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Ben said, looking into the distance. “You know, where that steep hill is.”
    “What about the hill on the ninth hole?”
    “That’s for little kids,” Ben said.
    Both boys knew the golf course well from caddying there during the summer. Now it looked a lot different. The ground was white, and bare tree limbs reached up to the clear December sky. There were no golfers, no carts, and no birds. Just the sound of snow crunching beneath their boots.
    “Was Mr. Sims at the Center?” Logan asked.
    Ben shook his head. “Nope.”
    “Do you think he knows Hud is playing when he’s not supposed to?”
    “Maybe.” Ben shrugged. “He usually knows everything that’s going on at Westwood.”
    A strong wind whipped some loose snow into the air. The boys ducked their chins into the collars of their jackets. “Do you think Mr. Sims would tell Coach George about Hud?” Ben asked.
    “He might,” Logan said. “But he might not.”
    The pale winter sun ducked behind a cloud. Ben felt a sudden chill.
    “It doesn’t matter whether Mr. Simsknows, anyway,” Ben said finally. “
We
know. And I’ve got to decide what to do about it.”
    “It would really mess things up if Coach suspended Hud,” Logan said. “I mean, we’re undefeated and Hud is our best passer.”
    “Yeah, but Hud can’t just break the rules and do his own thing. Coach said, ‘No pickup games,’ and he’s going to be really mad if he finds out that Hud’s been playing at Westwood.”
    “Yeah, I guess it’s kind of like jazz band,” Logan said.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well, we’ve all got to play together or it doesn’t work.”
    “Yeah,” Ben said. “You can’t have one person running off and playing a different song or something.”
    The boys walked in silence, dragging the toboggan up the hill near the twelfth hole. Ben pointed to the section of woods at the very top. “There’s a cool path in there. That’s where we’ll start. When we come down the path, it’ll shoot us out onto this hill. It’s awesome!”
    “Have you done this before?” Logan asked, sounding nervous.
    “Yeah, last winter, when we had that big storm,” Ben said. “You scared?”
    “No. I just don’t want to get killed.”
    Ben laughed. “At least then we wouldn’t have to figure out what to do about Hud.”
    “What do you mean
we
?” Logan said, grinning. “You’re the captain, remember?”
    “Yeah.” Ben sighed. “Don’t worry. I remember.”
    They pulled the toboggan up the path and through the woods, until the trees and bushes got too thick to go any farther. Logan turned and looked back down the path to the clearing and the steep hill below.
    “Uh, are you sure you’ve done this before?”
    “Yeah,” Ben said, He slapped his friend on the back of his jacket. “Don’t worry, it’ll be great.”
    They swung the toboggan around so it pointed straight down the path.
    “I’ll sit in back,” Logan offered quickly.
    “You
are
scared!”
    “Hey, you know the way,” Logan said. “And anyway, I’m heavier. We’ll need more weight in back.”
    “Okay,” Ben agreed, climbing into the sled. “Give it a good push.”
    They started down the path, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Ben gripped the front of the toboggan, aiming for the opening at the end of the tunnel of trees. The bushes along the side whipped by as they sailed toward the top of the steep hill.
    “Yes!” Ben shouted as they burst out of the woods and into the open. Suddenly, they were flying through the air. Then Logan’s weight tipped the toboggan backward as it dropped onto the hill.
    Thwack!
    The edge of the toboggan caught an icy patch and started to fishtail wildly, spilling the boys across the snow. They tumbled down the hill as the toboggan flew past them.
    “Whoa!” Logan shouted, jumping up and shaking the snow out of his jacket. “That was amazing!”
    “I told you,” Ben said as he got to his feet. “Did you see how high we were?”
    “Ten feet