The Ski Slope Mystery Read online

  “Now we’ll walk sideways up this little hill,” Alexandra said after everyone was able to turn around.

  Bess giggled as they clomped sideways up the hill. “This isn’t so hard.”

  But when they stopped and looked down the hill, it seemed much bigger and steeper than it had from the bottom.

  “Now what?” Bess asked nervously.

  “Now we ski down,” Alexandra told her.

  “I’ll break a leg,” Will said.

  “Keep your knees bent and your weight over the tops of your boots,” Alexandra explained. “Like this.”

  She pushed off with her poles and glided down the hill. “Nancy, you try it,” she called when she reached the bottom.

  Nancy stuck her poles in the snow and pushed off, just as Alexandra had.

  The air rushed past her cheeks. Her skis seemed to fly over the snow. When she reached the flat part at the bottom of the hill, her skis slowed to a stop.

  One by one, the rest of the class skied down the hill.

  “No problem,” Jennifer said. As she reached the bottom, she turned her skis so the tips faced each other.

  “Watch out,” Will said nervously. “Don’t make an X.”

  “That’s how you stop, stupid,” Jennifer said. Then she turned to Alexandra. “Now can I switch to Kelly’s class? I know how to stop, and no one else in this class does.”

  “Jennifer just showed us how to stop,” Alexandra said to the rest of the class. “It’s called making a wedge. Let’s all walk up the hill again and try it.” She looked at Jennifer. “You, too.”

  “I’m tired of walking only partway up the slope.” Jennifer pointed to the chairs hanging from a cable above them. “When can we ride the ski lift to the top?”

  Nancy looked up. She saw George and Kelly sitting in a ski lift chair. It was carrying them to the top of the slope.

  “Hector’s class is going to ski down part of the trail and meet us at the top of this hill,” Alexandra said. “Later we’ll take the rope tow up the beginners’ slope.”

  “I thought this was the beginners’ slope,” Bess said.

  “It’s the baby slope,” Jennifer said.

  Alexandra led the Bunny class back up the small hill. Hector and the Jackrabbits were waiting for them.

  “Hi,” Nancy said to George. “Are you having fun?”

  “Yup,” George said. “The only bad thing is those twins are in my class.”

  Nancy looked and saw Tim and Tom standing in the group of Jackrabbits. One of them saw Nancy looking and crossed his eyes at her.

  “I’m glad they’re not in our class,” Bess whispered. “It’s bad enough we have to listen to Will and Jennifer all the time.”

  “Okay, skiers,” Hector called to the two groups. “Line up. We’ll go down the hill one at a time.”

  Nancy was first again. “Good luck,” Bess said. She was next in line.

  Nancy pushed off and glided down the hill. As she reached the bottom, she aimed the tips of her skis together to make a wedge. It was hard to keep her feet pointed the right way, but she did it. She stopped perfectly and smiled.

  Then she heard a scream.

  Nancy twisted around, being careful not to cross her skis.

  George was speeding down the hill right behind Bess. “Look out, Bess!” George screamed. “I can’t stop!”

  4

  Out of Control

  Bess looked over her shoulder. The tips of her skis crossed, and she fell.

  George tried to turn, but it was too late. One of her skis went underneath one of Bess’s. George tripped and fell right on top of her cousin!

  Nancy turned her skis sideways and climbed up the hill toward her friends as fast as she could.

  Some of the Bunny and Jackrabbit students waited as Hector and Alexandra skied down the hill toward Bess and George. Kelly, Jennifer, Will, and a few others skied down behind the teachers.

  Alexandra and Hector arrived beside Bess and George, tossing up fans of snow as they stopped. Hector helped the girls stand up.

  “Are you guys okay?” Nancy cried when she finally reached her friends.

  “They’re fine,” Hector said. “Just a little shaken up.”

  Then they all skied down to the bottom.

  “Who did that?” George asked when they got there. She was covered with snow.

  “You did,” Bess said. She sounded just as cross as her cousin. She was covered with snow, too.

  “Okay, girls, settle down. We have to help the others down the hill,” Alexandra told them.

  “So don’t move,” Hector said to the group. “We’ll be right back.”

  The two instructors skied off.

  “What happened?” Nancy asked when the adults were gone.

  George narrowed her eyes. “Someone pushed me,” she said.

  “That’s what everyone says when they fall,” Jennifer said. “Right, Kelly?”

  Kelly shrugged. “I guess.”

  Bess dug her ski poles into the snow and straightened up. “If my cousin says she was pushed, she was pushed.”

  “I told you skiing was stupid,” Will said to George.

  George ignored him. She still looked angry. “I bet this wouldn’t have happened if I still had my good-luck charm.”

  “Did you lose it?” Jennifer asked.

  George nodded.

  “That’s weird,” Kelly said. “You said you couldn’t ski without it. And you fell.”

  “I was pushed,” George insisted.

  By now the rest of the students had reached the bottom of the hill. “Okay, people, time for lunch,” Hector said.

  “Maybe after lunch George and I should switch classes,” Jennifer said to Alexandra. “I didn’t fall once.”

  “No, Jennifer, I don’t think so,” Alexandra answered.

  Nancy and Bess took off their skis. As they carried them to the ski racks outside the lodge, George walked ahead of them.

  Bess leaned close to Nancy. “Poor George. First she loses her silver skis. Then someone pushes her. Why would anyone do that?”

  “Maybe they didn’t do it on purpose.” Nancy frowned. “But then why didn’t whoever did it just apologize?”

  “Maybe they’re chicken. Or creeps like the twins,” Bess said. “They didn’t apologize when they almost got ice cream on my sweater last night.”

  George had leaned her skis against one end of a ski rack right outside the lodge door. “Hurry up,” she said. “All that skiing made me hungry.”

  Nancy and Bess leaned their skis against the rack, too. They looped the straps of their poles over the tips of their skis.

  Then they all clomped into the lodge in their ski boots. Nancy liked walking in her ski boots. It was hard, but it made her feel like a real skier.

  Kelly and Jennifer were standing in the hall outside the dining room. “Are you sure you guys are okay?” Kelly asked George and Bess.

  “Yeah,” George said. Bess nodded.

  “Sometimes when people fall, it scares them,” Kelly went on. “It makes it harder for them to ski again.”

  “I’ve fallen before,” George said. “It’s no big deal.”

  “Kelly, you promised to help me practice,” Jennifer said. “We have to hurry. I don’t want to have to stay in the baby class forever.”

  The sisters hurried away.

  The girls found Nancy’s father waiting for them just inside the cafeteria. “How’d it go, girls?” he asked.

  “Great,” Nancy said.

  “Except someone pushed me,” George added.

  “I bet I know who, too,” Bess said. “I think it was—”

  Suddenly Bess’s voice rose to a shriek. “Tim and Tom!” she cried. “You creeps!”

  5

  Sticky Skis

  One of the twins had snatched Bess’s pink ski hat off her head, while the other had jammed his own red stocking cap over Bess’s ears.

  Bess yanked the stocking cap from her head. “They stole my hat again!”r />
  The twins raced across the hall into the game room. The girls chased them.

  “Give that back!” Bess shouted.

  “Finders keepers, losers weepers,” the first twin said as he jammed Bess’s hat onto his head.

  Bess reached for her hat. The twin ducked. “Catch me if you can!”

  He started to run out of the room. When he reached the doorway, he bumped into Mr. Drew.

  “Oops,” the twin said, looking up at Nancy’s father.

  Just then a woman appeared next to Mr. Drew. “Tom, Tim, did you forget?” she asked. “We’re having lunch at the Mountaintop Café today. We’re going to ride the gondola.”

  “Coming, Mom,” the twins said at the same time. The first twin took Bess’s hat off his head and tossed it toward her. The other twin grabbed the red stocking cap out of her hand.

  “Wait,” Nancy said to the twins. “Have you seen a silver pendant shaped like skis?”

  “Yeah, right.” The second twin laughed. “That’s girl stuff.” Then the boys left the room with their mother.

  “Maybe they’ll get stuck in a gondola and never come down,” George said.

  Mr. Drew laughed. “Come on, girls,” he said. “Let’s have lunch.”

  Soon they were all back in the cafeteria with steaming plates of food in front of them. “Now, tell me about your latest mystery,” Mr. Drew said to Nancy.

  “How did you know about the mystery, Daddy?” Nancy asked. She reached for her water glass and took a sip.

  Her father smiled. “You aren’t the only detective in the family,” he said. “I heard you question the twins in the game room just now. And I remembered you were looking for something this morning.”

  “My necklace,” George said. “I lost it last night.”

  “Don’t forget, someone pushed George down the hill,” Bess said. “Maybe the same person took her silver skis!”

  “Do you think that’s what happened, Daddy?” Nancy asked her father.

  “You know, Nancy, it’s important to get all the facts first,” her father said, leaning back in his chair. “Did someone really push George on purpose? Or was it an accident?”

  Nancy took a small blue notebook and a pen out of the inside pocket of her ski jacket. It was her mystery notebook. She wrote about all her cases in it.

  She turned to a blank page and wrote “The Silver Skis Mystery.” Under that she made a list:

  1) George’s lucky necklace is missing.

  2) Someone pushed George down ski slope (on purpose or accident?).

  Nancy started a second list. At the top she wrote “Suspects.” Then she stopped writing.

  “So, who are your suspects?” her father asked, looking at the page.

  “The twins, Tim and Tom,” Nancy said. “I can’t tell them apart, so I guess they’re both suspects. And they both could have pushed George.” She wrote down the twins’ names.

  “Why would they do something like that?” Mr. Drew asked.

  “They’re boys,” Bess said. “They don’t need a reason to be mean.”

  Mr. Drew smiled. “Are they your only suspects?”

  “What about whiny Will?” Bess asked.

  “Well, he was there,” Nancy said. “And he hates skiing. So I guess he could have pushed George to try to make the class end earlier.” She wrote Will’s name down, too.

  “Anybody else?” George asked.

  “Jennifer and Kelly were nearby when you were pushed,” Nancy said.

  “Why would they push George?” her father asked.

  Nancy thought for a minute. “Jennifer wants to be in the Jackrabbit class instead of the Bunny class,” she said.

  “She thought the instructors would make us change places if I fell,” George said. “She even said so.”

  “But what about Kelly?” Nancy said. “Would she push George to get Jennifer into the Jackrabbit class?”

  “Well, it’s a detective’s job to find the truth,” Mr. Drew said.

  “I know,” Nancy said. She wrote down the sisters’ names. Then she put her notebook away. “We’ll have to keep our eyes open for new clues during class this afternoon,” she said to her friends.

  “Don’t worry,” George said. “We will!”

  After lunch the girls said goodbye to Nancy’s father. Then they clomped down the hall toward the door leading outside.

  George stopped. “Hey!” she said. “What are my skis doing in here?”

  George’s skis were leaning against the wall just inside the door.

  “Are you sure those are yours?” Nancy asked.

  George pointed to the strip of tape with her name written on it. “See? Definitely mine.”

  “Maybe someone took yours by mistake and left them here,” Nancy said.

  “Or maybe it was the twins playing another dumb trick,” Bess said, looking around. The twins were nowhere in sight.

  “Oh, well,” George said. “At least my skis are safe.” She picked up her skis and poles and followed Nancy and Bess outside.

  Nancy and Bess found their skis where they had left them. The three girls put on their skis. They saw Alexandra and Will standing at the bottom of the beginners’ slope. Hector was nearby with Kelly, some of the other Jackrabbits, and Jennifer.

  Will waved when he saw Nancy and Bess. “Hurry up. I’m freezing!”

  “See you later,” George said as she pushed off with her poles.

  But she didn’t budge.

  She pushed again, harder.

  Still nothing.

  “Something’s wrong with my skis,” George cried. “I can’t move!”

  6

  Dirty Trick

  George took off her skis. She turned them over. The bottoms were covered with lumpy, bumpy ice!

  Alexandra skied over to the girls. “What’s the problem?” she asked.

  George showed the instructor her skis. “Did you leave your skis inside the lodge during lunch?” Alexandra asked.

  George shook her head. “No, but someone moved them inside.”

  “That explains it,” Alexandra said. “Your skis got warm inside. When they touched the ground out here, they melted the snow. Since it’s so cold outside, the water refroze. That’s why there’s ice on the bottom of your skis.”

  “I can’t ski on these,” George said. “This is the worst luck ever!”

  Hector, Kelly, and Jennifer skied up behind George.

  “What happened?” Hector asked.

  “George’s skis are all iced up,” Alexandra said.

  “Someone put them inside while we were having lunch,” Bess explained.

  “Gee, that’s too bad,” Jennifer said. “I guess you’ll have to miss your class, George. But I can take your place.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Alexandra said firmly.

  “Right,” Hector agreed. “I’ll take George to rent another pair of skis.” He took off his skis and headed inside with George.

  All during class Nancy kept thinking about George’s frozen skis. Was this more bad luck? Or was someone out to get George?

  By the end of the afternoon, the Bunny class had learned how to use the rope tow and had skied down from a higher part of the mountain. Nancy had a lot of fun. But she still couldn’t stop thinking about the mystery.

  “I’ll see you all at the snowman-building party,” Alexandra said when class was over. “There’ll be plenty of hot chocolate for everyone.”

  “I don’t like hot chocolate,” Will said. “I always burn my tongue.”

  “Building snowmen is for babies,” Jennifer muttered.

  “What a couple of party poopers,” Bess whispered to Nancy as they went to meet George in the lodge.

  The locker room was crowded with Jackrabbits, Bunnies, and kids from the other classes.

  “Wow, I’m tired,” Bess said as she put on her regular shoes.

  “Not me,” Jennifer said. “I could ski all day and night.”

  Jennifer held up her shoes. They were tied tog
ether by the shoelaces. She gave one of the laces a quick pull, and they came apart.

  “How’d you do that?” Bess asked.

  “It’s a slip knot,” Jennifer said. “Kelly showed me how to do it.”

  “It’s a good trick to know when your fingers are cold,” Kelly explained.

  “But you have to be careful,” Jennifer said. “Or the knot could slip loose when you don’t want it to.”

  Nancy’s father was waiting for the girls outside the locker room. “How was skiing this afternoon?” he asked them.

  “Okay,” George said. “But I bet I would have skied better if I’d had my good-luck charm.”

  “You would have had better luck, too,” Bess said.

  Nancy told her father about George’s frozen skis.

  “That is bad luck,” he said.

  “I think it’s another clue,” Nancy said. She pulled out her notebook and wrote it down.

  Then they headed outside to the snowy field behind the lodge. When they arrived, it was full of people.

  “Have fun, girls,” Mr. Drew said. “I’m going to get our skis and stuff and take it all back to the apartment. I’ll see you in a little while.”

  “Okay, Daddy,” Nancy said.

  “Let’s build a snow dog,” Bess said as Mr. Drew walked away.

  “Like Chocolate Chip,” George said.

  “No fair!” Nancy heard Jennifer shout. Then Jennifer laughed as she scooped up a snowball and threw it at her sister.

  Kelly ducked behind the snowman Tim and Tom were building. The snowball hit its head and knocked part of it off.

  “Sorry,” Jennifer said.

  “No problem,” one of the twins said. “Tom and I are making a snow monster. It only has one eye anyway.”

  “And a long monster nose,” Tim added. He stuck a stick in the monster’s face.

  Kelly scooped up another snowball and threw it at Jennifer. It missed her.

  “Ow!” Will said. He had just joined the party and was brushing snow off his coat. “That does it. I’m not building any stupid snowman!” He stomped away.

  I guess Will’s not having a very good time, Nancy thought. She started to roll a snowball for the snow dog’s body.