Cocoa Read Online Free PDF

how to ski, that first time up inVermont. He fell again, and picked himself up again. Kick, glide, kick, glide. Then, suddenly, he was doing it! He found his balance and began to slide over the snow, his arms and legs finding their own rhythm.
    “Look, Mom!” he yelled. “I’m doing it. I can ski!”
    “Great!” she called. She followed him around the track, pulling the Bean in his sled as Cocoa dragged her along from the front. “I’m in a one-horse open sleigh!” the Bean yelled. “You’re my horsie, Mommy!”
    Charles laughed.
    Then he fell again.
    Cocoa dragged Mom over to where Charles lay. “Are you okay?” Mom asked.
    “I’m fine,” said Charles, struggling to his feet. His skis got all tangled with his poles and he almost went down again. Falling wasn’t so bad — it was the getting-up part that was hard.
    Soon he was back up and skiing. “Go, Charles!” Mom yelled. “Looking good!”
    “Yay, Charles!” shouted the Bean. “Bells of jolly!”
    Then Cocoa started to bark. She barked louder and louder, dragging Mom faster and faster along the track. “Help!” Mom yelled. “I can’t hold her!”
    What was the big brown pup barking at? Charles looked toward the parking lot and saw two people walking toward them. Harry and Dawna!
    Charles glanced back just in time to see Cocoa pull the leash right out of Mom’s hand. She came charging toward Charles, on her way to greet the newcomers. Loose dog! Without thinking, Charles threw down his ski poles and grabbed the end of her leash as she galloped by. With a jerk, he felt the powerful dog begin to tow him along, and his skis hummed through the snow. He was going faster than he had ever gone on his own. For asecond he was scared. But only for a second. This was way more fun than sledding. “Wheee!” he yelled. Somehow, he managed to stay upright.
    “Better let her go!” yelled Harry. “We’ll catch her.”
    Charles let go of the leash. He glided to a stop as Cocoa charged ahead, straight for Harry. “Got her!” yelled Harry, as he grabbed the leash. He and Dawna laughed and hooted as Cocoa jumped and twirled and barked.
    “Whoa, Charles,” said Dawna, as he skiied up to them. “That was awesome. Harry said you could ski, but I didn’t know you could skijor!”

Charles stood panting, trying to catch his breath, while Cocoa danced around Harry and Dawna, leaping up to kiss their noses.
     
    Hi, hi, hi! I know you! It’s always great to see friends!
     
    “Skijor?” Charles asked finally, when he could speak again. “I don’t even know what that is, much less how to do it.”
    “Skijoring is a sport that started in Scandinavia. It’s sort of like dogsledding, only instead of the dog pulling a sled, the dog is pulling you — onskis,” Dawna told him, as she petted Cocoa and rubbed her ears. “A friend of mine does it every winter. She loves it. Of course, you can’t really do it the way you were, with a regular leash and collar. That wouldn’t be safe for the dog. You need a special type of harness. Isn’t that right, Cocoa?” She scratched Cocoa’s head and Cocoa grinned her happy dog grin.
    “Hey, maybe you could borrow Cocoa and try it out,” Harry said to Dawna. “She’d probably be great at skijoring, since she loves to pull.”
    “You’d be more than welcome to,” Mom said. She had finally caught up to them, towing the Bean on his sled. When she panted, big puffs of white frosty breath hung in the cold, still air. “This puppy needs more exercise than any puppy we’ve ever fostered.”
    “Deck the halls with bells of jolly,” sang theBean from his seat on the sled. He flashed Harry and Dawna his cutest smile, the one with dimples.
    Harry and Dawna both giggled. “That is adorable,” said Dawna.
    “Not if you’ve heard it a billion times,” Charles muttered, but he had to admit that the Bean looked pretty cute, all zipped up in his bunny rabbit snowsuit with his ever-present antlers perched atop his