On Thin Ice (11 page)

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Authors: Nancy Krulik

BOOK: On Thin Ice
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Chapter 10
RAVEN TURNS CHICKEN!
That was the headline in the newspaper the next morning. Katie turned beet red as she looked at the picture of Tony Raven sliding down the hill on his rear end. She was really embarrassed. After all, she knew it wasn’t Tony, but Katie Carew who had turned chicken.
Rrringg.
Katie jumped up from the breakfast table to answer the telephone. “Hello?” she said.
“Hey, Katie Kazoo,” George said. “Did you see today’s paper?”
“Yes,” Katie said sadly. “Isn’t it awful?”
“Awful?” George asked. “Are you nuts? I think it’s great.”
“But everybody is making fun of Tony Raven,” Katie insisted.
“It serves him right for being such a snob,” George told her. “I can’t believe I ever liked him.”
“He wasn’t being a snob that day, George,” Katie insisted. “He couldn’t see you. He can’t see
anything
without his glasses on. Everything’s all blurry.”
“How do you know that?” George asked.
Oops.
“I . . . uh . . . I read it somewhere,” Katie said.
“Well, whatever,” George said. “Anyway, after this, I bet his career is over. It says in the newspaper that Winter Wildness Clothing wants to cancel his contract because of what happened.”
Now Katie felt really awful. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to do something. But what?
“I just don’t understand what made Tony Raven act like that,” George continued. “I mean, why would he go down that hill like a kid on a sled?”
Katie’s eyes popped open wide. That was it!
“George, I gotta go,” she said. “There’s something I really have to do!”
 
A few minutes later, Katie was dressed and heading down the block to the Cherrydale Inn. It was only a few blocks from her house, but Katie would have to move really fast. She had to arrive before Tony Raven left town.
“Tony, wait!” Katie shouted as she raced up to the inn. The snowboarder was getting into a limousine with Kerry Gaffigan and another man.
“Oh, it’s you,” Tony said as soon as Katie came into view.
“Hi,” Katie greeted him. “I like your glasses.”
“Thanks,” Tony said. “I’m going to wear them from now on.”
“That’s great,” Katie told him.
Tony turned to Kerry and the other man. “This is Katie, the girl who helped me find my way back here last night,” he introduced her. “Katie, this is Kerry and RJ. RJ is the owner of the Winter Wildness Clothing Company.”
“We’ve met,” Kerry said. “Katie was at my ice-skating show.”
Katie couldn’t believe that someone as famous as Kerry Gaffigan actually remembered her. But Katie couldn’t think about that now.
“I just wanted to tell you how great you were last night,” she said to Tony.
Tony, Kerry, and RJ all looked at her with surprise.
“Great?” RJ asked. “Are you kidding?”
Katie shook her head. “My parents thought he was great, too. They thought it was cool how Tony showed that Winter Wildness clothing brings out the kid in everyone.”
“Huh?” Tony and Kerry said at once.
RJ was scratching his forehead. “Hmm. Not a bad line . . . ‘Winter Wildness—let our clothes bring out the kid in you.’”
“Exactly,” Katie continued. “My mom and dad hate snow. To them, it just means a lot of shoveling. But last night Tony showed grown-ups that if they put on Winter Wildness clothes, they’ll want to get outdoors in the snow, just like when they were kids . . . at least, that’s what my parents said.”
“Was that what you were doing, Tony?” RJ asked him. “Starting your own ad campaign?”
“Well . . . I . . . uh . . .” Tony obviously didn’t know what to say.
“Of course he was,” Katie answered for him. “Couldn’t you tell?”
“Why didn’t you say anything about it?” Kerry asked Tony.
“Maybe he wanted it to be a surprise,” Katie said.
“Yeah, yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise,” Tony echoed.
Katie giggled. It was even a surprise to Tony.
“I like this idea,” RJ said. “I think we should go with it.”
“You do?” Tony asked. “Um . . . I mean, of course you do. It’s a good idea.” He winked at Katie. She winked back.
“In fact, I think we should start a line of kids clothing, too,” RJ added.
“Good thinking, RJ.” Tony paused for a minute. “I have another idea. We should have lots of kids in the commercial with us.” He smiled at Katie. “Do you know any kids who might want to be in it?”
Katie grinned back at him. Did she
ever
!
Chapter 11
“There I am!” George shouted. “Look at me coming down that mountain next to Tony!”
The kids all stared at the TV screen in Katie’s living room. Two weeks had passed since they had helped make the Winter Wildness Clothing commercial. They were watching it now for the first time.
“Wow!” Katie exclaimed as she saw Tony take on a big mogul.
“And there I am, skating on the ice, right next to Kerry,” Emma S. squealed.
“Oooh, I see us, Katie!” Jeremy shouted.
Katie smiled. Sure enough, there she was, having a snowball fight with Jeremy, Kerry, and Tony. They were on TV!
“There’s Miriam, Emma W., and me having hot chocolate with Tony Raven and Kerry Gaffigan,” Kevin shouted excitedly.
“I’ll bet my snow angel scene is next,” Suzanne boasted. “I was the most professional actor there. The director is definitely going to want to end the commercial with the best performer.”
The kids all rolled their eyes.
“Yep, here I come,” Suzanne said. “That’s the pink and white parka I was wearing.” Sure enough, a pink and white ski jacket came into focus on the screen. “Wait until you guys see how beautiful I look on camera.”
The camera closed in on the sleeve of Suzanne’s jacket, where the words
Winter Wildness
were written.
Then the announcer said, “Winter Wildness Clothing. It will bring out the kid in you.”
And that was it. The commercial was over.
Katie glanced over at her best friend. Poor Suzanne. They’d never even shown her face!
Nobody said anything for a minute. They all felt too bad for Suzanne. The kids knew exactly what she had to be thinking.
A second later, it was Suzanne who broke the silence. “The point of a commercial is to sell the product,” she said confidently. “Any real model knows that. You could see the words
Winter Wildness
clearly on my sleeve. It’s what people will remember.
My
part in the commercial was the most important!”
Katie choked back a laugh. Suzanne would never change.
Still, sometimes it was good when things stayed the same. Especially since sooner or later, the magic wind would come back, and then
everything
would change for Katie Kazoo. One, two . . . switcheroo!
About the Author
NANCY KRULIK
is the author of more than 150 books for children and young adults, including three
New York Times
bestsellers. She lives in New York City with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser, their children, Amanda and Ian, and Pepper, a chocolate and white spaniel mix. When she’s not busy writing the
Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo
series, Nancy loves swimming, reading, and going to the movies.
About the Illustrators
JOHN & WENDY’S
art has been featured in other books for children, in magazines, on stationery, and on toys. When they are not drawing Katie and her friends, they like to paint, take photographs, travel, and play music in their rock
’
n
’
roll band. They live and work in Brooklyn, New York.

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