A Whirlwind Vacation (10 page)

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Authors: Nancy Krulik

BOOK: A Whirlwind Vacation
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“It's Katie!” Annabelle squealed.
The dancer in the black skirt stepped up beside Katie. She tapped her feet three times. Katie tapped her feet three times. Then the dancer snapped her fingers in the air. Katie snapped her fingers, too. Then the dancer in the black dress spun around. Katie spun around, too—and this time she was careful not to go near the edge of the stage.
At the end of the dance, everyone applauded. The dancer in the black dress gave Katie a rose.
As she took her bow, Katie smiled at Carlos. Everyone was having a great time. His
tablao
was saved!
“That was great fun!” Mrs. Penderbottom exclaimed as the dance show ended.
“I'm so glad we got the whole evening on videotape,” Mrs. McIntyre added. “I can't wait to show everyone back home how I learned to do the flamenco.”
“And I can't wait to tell the other tour directors about this
tablao,”
Vicki said. “It's going to be a favorite stop for lots of people.” She looked around. “Is everyone ready to leave?”
“In a minute,” Katie piped up. “I have to change into my real clothes and give this dress back to Carlos.” She frowned. “I sure hate to take off this beautiful costume.”
As Katie began to walk away, Vicki whispered something to the club manager. Carlos whispered something back to her.
“Katie, wait,” Vicki said. “You don't have to give the dress back. Carlos is giving it to you as a gift.”
Katie was thrilled. She'd never owned anything as beautiful as this flamenco dress.
“I want a dress, too,” Annabelle whined.
Vicki shook her head. “Sorry, Annabelle. It was Katie's great idea that saved Carlos's
tablao.
That's why he's giving it to her.”
Annabelle pouted.
“Here, you can keep the fan,” Katie told her. “Now we both have a souvenir from Madrid.”
“Thanks, Katie!” Annabelle exclaimed. She gave Katie a big hug.
Carlos smiled.
“Katie es una buena amiga.”
“What does that mean?” Katie asked.
“He said you are a good friend,” Vicki explained.
“She sure is,” Annabelle said as she waved her new fan. “The best!”
Chapter 18
Katie stepped off the water bus and looked around at Venice. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “It's like a fairy-tale kingdom.”
Vicki smiled. “A lot of people feel that way. The buildings are all so colorful, like ginger-bread houses. And since there are no cars on the streets, the city feels really old-fashioned.”
Katie nodded. It was kind of weird not to see any buses or cars, like there had been in the other cities they'd visited.
But you couldn't drive in Venice even if you had a car. There were too many water canals. Venice was really a group of islands connected by stone bridges. The bridges made it possible to walk from one part of the city to the next.
“I like going everywhere by boat,” Katie said. “It's fun.”
“Being on the water makes me hungry,” Annabelle remarked.
Katie giggled. “Everything makes you hungry,” she teased.
Annabelle pointed to a small white stand just outside the hotel. There were pictures of ice-cream cones on a sign nearby. “Those look yummy,” she said.
“Oh, so you want a gelato,” Vicki said.
“No, I want ice cream,” Annabelle corrected her.
“It's called gelato here,” Vicki explained. “You'll love it. Italian ice cream is amazing!”
Annabelle's dad handed the girls a few coins. “Go ahead and get some,” he told them.
The girls smiled excitedly and ran over to the ice-cream stand. Katie didn't speak any Italian, so she pointed to a picture of a strawberry cone.
“You like strawberry?” the teenager behind the stand asked her in broken English.
“You speak English?” Katie replied, surprised.
“I try to practice English,” he told her. “Is hard for me. But important.”
“You speak very well,” Katie told him.
“Well, it wasn't perfect ...” Annabelle began.
“It was great,” Katie interrupted her.
“Thank you,” the ice-cream salesman said. He held out his hand. “My name is Vincenzo.”
“I'm Katie. And this is Annabelle.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Vincenzo replied.
“Do you make this ice cream?” Katie asked him.
Vincenzo shook his head. “No. I just sell it for a man in my neighborhood. This is not what I want to do forever. I really want to be a gondolier, like my father.”
“A what?”
Katie asked.
Vincenzo pointed to a long, wooden canoe-like boat. It was docked between two red-and-white striped poles. An older man was standing in the back of the boat. He was wearing a red-and-white striped shirt.
“That is our gondola,” Vincenzo explained. “My father takes tourists around Venice in it. He sings to them. A man who steers a gondola boat is called a gondolier.”
“So he just floats around Venice all day?” Annabelle asked. “That sounds like fun.”
“Is hard work,” Vincenzo told her. “I know.”
“Have you steered a gondola before?” Katie asked him.
Vincenzo shook his head sadly. “My father will not let me take the gondola out with customers. But I would be a great gondolier.”
Vincenzo looked very sad.
“Why won't your father let you steer the gondola?” Katie asked him.
“He says I am too young,” Vincenzo explained. “But I am not. I am almost eighteen. And I am strong enough to paddle a big gondola.”
“So you
have
done it before?” Katie asked, confused.
“Oh, yes!” Vincenzo said proudly. “I practice early in the morning, before anyone is awake. But I do not tell my father.”
“Maybe you should tell him,” Katie said. “He might be proud that you are working so hard.”
“He would not like it,” Vincenzo insisted as he handed her a strawberry gelato.
“You'll have to tell him sometime. Especially if you want a chance to be a gondolier,” Katie reminded him.
“I do not think he will ever let me try,” Vincenzo said. “He does not trust anyone but himself with the gondola. I wish he could see how good I am.”
Suddenly Katie began to get one of her great ideas. “Maybe you could ask him if you could take one trip, you know, sort of like a test. And if it goes really well ...”
“I am not sure my father would like that,” Vincenzo said. “And I do not think too many tourists would want to be with a gondolier on his first trip. They usually like to be with gondoliers who have been doing this a long time.”
“Everyone has to have a first time,” Katie said. “I would go with you.”
“So would I,” Annabelle agreed, taking a big bite of her gelato. “And I could get my parents to go, too.”
But Vincenzo wasn't sure about all this. “My father wants me to wait ...” he began.
“Just ask him,” Katie interrupted him. “What do you have to lose? If he says no, you can still sell gelato here at the hotel.”
Vincenzo thought for a moment and then nodded. “Okay. I will do it. It is worth the try.”
Chapter 19
“Come on, Katie, hurry up,” Mrs. Carew called out as she walked out of the hotel the following morning. “We have a lot of shopping to do.”
But Katie did not hurry. She didn't want to go shopping. It seemed like that's all her mother had done since they'd arrived in Venice.
“Now remember, don't touch anything,” her mom continued. “If you break it, we'll have to buy it. Venetian glass is very expensive.”
“Come on, kiddo, perk up. We're going to have fun,” Mr. Carew added.
Katie scowled. Fun? Yeah, right.
Just then, Annabelle walked out the door with her family. “What are you doing today?” she asked Katie.
“Shopping,” Katie groaned. “For water glasses.”
“Gosh, I'm sorry,” Annabelle said.
Before Katie could ask Annabelle what she and her family had planned, she heard someone calling her name.
“Katie! Katie!”
Katie turned around and smiled. It was Vincenzo. He was hurrying toward her.
“Buongiorno,”
he said, using the Italian word for good morning.
“Good morning,” Katie answered.
“I have to thank you,” Vincenzo told her.
“For what?” Katie asked.
“For convincing me to ask my father to give me a test with our gondola,” Vincenzo explained. “He has agreed. I take my first boat out today!”
“Oh, wow!” Katie cheered.
“Of course, I want you to be on that boat,” Vincenzo told her. “You will be my guest.”

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