Katya was poised on the mat at one end of the balance beam. She looked toward the judges. The head judge signaled that they were ready. Then Katya took a deep breath and raised her arm in return.
With a swift move she straddled the end of the beam. Her hands on either side of the narrow wood, she eased into a handstand, then came down into a V-sit.
Violet Alden held her breath. She knew that Katya’s routine was one minute and twenty-five seconds. If it was too long or too short, the judges would take points from her score.
“Now she’s changing directions,” Jessie said, watching Katya pivot smoothly on one foot.
That was another requirement. Katya’s eyes were straight ahead as she waved her arms gracefully and pointed her toes. Next she performed a stride leap, springing up and down into a split. A headstand turned her in the opposite direction. Then, in a flurry of cartwheels, Katya was across the beam. She dismounted with a round-off.
Standing on the mat a second to gain her balance, she raised her arms and arched her back. She had stuck the landing!
“She did it!” Benny cried, applauding along with the audience.
The Aldens eagerly awaited the five judges’ scores. Katya received 9.7 from four judges and a 9.8 from one.
“Very good scores,” Henry commented. “If Al Stockton is bothering Katya by being here, it’s not affecting her routines.”
The rest of Katya’s team performed, and then it was the American team’s turn. Denise was in the lead position, getting the same marks as Katya.
Jessie watched Mrs. Patterson write down the scores on her score sheet. She did not look happy. Jessie figured the woman wanted her daughter to score higher than Katya. As far as Jessie could tell, Katya and Denise were evenly matched.
The announcer called for an intermission. The Alden children used the opportunity to find Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor.
“There you are!” said the housekeeper. “We wondered where you’ve been.”
“We didn’t mean for you to worry,” Violet apologized. “But we need to keep an eye on Katya. She—” Without revealing the question of Katya’s mysterious identity, Violet continued, “She’s nervous and likes to have us nearby.”
Grandfather nodded. “I understand. You have become friends this week. She’s a very nice girl.”
I only hope she’s telling the truth about who she is, Violet thought. She would hate to have her grandfather disappointed.
“Katya’s scores are excellent,” Grandfather said. “She did well on the vault and aced her bar and beam routines.”
“I hope she wins,” Mrs. McGregor said firmly.
“They’re starting again,” Benny said. “We’d better get over there.”
The last event was the floor routine. The audience buzzed with excitement. Floor routines gave the gymnasts a chance to show their best skills.
Music blared from the loudspeakers. The audience clapped with the beat as the first gymnast performed.
Soon it was Katya’s turn again. She stood at the corner of the huge blue mat, waiting for her music. Jessie could see her coach frantically rummaging through a bag.
Katya threw a worried glance at Irina.
“I bet the tape with Katya’s new music is gone again!” Violet declared.
Jessie pulled a cassette from her pocket. “Well, this time we’re prepared.” She strode over to Irina. “We made an extra copy, just in case.”
A look of immense relief broke over the coach’s face. “Thank you very much. You are such a good friend to Katya.” Then she hurried to the music station.
In seconds, Katya’s music poured from the loudspeakers. Katya smiled and began her first tumbling pass.
“Good thing you thought of making an extra copy of Katya’s tape,” Henry praised Jessie.
“Too many weird things have happened at this competition,” Jessie said modestly. “I just wanted to make sure nothing else went wrong.”
“It’s awfully funny how Katya’s music keeps disappearing,” said Benny.
Jessie didn’t think it was funny at all. She couldn’t keep her eyes on all the suspects at the arena, but she had a good idea who the culprit was.
On her last tumbling pass, Katya was even better than she’d been in practice. The Alden children had worked with her the night before in their basement, until Katya had perfected every move.
Now Katya stopped precisely at the far corner, not stepping out of bounds, and raised her arms in the air.
The audience loved her routine. They stamped and cheered. Katya bowed to both sides of the arena. She looked happy, as if she knew she had performed well.
The judges must have felt the same way, Henry thought as he watched the white cards flip over. Every judge scored her floor routine at 9.9, the highest score received that day on the junior team.
Katya sat down with her teammates, who patted her on the back. The American team performed next. Denise’s floor routine was good, but not as daring as Katya’s. Denise received scores of 9.7 and a 9.8. Jessie saw Mrs. Patterson’s face fall when the scores were displayed.
“The competition is over for Katya’s class,” Henry told the others. “It’s time for the awards.”
At the judges’ table, the men and women conferred briefly. Then the announcer spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “First place for the all-around gymnast goes to Katya Ludskaya of Russia!”
The Aldens clapped harder than anyone. Benny even whistled as Katya climbed up on the stage to receive her medal.
Denise Patterson was the second-place winner and a girl from the Romanian team won third. Katya and Denise hugged each other as photographers snapped the winners’ picture.
“This is so exciting!” Violet cried, still clapping.
Next, the award was announced for the best team performance.
The American gymnasts took the first-place medal, with Katya’s team winning second. Once more, Katya and Denise hugged each other.
“There’re even!” Benny cheered.
“And they’re friends,” Jessie said. “Even though Denise’s mother tried to keep them apart.”
When the ceremony was over, Katya and Denise came over to the Aldens. The girls glowed with happiness, wearing their medals.
“Congratulations,” Henry said. “You both were great.”
“Thanks,” said Denise. “Katya and I are going to write to each other. We’ll probably see each other at other competitions, too.”
“Uh-oh,” said Katya. “Your mother is coming.”
“I’d better get back to my team,” Denise said. “See you later, Katya.”
Mrs. Patterson swept in their direction. But instead of following her daughter, Mrs. Patterson halted in front of Katya.
“I want to apologize,” she said. “I’ve done some terrible things the last few days.”
“You were the one who poured water on Katya’s warm-up jacket,” Jessie said. “And you hid the chalk for the uneven parallel bars.”
Mrs. Patterson nodded, ducking her head in shame. “I also took your music for your floor routine. I didn’t mean to hurt you ... I just wanted Denise to win.”
“She did win,” Katya said. “She is a very good gymnast.”
“But not as good as you,” said the woman. “I watched you during the early practice sessions. You have a drive that Denise doesn’t.”
Jessie turned to her. “Were you wearing blue sweatpants and a red wig the other day?”
Mrs. Patterson blushed. “Yes. Sometimes I put on a disguise to check out Denise’s competition. Well ...” She was too embarrassed to say anything else. “I’d better find my daughter.”
“Unbelievable!” Violet exploded when the woman had left. “She did all that to help her daughter win!”
“It didn’t matter,” Henry pointed out. “Katya won anyway.”
“I’m glad we solved the gymnastics part of the mystery,” Benny said. “But we still have lots of questions left.”
“Like why Al Stockton is following you everywhere,” Violet said to Katya.
“He has looked at me strangely ever since the day he came to your house to pick up his bag,” Katya remarked nervously. “I do not know why he keeps watching me.”
“Maybe we can find out,” Henry said thoughtfully. “I have an idea.”
“What is it?” asked Jessie.
“Remember those pictures Benny saw that fell out of Al Stockton’s camera bag?”
Jessie nodded, then explained to Katya about the photographs. She didn’t mention that the photograph of the house was the same house in Katya’s letter.
“We’re going to make one of the pictures come to life,” said Henry.
“How are we going to do that?” Benny wanted to know.
“If Mrs. Patterson can disguise herself, so can Katya!”
The children went back to the concession area. Henry and Benny waited outside the ladies’ rest room while Jessie, Violet, and Katya went inside.
When the girls emerged, Violet was wearing Katya’s warm-up suit.
Katya had on Violet’s purple jumper and pink long-sleeved turtleneck. Her ponytail had been combed out. Her gleaming blond hair fell softly to her shoulders.
“Here comes Al Stockton,” Henry said. “Right on cue.”
Jessie gave Katya a little push forward. “It’ll be all right. We’re right behind you.”
Katya walked into the bright lights of the concession area.
Al turned and stared at her, his jaw dropping.
“You!” he said hoarsely. “I knew it was you when I saw you in the airport! You’ve followed me all the way to America!” |