Sabotage at Willow Woods (Nancy Drew Diaries #5)(2)

“Well, I’d like to see you write a 3-D animation program in C++!” George cried.

The girl frowned. “I don’t know what that even means,” she muttered, before walking away and disappearing into the crowd.

George kept staring at the place where the girl had stood. “Exactly my point!” She turned back to me and Bess and, seeing our faces, sighed. “Look, guys, I don’t want to ruin a fun day. It’s just—it’s just—”

“Not everybody plays sports,” Bess said in a slightly bored tone. Bess herself was quite the field hockey champ. It hadn’t been long since she’d brought home her own state championship trophy.

“That’s true,” said George, “but almost everybody does something exciting that deserves attention. Did you know the Boylestown chess team is ranked among the top chess teams in the country?”

That surprised me. “I didn’t know that,” I said, feeling a little bad that I hadn’t. “That’s really cool.”

“It is cool,” George agreed. “And it takes hard work. But nobody’s giving those kids a parade.”

I bit my lip and glanced over at Bess. I could tell by her expression that she was thinking about what George had said. But before she could speak, her eyes widened and she stood taller and waved through the crowd. “George—it’s Carrie! Hey, Carrie!”

I looked over where Bess was waving and saw George’s rosy-cheeked, dark-haired cousin moving gracefully through the crowd. She wore a bright-blue suit with a red-striped blouse, and had a silver eagle pin on her lapel.

“Wow,” George said, grinning as her cousin approached. “You really look the part!”

Carrie blushed and grinned back, gesturing to her suit. “Do you like it? Julia, my campaign manager, thinks it’s important that I look ‘like someone who loves American democracy,’?” she said, using finger quotes. A few weeks before, Carrie had told George that she was going to run for town council. George had thought it was a great idea—Carrie was one of her favorite cousins, and she was qualified. She had spent the last three years working for a local congresswoman, and George knew she’d be a great voice for the people of Boylestown.

“I always thought I loved American democracy,” George said with a sly grin, gesturing down at her jeans and peasant blouse. “But I guess, as usual, I’m not dressing the right way.”

Carrie reached out and playfully pushed her cousin. George smiled. “Hey, so are you ready for your big speech?”

George had told us that Carrie—herself a former tennis champion at BHS—was set to introduce the players at the block party. First she would make a brief speech about her own experience as an athlete there, and her plans for the school, should she be elected.

Carrie took a deep breath. “I sure hope so. I have a major announcement to make today—one that just might help me win this election!”

Bess cocked her head with a smile. “Do tell!” Since Carrie was George’s cousin on her mother’s side of the family, Bess and Carrie weren’t related. But I knew that she was just as impressed by Carrie’s politics as George was. All of us knew Carrie pretty well, and growing up, we’d all looked up to her.

Carrie shook her head. “No spoilers! You three will have to find out the big news with everyone else.”

George sighed. “No fair! Just whisper it to me. Cousin’s privilege.”

Carrie grinned. “Learn some patience, little cousin.” She reached out and ruffled George’s hair before disappearing back into the crowd.

“I hate it when she does that.” George grimaced, trying to smooth her hair back into place.

I patted her shoulder as we moved to get a good position several yards back from the stage. Already the band was filing into temporary bleachers, having moved on from the school fight song to “America the Beautiful.” I watched as Carrie moved through the crowd and stepped up onstage.

The three of us waited patiently as the band played three more songs. Then the Boylestown principal got up and made a speech about how proud she was of the football team, and finally Carrie rose to speak.

“Here we go,” George whispered. “The reason we came!”

Carrie moved to the mic and introduced herself. “I’m Carrie Kim, I’m running for town council, and I was also a state champion athlete at Boylestown High—in tennis!”

The crowd went wild. “Boylestown! Boylestown! Boylestown!” a few boys to our right began chanting.

Carrie raised her hand to silence them. “Boylestown has a history of producing exceptional athletes, because the town values the ingredients that make a great athlete: strength, perseverance, and loyalty.”

She paused while the audience cheered.

“But in recent years,” Carrie added, “I believe that BHS, faced with some tough budgeting decisions, has let its facilities decline. As a town, we need to do more to support our high school athletes. The football field is in poor shape and on a rocky, uneven field. The bleachers are too small and in poor repair. Even the gymnasium at BHS is out of date. The football team has to work out at the Y, because they don’t have adequate facilities at the school.”

The football players, who were lined up to go onstage, all nodded their heads in recognition. The crowd let out a few stray boos.