The Mystery at Mead's Mountain

Pat had anticipated, and he really needed some extra help, both on the slopes and around the lodge.”
    “I wonder what happened to his mother,” Trixie mused aloud. At Mart’s warning look, she stopped talking. But she couldn’t stop thinking. And why would he show up alone at Christmastime? Most people have something better to do than get a new job.
    Impatient, she grabbed her skis and said, “Come on, we’ve got a ski lesson waiting for us.”
    Mart sighed. “I have a feeling Eric has a barrage of questions waiting for him,” he muttered to himself.

A Ski Lesson ● 5

    LINDA LED THEM to the base of the hill where the two rope tows converged below the chair lift. Before going back to the restaurant, she called to Eric, and he skied over to them, smiling.
    There re those perfect teeth again, Trixie thought. She tried to be objective as she studied him. In his blue jeans and dark red bulky hand-knit sweater, he had a confident, casual air. Then why should watching him make her feel slightly uneasy?
    “Greetings,” he said. “Something tells me that none of you have ever cross-country skied.”
    “We’re eager to learn, though,” said Jim.
    “And we all know how to downhill ski,” added Honey quickly.
    “Well, then you’ve got it made,” Eric said. “I guarantee you’ll all be near-experts in an hour. Let’s go over to that flat place on the other side of this run. You can put your skis on there, and it’s a good place to get the hang of the glide-kick movement.”
    As the Bob-Whites did as they were told, Trixie tried to get Eric to reveal more about himself. “Linda was just telling us that your mother had reservations to come here, too,” she said as nonchalantly as she could. “It’s too bad she changed her mind. This is such a lovely place to spend the Christmas holidays.”
    Eric shrugged. “I was sent word that she had to go on a business trip. No explanations, just a message that said she was already gone.”
    “You haven’t heard from her at all?” asked Trixie, glad that Eric wasn’t as reluctant to talk as she thought he’d be.
    “Nope. Shortly before Christmas, my grandfather sent me a telegram saying Mom had been called away on a business trip to the West Coast and I was to stay at school for the holidays. I didn’t hear a word from Mom. She usually tells me where she’s going to be.” He sounded hurt. “Anyway, I wasn’t about to stay at school all alone, so I came here hoping to get a job to earn my keep. I was lucky—teaching skiing is like not working at all.”
    “Didn’t you try to get in touch with your mother?” Brian asked, curious.
    “Yeah, but no one was home, and when I called my grandfather, he said he didn’t know exactly where she was—just someplace on the West Coast. And he was plenty mad I didn’t stay at school, too.”
    “Maybe her business won’t take long,” Honey tried to console him. “Then she’ll be able to join you here. Did you leave word at your school where she could find you?”
    Eric nodded glumly. “I don’t know too much about business, but Christmas seems like a lousy time to conduct it. I’m majoring in architecture myself. Something I’d really like to do is build ski lodges. That would rank right up there with giving ski lessons as being more fun than work! Speaking of lessons, we’d better get started.”
    As the Bob-Whites put on their skis, Eric explained the equipment. “As you’ve noticed, the boots are really just leather tennis shoes,” he said, helping Di with her skis. “You want as little weight as possible. Since cross-country skiing can be quite strenuous, there’s no sense expending extra energy by overloading yourself. I’m glad to see you’re all wearing lightweight clothing.” He gave Di, in her royal purple knickers and lavender Nordic ski sweater, an approving nod.
    Di seems to turn heads everywhere we go, thought Trixie affectionately.
    Eric held his leg straight out so his ski was standing on end. “The skis are long and narrow for gliding, and they don’t have the sharp edges for turning, like downhill skis do. So, avoid any trees long before you come to them!”
    Then Eric demonstrated the gliding gait basic to cross-country skiing. In a very short time, all the Bob-Whites had mastered it. Trixie couldn’t help feeling disappointed. If cross-country skiing is just shuffling around on flat places in the snow, then it’s not a sport I could get very excited about, she