“Uh oh! I think that I am slipping on the conveyor belt” nervously observes Harriet as she slides a little backwards on some leftover ice “Can you hold my inner tube for a second?”
“Here. Let me take it” as Robert grabs a hold of the large inner tube from her so she can readjust her footing on the belt leading up the side of the mountain for tubing.
“I’ve never been . . . tubing before . . . at least . . . not like this . . . Have you been?” asks Harriet as she sneezes a few times between her words.
“Are you all right? Yes, I’ve been a few times. It’s always a lot of fun. It’s easy after you get enough courage to go down the first time” explains Robert trying to comfort her obvious uneasiness as she stares at the hill in front of her with a look of panic on her face.
They get to the top and stand in the long line along with the others who are scattered among the ten available lanes. Harriet sits down in her tube as her breathing increases its pace. Robert is in the lane next to her waiting for the signal from the spotter. He winks at her “Ready to go?”
“No. But I don’t think that I have a choice . . .” returns Harriet as the whistle blows and everyone jumps on their tube sliding down the hill.
Robert looks over to see if she is okay. She pushes off slowly and he follows in turn. Robert raises his hands “Yahoo! Whoo hoo!” as he twists and turns down the slope.
Harriet clings for dear life to the handles that are attached to the tube. The snow moves more quickly than she anticipated. Out of the corner of her eye, Harriet sees the flashing of colors made from a variety of coats tubing to the side of her. She finally crashes at the bottom of the hill.
“Wasn’t that great?” as Robert extends a hand to help her up “Let’s try it again!”
Harriet brushes off the snow and a coughs a couple of times. She grabs some cough drops from her pocket and plops them in her mouth.
“Okay! I’ll admit it that was fun. I’m ready to try again!” States Harriet in a hoarse voice having a very good time.
They take the conveyor belt up again. Harriet notices a second stack of tubes meant for two people. “Would you like to go on one of those with me?”
“Sure! Let’s do that when we get down the hill” offers Robert enjoying the few minutes he has with Harriet before the others join them again in line.
April tugs on her mitted cap to cover her ears and pulls on each glove to make sure they are securely on her hands. “Does anyone want to time me? I think that I can make it faster down the hill than anyone else!”
Elton intriguingly looks at her “I bet that I can get down faster. Emma, will you time us?” Elton allows the woman behind him in line to go ahead of him so that April and him can start at the same time together.
Both of them place their tubes on the ground. Elton steps back about ten feet. April notices what he is doing and decides to do the same thing. The whistle blows. Both run as fast as they can and do a belly flop on the tube as it cascades down the mountain side. Elton starts to turn backwards in his tube. April is like a sleek bullet with her arms back and her toes pointed behind her. Jane giggles to Grant standing next to her “April is beating Elton by a mile!” Before he can reach the end, he flips over landing on his backside.
Seeing that she has won, April walks over to Elton and helps him up rubbing it in that she has won the challenge! Elton competitively looks at her and says “Let’s try two out of three!”
Having fun with the day, Grant makes goofy motions like an Egyptian, swimming, a muscle man, and other characters while he makes his way down the hill. He blows kisses to Jane in the lane next to him who shakes her head in return at his silliness but who enjoys his company and flirtation.
Bending down, Emma makes sure that her boots are laced up properly. She is not that comfortable with the incline of the tubing route but doesn’t want anyone else to notice. Knightly stands holding his tube next to her while waiting for her to finish tying her laces. “Are you ready? I think your boots should be tight enough by now. I don’t think they could possibly fall off”.
Emma smirks at him. She places her tube on the snow when it is her turn. Knightly has made an effort to be at the front of the line the same time that she is kindly allowing a couple of children to go in front of him.
“Count off after the whistle and then we can go down together” suggests Knightly. “If you happen to flip over, I can help you, okay.”
“All right, but don’t take off and leave me” warns Emma “I’ll get you back if you do!”
The whistle blows. Emma yells “One, two, three!” and they take down the slope together. Emma can be heard “Whoa! Whoa! Uhhh! Awww!” and then finally “Ugh!” as she runs into the snow barrier unable to stop at the end in spite of Knightly yelling “Put your feet down! Put them down!”
Emma stands up with snow all over her hat and snow suit. But she is laughing brushing herself off so it is clear that she didn’t hurt herself in the process.
“You don’t like following instructions very much, do you?” teasingly asks Knightly helping to brush off the snow that remains on her shoulders.
“I like to do my own thing!” chuckles Emma sticking her nose up in the air and pretending to be offended. The truth of this statement is evident to both of them. Emma walks up beside him and shoves him to the side trying to knock him off balance. He laughs and puts his arms on her shoulders as if using her for support.
Robert is up next at the top of the hill. He decides to like on his stomach face first with his hands spread out in front of him. As the whistle blows he charges down the hill. He hits a speed bump half way down. Both the tube and Robert fly into the air. The tube lands and Robert keeps flying still in a spread eagle position and lands face first into the snow to echoes of laughter behind him.
Harriet picks up some snow and beams him on the back of the head. Robert looks up and sees Harriet bent over in laughter.
“I didn’t know you could throw so well? Where did you learn to do that?” impressed asks Grant at the top of the hill.
“Playing plenty of softball at camp this past summer!” croaks Harriet pleased with her accomplishment.
“I’ll race you down the hill!” shouts Grant.
“Jane, you wunnt to go wuth us?” asks Harriet to Jane standing next to her in the other line as she sneezes yet again.
“Sure!” excited states Jane liking the challenge.
All three back up and run to their assigned inner tube when the whistle blows. Both Harriet and Grant fall stomach first on their tubes. But Jane decides to run and then jump up into the air landing with great force on her backside. The tube takes off. She zooms ahead of both of them with large eyes and a triumphant wave!
At April’s insistence, Elton decides to try the twin inner tube. Robert is at the top with a similar tube waiting for Harriet to return from the bottom of the hill. “Do you want to race?” asks Robert feeling that he has the potential of winning something against Elton.
“April, you want to try?” asks Elton with April already getting into position then turns to Robert “I think that we are going to race!”
Robert sets down the tube as Harriet climbs in. Both Robert and Elton back up for a running start and push off.
The whistle blows again and they both run, push off as Robert lands safely into his seat. Unfortunately, Elton misses. He is halfway in the tube as his feet dangle out to the side. April tries to help him get all of himself in the tube as they twist and turn down the mountainside. He finally gets into the tube just as they come to a stop at the bottom of the hill.
Knightly takes his turn going down the hill but turns around looking for where Emma is at. This movement stalls the inner tube halfway down. Knightly has forged his body into the tube and is having a difficult time getting out of it to start again. He wiggles and squirms. He finally breaks free as the tube starts to head down the hill with him on his side in a rather bizarre formation. Emma meets him at the bottom and helps him get up again.
Jane and Grant share a twin tube for most of the morning with a lot of antics and giggling. They enjoy each other’s company and sense of humor.
Everyone has a great morning of fun. Elton asks “Are you ready to take a break and have some lunch?” to the group assembled at the bottom of the hill a bit exhausted from their adventure.
They follow each other into the dinning room. Elton takes off his cap leaving his hair standing on end. No one tells him to fix it. He looks a bit like Alfalfa from the Little Rascals thinks April to herself. She also wonders, “Maybe I could be Darla.”
They each get their food from the buffet and settle at a large banquet table together. “Why didn’t Ashley or Katie come this morning?” asks Emma curious that they were not there yet.
“They went shopping at the village in town. I heard words like “quaint”, “antiques”, “gift shop” and other things that I wasn’t interested in knowing about between the two of them” explains Robert.
April adds “Well, they missed out on a good time this morning!” teasingly nudging Elton sitting next to her.
“What is on the schedule for the afternoon? I haven’t read it yet” as Harriet loudly barks when finishing her question.
“Skiing, but are you sure that you will be up for it?” asks Elton concerned that she doesn’t sound like she should be outside in the cold weather any more than necessary.
“I’m find. I’ve nuva been skiing buffor” defiantly states Harriet in a husky voice as she blows her nose for the millionth time “I need to take some more Nyquil and I’ll be okay.”
After lunch they go to the rental shop and pick out their skis and other equipment. They offer lessons which Harriet, April, Robert and Jane decide to take. As the certified professional instructor tells them how to put their skis on, how to stop, and how to turn they feel that they are ready for the bunny slope.
Each of them line up for their turn on the ski lift. April moves quickly to be in line with Elton with Jane and Grant talking behind them. They are followed by Knightly and Emma. Robert and Harriet walk slowly up the hill carrying their skis.
April and Elton have been skiing many times before and are comfortable getting on and off. Grant gives Jane a cue when to sit and helps her adjust to her seat as she hangs on to the pole next to her as the safety bar locks into place.
Emma is a little more nervous because of the openness of the chair as it glides over the mountain top. She sits close to Knightly feeling a little more secure that if she starts to fall, he will at least try to catch her before plummeting down to the valley below.
Robert and Harriet sit with ease into their places in the seat after taking a moment to put on their skis. Harriet points out all of the beautiful trees and landscape as they slowly move along in their tethered spot.
Emma stares at Knightly. Uncomfortable Emma refuses to look around either to the sides or below her. Knightly chats about the week-end to keep her mind from focusing on where she is at the moment.
In the chair ahead of them, Jane asks Grant about his skiing experiences. He tells her a few stories of going with friends in previous years. Jane knows some of the people that he mentions and can envision them trying to ski.
As Harriet and Robert meet the end of the road, Harriet realizes that she will have to jump from her chair. Robert gets off easily with the pull rope. But Harriet struggles and doesn’t manage to get off the lift in time. The manager of the lift shuts it down as an attendant moves to help her. Not wanting to inconvenience anyone, Harriet gets up enough nerves and scoots off. She lands and falls face first into the snow. In her embarrassment, she has forgotten how to stand up which she has just learned in her lesson a few minutes ago. Robert slowly skis back to her with his beginner skill level and kindly helps her up along with the attendant.
Grant starts to head down the hill to show off his expert experience and skills in parallel turn skiing. He leaves a splash of snow behind him. Feeling brave, Jane attempts to move slowly as she recalls the advice of the instructor keeping her toes pointed towards each other and her flexible knees bend with her hands out to the side.
Ahead of her, Emma glides down the hill with ease nearly catching up with Grant. Knightly is up on the hill behind her as he attempts to become reacquainted with the whole process of skiing. He edges and slides then edges some more until he is able to grasp control over his movements.
Elton starts down the hill as April grabs his sleeve as she begins to fall in order to keep her balance. Elton moves slowly as April lets go and they slowly sashay down the hill as they have been recently instructed.
Robert skids down the hill alternating between sliding and gliding. Harriet falls in the snow, the bushes, around the trees and just about any place else a few more times and has difficulty getting up but her friends take turns coming to her rescue.
After several hours as the temperature drops and sunset comes to rest behind the mountains, the group heads indoors for the evening. After a quick change of clothes into something much warmer, the group meets again in their assigned meeting room for a time of fellowship.
Harriet walks in with a blanket around her and lays down on the floor waiting for everyone to arrive. It is obvious that she is not feeling well at all.
“Harriet, I think that it would be better if you took a break this evening and went back to your room” suggests Elton rather firmly “You won’t be missing much tonight and I think the rest would be good for you.”
Harriet doesn’t put up much of an argument because her fever is soaring. Robert helps her to the elevator and as he reaches Harriet’s door, Robert pulls out a yellow envelope that he has folded in half from his back pocket.
“When did you get this?” Harriet strains to ask because of her painful sore throat. She is surprised that he is handing her a card.
“I got it at the gift shop this morning” offers Robert “It’s a get well card. I hope you are feeling better soon. I’ll see you tomorrow” as he kisses her burning forehead “I had a great day!”
In that Harriet is not returning for the evening, Robert decides to make it an early night as well and heads back to his room.
For the evening program, Elton has set up a big screen to watch movies. He has brought popcorn which can be roasted in the fireplace in the metal equipment that he also brought with him. He has soda and hot chocolate available as well. The group spreads across the room on their blankets and pillows for a fun night of romantic comedies. Knightly has picked out Emma’s favorite ones because he has watched them with her several times before.
Elton chooses to place his blanket next to Emma. On the other side of Emma Grant has located his spot as well. April claims her seat on the other side of Elton.
After getting a bowl of hot buttered popcorn, Jane sits next to April whom she has gotten to know better in the last couple of days and is beginning to consider a friend after their late night talk the evening before where Jane trustfully and confidentially shared some of her feelings in regards to Grant. Knightly starts the projector and sees that the only place left is between Katie and Ashley who are pleased to have his company to talk to as he asks questions about their day.
As Grant keeps talking and making erroneous statements, Emma is a little distracted secretly watching Knightly talk to the girls but tries to keep it from bothering her. Grant points out several of the jokes and provides a running commentary on his perceptions of what is happening.
Feeling content, Jane occasionally watches Grant but for the most part is absorbed in the drama of the movie. He catches a few glances of Jane when she is not looking. He would rather be talking to her but he wants her to miss him and make known that she is interested in his friendship as well.
In the darkness, Elton feels Emma looking over towards him which she is, but in reality Emma is actually looking past him to casually watch Knightly and the Martin girls talk back and forth. Sulking Emma reclines and sighs. Grant says a few more things that Emma blindly agrees to until Grant realizes that she is not listening to what he is saying at all.
As the movie continues, April sits as close as she can to Elton as he leans and scoots back with each advance. Acutely aware of what is happening Elton is hoping not to make Emma jealous. Elton wants Emma to be happy with him when a chance becomes available to speak with her this week-end before he loses his all of his courage.
The credits roll and Ashley runs to turn on the lights to the squinting eyes and stretches of everyone else. Exhausted from a day of shopping, Ashley and Katie say good night to everyone as they grab their blankets and pillows to head back upstairs to their room.
As Jane stands up and stretches, Grant bends down and starts to fold her blanket for her. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that” replies Jane.
“I don’t mind. It was fun to hang out with you again today. Umm . . . maybe we could do it sometime again” offers Grant “I know that Emma and Robert had a good time and they could come along too”.
Not knowing if the invitation is meant to be personal or a group effort, Jane replies somewhat flatly “That sounds like a good idea” as Grant hands the folded blanket back to her a little puzzled with the tone of her response.
As everyone shuffles their belongings, Emma starts to pick up the stray pieces of popcorn on the floor. Knightly replies “They have vacuums for that”.
“I know. I didn’t want to leave the room in such a mess” earnestly replies Emma.
“It’s not that bad and it will only take a few minutes in the morning I’m sure” answers Knightly putting away the media equipment “Did you like the movies?”
“Yes! They were two of my favorites!” replies Emma “Did you pick them out? Or were they the only ones available from the Red Box?”
“I’ll never tell” replies Knightly with a smile pleased that Emma liked them so much and that he made a good choice.
Noticing that Knightly and Emma are talking, Elton walks up interrupting them and uncharacteristically puts his arm around Emma’s shoulders, “I thought it was a great choice Knightly! I think everyone enjoyed them tonight! Isn’t that right, Emma?”
Emma nods as she slowly steps away from Elton leaving plenty of space between them “I have both of the movies at home and like to watch them quite often.”
“You’ll have to come over sometime to my house and we can watch some of my favorite movies” suggests Elton with a little more emphasis than usual in his invitation.
“It would be nice. I’m sure all of us would like to get together again sometime in the near future. A movie night sounds like a terrific idea!” lively states Emma at this new idea hoping that Knightly will come down for the day and join them.
Knightly misinterprets Emma’s enthusiasm. Momentarily, he considers maybe that he has been misreading her responses to Elton.
“Would you come?” ask Emma looking at Knightly.
“It depends on what is on my schedule at the time” replies Knightly not with much conviction.
Emma is bewildered by his lack of interest in wanting to spend more time with her especially after they had such a good day together. “Oh, all right. I’ll let you know in plenty of time so you can put it in your calendar.”
“That sounds fine with me” returns Knightly a little short with her in his tone but not very excited at the idea of watching Emma with Grant or Elton.
Jane, Grant, Knightly and Emma say goodnight and head for the elevators. Wanting to spend more time alone with Elton, April stays and helps Elton to set up for tomorrow’s final meeting in the morning.
“Have you ever been to Bristol?” asks April “The area is very beautiful and there are lots of things to do there”.
“No, I’ve never had that opportunity” replies Elton rather flatly.
“Do you have any vacation time left?” asks April
“Yes, I still have all three weeks which I don’t have any plans for as of yet” answers Elton straightening the chairs into rows.
“I have an advisory board member that has gone to Florida for the winter. He said that if I ever have any friends visit that they can stay at his house free of charge” offers April.
“How can he do that? Why would he do that?” asks Elton.
“Well, he would rather that the house be occupied and used during the winter so that there are less maintenance problems to return to in the spring” explains April “It really would be no trouble at all if you were able to come for a visit. You could stay as long as you would like to. I could take you around and show you all the sights”.
“I’ll have to see. It sounds like an interesting offer” states Elton considering that Emma could come with him as well on vacation and stay with April at her house “I’ll let you know in the next couple of weeks. There are some things coming up that I need some clarification about and then I will let you know.”
Thrilled by this statement, April swiftly helps him put everything into place “Call me and I’ll make the arrangements. You have my number.”
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