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Try again they did, over and over again. Gnome set them off at a fast pace with little interval
between them, ensuring there was no hanging about waiting for turns. Inevitable as he shouted
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instruction to Christopher the others began to pick up the tips and soon they had all mastered that
awkward early turn, but, all of them were still struggling to control themselves at the end. It was Danny
who cracked it first and managed to finish the run with out a fall. He whooped and cheered himself
triumphantly and received a good drubbing in the snow from the others for his success.
When it was time for lunch, which they were all desperately ready for, Gnome nodded towards
a wooden hut with smoke pouring out of a battered grey metal chimney. It had been wafting a delicious
smell over the slopes for some time.
 We are going there. One of my brothers owns it I have ordered chickens for you.
Wild Hair gave a cheer,  My father ate there yesterday, he said the chickens are huge.
 I need a huge drink! announced Christopher, red with exertion.
 So do I murmured Gnome.
 I m going to drink three skiwasser, one after the other. predicted Danny.
 I m going to drink four boasted Christopher.
The class moved off to the restaurant yelling and joking about how many skiwassers they were
going to have. They flumped down on the outside benches under the protection of a jutting parapet of
roof, perfectly warm enough and sheltered from the still steady fall of snow.
Gnome went straight off to announce their arrival and returned to their table with a glass of beer
in his hand. Wild Hair shuffled along his bench seat to make room for him but he shook his head,
 No thank you, I will be talking to my brother in the back. Your food will be here soon. I think
we will be racing at Inner Alpbach so I will book us in again for tomorrow; we will come in late, after
the race.
This last statement caused a shiver of excitement down Christopher s spine, he had got to get
this Super Gold, he must get more practice this afternoon.
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 Are we going to practise again this afternoon? he demanded before Gnome could leave them.
Gnome looked at them surprised,  Don t you want to go up to 2000? The conditions have improved, I
would have thought you would want to do some proper skiing.
The class instantly fell into argument. They were divided, half wanted to do more practise, half
had had enough thank you. Gnome shrugged,
 Well make your minds up by the time you have finished lunch.
The making up of minds was easier said than done. Surprisingly to Christopher, Wild Hair
wanted to be off skiing, he had done enough practice and he was getting bored with it. Danny was as
enthusiastic as Christopher, the final successful clear run had given him a taste of victory. The
argument was interrupted by huge platefuls of spit roasted chicken served with hunks of brown bread
and mountains of coleslaw. A temporary truce was effected as the class devoured every scrap set in
front of them. And then the argument resumed. Christopher and Danny were out numbered, the rest of
the class reformed their old allegiance with Wild Hair and they were clearly not going to get their way.
Christopher felt a huge bubble of anger rising in him. He could do 2000 any time, the race was
tomorrow!
Gnome returned,
 Well, what is the verdict? he enquired.
 We go to the 2000. stated Wild Hair. Christopher groaned and thumped his head forward
down on to table.
 No! he wailed in frustration.
Gnome leaned forward onto their table.
 We race at 12.00 tomorrow, there will be most of the morning to practise, you can meet me
here for an even earlier start if you want.
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Christopher s head jerked up,
 Yes! he accepted instantly,  What time?
 8.30am replied Gnome.
 Well I am not Wild Hair interrupted,  that s far too early, I shall only be on my second
sausage.
The class roared with laughter.
 Very well  Sausage Boy  replied Gnome,  you can all join the early birds here when you are
ready. Anyone who wants an early practice can get here early.
Christopher and Danny cheered. The argument resolved, they scrambled for gloves, hats,
scarves and still damp jackets, creating a turmoil of activity in the restaurant. Christopher had slipped
his gloves onto the side of the stone fire and they were incredibly warm when he struggled his hands
into them; he couldn t help smiling smugly to himself as Max wailed that his were still wet.
Although it didn t actually stop snowing, the furious rate at which the early suds had doused the
mountain now abated. The constant spattering of snow against goggles was less annoying than the
 white out of the morning. Despite having wanted to practice more, Christopher enjoyed the
afternoon s skiing immensely. Gnome excelled himself in leading the class through the very best of the
terrain; there were many deviations off piste onto gloriously untouched flanks of snow. One such area
turned out to be a mogul field and the latter part of the afternoon turned into a mogul skiing lesson.
 Turn on top of the mogul shouted Gnome as he suddenly veered off into the open expanse of
raised pudding- like hillocks. He sashayed down the route effortlessly swinging round on each mogul
top. The boys whooped and hollered as they attempted to follow him. It was carnage. Christopher could
hardly ski he was laughing so much at the antics of the others. And it was difficult! You needed to find
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your rhythm and be disciplined about making the turn exactly when it should be made, not thinking,
 I ll just trundle along a few more feet . You went smack bang into the next mogul if you did that.
It was such a good afternoon s skiing that when Gnome took them back to the meeting point
and nodded his usual goodbye Danny piped up with a bit of a thank you,
 Thanks for the skiing, it was ace!
Gnome paused mid turn,
 You re welcome he replied quietly,  and don t forget, early birds catch the worm. With
which parting shot he was gone.
Christopher and Danny gave each other significant looks. They didn t just want that worm, they
wanted a gold medal, a Super Gold medal.
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Chapter Eight
On waking the next morning, the first thing that Christopher did was check the weather. He
hopped out of his warm cocoon of quilt that had been tangled around his body and rushed across to the
window to tweak the curtains to one side. He couldn t belive his eyes. It wasn t snowing  it was
raining! What was going on? It couldn t be raining it would melt all the snow. They wouldn t be able to
race! He dropped the curtain back and slumped down on the side of the bed. This was disastrous.
Mum and Dad tried to encourage him at breakfast, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]