The Ski Slope Mystery

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Hot Fudge and Cold Snow

  Chapter 2: Double Trouble

  Chapter 3: Beginners Only!

  Chapter 4: Out of Control

  Chapter 5: Sticky Skis

  Chapter 6: Dirty Trick

  Chapter 7: No Clues

  Chapter 8: Winners and Losers

  1

  Hot Fudge and Cold Snow

  Race you to the hot fudge,” George Fayne said to her cousin Bess Marvin.

  “No way.” Bess pushed her blond hair behind her ear and picked up her dish of chocolate ice cream. “I don’t want hot fudge today. I’m having caramel.”

  Eight-year-old Nancy Drew smiled as she sprinkled chopped nuts over her strawberry ice cream. The three best friends were at a make-your-own-sundae party at the Snowshoe Mountain Ski Lodge.

  Nancy’s father had brought Nancy, Bess, and George to the resort for a three-day weekend. The girls were going to take skiing lessons at the Snowshoe Lodge ski school. The school had classes for everyone, from beginners to experts.

  “I still can’t believe we’re really here,” Nancy said to her friends. She glanced around the large, wood-paneled dining room. All around her, people were helping themselves to ice cream and toppings. Outside the window, snow was falling gently as the sun set behind the tall peak of Snowshoe Mountain. “I’ve always wanted to learn to ski.”

  “Me, too,” Bess said.

  “You’ll love it,” George promised. George liked all kinds of sports. She had been skiing a few times before.

  The girls walked across the crowded room to the table where Mr. Drew was drinking coffee. “Do you think all these people are here for ski school?” Nancy asked her father as they sat down.

  “I hope not,” George said. “I want to spend the weekend skiing, not waiting in line.”

  “Don’t worry, George.” Mr. Drew smiled. “I’m sure you’ll be able to do all the skiing you want.”

  “That’s right,” Bess said. “Your lucky necklace won’t let you get stuck in line.”

  George scooped up a bite of her hot-fudge sundae and nodded.

  “You mean the necklace your parents just gave you?” Nancy asked.

  George swallowed her ice cream. Then she reached up and touched the pair of little silver skis hanging from a velvet ribbon around her neck. “It’s my good-luck charm.”

  “It’s great,” Nancy said, looking at the tiny skis.

  “Look, girls,” Mr. Drew said, nodding toward the small stage at one end of the room. “They’re going to make an announcement.”

  The girls turned and saw a man with short, sandy hair stepping up to a microphone on the stage. “May I have your attention, please?” he asked.

  Nancy, Bess, and George stopped talking. But the two boys at the next table weren’t paying attention to the man. They kept laughing loudly. One of them picked up a spoonful of ice cream and flipped it at the other.

  The second boy leaned to the side, and the ice cream went flying past him—straight toward Bess!

  Bess saw it coming just in time and ducked. The ice cream landed on the floor behind her.

  “You creeps! You almost got ice cream on my sweater!” Bess cried.

  The boys stared at her. They looked exactly alike. Even their clothes were the same. The only way to tell them apart was by the hot-fudge mustache one of them had on his face.

  “Look, they’re twins,” Nancy said.

  “Twin creeps, you mean,” Bess said, frowning at the boys.

  The boy with the fudge mustache stuck out his tongue. His brother picked up another spoonful of ice cream and aimed it at Bess.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Bess warned.

  Mr. Drew turned and saw what was happening. “That’s enough, boys,” he said.

  Both twins turned and faced the stage.

  “I want to welcome everyone to Snowshoe Mountain,” the man on the stage said. “I’m Bob Murray, the director of the ski school. How many of you are here for our ski school weekend?”

  A lot of people waved their hands and cheered, including Nancy and Bess. George put two fingers in her mouth and whistled.

  Bob Murray smiled. “I know you’ll all have a great time and learn a lot. Now I’d like to introduce our instructors.”

  The ski instructors all wore black ski pants and bright red jackets.

  “I love their outfits,” Bess said. “They’re almost as cute as my new pink ski jacket and hat.” Her jacket was hanging on the back of her chair, with the pink hat tucked into the pocket.

  “When you’ve finished eating, feel free to explore the rest of the lodge,” Bob Murray said. “There’s a game room across the hall, and a fireplace in the lounge. I hope everyone has a great weekend!”

  “Let’s go check out the game room,” Nancy said to her friends. “Can we, Dad?”

  “Okay,” her father said. “I’ll come to get you in a little while.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George quickly slurped down the rest of their ice cream. They picked up their jackets and hurried across the hall and into the game room.

  “Looks like they’re showing some cool skiing videos.” George pointed to a big-screen television by the windows.

  “Hey, maybe they have Star Quest,” Nancy said when she saw the row of video games along the wall. The game was based on one of Nancy’s favorite movies. “Let’s go see.”

  As the girls headed toward the games, Nancy heard the sound of running footsteps. Then someone pushed Bess—hard.

  She stumbled and almost fell into a table. Nancy grabbed her arm at the last minute.

  “Bess, are you okay?” Nancy asked.

  “My new ski hat,” Bess cried. “Those twins just grabbed it out of my pocket!”

  2

  Double Trouble

  Hat, hat, who’s got the hat?” the twins chanted. They were standing behind Nancy and her friends. The twin holding Bess’s new hat threw it into the air.

  “Give it back!” Bess shrieked. She grabbed for the hat.

  The other twin got it first. “Pink stinks, pink stinks.” He threw the hat, and his brother reached forward to catch it.

  George jumped up and caught the hat before the first twin reached it. “Twins stink,” she said to the boys.

  The twins stuck out their tongues and laughed. Then they ran past the girls to the video games.

  “Thanks, George,” Bess said, stuffing the hat back into her pocket.

  “Tim and Tom are such creeps,” a girl’s voice said.

  Nancy turned and saw a girl about their own age standing in the doorway to the game room. She had short, smooth black hair and green eyes.

  “Do you know them?” Nancy asked.

  “They were in the beginners’ class with me last year.” The girl walked over to where Nancy, Bess, and George were standing. “They were always getting in trouble.”

  “Double trouble, I bet,” George said.

  The girl looked at George. “I like your necklace,” she said.

  George touched the tiny silver skis. “Thanks. It’s my new good-luck charm. I won’t ski without it.”

  “Are you a good skier?” the girl asked.

  George shrugged. “I’ve only been skiing a few times. But I like it. I can’t wait for ski school to start.”

  “I’ll be in ski school, too,” the girl said. “My name is Kelly Allen.” Just then a girl with two long brown braids came into the game room and stood beside Kelly. “This is my little sister, Jennifer,” Kelly said.

  “Hi,” Jennifer said, smiling.

  Nancy smiled back. “Hi. I’m Nancy, and these are my friends Bess and George.”

  “Come on, let’s watch the ski video,” Kelly said. She led the way over to
the big couch across from the TV.

  As the girls sat down, Nancy looked at the skier on the screen. He was skiing around some orange flags. “I don’t think I can do that yet,” she said.

  Jennifer laughed. “Me, either. I’m a beginner. I didn’t get to come with Kelly last year because I had the flu.”

  “Bess and I are beginners, too,” Nancy said. “Maybe we’ll be in the same class.”

  “What about you, George?” Kelly asked. “Which level are you in?”

  “Intermediate,” George said, her eyes glued to the skier on the screen. He was gliding down a wide mountain trail, swooping back and forth to avoid rocks and trees.

  “Me, too,” Kelly said. “Every year there’s a contest to choose the best skiers in each class. This year I know I’m going to win the award for best skier in my group.”

  “Who cares about winning a stupid skiing contest,” a boy’s voice said loudly.

  The girls turned as a boy walked up to them. He had short black hair that stuck straight up.

  “Skiing is so dumb,” the boy said.

  “It is not!” George said angrily.

  The boy scowled at George. “Is, too.”

  “If you think skiing is dumb, why are you here?” Bess asked.

  “My parents made me come,” he said.

  “Will,” a woman called from the doorway.

  “Coming, Mom!” the boy yelled. He stomped away without saying goodbye.

  “There are a lot of creepy boys around this lodge,” Bess said.

  “He’s probably just afraid to ski.” George touched her necklace. “Maybe he needs a good-luck charm like mine.”

  “Does that really bring you luck?” Kelly asked. “Can I try it on?”

  George didn’t move for a moment. Nancy could tell she didn’t want to take off her silver skis. But George untied the velvet ribbon and handed the necklace to Kelly anyway.

  “Thanks.” Kelly tied the ribbon around her own neck. “Maybe wearing it for a minute will bring me luck, too.”

  Nancy saw her father come into the room. “Time to go, girls,” he called.

  Nancy, Bess, and George put on their jackets. They said goodbye to Kelly and Jennifer and started to follow Mr. Drew out of the room.

  “Oops! I almost forgot my necklace,” George said.

  Kelly took off the necklace. “Do you want me to tie it on for you?”

  George nodded and pushed her dark curls out of the way. She smiled and touched the silver skis when they were back in place.

  Bess, George, and Nancy followed Nancy’s father out of the lodge and into the cold, starry night. So did Jennifer and Kelly.

  “Bye!” Jennifer called from the doorway of the lodge.

  Nancy turned and waved to her new friends. Jennifer waved back. But Kelly didn’t see Nancy. She was busy looking at the glistening snow.

  “I hope it’s not this cold tomorrow,” Bess said. She pulled on her pink hat.

  “I don’t care how cold it is,” Nancy said, swishing her boots in the snow on the path. “We’re going to have fun!”

  It only took a few minutes to get to the apartment they were staying in for the weekend. From the living room window they could see the brightly colored gondola cars. Each day the gondolas carried skiers to the restaurant at the very top of the mountain.

  It was chilly inside the apartment. Nancy quickly changed into her warm flannel nightgown and brushed her teeth. The bedroom she was sharing with Bess and George had two sets of bunk beds. She jumped into the lower bunk of one of the beds and snuggled under a cozy yellow- and white-striped comforter.

  Bess came out of the bathroom and hopped into the other lower bunk. “Brrr,” she said. “Hurry up and brush your teeth, George. Then you can tell us what skiing is like before we go to sleep.”

  “I’ll be right out,” George promised, rushing into the bathroom.

  “I wish Chip was here,” Nancy said. “She could keep my feet warm.”

  Chip was Nancy’s Labrador retriever puppy. Her full name was Chocolate Chip because she was a chocolate brown color.

  Suddenly George came racing out of the bathroom with toothpaste foam around her mouth. She was waving her toothbrush.

  “George, what’s wrong?” Nancy asked.

  “My necklace!” George cried. “It’s gone!”

  3

  Beginners Only!

  Nancy jumped out of bed, forgetting all about the cold. “Maybe it fell off while you were brushing your teeth.”

  “I looked,” George said. “I couldn’t find it anywhere.”

  “Let’s look again,” Nancy said.

  They went into the bathroom and searched. The charm wasn’t there.

  “When do you remember having it last?” Nancy asked.

  George shrugged, then looked under the sink again. “I remember Kelly tying it on in the lodge. After that, I’m not sure.”

  She stomped back to the bunks and climbed the ladder to the bed above Nancy’s.

  “I might as well stay right here for the rest of the weekend.” She flopped onto her bed. “I can’t ski without my lucky charm.”

  “Nancy will help you find your silver skis,” Bess said. “She can find anything.”

  “It’s no use,” George said.

  Bess looked at Nancy but didn’t say anything else. She climbed into her bunk as Nancy turned off the light.

  Nancy lay down in her bed and closed her eyes. She couldn’t fall asleep right away. Where could George’s necklace be?

  • • •

  “Wake up, sleepyheads!” Nancy’s father said the next morning as he poked his head into the girls’ room.

  The girls got dressed and then went into the kitchen. “Something smells yummy,” Bess said. “What is it?”

  Nancy sniffed. “I can solve that mystery right now,” she said. “Pancakes!”

  “Case closed, Pumpkin,” Mr. Drew said. “It’s my special recipe, so dig in.”

  Nancy noticed that George hardly ate anything. She knew her friend was still upset about losing her necklace.

  After breakfast they all headed for the lodge to rent skis. Nancy walked slowly, looking carefully at the path. Maybe George lost her silver skis while we were walking home last night, she thought.

  When she didn’t see the necklace, Nancy had another idea.

  “Can Bess and George and I stop by the game room for a second?” she asked her father. “We want to look for something.”

  Her father nodded. “Meet me at the ski shop to pick up your boots and skis.”

  When they got to the game room, Nancy told Bess and George her idea.

  “Do you really think it might be here?” George asked.

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Nancy said.

  The three friends searched the whole room. The necklace wasn’t there.

  “I’m sorry, George,” Nancy said. “I hope you didn’t mean it when you said you wouldn’t ski without your necklace.”

  George shrugged. “I guess I’ll ski,” she said, trying to smile.

  At the ski shop, Mr. Drew and the girls put on their ski boots and picked up their poles and skis. The clerk wrote Nancy’s, Bess’s, and George’s names on pieces of tape and stuck them on each ski.

  “This way you’ll be able to keep track of whose skis are whose,” he told them.

  The girls thanked the clerk and followed Mr. Drew out of the shop. It was hard to hold on to everything as they clomped in their heavy ski boots. Bess giggled every time her poles slipped out of her grasp.

  “You’re supposed to meet the other students over there,” Mr. Drew said when they got outside. He pointed to a large group of kids gathered around the ski school instructors. “I’ll be skiing on the regular trails. Let’s meet back at the lodge for lunch. Have fun!”

  The girls hurried to join the group. Bob Murray looked up their names on his list. “Nancy and Bess, you’re in Alexandra’s Bunny class,” he said. He nodded toward a tall woman with blond ha
ir. Several other kids were already standing with her.

  “What about me?” George asked eagerly. Nancy was glad George wasn’t too worried about her necklace to have fun.

  “You’re in the Jackrabbit class. Hector is your teacher,” Bob Murray said. He pointed at a man with shaggy brown hair, wearing wraparound sunglasses.

  “Cool,” George said. She grabbed her poles and skis and hurried over to Hector.

  Nancy and Bess walked toward Alexandra. “Oh, no. Look who else is in our class,” Bess whispered. “It’s that grumpy boy from last night.”

  Nancy saw Will standing next to Alexandra. “It’s cold,” he complained.

  “Let’s just ignore him,” Nancy said to Bess.

  “We’ll start our lesson just as soon as Jennifer arrives,” Alexandra told the Bunny group.

  Nancy looked around for Jennifer. She saw her talking to Bob Murray. Jennifer put her hands on her hips and shook her head. Finally she turned and walked toward them.

  “Is something wrong?” Nancy asked.

  “I wanted to be in my sister’s class,” Jennifer said, looking over at the Jackrabbits.

  “But you told us you don’t know how to ski,” Bess said.

  “Kelly says it isn’t that hard,” Jennifer said. “You might not be able to do it, but I could.”

  Jennifer isn’t as nice as she was yesterday, Nancy thought.

  Alexandra called the Bunny class to attention. She tightened all their boots and showed the students how to put on their skis. “Now we’re going to practice walking,” she said.

  “I know how to walk,” Jennifer snapped. She took a few steps on her skis, lifting her feet and keeping them straight.

  “This is boring,” Will complained.

  Nancy hoped Jennifer and Will weren’t going to be like this all weekend.

  Alexandra smiled. “Don’t worry, Will, you won’t be bored for long.”

  The Bunny class practiced walking. Then they practiced turning around.

  When Will tried to turn, he crossed the tip of one ski over the other. His skis made a big X in the snow.

  “I’m stuck!” he cried.

  Jennifer rolled her eyes and sighed while Alexandra helped Will get unstuck.