Kate’s Vermonth Adventure (15 page)

Just as quickly, she thought about the woman in the white coat and her husband. If Michael was the one who'd sabotaged the creamery, who were they…and what were they doing in Mad River Valley?

On the day after the big Winter Festival, Kate went to church with her family. She knew their time in Vermont was drawing to a close, and she wanted to enjoy every moment. She couldn't have been more surprised to hear the preacher's topic of the day: forgiveness. What a fun coincidence. Of course, Aunt Molly called it a God-incidence. Kate couldn't help but agree!

A couple of times during the service, Kate looked at Maggie and Michael who sat in the row beside them. He really seemed to pay attention to the sermon. And she felt pretty sure he'd learned his lesson about forgiveness.

But, had
she?

As soon as they arrived back at the inn, they all ate lunch together, then Aunt Molly and Kate's mother washed the dishes. Sydney settled into a chair across from Uncle Ollie to talk about sports, and Kate…well, Kate had something specific on her mind. There was something she needed to do. Something she should have done days before.

Heading over to Uncle Ollie's computer, she signed into her e-mail account. Then, thinking carefully about each word, she began to type.

She read over the e-mail once or twice, then pressed the S
END
button.

Just then, Kate heard her mother's voice behind her. “What are you doing, honey? The others are waiting to open Christmas presents!”

“Oh, just taking care of something I should have done days ago.” Kate turned around and smiled at her mom, feeling contentment in her heart. “Forgiving someone. Or rather,
letting
that someone know I've forgiven him!”

“Wow. Well, I can think of no greater Christmas gift than that. You know, honey, God is in the forgiving business. That's why He sent His Son, Jesus, as a baby in a manger. He knew that we—His children—all needed a Savior.”

Kate nodded. “I know. But I'm glad you reminded me. I'll never look at the baby in the manger the same again, Mom!”

In the next room, Kate heard voices raised in song. Aunt Molly warbled, “Deck the halls with boughs of holly” at the top of her lungs, and the others soon joined in.

“Come and join us, honey,” her mother said, extending her hand. “We've got some celebrating to do. And lots of presents to open!”

“Yes, we do!” Kate thought about all of the victories of the past week as she made her way into the great room, where flames lit the fireplace and her family members sang in several keys at once! In one week's time she had solved a mystery, won a competition, and forgiven Phillip.
That's a lot, Lord!

Only one thing left to do…and oh, what fun it was going to be! Talk about a merry Christmas!

One by one the family members opened presents. Kate was tickled to get so many fun gifts—a hand-knitted scarf from Aunt Molly, a great journal from Sydney, and lots of cool things from her mom and dad. Even Dexter gave her a great present—a cool new digital recorder.

Finally the moment arrived…the one Kate had been waiting for. She watched as Sydney opened the gift she had so carefully wrapped. Everyone's eyes nearly popped when they saw the three hundred dollars in cash inside.

“W–what?” Sydney looked at her, stunned. “What have you done, Kate?”

“It's my Christmas gift to you!” she exclaimed. “The
only
reason I agreed to take your place in the competition was to help you go on your mission trip. Of course, I never dreamed I would actually win…but I did! It was a huge blessing for both of us! Don't you see? Now you can go to Mexico.”

“B–but…I didn't earn this money.” Sydney tried to hand it back to her.
“You
did.”

“No, the way I look at it, it's really a miracle I made it from the top of the Rat to the bottom without falling on my face and embarrassing myself in front of hundreds of people! So, we'll call that our miracle money. And I can think of no better way to spend my miracle money than on a mission trip!”

“A–are you sure?” Sydney stammered.

“Sure I'm sure! Take it. Go to Mexico. Have the time of your life.” Kate leaned over and whispered, “Just don't have any big adventures without me, okay?”

“Okay! I'll try!” Sydney giggled and hugged the gift tightly. “Oh, I don't believe it! Can I call my mom? Would that be okay?”

“Of course, honey.” Aunt Molly pointed to the phone. “You go right ahead. But the rest of us still have presents to open.”

Sydney headed over to the phone to make the call. Kate could hear her squeals as she shared the story with her mother. Oh, how wonderful it felt…to be able to do something so fun for a friend!

Several minutes later, after everyone had opened all of the Christmas gifts, Kate heard singing at the door. At least, she
thought
it was singing. Sounded a little off-key to her!

“Sounds like carolers!” Uncle Ollie said.

He opened the door and Kate smiled as she saw Mr. and Mrs. Hampton outside, along with Michael and his mother. Together, the four of them sang “The First Noel” really, really loud. Oh, what a wonderful sound, to hear their voices raised in harmony! A little off-key, but harmony, just the same!

Thank You, God!
Kate giggled.
This is what happens when people forgive one another! You fix their broken relationships!

After they finished singing, Aunt Molly invited them inside. “You're just in time!” she said. “We baked Snickerdoodles and I've made wassail! Let's celebrate together!”

“We have a lot to celebrate, don't we?” Mr. Hampton said, smiling at Michael. “God has done such wondrous things this Christmas season. He's brought us all closer together and given us plenty of reasons to look ahead to a bright new year!”

“Yes, He has,” Mrs. Hampton agreed with a twinkle in her eye.

They had all settled into chairs around the dining room table to eat cookies and drink wassail when Mr. Hampton cleared his throat to get the attention of everyone in the room. “I have some news,” he said, clasping his hands together.

Everyone looked his way. Kate could hardly wait to hear what he had to say. She hoped it was good news!

“Geneva and I are selling the creamery!” Mr. Hampton grinned from ear to ear.

“W–what?” Everyone spoke in unison.

“Are you kidding?” Uncle Ollie asked.

“Please say this is a joke!” Aunt Molly added. “We don't want you to move away!”

“We're not moving away,” he said. “I promise!”

“Oh, Mr. Hampton…please don't give up just because your sales are down right now,” Michael begged. “I'll do anything…everything to help you get them up again.”

Mr. Hampton laughed. “No, you don't understand. Geneva and I are ready to retire. And we have no children to pass the business to. God never blessed us with a son or a daughter. A wonderful couple from central Vermont has been talking with us about buying the place. In fact, I think you met them, girls. They were on the tour that day…”

“Abigail and Mark Collingsworth?” Kate stammered.

“Why, yes.” Geneva Hampton looked stunned. “How did you know their names? That's amazing.”

“Oh, trust me,” Sydney said. “We know a lot more than that about them. They already own a creamery called Cheese De-Lite about fifty miles from here. They're Mad River's main competitors.”

“Not anymore!” Geneva Hampton laughed. “They're moving their operation to Mad River Valley. From now on, there will be no Cheese De-Lite. But they will bring their signature cheese flavor with them…the low-fat version of cheddar.”

“Low-fat cheese?” Kate wrinkled her nose. “No wonder that man has such a sour look on his face. That doesn't sound very yummy.”

“No, he had a sour look on his face because he
really
thought we had rats at the creamery,” Mrs. Hampton said with a laugh. “We had a hard time convincing him it wasn't true! But now that he knows the real story, he's made us an offer. And it's a good one. So the next time you see him, he will be smiling, I'm sure!”

“Still, low-fat cheese?” Kate said. “Icky!”

“Hey, we have to cut back on our calories every way we can!” Sydney said. After a sheepish look, she added, “Well, at least
I
do, if I'm going to be a sports star!”

Kate sighed. “I guess I'd better cut back on calories, too. Skiing was a lot of fun. You never know, I may end up liking sports, too! Wouldn't that be something!”

“I can hardly wait to tell the other Camp Club Girls!” Sydney laughed. “Can you imagine the look on Bailey's face when she hears you won a skiing competition!”

“And what about McKenzie! She's going to flip!” Kate chuckled, just thinking about it. “I'm excited to tell Elizabeth. I know she's been praying. I always feel better, knowing she's praying.”

“Me, too,” Sydney observed. “And I always feel better when I'm spending time with you. That's why…” Her eyes filled with tears. “That's why I'm so sad this week is almost over! We have to go home soon!”

“Let's spend every minute together…having fun!” Kate said.

A few minutes later, Michael asked if he could speak to Kate in private. She sat next to him on the couch wondering why he had such an embarrassed look on his face.

“You know, I bragged a lot about how fast I am on the slopes,” he said.

“Yes, you did,” Kate agreed. “But you
are
fast. I saw you with my own eyes.”

“Yes, but I saw
you
, too! And you're amazing, Kate! Really amazing.”

“You think so?” She felt her cheeks turn warm as an embarrassed feeling came over her.

“I know so.” He grinned. “Are you coming back to Mad River Valley next winter? If so, I'd better start practicing now if I'm ever going to beat you.”

Kate laughed long and loud at that one. “How funny! A boy actually thinks I'm good at sports! That's hysterical!” She giggled. “I don't know if I'll compete next year. I liked it more when I was skiing for fun. But I'm sure we'll come back for a visit if Aunt Molly and Uncle Ollie invite us!”

“Oh, you're
always
welcome!” Aunt Molly said, sweeping Kate into her arms. “Please come and see me as often as you like.”

“Yes, I feel sure there are lots of mysteries to solve in Mad River Valley,” Uncle Ollie said.

“Like who ate all the Snickerdoodles when I wasn't looking,” Maggie said, looking at Uncle Ollie.