Cocoa Read Online Free PDF Page A

enough to be on Harry’s team? He hoped he would not embarrass himself in front of Harry and Dawna — not to mention the whole town.

Snow day! Charles knew it as soon as he woke up the next morning. He could tell by the quiet, muffled sounds from outside like the scrape of snow shovels. There were no traffic noises, just the beeping of a snowplow backing up. He jumped out of bed and ran to the window. Sure enough, snow had fallen all night long, leaving a thick white blanket covering everything in sight. A few flakes still drifted down.
    “Snow day!” he said to Buddy and Cocoa. They stretched and yawned on the rug next to his bed, where they had slept all curled up next to each other.
    “Snow day!” said Lizzie, popping into the room. “Mom just checked online. All the schools are closed. Yahoo!” She opened her arms wide to let Cocoa jump up on her, and they waltzed around together. “Want to go sledding? I’m going to call Maria and tell her to meet me at the school.”
    Sledding sounded great — but Charles had other things on his mind. “I have to practice my skiing,” he said. “For the relay race.” He wasn’t even sure where his skis were, but hopefully Mom could help him find them.
    It seemed like hours before they were ready to go: first there was breakfast, then there was getting dressed, including stuffing the Bean into his snowsuit and boots from last year (which didn’t fit so well anymore) then finding the skis, then loading all the sleds and skis — and two puppies — into the van. Charles got covered withsnow as he helped Dad shovel the driveway, and had to change into a different jacket and find his other mittens. But finally, they were on their way, singing “Deck the halls with bells of jolly” as Mom drove.
    As they neared the school, Charles could see that the sledding hill was packed. Dozens of kids — and grown-ups, too — were sliding down and climbing back up. Their jackets and hats made splotches of bright color against the white snow. “Mom, can you drop me off over on the other side?” Charles asked. “I want to practice skiing on the flat part.” Flat — and private. Charles didn’t want anyone watching him until he remembered how the whole skiing thing worked. Harry and Dawna would be arriving soon for a team practice — Harry had called that morning to make a plan — but Charles knew he needed to practice on his own first.
    “Let’s drop Lizzie off,” Mom said. “Then the Bean and I will come watch you.” She had brought the Bean’s sled to tow him around on.
    “Buddy can come with me,” Lizzie said. “He’s always good around the sledders. He never barks or chases.”
    “Okay,” said Mom. “As long as you keep an eye on him. And we’ll take Cocoa.”
    Charles watched a little wistfully as Lizzie ran to join Maria. He loved sledding, and he could see his friends Sammy and David racing each other down the hill. But if he was going to be part of Rudolph’s Revenge, he had to practice his skiing.
    Mom parked over by the running track, and Charles unloaded his skis and set them on the snow. He leaned on his ski poles as he pushed the toes of his boots into one binding and then the other. Click. Click. Done! Charles stoodup straight, smiling and ready to go. Then he fell — splat! — onto his back.
    Cocoa bounded over, towing Mom through the snow, and began to lick Charles’s face all over.
     
    Want some kisses?
     
    “Cocoa!” Charles pushed her away. “Not now.” But he couldn’t help laughing. Cocoa was always in such a good mood. And at least Harry and Dawna had not arrived yet, so only Mom and the Bean had seen his not-very-graceful fall. He grabbed on to Cocoa’s collar and leaned on her to help himself up. Then he got himself arranged again and slipped his hands through his pole straps.
    As Mom got the Bean tucked into his sled, Charles took a first few tentative steps on his skis. Kick, glide, kick, glide. He remembered Dad teaching him