“Lots of different tracks,” Jason put in.
Benny’s eyes widened. The only tracks he had seen were Pete’s. “Whose were they?” he asked.
Henry laughed. “They were probably ours, Benny.”
“Oh, right,” Benny said. “I forgot about that.”
Jason sank to a chair. “What’re we going to do now?” he asked. “We don’t have a chance of winning.”
“The judging isn’t until tomorrow afternoon,” Jessie said.
“But there’s so much work,” Jason argued.
Debbie sighed. “At least the forms are there. They weren’t destroyed.”
“And we have all morning to work,” Alan said.
“Why don’t we meet early?” Benny suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Debbie agreed.
“Before breakfast,” Alan said.
“Before breakfast?” Benny repeated. He hadn’t meant that early.
“It’s the only way we have a chance of finishing,” Alan argued.
Alan was right, they finally decided.
The Aldens took their plates to the kitchen. Then, they went to check on the other snow sculpture. Watch padded along beside them.
Freddy’s snow builders had not made much progress. It was hard to tell what the sculpture would be. But it was easy to see that no damage had been done to it.
Benny still thought that Pete was guilty.
“But Pete’s angry at Freddy, not Jimmy,” Jessie said, repeating her earlier doubt.
“Maybe he’s acting,” Violet suggested. “Maybe Pete is only pretending to be angry at Freddy.”
“Why would he do that?” Henry asked.
“To throw everybody off the track,” Violet said.
Benny shook his head. “I don’t get it.”
“Suppose Pete really wants Freddy’s team to win, but he doesn’t think they have a chance,” Violet explained.
“He might do anything to make sure the team wins. Is that what you’re saying, Violet?” Jessie asked.
Violet nodded. “If he acts as if he doesn’t care about his team, no one will suspect him.”
“If Pete had a plan like that, he would have remembered to cover his footprints,” Jessie said.
“And what about the missing keys and the flat tires?” Henry said. “I think they’re all connected.”
“Let’s go back to Benny’s snowpeople,” Violet suggested. “We might see something we missed.”
At the site, Watch ran this way and that, sniffing as he had before. Benny searched for Pete’s boot prints, but they were gone, covered over by other tracks.
“Our evidence has disappeared,” he said.
Watch stopped beside a large chunk of snow. He sniffed. He scratched.
“What is it, Watch?” Jessie asked.
The dog kept scratching at the snow. Finally, he grabbed something orange, green, and yellow in his mouth, trotted over, and dropped it at Jessie’s feet.
“It’s a glove!” Violet identified.
“It’s Freddy’s glove!” Jessie said.
CHAPTER 11
A Fresh Start
The Aldens trudged back to the cabin silently. Each was deep in thought. Finding the glove in the snow near the smashed sculpture was a shock. It belonged to Freddy; that much, they knew. But they weren’t sure what it meant.
In the cabin, Jessie put Freddy’s glove on the table. Henry made a fire. Violet and Benny changed into their flannel pajamas. Then, they all settled close to the fireplace.
Finally, Benny spoke. “Now, we have two clues.”
“Pointing in different directions,” Henry said.
“Pete could have put Freddy’s glove in the snow to make it look like she did it,” Violet said.
“If he did that, wouldn’t he remember to cover his tracks?” Henry said. He shook his head. “I don’t think he did it. His prints don’t mean any more than Watch’s do.”
“Do you think Freddy did it?” Benny asked.
Henry shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“She wants to win, that’s for sure,” Violet said.
They had all heard Freddy’s conversation with Jimmy. She thought Jimmy’s team was better. “Something has to be done to even things out,” they remembered her saying. Perhaps ruining the snowpeople was her way of doing just that.
“She came in late to supper,” Jessie remembered.
“And she was looking for her glove,” Benny added. “She could have smashed the snowpeople while we were eating.”
“If I had just done that, and my glove was missing, I’d go back to look for it,” Henry reasoned. “I wouldn’t tell everyone I’d lost it.”
Benny yawned. “We’ll never figure this one out,” he said.
“What we need’s a good night’s sleep,” Jessie said.
“Yes,” Violet said. “Tomorrow they’re judging the snow sculptures, and then come the ski races.”
“We’ll make a fresh start in the morning,” Henry said.
Benny awoke at dawn. He dressed quickly and quietly, then slipped four apples into his pockets and started out. Watch followed him.
“All right, boy,” Benny whispered. “You can come with me.”
Outside, Watch took off on the run, his short tail wagging.
“Wait up!” Benny called. He hurried along the path behind foggy bursts of his breath.
Alan, Debbie, and Jason were already hard at work. They had repaired one snowperson and were working on another.
“What should I do?” Benny asked.
“You can patch Debbie’s arms,” Alan answered.
Benny grinned. “Her arms look fine to me,” he joked.
They all laughed.
They worked well together, much faster and better than they had the day before.
When they were half finished, Benny remembered how hungry he was. “Who wants an apple?” he asked.
Everyone did. They stood back to admire their work, and munched the crisp, tart apples.
“What will we do at breakfast time?” Jason asked. “We can’t leave our snow sculpture alone.”
Alan nodded. “That’s right. Someone might come along and wreck everything again.”
“We can take turns guarding,” Debbie suggested.
Benny broke off a piece of apple and gave it to Watch. “I have a better idea,” he said. “We can leave Watch here. He’s a good guard dog.”
That decided, they got back to work.
At breakfast, Benny asked Violet, “What did you do with Freddy’s glove?”
“We brought it with us,” Violet answered. “Jessie has it.”
“We’re going to give it back to her,” Henry said.
“We won’t have any evidence then,” Benny objected.
“The glove doesn’t really prove anything, Benny,” Jessie said. “And we might be able to tell something from the way Freddy reacts when we give it back to her.”
They were on their way out the lodge door when Freddy came in with members of her team. Her smile melted when she saw the Aldens.
“Oh, Benny,” she said, “I just heard about what happened yesterday. I’m really sorry.”
Benny didn’t respond. He didn’t think she was at all sorry.
Jessie pulled the glove out of her pocket. “Freddy, we found this. I think it belongs to you.”
Freddy took the outstretched glove. “Great!” she said. “Thanks.”
“Don’t you want to know where we found it?” Benny asked.
Freddy shrugged. “If you want to tell me,” she answered.
Benny opened his mouth to speak, but Henry spoke first. “It was in the snow,” he said.
Freddy nodded. “It wasn’t in here,” she said. “It had to be outside somewhere.”
Violet said, “We found it near — ”
“I’m sorry — I’ve got to go,” Freddy interrupted. “I just remembered we have some planning to do.” She added, “Victory speeches,” and then she hurried away.
&n
bsp; CHAPTER 12
Missing Skis
By mid-morning, Benny’s team had finished their work.
“We did it!” Alan said. He smiled at the finished snowpeople.
Even Jason smiled. “I never thought we’d get done.”
Benny walked around the four snowpeople. “They’re good, all right,” he said. “But will anyone know they’re supposed to be us?”
Everyone agreed he had a point. The snow statues needed something more.
Jason took off his baseball cap and set it on top of his snow self. “How’s that?” he asked.
“Perfect!” Debbie exclaimed.
“I have an extra pair of glasses in my room,” Alan said. “I could use those.”
Debbie didn’t know what to add. Finally, she came up with an idea: skates. “I’ll put them beside her,” she said.
It was Benny’s turn. He tried to think of something that no one but he would have. “Oh, I know,” he said at last. “My pink cup. It’s back at our cabin.”
Alan ran off to his room for his spare glasses, and Benny went back to the cabin for the cup. With those things in place, their sculpture was complete.
Benny and Jason smoothed away their footprints. Alan and Debbie took the water buckets back to the kitchen.
They left Watch to guard their snowpeople until judging time.
Benny hurried off to find Henry. There was time for a ski lesson. Along the way, he saw Violet, working with her ice-carving team.
“How’re you doing?” he asked.
Violet shook her head. “It’s hard,” she said. “The ice breaks so easily.”
“I’m glad I was working with snow!” Benny said.
He continued on to the ski slope. He found Jimmy in the warming house, by the fire.
“Wait till you see our snowpeople,” Benny told him.
Jimmy looked surprised. “You finished?”
Benny nodded. “We didn’t think we’d make it,” he said.
“I heard someone wrecked your sculptures,” Jimmy said. “I figured we’d have to cancel your event.”
“We’re going to win,” Benny assured him.
Jimmy got to his feet. “I hope so,” he said, but he didn’t sound very hopeful.
Benny shrugged and went back outside.
Henry swooped down the slope toward him. Inches from Benny, he turned his skis to the side and came to a perfect stop. Snow sprayed everywhere.
“Can you teach me that?” Benny asked eagerly.
Henry laughed. “You have to learn to start before you can learn to stop,” he said.
At lunchtime, everyone was excited. They seemed to have forgotten about the smashed sculptures and the missing keys and the flat tires. The talk was about the judging.
Nan stopped at the Aldens’ table. “Violet,” she said, “you should see our ice carving!” It was the first time they had seen her smile in a while.
“We’re having a hard time with ours,” Violet told her.
“Oh, it’s hard work,” Nan agreed, “but it’s such fun! I’m so glad you encouraged me to sign up.”
Pete stomped by in his orange boots and electric-blue earmuffs.
“Pete!” Henry called, but the boy didn’t hear him.
After lunch, Mr. Mercer announced the judges’ names. A group of four adults would decide each event. Grandfather couldn’t be a judge because he had grandchildren in every event.
“But I’ll be there cheering you on,” he said.
“We will too,” said Violet.
Benny said, “See you later,” and went outside to wait with his team for the judging.
It was a long wait, or so it seemed. Finally, the judges appeared, followed by the spectators. Each judge carried a clipboard. First they looked at Freddy’s team’s sculpture, which was a huge igloo.
“Wow,” Benny said. “That’s great.”
Then they all walked over to where Benny’s team had worked. The judges walked around the snow people, nodding and making notes. No one spoke.
Finally, one said, “We have all we need.”
“You’ve done a good job,” another said.
Benny couldn’t stand the suspense. “But did we win?” he asked.
“We won’t know until we add the scores,” a judge answered.
“And you won’t know until the awards dinner,” another said.
Benny and his teammates groaned. All the work they had done and redone seemed like nothing. Waiting was much harder.
After the snow sculptures were judged, everyone gathered at the ski hill. The first race was about to begin. Jimmy and Freddy were giving last minute instructions. The team members would ski down the hill one by one. Each skier’s time would be recorded. The results would be added together for the team’s final score.
“You can do it,” Freddy told her team. “You have to do it.”
“One minute, thirty-two and one-half seconds,” Pete said and held up a stopwatch. He had been practicing for his job as timekeeper by timing Freddy’s speech.
The Aldens stood near Jimmy’s team. Matt was not there.
“We’ll have to start without him,” Jimmy said.
“But he’s our best skier,” someone protested.
Jimmy nodded. “I know. Without him, we can’t win.”
“We can try our best,” Henry said.
Freddy marched over. Instead of her green hat, she wore a purple headband. “Are you ready or what?” she asked impatiently.
“We’re one member short,” Jimmy said. “Maybe we should just forget about the race. We don’t have a chance.”
Just then, Matt came out of the warming house. He ran over, his hair flopping in his face. “My skis are missing!” he announced.
Benny shot Jessie a glance. “Someone took his skis!”
“I left them over there right before breakfast,” Matt said. He pointed to a rack near the warming house.
“Did you check the equipment shop?” Jimmy asked. “Maybe someone put them back in there.”
Matt shook his head. “They’re not there.”
“Can’t you borrow another pair?” Henry asked.
Matt shrugged. “That was the only pair my size.”
“Use a longer pair,” Henry suggested. “They’re faster.”
Matt tossed the hair out of his eyes. “But they aren’t as easy to control, and there’s no time to practice.”
Freddy shifted from one foot to the other. “So are you going to ski?” she asked Matt.
“I’ll ski last,” he said. “That will give me time to keep looking.” He turned and ran toward the warming house.
The other skiers grabbed onto the tow and were pulled up the hill.
“Let’s go look around,” Benny suggested to his sisters. “Maybe we can find out what happened to Matt’s skis.”
He and the girls hurried to the rack where Matt had left his skis. There were tracks everywhere.
“Everyone leaves skis here,” Jessie said. “We’ll never be able to tell anything from the footprints.”
They searched the ground, but there was no clue of any kind.
“Maybe someone took Matt’s skis by mistake,” Violet said.
Jessie looked doubtful. “First snow sculptures and now this. Someone doesn’t want our team to win,” she said.
Then they heard Mr. Alden call, “Henry’s skiing next.”
Jessie, Benny, and Violet ran back to watch. Freddy was just finishing her run.
“That purple headband she’s wearing doesn’t go with her outfit,” Jessie commented.
“It’s a pretty color, though,” Violet said.
High above them, Henry was poised for his run. The timekeeper raised a flag, counted to three, then lowered it. The skier was off, bombing down the hill, straight for them.
The Aldens jumped up and down excitedly. “Come on, Henry!” they shouted.
When Henry reached the bottom, he came to a stop.
“Good run,” the timekeeper said.
&
nbsp; Freddy’s last racer skied well.
Matt came trudging back just in time. He was wearing a pair of skis that he’d borrowed. “They’re not the right length,” he said, “but they’ll have to do.”
He skied well after all, and the whole team cheered.
There was a break before the second race. Mr. Alden took Watch for a walk. Henry snapped off his skis and headed for the rack. Jessie, Violet, and Benny walked along beside him.
“I sure hope Matt’s skis turn up,” Henry said.
The next race was a slalom. The team members would have to maneuver around four poles set along the slope. If a skier wasn’t used to his skis, it could be especially difficult.
“We think someone took Matt’s skis to keep him from racing,” Benny said.
“I wonder. There have been a lot of strange things going on,” Henry said, leaning his skis against the rack. Just then, something caught his eye. “What’s that over there?” he asked.
They walked over to a tall juniper. There was something hung on a lower branch. It was Freddy’s green knit cap!
CHAPTER 13
Too Many Suspects
Henry picked the green knit hat off the tree branch. “It’s Freddy’s all right,” he said.
“She took Matt’s skis!” Benny exclaimed.
“She might have hid them somewhere,” Jessie reasoned. “Her hat must have gotten stuck on the branch as she passed by.”
“But she’d have known it had gotten stuck,” Henry said. “She’d feel it.”
“Not if she was in a hurry,” Violet argued.
Benny nodded. “She was probably scared someone would see her.”
“Remember, we also found her glove near the snow sculptures,” Henry said.
“But she didn’t act at all guilty when we gave it back to her,” Violet said.
That was true. And confusing. They had expected more of a reaction.
“She didn’t even want to know where we found the glove,” Jessie said.
“That’s because she knew where we found it,” Benny said.
A whistle sounded. The slalom race was about to begin.
Henry stuffed the cap in his pocket. “It’ll take a lot more than a glove and a hat to figure out this mystery,” he said. He snapped on his skis and glided toward the hill.
It was Freddy’s turn, but Pete wasn’t ready to clock her. His earmuffs were missing. “I put them right here on the bench,” he complained loudly.