Kate’s Vermonth Adventure by Janice Hanna

to make it from the top of the hill to the bottom,” Sydney said. “And before long, she’ll be as fast as lightning!”
    â€œHmm.” Kate shook her head as she looked at Sydney. “I doubt that. Have I mentioned that I’m no good at sports?”
    â€œOnly a thousand times. But don’t think of this as a sport.” Sydney’s eyes lit with excitement. “I know! Think of yourself as one of those robots you and your dad like to build down in the basement at your house in Philly.”
    â€œHuh?” Kate gave her a curious look. “Me? A robot?”
    â€œSure.” Sydney grew more animated by the minute. “If you had to build a robot that could ski—one that could get from the top of a hill to the bottom without falling down—how would you build him?”
    â€œWell…” Kate demonstrated by putting her feet together and bending her knees. “He’d have to be really flexible. And he’d have to be able to shift to the right and the left to get the right momentum going, so his knees would have to bend. And he’d have to have a way to come to a quick stop, so I’d have to build him ankles that turned so he could stop in a hurry!”
    â€œExactly!” Sydney giggled. “You’ve got it! Just pretend
you’re
that robot.”
    Kate laughed. “Okay. So what would you name me?”
    â€œHmm.” Sydney paused, deep in thought. After a moment her eyes lit up. “I know! We’ll call you Snow-Bot!”
    â€œSnow-Bot it is!” Kate nodded. “So, show me what to do, O Sports Star, you!”
    Sydney looked at her with a grin. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s hit the Rat!”
    Kate looked down at the track winding alongside some trees. “Where does it lead?”
    â€œWho cares?” Sydney called out. “That’s half the fun… finding out! So, c’mon! Let’s go!”
    Just as they started to push off, a boy whizzed by them. He wore a red jacket and cap, but looked familiar. Kate watched as he soared down the hill, faster than anyone else.
    â€œOh, look Kate!” Sydney pointed with a worried look. “It’s that boy…Michael.”
    â€œI wonder what he’s doing here.” Kate frowned. Hopefully he wasn’t really going to enter the competition. Sydney needed to win, after all!
    â€œHe’s a great skier.” Sydney watched him closely as he zipped down the hill, moving gracefully around every curve. “Doesn’t look like he needs the practice.” They watched him ski all the way from the top of the hill to the first curve, where they lost sight of him. At that point, Kate groaned.
    â€œWow.” She didn’t know what else to say. Michael
was
good.
    â€œI’ll bet he already has his Rat Pack T-shirt,” Sydney said with a sigh. “He probably has a whole drawer full! Let’s face it…I’ll never win that competition on Saturday if he skis.”
    â€œDon’t say that,” Kate’s mother said. “I’ll bet you’re just as fast!”
    â€œProbably even faster,” Kate added. “I don’t know anyone who can run as fast as you. So surely you’re just as fast on skis!”
    â€œOnly one way to know for sure.” Sydney’s expression brightened. “Let’s go!”
    She pushed off and led the way. Kate looked down, took a deep breath, said a little prayer, and then inched her way forward with her mother at her side.
    To her surprise, she went slip-sliding down the tiny hill without falling. In fact, she went even faster than her mother, who tumbled into the snow at the first big curve.
    Down, down, down Kate went…feeling almost like a bird taking flight. The cold wind blew against her cheeks, but she didn’t mind. And though skiing was a little scary, Kate had to admit it was a lot more fun than she expected.
Maybe I really