A Whirlwind Vacation Read online

  Katie stood there, alone in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. Black eye makeup was running down her cheeks. She sure didn’t look like the beautiful, graceful dancer Katie had seen before.

  She hadn’t acted like a graceful dancer, either. In fact, she’d made a real mess of things. Everyone in the tablao had seen that. Even her parents and Annabelle.

  For once, Katie was glad she was somebody else. If Annabelle had known that it was Katie up there, she never would have let her live that down.

  Just then, Katie felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck. The lace skirt began to rustle slightly.

  Katie knew that this was no ordinary wind. This was the magic wind. The magic wind grew stronger and stronger. The fierce tornado circled Katie, blowing her skirt high in the air.

  And then it stopped. Just like that.

  The magic wind was gone. Katie Carew was back.

  “There you are!” Mrs. Carew called as Katie walked out of the bathroom and started to walk across the club. “I was getting worried about you. Where did you go?”

  “I was in the bathroom,” Katie told her.

  “All this time?” Mrs. Carew asked.

  Katie nodded. “It took a while to get the paella out of my hair. It was a mess.”

  “So was the show,” Annabelle told her. She started giggling. “One of the dancers fell off the stage! You should have seen it. It was so funny!”

  Katie frowned. “You shouldn’t laugh,” she told Annabelle. “It probably hurt a lot. And she was probably really embarrassed.”

  “She should be,” Annabelle said.

  “It’s not so easy to dance in a flamenco show,” Katie told her.

  “Oh, come on,” Annabelle argued. “How hard could it be?” She raised her arms in the air and began to stomp on the floor.

  “Let’s not start that again,” Mr. Carew said as he steered the girls toward the exit. “I think we should get going.”

  As she left, Katie caught a glimpse of the dancer in the black dress. Her dress was torn, her fan had broken in two, and she seemed very confused. She had no idea how any of this had happened.

  But Katie sure did. And she felt terrible about it.

  Chapter 16

  The next morning, Vicki took the tour group to the Plaza Mayor. The big square certainly looked different during the day than it had the night before. There were tour buses around. Katie could hear tour guides speaking to groups in all sorts of foreign languages.

  Katie was happy that many of the little clubs hadn’t opened yet. She certainly didn’t want to run into anyone from the tablao.

  As the tour group got off the bus, a short, round man came running over to Vicki. Katie recognized him right away. He was the manager of the flamenco club.

  “Vicki, un momento,” he said.

  The tour guide turned around and smiled at him. Unfortunately, the club manager did not smile back. Instead, he began speaking very quickly in Spanish. He seemed very angry—especially when he glared at Katie and Annabelle.

  Katie knew what that meant. She felt just awful. “Is something wrong?” she asked Vicki.

  Vicki looked at her. “Carlos says there was a problem at his club last night. His lead dancer tripped over some food and ruined the dance. She’s blaming you girls. And she’s refusing to go onstage if children are allowed in the club.”

  “That’s not fair!” Annabelle piped up. “It wasn’t our fault that the dancer messed up.”

  Katie frowned. It really was her fault. And she knew it.

  “People like to take their children to tablaos,” Vicki told the girls. “So a lot of families canceled their reservations. And once word got out about the terrible show, other people canceled, too,” Vicki explained. “The club will be empty tonight.”

  “That’s not fair!” Katie exclaimed. “Flamenco dancing is very hard to do. It would be easy for someone to make a mistake.”

  “Oh, come on, Katie,” Annabelle began.

  “No. It’s not as easy as it looks,” Katie insisted. “Those dancers take flamenco lessons for years and ...” She stopped suddenly and smiled brightly. “That’s it!” she exclaimed.

  “What’s it?” Vicki asked.

  “I know how Carlos can bring lots of customers to his club,” Katie said. “He can have his dancers give flamenco lessons before the show.”

  Vicki thought for a moment. “I don’t know of any club like that in Madrid,” she said.

  “That’s what will make it so great. It will be a one-of-a-kind tablao!” Katie said excitedly. “And kids love to take dancing lessons. Maybe Carlos can convince his lead dancer to change her mind. I think she will. She seemed pretty nice to me.”

  “Qué? Qué?” Carlos asked.

  “He’s asking me what you’re saying,” Vicki told Katie. Then she began to talk to Carlos in Spanish.

  Carlos was quiet for a moment, listening and thinking. Finally, he said something in Spanish and shrugged.

  Vicki nodded and shook his hand.

  “What did he say?” Katie asked Vicki nervously.

  “He said it was worth a try,” Vicki said. “I think so, too. In fact, tonight, we will all take a flamenco lesson. If it works out, I’ll recommend the tablao to other tour guides.”

  “Oh, it will work out,” Katie assured her. “It just has to.”

  Chapter 17

  “Olé!” Katie’s father shouted out as he stomped his feet.

  Katie giggled. Her dad was not a very good dancer. But he sure was having a good time with his flamenco lesson. Everyone in the tour group was.

  Annabelle was perched on her father’s shoulders. She bounced up and down as he tapped his feet against the stage.

  The Fishmans were dancing close. Mrs. Fishman waved a fan in front of her face. Mr. Fishman clapped his hands in the air.

  The Penderbottoms were learning to use castanets. But they weren’t very good at using them. The little instruments were clicking at all the wrong times.

  Mrs. McIntyre danced by herself, while her husband took pictures of her with his video camera. The Garcias were busy taking pictures of each other with all of the professional dancers.

  Miss Cornblau and Miss Framingham were giggling as a real flamenco dancer helped them to spin around and stomp their feet at the same time.

  Vicki had asked some of her other tour-guide friends to bring their groups to the tablao for a flamenco lesson, so there were plenty of other tourists there, too. Some were speaking Japanese to one another. Some were speaking German. A few tourists were speaking Hebrew.

  But Katie didn’t have to speak their languages to know they were all having a good time. Their smiles and laughter told her that.

  When the music stopped, Vicki leaped up onto the stage. “Okay, everyone, please take your seats,” she said. “It’s been a super night so far, hasn’t it?”

  Everyone cheered. It had been a fun time—yummy food and great dancing lessons.

  “But the best is yet to come. It’s time for the show,” Vicki said.

  As the lights went down, Annabelle turned to Mrs. Carew. “Where’s Katie?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Mrs. Carew said. “I thought she was with you.”

  “Maybe she went to the bathroom again,” Annabelle suggested.

  At that moment, the spotlight flashed toward the stage. The dancers took to the stage. All the performers from the night before were there—even the dancer in the black dress. But it was a new dancer who took center stage. She was dressed in a pink lacy dress that looked just beautiful with her bright red hair.

  “It’s Katie!” Annabelle squealed.

  The dancer in the black skirt stepped up beside Katie. She tapped her feet three times. Katie tapped her feet three times. Then the dancer snapped her fingers in the air. Katie snapped her fingers, too. Then the dancer in the black dress spun around. Katie spun around, too—and this time she was careful not to go near the edge of the stage.

  At the end of t
he dance, everyone applauded. The dancer in the black dress gave Katie a rose.

  As she took her bow, Katie smiled at Carlos. Everyone was having a great time. His tablao was saved!

  “That was great fun!” Mrs. Penderbottom exclaimed as the dance show ended.

  “I’m so glad we got the whole evening on videotape,” Mrs. McIntyre added. “I can’t wait to show everyone back home how I learned to do the flamenco.”

  “And I can’t wait to tell the other tour directors about this tablao,” Vicki said. “It’s going to be a favorite stop for lots of people.” She looked around. “Is everyone ready to leave?”

  “In a minute,” Katie piped up. “I have to change into my real clothes and give this dress back to Carlos.” She frowned. “I sure hate to take off this beautiful costume.”

  As Katie began to walk away, Vicki whispered something to the club manager. Carlos whispered something back to her.

  “Katie, wait,” Vicki said. “You don’t have to give the dress back. Carlos is giving it to you as a gift.”

  Katie was thrilled. She’d never owned anything as beautiful as this flamenco dress.

  “I want a dress, too,” Annabelle whined.

  Vicki shook her head. “Sorry, Annabelle. It was Katie’s great idea that saved Carlos’s tablao. That’s why he’s giving it to her.”

  Annabelle pouted.

  “Here, you can keep the fan,” Katie told her. “Now we both have a souvenir from Madrid.”

  “Thanks, Katie!” Annabelle exclaimed. She gave Katie a big hug.

  Carlos smiled. “Katie es una buena amiga.”

  “What does that mean?” Katie asked.

  “He said you are a good friend,” Vicki explained.

  “She sure is,” Annabelle said as she waved her new fan. “The best!”

  Chapter 18

  Katie stepped off the water bus and looked around at Venice. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “It’s like a fairy-tale kingdom.”

  Vicki smiled. “A lot of people feel that way. The buildings are all so colorful, like ginger-bread houses. And since there are no cars on the streets, the city feels really old-fashioned.”

  Katie nodded. It was kind of weird not to see any buses or cars, like there had been in the other cities they’d visited.

  But you couldn’t drive in Venice even if you had a car. There were too many water canals. Venice was really a group of islands connected by stone bridges. The bridges made it possible to walk from one part of the city to the next.

  “I like going everywhere by boat,” Katie said. “It’s fun.”

  “Being on the water makes me hungry,” Annabelle remarked.

  Katie giggled. “Everything makes you hungry,” she teased.

  Annabelle pointed to a small white stand just outside the hotel. There were pictures of ice-cream cones on a sign nearby. “Those look yummy,” she said.

  “Oh, so you want a gelato,” Vicki said.

  “No, I want ice cream,” Annabelle corrected her.

  “It’s called gelato here,” Vicki explained. “You’ll love it. Italian ice cream is amazing!”

  Annabelle’s dad handed the girls a few coins. “Go ahead and get some,” he told them.

  The girls smiled excitedly and ran over to the ice-cream stand. Katie didn’t speak any Italian, so she pointed to a picture of a strawberry cone.

  “You like strawberry?” the teenager behind the stand asked her in broken English.

  “You speak English?” Katie replied, surprised.

  “I try to practice English,” he told her. “Is hard for me. But important.”

  “You speak very well,” Katie told him.

  “Well, it wasn’t perfect ...” Annabelle began.

  “It was great,” Katie interrupted her.

  “Thank you,” the ice-cream salesman said. He held out his hand. “My name is Vincenzo.”

  “I’m Katie. And this is Annabelle.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Vincenzo replied.

  “Do you make this ice cream?” Katie asked him.

  Vincenzo shook his head. “No. I just sell it for a man in my neighborhood. This is not what I want to do forever. I really want to be a gondolier, like my father.”

  “A what?” Katie asked.

  Vincenzo pointed to a long, wooden canoe-like boat. It was docked between two red-and-white striped poles. An older man was standing in the back of the boat. He was wearing a red-and-white striped shirt.

  “That is our gondola,” Vincenzo explained. “My father takes tourists around Venice in it. He sings to them. A man who steers a gondola boat is called a gondolier.”

  “So he just floats around Venice all day?” Annabelle asked. “That sounds like fun.”

  “Is hard work,” Vincenzo told her. “I know.”

  “Have you steered a gondola before?” Katie asked him.

  Vincenzo shook his head sadly. “My father will not let me take the gondola out with customers. But I would be a great gondolier.”

  Vincenzo looked very sad.

  “Why won’t your father let you steer the gondola?” Katie asked him.

  “He says I am too young,” Vincenzo explained. “But I am not. I am almost eighteen. And I am strong enough to paddle a big gondola.”

  “So you have done it before?” Katie asked, confused.

  “Oh, yes!” Vincenzo said proudly. “I practice early in the morning, before anyone is awake. But I do not tell my father.”

  “Maybe you should tell him,” Katie said. “He might be proud that you are working so hard.”

  “He would not like it,” Vincenzo insisted as he handed her a strawberry gelato.

  “You’ll have to tell him sometime. Especially if you want a chance to be a gondolier,” Katie reminded him.

  “I do not think he will ever let me try,” Vincenzo said. “He does not trust anyone but himself with the gondola. I wish he could see how good I am.”

  Suddenly Katie began to get one of her great ideas. “Maybe you could ask him if you could take one trip, you know, sort of like a test. And if it goes really well ...”

  “I am not sure my father would like that,” Vincenzo said. “And I do not think too many tourists would want to be with a gondolier on his first trip. They usually like to be with gondoliers who have been doing this a long time.”

  “Everyone has to have a first time,” Katie said. “I would go with you.”

  “So would I,” Annabelle agreed, taking a big bite of her gelato. “And I could get my parents to go, too.”

  But Vincenzo wasn’t sure about all this. “My father wants me to wait ...” he began.

  “Just ask him,” Katie interrupted him. “What do you have to lose? If he says no, you can still sell gelato here at the hotel.”

  Vincenzo thought for a moment and then nodded. “Okay. I will do it. It is worth the try.”

  Chapter 19

  “Come on, Katie, hurry up,” Mrs. Carew called out as she walked out of the hotel the following morning. “We have a lot of shopping to do.”

  But Katie did not hurry. She didn’t want to go shopping. It seemed like that’s all her mother had done since they’d arrived in Venice.

  “Now remember, don’t touch anything,” her mom continued. “If you break it, we’ll have to buy it. Venetian glass is very expensive.”

  “Come on, kiddo, perk up. We’re going to have fun,” Mr. Carew added.

  Katie scowled. Fun? Yeah, right.

  Just then, Annabelle walked out the door with her family. “What are you doing today?” she asked Katie.

  “Shopping,” Katie groaned. “For water glasses.”

  “Gosh, I’m sorry,” Annabelle said.

  Before Katie could ask Annabelle what she and her family had planned, she heard someone calling her name.

  “Katie! Katie!”

  Katie turned around and smiled. It was Vincenzo. He was hurrying toward her.

  “Buongiorno,” he said, using the Italian word for good morning.
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  “Good morning,” Katie answered.

  “I have to thank you,” Vincenzo told her.

  “For what?” Katie asked.

  “For convincing me to ask my father to give me a test with our gondola,” Vincenzo explained. “He has agreed. I take my first boat out today!”

  “Oh, wow!” Katie cheered.

  “Of course, I want you to be on that boat,” Vincenzo told her. “You will be my guest.”

  “Mom! Dad! Can we go? Please?” Katie pleaded.

  Mrs. Carew shook her head. “I’m sorry, Katie. We already made plans to shop today. I hired a water taxi to take us around to the stores. We’ll go on a gondola ride tomorrow.”

  Katie didn’t want to shop all day. She wanted to take this gondola ride. With Vincenzo.

  “We can go, can’t we?” Annabelle asked her parents.

  Mrs. Bridgeman shrugged. “I guess we can. We did want to take a gondola ride at some point.” She turned to Mrs. Carew. “We’ll take Katie if you’d like.”

  Katie looked up at her parents hopefully.

  Mrs. Carew laughed. “Oh, dear. I can’t refuse that face. Okay, you can go.”

  “Wonderful!” Vincenzo cheered. “The gondola ride will begin at one o‘clock. I will see you there!”

  Sure enough, at one o‘clock, Vincenzo was standing right near his gondola at the dock near the hotel. He looked very professional in his red-and-white striped shirt and big hat.

  “Buongiorno,” he greeted Katie and the Bridgemans. “It is very nice to see you.”

  “Buongiorno,” Katie replied.

  Katie squinted into the bright sunlight. She could barely see. “Do I have time to run back to my hotel room and get my sunglasses?” she asked Vincenzo.

  “Of course, Katie,” Vincenzo answered.

  Katie turned and ran back to the hotel. She hurried into the elevator and pushed the button for her floor.

  As the elevator door shut, Katie felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck. She looked around for an air conditioning vent. But she couldn’t find one. There were no windows, either. In fact, there was no way for wind to be blowing in the elevator ... at least not a normal wind.