A Whirlwind Vacation (12 page)

That was it!
Katie would stop somewhere and ask for directions back to the hotel.

But it wasn't that easy here. She was in Italy, not America. And Katie didn't speak Italian. She could never understand the directions.

Tears began to form in Katie's eyes. They were never getting back to the hotel. They would be floating around Venice forever and ever. She would never see Pepper or her parents again!

Just then, the gondola floated by a small pastry shop. A sign in the window caught Katie's eye. It said:

Phew!
Talk about luck.

“We'll go back to the hotel,” Katie assured the Bridgemans. “But first, we'll stop for delicious Italian pastry. Venice is famous for its sweets!”

Quickly, she steered the gondola up to dock outside the shop.

As Annabelle and her parents ate their sweet, creamy cakes, Katie went to speak to the owner of the pastry shop. At first, the woman behind the counter didn't believe Katie's story.

“What do you mean, you're a gondolier and you're lost?” she asked. “Gondoliers know this city better than anyone.”

“I'm not really a gondolier,” Katie whispered.

The woman looked at Katie's red-and-white striped shirt. “You're not?” she asked.

“Well, I ... um ... the thing is ... it's my first trip,” Katie stammered. “My father is giving me a test. I'm not doing very well.”

The woman nodded. “I understand that. The first time my father let me make the cream puffs, I left the cream out too long. Cream puffs don't taste very good when the cream is spoiled.” She smiled kindly at Katie. “I'll help you.”

Katie gave the woman the name and address of her hotel. The woman drew her a map, showing which canals would lead her back home.

“Thank you,” Katie told her.

“You're welcome,” the woman replied. “You're going to be a very good gondolier someday. Your English is perfect. You sound almost like an American.”

Katie grinned. If she only knew.

After the gondola pushed off from the pastry shop, Katie followed the map. She pushed the big boat around turns and curves, moving through several small canals, before reaching the wide Grand Canal.

Several other gondolas came into view. They would be back at the hotel soon. Happily, Katie began to hum a familiar song under her breath.

“I know that one!” Annabelle shouted out. “That's by the Bayside Boys. How do you know about them?”

Oops. Katie had forgotten she was supposed to be an Italian teenager instead of an American fourth-grader. “Um, we have a lot of American music here,” she said quickly. “The tourists bring their CDs.”

“Hey, your English is getting pretty good,” Annabelle remarked. “You sounded almost like one of us that time.”

“Do you know this song?” Annabelle continued. She began to sing another Bayside Boys tune.

Katie and Annabelle kept on singing all the way back to the hotel. When they reached the dock, Katie pulled the boat between two of the red-and-white striped poles. Then she expertly hopped out and helped Mr. and Mrs. Bridgeman to shore. Annabelle climbed out by herself.

Katie smiled broadly. She'd brought everyone back safe and sound. Everything had turned out just fine.

Or ...
maybe
not! At that moment, Vincenzo's father came running over. He began screaming in Italian. As he yelled, he pointed to a group of people standing nearby. They were obviously waiting for their gondola ride. Katie had been very late bringing back the boat.

Mr. and Mrs. Bridgeman weren't very happy either. “Oh, no. Look at the time. We missed our reservation in the restaurant,” Mr. Bridgeman said angrily. “This was only supposed to be a one-hour ride. It's been over two hours.”

Katie wanted to cry. But she figured the real Vincenzo wouldn't do that. So she just stood there, listening to everyone screaming at her. It was awful. But eventually, Vincenzo's father went off to give his customers their ride. And the Bridgemans went back into the hotel.

Katie was alone. She was also tired and hungry. She walked over to Vincenzo's gelato stand. No one was around, because the stand was closed. Katie crouched down behind the stand and sat down. It was the perfect place to hide. No one could find her there.

Well maybe no person could find her. But something else did. All of a sudden, Katie felt a familiar breeze blowing around her. She knew immediately that the magic wind was back.

Katie wasn't entirely sorry to have the wind come back. It had caused a real mess this time. She was anxious to become Katie Carew again.

And then the wind stopped. Just like that. Katie Carew was as good as new! Well, almost as good as new. She still felt pretty awful about what she'd done to Vincenzo.

All the next day, Katie tried hard to avoid Vincenzo. She didn't know what to say to him. She wished she could apologize. But how could she explain what the magic wind had done? It was just easier to stay away

But that night, as she and Annabelle walked out of the hotel with their parents and Vicki, she bumped right into him. He was unloading ice cream into his freezer. He looked very sad.

“Hi, Vincenzo,” Katie said quietly.

“Hello, Katie,” he replied sadly. “Have you heard about what happened?”

Katie nodded. “I'm sorry.”

Vincenzo shrugged. “It is strange. I do not understand it. One minute I am near the boat ready to go, and the next ... well, I am not sure what happened. All I know is I ruined everything.”

“Ruined?” Annabelle piped up. “Are you crazy? That was the best gondola ride ever!”

Vicki and the Bridgemans looked at her strangely.

“The best?” Vicki asked. “I thought it went on too long, and you wound up stopping for pastry on some little canal instead of coming straight back to the hotel.”

Annabelle nodded. “We did. And we sang Bayside Boys songs.”

“We did?” Vincenzo asked.

“Sure,” Annabelle said. “Don't you remember?”

“I guess so. I mean no. I mean ...” Vincenzo sighed. “I do not know ...”

“It was the first fun thing I've done since we got to Venice,” Annabelle continued. “It wasn't a museum or a fancy restaurant or some old church. It was the perfect ride for a kid!”

“I wish you could tell my father that,” Vincenzo moaned.

Katie looked over toward the canal, where Vincenzo's father was busy cleaning the gondola. “Why can't she?” she asked.

“Huh?” Vincenzo and Annabelle asked together.

“Annabelle should tell your father about all the fun she had,” Katie said excitedly. “It would be a great activity for kids to go on while their parents shop for crystal or go to a fancy restaurant.”

“You know, that's not a bad idea,” Vicki said. “I'm always looking for things kids can do in Europe. And I know parents like some time alone on vacation.”

“That's true,” Mr. Carew agreed. “Katie would definitely have hated going shopping today.”

“Do you really think my father would like this idea?” Vincenzo asked.

Katie smiled. “We won't know until we ask him!”

The very next morning, Katie happily took a seat on Vincenzo's very first official Kids' Cruise. She was so excited ... especially when Vincenzo handed each kid on the cruise a yummy gelato.

There were five kids on the gondola. With a hard push of his pole, Vincenzo steered the gondola down the canal. As they traveled past the colorful houses, Annabelle shouted out, “Vincenzo, will you sing ‘On Top of Spaghetti' again?”

Vincenzo looked at her. “I do not know that song,” he said.

“Sure, you do,” Annabelle told him. “We sang it yesterday, remember?”

Uh-oh.
Katie knew Vincenzo wasn't going to remember that. But she sure did. “I'll sing it with you, Annabelle,” Katie said, quickly. “On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese ...”

“I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed,” Annabelle added. Before long, all the kids had joined in.

Katie smiled as they cruised down the canal. This time the trip was going really well. Vincenzo was going to be a gondolier!

The magic wind hadn't ruined his career after all. So there!