the perfect skirt, in case Marcel was there. Brian had gone to the room the boys shared, but their parents and Alicia were playing a game of Go Fish at a small table in the corner of the girls' room. There was no way she could call her friends now.
She glanced at Todd, who was sprawled on the floor, reading a ski magazine. His cheeks were bright red from being in the wind on the upper slopes.
Beth peered over his shoulder, wondering if she could pick up some pointers.
"What are you reading about?" she asked.
"Skiing," Todd answered without looking up.
"I figured that," Beth said. "What's the article about?"
"Emergency procedures," Todd said, glancing at her. When Beth looked puzzled, he added, "It's about what to do if you're skiing on a mountain and you hurt yourself."
He turned a page, and Beth saw a picture of two crossed skis sticking up out of the snow, like the ones Marcel had put in the snow when Charles had fallen. It was a kind of SOS for injured skiers, according to the caption under the picture.
Beth made a face. "That's depressing. What other articles are in there? Anything about how to improve your technique?"
"Yeah," replied Todd. "You can read it when I'm through."
"Thanks," Beth said.
The telephone rang, and Brittany grabbed it immediately. She talked excitedly for a moment and then cupped her hand over the mouthpiece. "Is there time for tennis before dinner?"
Her mother glanced at her watch and nodded. "A couple of hours. We'll have dinner around six."
"Great!" exclaimed Brittany. "Yes," she said into the phone. "Brian and I will be there in a few minutes."
She hung up and ran to Brian's room. In a minute she was back. "We're changing for tennis," she announced, and then looked at Beth thoughtfully. "You can come, too, if you want to, Beth."
"Me?" Beth asked in surprise.
"Yeah, with you there'll be an even number of players. With only five someone would have to sit out."
Nothing like feeling welcome, thought Beth. But at least it was better than hanging out with Todd and Ali
cia.
After they had changed, the three of them hurried along the hall and through the corridor that connected the tennis and swimming pool bubbles with the rest of the complex. They met Julie, Molly, and Sarah halfway there.
"This is going to be great," Brittany said. "We'll play tennis with the beautiful snowcapped mountains all around us."
"It sure is—" Julie started to say. She stopped at the entrance to the swimming pool and stared. There was Marcel in his swimming trunks, heading into the pool area, a towel tossed over his shoulder.
Brittany took in a sharp breath and let it out again with a long, "Ohhhhhhh!"
Julie spun toward Brittany. "I'm suddenly in the mood for a swim. What do you say?"
"I'm with you!" said Brittany.
"What?" cried Brian. "What's with you girls, anyway? I mean, you can't seriously mean that you'd rather sit around the pool with Marcel than play tennis with me."
"Get serious, Brian," said Brittany.
Molly put her arm around Brian and put her head on his shoulder. "We'll play tennis. Just the two of us. It'll be fun."
Brian shrugged and let Molly lead him into the tennis bubble.
Okay, Beth thought. Looks like I'm swimming. I sure wasn't invited to play threesome tennis. She followed Brittany back to their room and changed into her swimsuit. By the time she was ready, Brittany had already left for the pool, so she walked back to the bubble alone.
She pushed open the door to the swimming pool bubble and stepped into the hot, steamy air. She could see Brittany, Julie, and Sarah standing at the edge of the pool, laughing loudly. Marcel was swimming laps. He couldn't possibly hear anything the girls were saying, but that didn't stop them from trying to get his attention.
"Oh, what a beautiful pool," Brittany was saying. She turned from side to side, obviously hoping Marcel would look up and see what a great figure she had.
Beth slipped quietly into the pool. She felt self-conscious that her own body wasn't that great, especially compared with the older girls'.
The pool wasn't crowded. In fact there were only three other people swimming, all older guests at Stony Lookout.
Marcel finished his laps and rested for a few minutes, hanging on to the opposite side of the pool. Of course, Brittany noticed right away.
"I'll race you girls to the end and back," she called.
"You're on!" cried Julie.
The girls took a racing stance at the edge of the pool.
"On your mark, get set, GO!" Brittany screamed.
They dove into the pool and began their race as Marcel watched.
How could Marcel possibly be interested in those girls? Beth wandered. They all act like lunatics around him.
Beth watched the race from the shallow end. Brittany was a strong swimmer, but Sarah was much faster. Julie lagged about a half-lap behind Brittany.
Sarah reached the end of the pool first and came up laughing. Brittany reached the edge next, and finally Julie.
"Wow," Brittany said to Sarah. "You're really good."
Julie laughed. "Sarah was state freestyle champ when she was fifteen."
Brittany rolled her eyes and groaned. "And you call that a fair race?" She splashed Sarah, who splashed her hack. In a few seconds the three girls were all splashing each other, whooping loudly and stealing glances at Marcel.
Beth watched Marcel pull himself up on the edge of the pool and stride to the diving board at one end.
"All right, Marcel!" Brittany shouted. "Let's see if you're as good at diving as you are at skiing."
Marcel smiled and stepped up onto the board. He paused, then made his approach to the end of the board, bounced twice, and did a perfect jackknife dive. Beth was impressed. Marcel could dive, too.
The three girls went crazy, applauding and cheering his performance. Marcel swam under water and came up near Brittany.
"That was beautiful!" Brittany gushed.
"Merci," Marcel said, nodding to the girls. "Do you dive, mademoiselle?" he asked Sarah.
"Not really," she said, beaming at his attention.
"You swim very well," he told her.
"Thank you!" said Sarah.
"Well I'll see all of you on ze slopes tomorrow," said Marcel.
"You bet!" said Brittany. "We wouldn't miss it for anything."
"Au revoir," Marcel said, and swam to the shallow end of the pool. He pushed himself up on the edge, and hopped out of the water. Then he walked toward the door, passing Beth along the way.
"See you tomorrow, Beth," he said.
"Uh, yes!" Beth answered, pleased that he knew her name. "See you tomorrow, Marcel!"
As soon as he had gone, Brittany swam toward her. She stopped a couple of inches from Beth, treading water, and glared at her. "Don't get a big head, little sister. He knew your name because of that ridiculous bit of skiing this morning. Everyone was calling your name, remember?"
Beth looked away and didn't answer.
"No one could forget someone who skis under storage sheds," Brittany remarked to the others.
"Brittany," Julie chided gently, "leave the kid alone."
"Yeah, I suppose I should leave the kid alone." Brittany swam a little distance away. "Come on. Let's swim some laps."
"Let's go!" shouted Julie.
Beth watched the reflection of the overhead lights on the surface of the water. They bobbed and shimmered and bounced in the waves. She didn't care how Marcel had come to know her name. And she certainly didn't care that Brittany would laugh her head off if she knew that Beth had a secret crush on Marcel. So what if he was a lot older than she was? She could dream, couldn't she? After all, she would probably never see him again after this week. He had called her "Beth" instead of "mademoiselle," and he had said, "See you tomorrow."
Beth smiled to herself. You bet he would!
CHAPTER 8
For the next couple of days the skiers in Beth's class progressed well with their lessons. Marcel showed them how to parallel ski instead of snowplowing and moved them from the beginner slope to the intermediate. Beth was thrilled with her own improvement and felt she was beginning to look as if she knew what she was doing.
Besides that it was thrilling to be on the mountain and look down on the tiny lodge and miniature people far below.
Most days the air was chilly, but the sun was warm. She felt vibrant and alive schussing down the slope with the wind in her hair and the sound of the snow crackling under her skis. It was great, and even though she was alone most of the time, The Fabulous Five were never far from her thoughts. What were they doing? Were they having a ball at Winter Carnival? Did they miss her?
Several times she had wanted to try phoning them again. But each time, something had happened to prevent it. Once she had been called to dinner, another time Alicia had needed help with her snowsuit, and just last night Todd had walked in and seen her counting her money and had started bugging her again for money to play video games. Maybe tonight, she promised herself on the fifth day of the vacation, she would sneak off after dinner and give one of them a call.
That afternoon, after they had returned to the lifts from their lesson and lunch, Brittany said, "I know! Let's ride the lift all the way to the top of the mountain!"
"That's a good idea," said Julie. "We rode to the top last year, and you can't imagine how beautiful it is up there."
"There are lots of ski trails and different ways to come down the mountain," Sarah chimed in. "We'll pick one of the easier ones so you can handle it."
"Sounds good to me," said Brittany. "Just don't take me down the Jaws of Death."
"Don't worry," Julie assured her. "I'm not ready for a trail that's terrifying, either."
Beth gazed up at the mountain, and her heart thumped a little harder. She'd love to go all the way to the top and ski down! That would be something to tell her friends at home when they started talking about all the fun they had had at Winter Carnival.
"How hard is it to ski down?" Beth asked.
&
nbsp; "Well, it's a lot of hard work," replied Julie. "You have to stop and catch your breath and rest your legs every so often."
"Beth, why don't you stay here?" asked Brittany. "It might be a little too hard for you."
"What are you talking about?" snapped Beth. "I can ski as well as you can."
"Come on, Beth, you've been hanging out with us constantly," Brittany complained. "Can't you find some kids your own age to ski with?"
Beth smarted at her sister's words. Brittany knew there weren't any kids her age around. Beth shot her an angry look.
"Oh, Brittany!" Sarah said. "It's okay if she comes along. She might not get another chance."
Brittany let out an exasperated breath and looked at Beth. "Oh, all right. Tag along if you have to, but don't expect me to watch out for you."
"Do you ever?" Beth said crossly.
Brittany rolled her eyes. "Come on, girls," she said to Sarah and Julie. "Let's go."
They got in line for the chair lift, which would take them to the top of the mountain. Brittany was first, so she rode up with a man who was by himself. Julie and Sarah got on together, and Beth found herself riding with a middle-aged woman.
Brittany turned around and yelled something at Julie and Sarah. The two girls laughed and yelled back.
Beth couldn't hear a word they were saying. As usual she felt totally left out while the three of them had a great time.
When they neared the top of the mountain, Beth spotted a group of skiers maneuvering along a steep trail. One of the jackets looked familiar, and she realized it was Todd's.
"Wow," Beth whispered as she watched her brother jump over a ledge and land fifteen feet away without even slowing down. Todd really was good. He was trailing his group of friends, but he was holding his own. Beth felt a surge of pride. "Good for you," she said quietly, as she watched him thread his way through the mounds of snow called moguls.
Beth wondered if the trail he was skiing was The Jaws of Death. It certainly looked like an expert slope, but she hoped Todd wouldn't be foolish enough to try The Jaws of Death. Everyone said that it could be treacherous.