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on them.”
    Nancy was a little nervous that Ben might notice she hadn’t skied in a while. A reporter for a ski magazine should look pretty good on the trails. Although it took her a few glides to get used to her new equipment, Nancy was soon moving at a pretty good pace. “These skis are great!” she exclaimed, noticing that they glided farther than any she’d tried before.
    They skied until they were deep in the forest. “You’re good at the diagonal stride,” Ben said, referring to the basic cross-country kick and glide. He tugged his zipper pull up, and Nancy noticed that hooked to it was a small thermometer. “The conditions are just about perfect. Do you want to learn to skate?”
    Nancy was confused. “I thought this was a skiing lesson.”
    â€œI wasn’t talking about ice skating. This is ski skating.” While Nancy watched he took his leftski out of the track and pushed forward with it and his poles. A second later, he was gliding gracefully along the trail on his right ski.
    â€œWow!” Nancy said when Ben turned and whooshed to a stop in front of her. “That looks like fun.”
    â€œIt is,” he assured her. “Now watch. Your left ski is the skate ski. You push with that one and glide on the other. The trick is all in shifting your weight.”
    â€œYou make it look easy.”
    Ben grinned. “It is—once you learn how.”
    As she practiced the new technique Nancy realized what a good instructor Ben was. Not only was he an expert skier, but he knew how to explain the movements. At the end of a few minutes Nancy felt confident trying to skate.
    When they reached a hill Ben suggested she use a herringbone step to climb it.
    â€œI didn’t know there were hills around here,” she said as she put her skis in the V position. Instead of gliding she stepped up the incline, keeping the tips of her skis far apart while the tails remained close together to prevent her from sliding backward.
    â€œThere weren’t any hills until a few months ago,” Ben told her. “Karl brought in bulldozers to contour slopes. He wants Tall Pines to be the perfect resort.”
    â€œBut that’s impossible, isn’t it?” Nancy asked. This was the opening she needed. “For example, I heard you had a robbery here.”
    Nancy could feel Ben’s eyes on her. When hefinally did reply, his voice was cold. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. I know you reporters like sensationalism, but you don’t have to put that in your article.”
    â€œWe heard about it around the office,” she pressed, ignoring his comment. “Why do you suppose that girl took the money?”
    They had stopped moving and were standing side by side now. Ben’s anger was apparent to Nancy. “Did you come here to ski or to ask questions about Rebecca Montgomery?”
    He sounded almost hostile now, and Nancy sensed she’d touched a nerve. He certainly hadn’t minded bad-mouthing the resort the day before. She didn’t know why Ben wouldn’t want to talk about Rebecca now, unless he knew something about the theft.
    She shrugged. “News is news,” she said. “For example, it might be news to our readers that I heard you talking to both Dave and Karl yesterday, and it was pretty obvious that you felt something’s very wrong at Tall Pines.”
    Ben studied Nancy for a long time. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “Nothing a ski reporter would be interested in,” he added for emphasis.
    Nancy wondered whether Karl had spoken to Ben, warning him not to talk to her. “Come on, Ben,” she said. “I don’t believe that.”
    He shrugged. “It’s true,” he declared. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to ski.” The finality in Ben’s voice told Nancy that she’d learn nothing more from him that morning.
    They made their way