Chapter 4

“You can go down Maple Syrup with Lanny,” Champe said to his wife. “That is a pleasant hill. You will look lovely going down it.”

Janique smiled, staring into her breakfast.

“Lanny, will you take your mom down Maple Syrup? You both look so nice going together,” Champe said.

“Our coats match,” Lanny said as if bragging. “So do our skis. Can we? Mom? Mom?”

“Yes, our coats match. We can go together,” Janique said, smiling as Champe gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Brittney can help Paxine. This is her first time skiing, I hear,” Champe said, winking at Paxine.

“Yes, Brittney has helped me from falling on my butt,” Paxine said, playing along.

Brat giggled.

“I’m calling my grandma at ten this morning. Going to show her the big hill,” Paxine said, setting up her laptop with the camera.

“That’s cool. I attend school the same way,” Brat said.

Champe gave a short cough and Brat didn’t say any more. Paxine interpreted the gesture to mean that Brat was further ahead in classes than Lanny.

“Your grandma, Mrs. Pondoulee?” Champe said.

“Yes,” Paxine said. “She always thinks I want a cube, which I do, but I know I can’t have one until I am old enough.”

“I have always wanted to ask about the Room cube and how it’s working for Garon,” he said.

“Room cube? Oh, the Room. It’s working fine, in fact…” Paxine said, stopping herself. She didn’t know if she should say she was the one who now had the Room. It was different then a cube which was used to travel from place to place. The Room allowed a person to use electronic devices in a place protected by deactivators, which prevented electronic gadgets from working. “In fact, the last time I saw it, Garon was quite pleased with it,” she said instead.

Her dad gave her a smile of approval. She felt relieved, moving the conversation to Tache, the snowboard and skiing.

“Let’s start getting ready,” Champe said to Janique.

“Yeah, lets hit the slopes,” Brat said, jumping up.

Paxine checked the clock, thinking she could call her grandma, but was surprised to find it was only nine o’clock. There was a whole hour before she could call her grandma. Everyone was getting up to get ready to ski. She felt panic, realizing her plan wasn’t going to work.

“I need my snow pants, mom,” Lanny said.

“Where are they?” Champe said.

“I don’t know,” Lanny said, throwing her coat around as if looking.

“In the room,” Janique said to the floor.

“Janique can you go with her to get her snow pants?” Champe said.

“Yes, Yes,” Janique said, rising with Lanny hanging off her arm.

Paxine hoped Lanny would take a long time getting the snow pants. She took her time, sorting through her snow gear, making sure everything dried over night.

“I think this might help,” Champe said, holding a black object up for Paxine to see.

“What is it?” she said, wondering what he had and what it would help with.

“Snow pants for Tache,” he said.

The material was the same as her snow pants, except there were four legs and, of course, it was much smaller.

“Really?” Paxine said, dumbfounded. “Where did you get these?” She slipped Tache’s front feet through two of the legs and then his back feet. There were straps that reached over Tache’s back and were adjustable. Once fitted, the pants covered all four of Tache’s legs and his belly. Then his coat fit over that. The only parts of him exposed were his tail, feet and head.

“I made it last night. I don’t sleep much,” Champe said.

“You made them?” Paxine said in amazement.

“What a neat idea, Champe. Thank you,” Paxine’s mom said. “Paxine?”

“Oh, yes. Thank you so much,” Paxine said. “This is so cool.”

“I got my snow pants. I got my snow pants,” Lanny said, skipping into the room, followed by her mother.

“Tache’s got snow pants too,” Brat said.

Paxine thought Lanny would take longer to get her snow pants. Things were moving too fast and the clock too slow. She tried to take her time getting ready, glad that her dad and Champe seemed to want to drink coffee and talk, and that Lanny and her mom had to make sure their outfits were identical down to which zippers were zipped and which snaps were snapped.

Brat had her snow pants and ski boots on.

“I want to call my grandma and show her the big slope,” Paxine said in a quiet voice to Brat.

Paxine wondered if she could call her grandma early. There was fifteen minutes to go and her dad and Champe were putting on their snow pants and boots. Once everyone got all dressed up, it was too hot to stay inside. They wouldn't want to wait.

“Cool,” Brat said as Paxine opened up her laptop.

“Good morning. You’re early,” her grandma said, answering the call.

“We’re ready to hit the slopes, grandma,” Paxine said, relieved that her grandma was available. Her grandma looked as professional as usual, sipping tea.

“Morning mom,” Paxine’s mom said, setting the stage for Paxine without knowing. “You’ve met Champe before. This is his wife, Janique.”

Champe came around to the camera side, bringing Janique.

“This is Lanny and Brittney,” Paxine said, pulling Brat around by the hand that she used to cover her mouth.

“What a lovely coat, Janique,” Paxine’s grandma said.

“Good morning. How nice to see you again,” Janique said, not really looking into the camera.

“Goodness, Lanny’s coat matches yours. How lovely,” her grandma said.

Both Lanny and Janique smiled.

“Good morning, Brittney. Why Janique, those braces don’t match your coat. Did you know there are invisible braces? Oh, is that the hill you are going down?” her grandma said.

“Yes,” Paxine’s mom said, jumping in as she realized what was happening, but the comment didn’t go unnoticed.

Janique’s smile faded. Brat looked embarrassed, like she wanted to cry, taking her hand away from Paxine to cover her mouth. She ran back to their table with her back to Paxine.

“Look, Champe made snow pants for Tache,” Paxine said feeling horrible. She felt like her plan had gone terribly wrong.

“Oh, my. Those are wonderful. You will have to tell me how well they work. Very nice to see you again Janique. Champe,” her grandma said.

“Bye mom. We’ll talk to you later,” Paxine’s mom said, giving her mom a critical look.

Paxine closed her laptop, pretending not to see her mom’s disapproving looks. Her dad said nothing as did Champe. Brat, however, treated her like she didn’t exist. Paxine fastened her coat and grabbed Tache’s snow board.

She towed Tache on his board to the lift. Brat and her dad were ahead, taking a seat together. Paxine positioned herself to go with her mom, realizing that Lanny and Janique weren’t with them. She felt terrible. How was she going to tell her grandma that her plan didn’t work and she’d ruined her vacation?

At the top of the lift, she managed to release Tache, but then slid on her butt. Brat, Champe and Paxine’s dad went down one of the serious hills. Paxine followed her mom down Maple Syrup.

Paxine knew, even before she reached the bottom of the slope, she had to apologize to Brat. But Brat wasn’t at the lift. The hill they’d gone down used a different lift to get back. Paxine spent the rest of the morning skiing with her mom and never seeing Brat again until lunch time, but now there were too many people around for any private conversation or apologies.

To make matters feel worse, the adults gathered at one table, forcing Paxine, Brat and Lanny to sit at the other in uncomfortable silence.

Paxine didn't feel like eating much of her lunch. Even Tache sat on her lap in an attempt to console her, and didn’t whack her even once with his tail. She wondered if she could just go spend the rest of the afternoon in her room.

“Do you think those are their parents?” a man said, speaking Spanish. He and another man stood just outside the private area, staring in.

“Probably, but they are silly girls. They will be easy to lure away,” the other man said in Spanish. He chewed gum in an aggressive manner, making Paxine think he was a smoker in need of a cigarette. His teeth were brown.

“Such nice girls. I like the two blondes. One for each of us,” the other man said, laughing under his breath.

“Vacationers. Americano. Parents never keep track of their kids on vacation. This is so easy,” the gum chewer said.

Paxine pretended to ignore them. Tache’s hair stood up on the back of his neck as the men whispered between them on how to kidnap the girls. She wondered how to deal with this situation when her dad stood.

“I will take care of this. My treat,” Paxine’s dad said, putting a hand on Champe’s shoulder to keep him seated.

“Paxy, brancher vos oreilles,” her dad said in French, looking at her.

Paxine put her fingers in her ears as her dad directed her to do. She’d forgotten that her dad could speak Spanish, but she’d never believed him when he said he could speak French.

“Do you speak English?” Paxine’s dad said, walking over to the two men.

“No English, senor,” the gum chewer said, giving a wide stupid smile as if he was fooling this Americano.

“Well, then we will continue this on your level,” her dad said, speaking perfect Spanish. “You have just threatened my family and my friends.”

The two men’s smiles dropped.

“I will have you thrown out of this resort,” her dad said.

“No, sir. You will not,” said one of the men. “We are regular customers; they will not throw us out.”

“You may be regular customers, but you have broken international law, and that is bad marketing for this resort. You don’t live in this country, and neither do I. Threatening me, my family and friends constitutes an Act of Terrorism,” her dad said.

The man smiled, shaking is head,” No, I do not think so.”

“I know so. I just happen to be International lawyer,” her dad said.

The two men looked uncomfortable, realizing there were people standing behind them. One of the men was the manager of the resort.

“I cannot let this pass, Senor,” said the manager to the men. “I must press charges. The world is already on high alert for an international killer.”

The two men started to talk louder and with more animation using language that now explained why her dad wanted her to plug her ears. However, Paxine could hear them quite well. Tache's ears weren't plugged.

“We will not be…” the gum chewer said, almost shouting, but he was interrupted as Paxine’s father grabbed the man’s hand, opening the man’s coat with the other. There was shoulder holster with a gun.

“This is a weapon. This is an act of terrorism,” her dad said. “Even my personal guards are not allowed to carry firearms here and neither are you. I will be pressing charges.”

Two hotel guards disarmed the men, leading them away.

“I am so sorry, Senor,” the manager said, apologizing multiple times.

“I am sending my man to make sure this is taken care of,” her dad said, but Paxine already saw their guard go with security.

“Yes, sir. Yes. I am so sorry. We will make amends,” the manager said, hurrying after the hotel guards.

Paxine’s dad returned to sit by Champe. Paxine unplugged her ears.

“Thank you,” Champe said with intense sincerity, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I did. You may not have heard on the news this morning. Zorro Dool is loose again. He’s the most dangerous terrorist in the world and he’s leaving a trail of destruction behind him. We can’t tell if someone is working with him or not. Besides, no one threatens my family and friends like that,” her dad said.

Brat turn to Paxine, forgetting to be upset with her, “What was that all about?”

“You don’t speak Spanish?” Paxine said in a quiet voice.

“No,” Brat said, looking offended as if Paxine insulted her.

“They weren’t saying nice things,” Paxine said. “They were….”

“Lanny. Brittney. Come. We are going to our room,” Janique said, standing, looking very upset.

“Janique…” Champe said as Janique mumbled, dragging Lanny and Brat out of the room. Champe chased after her.

Paxine felt even worse. Janique didn’t leave the room upset because the men tried to kidnap her daughters. She was still upset, mumbling about braces not matching her coat.

Paxine’s parents joined her at their own table. Even her mom muttered about meddling in others affairs.

“You done with lunch?” her mom said, piling dishes to the side.

“Yeah,” Paxine said, feeling miserable.

“Sit for a few minutes before we head back out?” her dad said.

Paxine felt numb, sitting there in silence. She didn’t feel like skiing, knowing she wouldn’t enjoy it now that she ruined everyone’s vacation. It was time to call her grandma and tell her that everything failed.

Wait staff cleared their tables. Paxine got out her laptop, setting it up.

“We ready to hit the slopes?” Champe said, walking into the room. He was cheerful.

Paxine didn’t understand.

“I’m getting my braces changed. I’m getting my braces changed,” Brat said, screaming as she ran into the room right to Paxine, giving her a big hug. “My mom scheduled to get my braces changed. Oh, I am getting my braces changed. Oh, thank you. Thank you.”

Paxine closed her laptop, bewildered at the unexpected change of events. Champe smiled at her.

“Thank you,” he said in a quiet voice to her. “You are a forever friend.”

“Thank you. Thank you,” Brat said, not screaming so loud now, releasing her.

“We ready to hit the slopes?” Champe said again.

“Yes, yes, indeed,” Paxine’s dad said, throwing Paxine her snow pants.

Paxine felt like she was floating on a cloud. Before she knew it, she and Brat were riding the lift together to the top of the slopes. On her lap sat Tache and his snow board.

“I am so excited. How did you know to do that? I was so mad at you. I was so embarrassed, but my mom was even worse. Oh my gosh, to tell her that her coat doesn’t match my braces was pure genius. You have the best grandma ever. My dad is so happy. He’s been trying to get my mom to change my braces forever,” Brat said, without taking a breath.

“I thought it backfired, and I was really upset. I wanted to apologize so badly,” Paxine said when Brat finally breathed. “I really like you and it was so much fun the other day skiing together.”

“Oh, but now you don’t have to. I have to apologize for being mad at you. My dad even feels like he should apologize to your dad. At first, he wasn’t sure about your dad. You know, it’s been a long time since they’ve seen each other, but after this, they are friends forever, now,” Brat said.

“What about your mom, though? I really upset her,” Paxine said.

“Oh, she’ll be ok. She and Lanny went shopping. They love to go shopping. We’re going to have so much fun today. Oh, and by the way, you can call me Brat. I don’t mind. I actually like it, but I’ll never tell my sister that.”

“Okay, Brat,” Paxine said with a big smile.

“Grandma. Grandma. Thank you,” Paxine said with excitement, sitting with Brat on the sofa. Tache sprawled between them, worn out from following Paxine and Brat ski all day.

“Well, hello there. Hi Brat. Sorry for upsetting you,” Paxine's grandma said.

“Thank you, Paxine’s grandma,” Brat said, laughing.

“Grandma, how did you know?” Paxine said, wondering if Brat or Brat's dad had called her grandma.

“Some things you have to learn by doing,” her grandma said with a rise of an eyebrow.

“I thought I’d ruined everything,” Paxine said, realizing her grandma knew all along how things would go and that this was another lesson to be learned.

“So, you didn’t get the results you were looking for at first? You do have to remember that results take time. If you think what you've done is right, then don’t fret if the result you’re expecting don’t happen right away,” her grandma said.

“Mom said I shouldn’t meddle in the affairs of others,” Paxine said, glancing out the door to make sure her mom wasn't in hearing distance.

“Dear, our job here at the Foundation is to do just that. Congratulations on your braces, Brat,” her grandma said.

Paxine wondered how her grandma knew that Brat didn’t like being called Brittney.

“You two want a tour of the new rooms?” her grandma said.

“Yeah,” Paxine said. “My grandma had some rooms added to her house so she could raise Tails.” She indicated Tache.

“Gosh, cool,” Brat said, giving Tache a pat.

“Let me get the camera turned around so I can walk you through,” her grandma said as the camera showed the room upside down before it righted.

Paxine and Brat giggled.

“Hey, it’s still light there,” Paxine said. “Oh, yeah, the time difference.”

“Yes, its still afternoon here. Lovely long summer days,” her grandma said, showing them a large room with lots of windows that allowed the sun to stream in.

“Each wall is a different pastel color,” her grandma said, panning around the room.

“You have mom’s sense of color,” Paxine said.

“No dear, your mother has my sense of color,” her grandma said, panning the camera. “There’s the visitor corner with pillows, stools, and the toy box.”

“Cat toys,” Paxine said to Brat.

“I know,” Brat said, giving her a nudge.