Aunt Annie believed in the “healing powers of the great outdoors”, so she sent Tessa to ski training. Also, she argued, it would take Tessa’s mind off things.
Although she didn’t care about the ski race any more, Tessa was glad to get away from Aunt Annie’s chatter and fussing. It was too much. Luckily for Felix, Aunt Annie had a house full of guests to mollycoddle. Tessa wondered how he managed off-season.
Felix had left early to help Coach set the course, and by the time Uncle Harry had adjusted the bindings on Felix’s old skis to fit her boots and weight, she was already late.
Icy air prickled her cheeks, as she dragged herself from the bus to the lift station, puffing and exhaling white clouds. Felix’s skis were heavier than her own, or perhaps her arms and back and thighs were just sore from yesterday’s walk. She blamed Opa’s snowshoes.
Thoughts of Opa led directly to Oma. She squeezed her crossed fingers together, hoping the puzzle had helped, and sniffled in the chairlift.
“Just ski, Tessa,” she muttered, as she set off from the top.
“Aha. Lady Tessa graces us with her presence,” Coach yelled, at the start. “One hour late! Why am I standing here, if you can’t be bothered to get up in the morning?”
“Sorry,” Tessa mumbled. Explaining would mean tears.
“New, old skis? What happened to your Atomics?”
“Chainsaw.”
Coach exploded in a roar of laughter and the queue behind her chuckled.
“Good one, Tessa,” Felix called.
She got into starting position.
“What d’you think you’re doing?” Coach yelled. “Glide through and inspect the course first. Take those other two latecomers with you. Explain the double gate to them.”
Great. Coach had grouped her with Hans and Helmut, the two most annoying and chaotic skiers in the club. Skiing with them was like running through the village in nothing but your undies. Tessa stemmed her skis, snowploughing in slow motion down between the red and blue gates. Loud giggles from the T-bar lift told her Lisa and Maria had seen her with the two little monsters in tow.
She sped up after the course ended. Behind her, Hans and Helmut jumped on bumps and shouted and laughed. When she stopped by the lift queue, they sprayed her with snow, just as Hans skied into Helmut—or Helmut into Hans—felling the three of them. She disentangled herself from the rowdy mass of green arms and red legs, to disapproving noises from two German women in metallic jackets and a tall white-clad man in the queue.
At least she got her own T-bar, but the rude shouts at Bambi-legged tourists, from Hans and Helmut, embarrassed her. She hadn’t brought her binoculars—she didn’t need them any more—so she watched her teammates. Felix raced between the gates, almost lying on his side in every turn, sometimes touching the snow with a hand. He skied much faster than everyone else, with effortless up-down movements. No wonder he’d won the regional championship last season.
When she neared the top, she looked out into Schöngraben. Ski tracks snaked their way down all reachable sides of the gully. She hoped Gawion and the other barbegazi were safely hidden in their caves.
Tessa skied to the start of the run, with the two monsters hot on her heels.
“Okay, missy, I’m sending Hans and Helmut with you, so you’d better give it your all.” Coach increased the volume. “You hear that, boys? Get her. Three, two, one, go!”
Tessa pushed off.
“Knees, Tessa! Arms, Helmut!”
She bent further down with her knees. Her aching thighs burned. The thought of the monsters behind her spurred Tessa on. Finding a rhythm, she focused her eyes on the next gate, before she even finished her current turn. Air whistled round the rim of her helmet, but she kept her focus on the course. After the finish line, she continued at full speed to the lift. Hans and Helmut hadn’t caught up.
At the start, Coach stood with thumbs up on both hands, beaming at her. “See! See!” he bellowed. “That’s what happens when you take your head out of the clouds.”
Tessa nodded. She didn’t really know what had changed, she just knew that those monsters catching up or, even worse, passing her, would’ve been the ultimate humiliation.
Coach gave her thumbs up on five runs before it was time to clear the piste.
The new experience of getting praise at giant-slalom training made Tessa glow inside. Perhaps things weren’t completely hopeless. She had found the barbegazi. And if she could learn to race, then nothing was impossible. The doctors might even fix Oma’s heart.
She couldn’t help Oma, but she could at least try to help Gawion. And she knew just what she’d do when she got back to Felix’s house.