Fabulous Five 030 - Sibling Rivalry (5 page)

"A movie?" Brittany gushed. "What're you
going to see?"

"It's an old movie on TV," Marcel said.
"Humphrey Bogart."

"I
love
Bogart!" Brittany cried, and Beth
knew she was hoping for an invitation.

"Gosh, me, too," chimed in Julie. "Don't you,
Sarah?"

"Definitely," agreed Sarah.

Marcel grinned at the girls. His gaze shifted to Beth, and
he said, "And you, mademoiselle, do you also love Bogart?" He winked.

"Sure," Beth said, "he's all right."

Marcel smiled at her, then turned back to Brittany. "A
dance would be very nice."

"Great," said Brittany. "We'll be in the
dining room waiting for you."

She and her friends headed toward the door, but just before
she made her exit, she took two steps out of the way toward Beth and hissed,
"Isn't
it past your bedtime
,
little sister?"

Then she flounced out the door after her girlfriends.

Beth had no intention of going to bed. Not with Brittany and
the others headed back to the dining room and Marcel still here in the game
room. She wasn't going to do anything silly or theatrical to attract his
attention, of course. She would just sit here, acting incredibly mature, and
see what happened.

"Geez! What are you doing in
here
?
I've
been looking all over for you."

Todd came rushing into the game room followed by two of his
skiing companions. Both were about Todd's height, but one had curly red hair and
a sunburned face, and the other one was a sandy blond and as slim as a
toothpick. Todd was smiling so sweetly that Beth was immediately suspicious.

"What do you want?" she grumbled.

Todd raised his arms in mock surrender. "Not much, and
I'll pay you back. I promise."

"That's right," said the red-haired boy.
"We'll get the money from our parents before we go home and give it to
Todd to give to you."

"What!" shrieked Beth. "You guys actually
want to borrow money from me? You've got to be kidding."

"No, we aren't," Todd said earnestly. Nodding
toward the other two, he continued, "This is Jason, and he's Mike. They're
great guys. Honest. We only need a few bucks, and we said we'd pay you
back."

Beth narrowed her eyes. All three boys were looking at her
with angelic expressions on their faces. Did they honestly expect her to say
yes?

"Sorry," she answered with a dismissive wave of
her hand. "I didn't bring much spending money, and I certainly don't have
any extra money to loan you."

"Oh, yes you do," Todd said excitedly. "It's
in your ski jacket. The stuff you're saving for England. Jason and Mike and I
will definitely pay you back. I promise. Come on, Beth. We need it for the
video games."

Beth exploded off the sofa and stood nose to nose with Todd.
"If you think I'm going to loan that money to you, you little twerp,
you've got another thing coming! I wouldn't trust you and your hot-dog ski
friends with my money for five seconds flat!"

Suddenly she was aware of a deep-throated chuckle coming
from across the room. It was Marcel, and he was shaking his head and laughing
softly. Beth froze. She had forgotten he was there.

"Siblings," he said, smiling at Beth. "They
are ze same ze world over. But believe me, when you two grow up, you'll feel much
different about each other."

Beth stared at Marcel, his words ringing in her ears.
When
you two grow up.
Did he see her as a child, too? What was the matter with
him? Couldn't he see that it was Todd who was behaving like a little kid?

Marcel turned back to his game of pool. Beth stood there for
a moment, wondering what to do. Then she squared her shoulders and pulled
herself up to her full height. Mustering her courage, she smiled at Todd and
his friends and said in her most dignified voice, "Well, I think I'll turn
in now. See you all in the morning."

Then she disappeared out the door.

"Today we will try a slightly steeper hill,"
Marcel said when the class assembled again the next morning. "You all
learned ze snowplow very well yesterday, and I think you're ready."

An excited murmur ran through the class. Beth was excited,
too, but she was also nervous. Skiing had been fun and almost easy on the bunny
slope. A steeper hill sounded scary.

Beth followed Marcel along with the rest of the skiers. Of
course, Brittany, Julie, and Sarah were right at the front of the group, making
cute remarks to him. Occasionally he would turn and smile or say something
clever back to them. No matter what he said, though, the girls giggled wildly
and flirted with him all the more.

Marcel led the group to a slope, which Beth could see was
definitely steeper than the one they had skied yesterday. A small building sat
about a hundred feet away. It had the same rustic look as the lodge, only it
was smaller and built above the snow on heavy stone legs at each corner.

"Oh, Marcel, what an adorable little house,"
Brittany gushed. "Is that where you live?"

She turned around to acknowledge the laughter of some of the
class. Beth wanted to burrow into a snow bank and hide with embarrassment.

"No," Marcel answered patiently. "That is
where ze ski lift equipment is stored during ze summer. Now, it you will grab
ze towrope, we'll meet at ze top of ze slope." Then he gestured for
Brittany to start up the hill first. "After you, mademoiselle."

Brittany giggled. "Why, thank you, kind sir!" Then
she grabbed the towrope and rode up the hill with the rest of the class following.

"I want you to try ze snowplow on this slope
first," Marcel said when the class had gathered around him. "It will
be more of a challenge for you." He turned to Beth. "Mademoiselle,
would you like to go first today?"

"Oh, uh, sure," replied Beth, her face getting
hot. "I'll try."

"You'll do splendidly," said Marcel. "If you
fall, don't be embarrassed."

Beth grinned at Marcel, even though Brittany was shooting
daggers at her. "I'll probably fall."

From the top of the hill the slope looked even steeper than
it had from below. Beth's heart was pounding, partly because she was first and
everybody was watching, and partly because Marcel seemed to expect good things
from her.

She pushed off with her poles and started snowplowing down.
It was fun, and she felt a thrill run up her back as she let herself pick up
speed. Then she tried making slow turns to the right and then to the left.

Suddenly the run was over. Beth snow-plowed to a stop and
looked back up the slope, beaming. She had made it all the way to the bottom
without falling. She felt like cheering and jumping up and down, but she
didn't. After all, she didn't want to look foolish or childish in front of
Marcel.

"Excellent!" Marcel called from the top.
"That is exactly ze way to do it!"

He turned to the other skiers, and Beth could tell by his
gestures that he was telling them to follow Beth's example. Beth let out a deep
breath. Skiing was fun. For what seemed like the first time since she had
gotten to Stony Lookout, she was actually enjoying herself.

When Brittany skied down a few minutes later, Beth thought
her older sister might really be trying to do her best on this hill. Beth
decided, with a certain amount of satisfaction, that maybe Brittany didn't want
her little sister to upstage her in front of Marcel.

Next it was an older man's turn. Beth had learned his name
was Charles, and even though he joked about his lack of skill as a skier, Beth
had noticed that he plunged in with more energy than most of the skiers half
his age.

"Here goes nothing!" Charles shouted as he started
down the slope with a big grin on his face.

But about halfway down, he began to wobble. Beth gasped as
his arms and legs flung out wildly, and he fell and tumbled in the snow.

"Charles!" Beth called out. "Are you
okay?"

Charles didn't answer.

Marcel sprang into action, shooting straight down the slope
like an arrow; spraying snow as he made a whirling stop beside Charles. Marcel
quickly took off his skis and planted them upright in an X on the slope above
Charles.

Beth and the others watched breathlessly as Marcel bent over
Charles. The two men talked, and Marcel touched Charles's leg. Then to
everyone's relief, Marcel helped Charles to his feet. A few minutes later
Charles skied the rest of the way to the bottom on his own.

When a cheer went up, Charles grinned from ear to ear.
"Gee, if I'd known that falling would get me so much attention, I would
have done a lot more of it."

Everyone laughed.

When the rest of the skiers had taken their turn, Marcel
said that they would spend most of the lesson here, practicing on the new
slope. After a few more successful runs, Beth relaxed even more and
experimented with making turns and stopping. She found she loved skiing and
feeling the cold air in her face. She also loved looking around at the snow and
the majestic mountains that towered above her.

I'm glad I'm here, she thought. Even if there isn't anyone
my age to share it with.

As she grabbed the towrope for her sixth ride up the slope,
Brittany jumped into line right behind her.

Beth was feeling so good that she turned around and gave her
sister a silly smile.

"Beth, you're such a show-off," Brittany
complained.

Beth's smile faded. "Who, me? I'm not showing
off!"

"Just because you're catching on to some of the stuff
Marcel's teaching us, don't think he's interested in
you!
"

"Get real, Brittany," Beth called back over her
shoulder. "It never crossed my mind that—"

Suddenly Beth lost her grip on the rope. She felt herself
slide backward—into Brittany, who screamed and fell down—and then into Julie,
who crumpled in the snow—and into Sarah, who was behind her.

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.

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 Alicia.

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!