Gymnastics Mystery (2 page)

“That was an easy mistake to make,” Benny said to Katya. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “There were lots of black bags just like yours on that merry-go-round.”

“I know,” she said, on the verge of tears. “But I should have checked the tag. I was so excited—”

Jessie grabbed the luggage tag hanging from the strap. “This bag belongs to Al Stockton. He lives in Rockwell.”

“That’s the next town over,” Violet said.

Now Grandfather came by. “I see long faces in here. What’s the matter?”

Jessie explained about the bag mix-up.

Grandfather looked at the tag and said, “Mr. Stockton only has his address on here. No phone number. So we’ll deliver his bag to Rockwell tomorrow after breakfast.”

“Do you think he has mine?” Katya asked anxiously.

“It’s possible,” Grandfather assured her. “Your coach told me your luggage would have our address on the tag. Whoever has it will surely return it. Now let’s all get some rest and tackle this problem in the morning.”

“We’ll lend you things for the night,” Jessie offered. “There are extra toothbrushes in the bathroom. And a pair of Violet’s pajamas will be a little large but will do for now.”

“Thank you,” said Katya, blinking back tears. “I’m sorry to be so much trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Grandfather. “We want you to concentrate on the competition and do your best.”

The next morning was sunny but cold. Mrs. McGregor cooked a hearty breakfast of French toast, poached eggs, and sausage patties.

“This ought to chase the chill away,” the housekeeper said, setting platters on the table.

Benny sat next to Katya again. “Mrs. McGregor makes the best French toast.” He handed the plate to her first, even though he was very hungry.

Before anyone could take a single bite, the doorbell rang insistently. Mrs. McGregor left to answer it. She came back leading a tall, black-haired man. He wore a yellow cap and carried a dusty duffel.

Violet realized instantly it was the mysterious man from the airport the day before.

“You!” the man accused Katya. “You took my bag!”

Katya shrank in her chair, frightened by his blustering manner.

“Now, see here.” Grandfather pushed away from the table. “Speak in a civil tone when you are in my home. And please announce yourself.”

“Al Stockton. I’m returning this.” He thrust the bag at Katya.

“My bag!” she cried. “Thank you so much.”

“Where’s mine? Do you have it?” Al demanded.

Katya sprang to her feet. “Yes, I do. I’ll get it right away.” She ran upstairs with her own bag.

“We were on our way to your house as soon as we had finished breakfast,” Grandfather told Mr. Stockton. “Since your phone number wasn’t on your luggage tag, we weren’t able to call.”

“You’re lucky,” Henry added. “You picked up Katya’s bag and she picked up yours by mistake. Someone else could have had yours.”

Katya returned with Mr. Stockton’s duffel. He practically snatched it out of her hands.

“Did you go through my stuff?” he inquired.

Jessie came to their guest’s defense. “We only unzipped the bag and saw enough to know it wasn’t Katya’s.”

“I think an apology is in order,” Grandfather prodded.

“Sorry,” Mr. Stockton mumbled gruffly.

Benny noticed the mystery man couldn’t look at Katya. It was almost as if he were
afraid
of her. But why?

Then Benny remembered the tiny silver key he had found at the airport. He was sure Mr. Stockton had dropped it. But before Benny could mention it, the man was gone.

“What a strange man,” Henry observed. He added to Katya, “Not all Americans are like Mr. Stockton.”

She smiled. “Not all Russians are so nice, either.”

It was time to drive Katya to the arena. She changed into a blue-and-white warm-up suit and carried a water bottle and her sports bag. The Aldens were excited at the idea of watching a professional gymnast practice.

Grandfather let them off at the main entrance to the sports facility, promising to return when Katya’s morning session was over.

When they entered the huge arena, the Alden children stared in astonishment. Everywhere young people flipped over bars, performed handstands on thin poles, and cartwheeled across thick blue mats.

“Wow!” exclaimed Benny. “It’s like those people at the circus. What do you call them?”

“Acrobats,” Henry replied.

“Some of the tricks we do in gymnastics are what acrobats do,” said Katya. “There’s my coach!”

A woman with short blond hair strode over with a clipboard. “Katya,” she said in the same accent as Katya’s. “I’m so glad to see you. Are you ready to begin?”

“Yes. These are the Aldens, the family I am staying with.” She introduced Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny to her coach, who was named Irina.

“Is it okay if we watch?” Jessie asked. The athletes were practicing for a serious competition, she knew. Maybe they didn’t like outsiders around while they worked.

“Of course,” said Irina. “Gymnasts are used to spectators. Katya will warm up and stretch first. Then she will go through her sets on the balance beam and the uneven parallel bars.”

Taking off her blue-and-white jacket, Katya laid it on a bleacher seat. Then she stepped out of the pants and took off her shoes and socks.

Dressed in a matching blue-and-white leotard, the girl seemed tinier than ever, Violet thought. But her legs and shoulders looked strong.

Katya joined the other members of her team. The Aldens found seats in the bleachers near where the team was working.

“I have to condition first,” Katya told them from the mat. “If I don’t, I could pull a muscle and hurt myself.”

She did sit-ups, push-ups, and ran around the arena. When she returned from her run, she sat on the mat and stretched.

“These exercises keep my muscles limber,” she said, sitting so her legs were straight out to her sides. “This is called a straddle split.”

After warming up, Katya went over to the balance beam. The Aldens were in awe as Katya leaped lightly onto the narrow beam and performed tricks on it. Her coach stood nearby, in case she fell.

Next Katya did her routine on the uneven parallel bars. These were two bars set at different heights. Katya rubbed chalk on her hands so she wouldn’t slip, then swung from the lowest bar. Her legs split as she flipped completely over, catching her hands on the higher bar.

“Look at that!” gasped Benny.

“She’s great,” Henry agreed.

When the session was over, a breathless Katya joined the Aldens. She immediately pulled on her warm-up suit.

“So my muscles will not get cold,” she explained.

“Can you teach me to do that?” Benny asked.

Katya laughed. “Well, maybe one or two things.”

“Yippee!” Benny was delighted.

They left the arena and walked out to the curb, where Grandfather was waiting in the station wagon.

“How did it go?” he asked.

“Katya is the best one,” Benny stated. “She’s going to teach me to be a gymnast, too. How long will it take?”

“About five years,” Katya replied.

“Oh,” said Benny thoughtfully. “Can you stay with us that long?”

Grandfather, the older Alden children, and Katya burst into laughter. Benny looked disappointed.

Back home, they all sat down to a lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Katya explained how she had been training since she was younger than Benny.

“I won my first competition when I was six,” she said.

“That’s how old I am now,” Benny said, dismayed.

“But Katya had been training for years,” Grandfather reminded him.

Jessie tried to imagine being so good at something at such a young age. “How do you train?”

“I go to the gym every day,” Katya replied. “I work with Irina at least five hours. Then I go to school. After school, I work another hour or two at home. My father built a low balance beam, only a few inches off the floor. So I can work without worrying about falling.”

“Whew!” Henry commented. “That’s a lot of hard work.”

“Yes, but I enjoy it,” said Katya. “My home—” She broke off suddenly.

“What about your home?” Violet urged.

Katya stared into her soup bowl. “It is nothing. I am chattering too much.”

Grandfather reviewed a sheet Katya’s coach had sent him. “Katya is supposed to rest after lunch. Then we’ll take her back to the arena for her afternoon workout.”

“Do you have to do this every day?” asked Violet.

Katya nodded. “It is the way our team prepares for competitions. But I have free time after my second practice.”

“We’ll do something fun,” Jessie promised. “You can’t work every second!”

When Katya went upstairs to take a nap, the Alden children cleared the table.

“I wonder why Katya quit talking about her parents,” mused Violet. “She hasn’t told us anything about her home in Russia yet.” Henry stacked soup bowls. “She hasn’t had much time, Violet. Maybe she’ll tell us tonight when we go out.”

But Violet remembered yesterday when she asked Katya the same question.
Why did Katya avoid talking about herself and her life back in Russia?
she wondered.

The afternoon session at the arena was just as hectic. Boys and girls twisted, flipped, and spun around on bars, rings, beams, and mats.

Once again, Katya removed her warm-up suit as the Aldens found seats nearby on the bleachers.

An American girl about Katya’s age was stretching on the mat. She was close enough to the bleachers that the Aldens could hear her speak to Katya.

“Hi,” said the girl.

“Hello,” Katya replied.

“My name is Denise,” said the American. “I think our teams are competing against each other.”

“We are in the same class?” asked Katya. “Well, I wish you the best of luck.”

At that moment, Denise’s mother swooped down from the bleachers. She took Denise by the hand and led her across the room.

The Aldens came to the edge of the mat where Katya was now stretching alone.

“What happened?” asked Benny. “Why did she make Denise leave?”

“Some people think we should be enemies just because we are competing on different teams,” Katya replied matter-of-factly.

Irina came over then and helped Katya perform different vaults over a leather-padded, barrel-shaped piece of equipment about chest high. Irina called it a horse. The Aldens held their breath as Katya ran as hard as she could toward the horse, then sprang off a short board. After pushing off the horse, she tucked her body tightly into a ball, spun once high in midair, and then untucked and came down lightly on her feet, her body straight as a pole.

When she landed, arms up, she took a small step back to catch her balance.

“Stick the landing. You know, stand firm and still when you land,” Irina chided. “The judges will subtract points if you step off.”

Katya nodded. “I will do better.”

Her last workout was the floor routine. While music played from a tape deck, Katya turned, cartwheeled, and somersaulted across the wide blue mat.

“That’s what I want to do!” Benny declared.

Katya came over, mopping her face with a towel. “Did you enjoy that? My coach and I worked very hard to put together a routine to that piece of music.”

“It looks so hard,” Violet said.

Their guest grinned. “It is actually the most fun.” She reached for the pants of her warm-up suit, then frowned. “Where is my jacket?”

Violet spotted the blue garment crumpled on the floor. When she picked it up, she saw the jacket was wet.

“Oh, no,” groaned Katya. “There is water all over my jacket. How will I keep warm now?”

“You can borrow mine,” Henry offered. His coat was too big, but at least Katya wouldn’t catch cold.

Jessie found Katya’s water bottle under the bleachers.

“Look,” she said. “The bottle is empty, but the cap is on! Someone must have poured water on Katya’s jacket, then put the cap back on.”

“Why would anyone do that?” asked Violet.

As the Aldens left, Jessie scanned the bleachers around the arena. She didn’t see Denise’s blond mother, only a red-haired woman wearing blue sweatpants and matching sweatshirt. The woman was watching them.

Could she have poured water all over Katya’s warm-up suit?
Jessie wondered.

If so,
why?

“Mmm! This is very good,” said Katya as she nibbled on a slice of pizza.

“Joe’s has the best pizza in the town square,” Jessie agreed, sampling a piece of pepperoni.

“I like everybody’s pizza,” Benny put in. He had cheese stuck to his chin.

Violet laughed, handing him a paper napkin. “That’s true. Benny hasn’t met a piece of pizza he didn’t like.”

“What do you think of our town?” Henry asked Katya.

“It is very pretty,” Katya replied.

The children had decided that Katya would enjoy walking around the town square after her long day of practice. Mrs. McGregor had fixed a light supper so they wouldn’t be too full for treats like pizza and ice cream. Then Grandfather drove them into town, giving Jessie spending money.

Although it was dark outside, the square was brightly lit and all the shops were open.