Impossible Things by Robin Stevenson Page A

A second later, Victoria landed on top of me. I spluttered, my mouth full of snow.
    Victoria rolled off and lay beside me. Felicia had landed a few feet away and she came crawling over to join us.
    â€œTobogganing,” she muttered. “And here I thought you guys liked me.”
    I couldn’t stop laughing. I rolled onto one elbow to watch my friends. Felicia’s hat had flown off and her dark hair was tangled and full of ice. Victoria’s face was lit up, long curving dimples framing her mouth, those pink gums and white teeth showing in a grin so wide it looked totally goofy. I didn’t care if she was really telekinetic or not, I decided. I didn’t always understand her, but she was my friend and that was all there was to it.
    â€œCassidy! Come quick!” Sydney appeared beside us, breathing hard, like she had been running.
    I scrambled to my feet. “What is it? Is Ben okay?”
    Sydney shook her head and swallowed a sob. “Tyler… he’s here with his friends. And they’ve got Ben.”
    I jumped to my feet, abandoning the toboggan, and followed Sydney, tearing along the foot of the hill. I could hear Victoria and Felicia running behind me, their boots crunching in the packed snow.
    Sydney led us past the tobogganing area and over to the half-frozen creek that ran along the base of the hill. My heart was beating hard. A kid had drowned here a few years ago. The story was that he had fallen through the ice and been swept under by the current. I didn’t know if it was true or not, but no one was allowed to toboggan on this part of the hill anymore. We ran along the side of the creek, past the parking lot, until the creek turned and disappeared into the woods.
    â€œThey were right here a minute ago.” Sydney twisted her hands together anxiously. “Where would they have gone?”
    It was surprisingly quiet down by the stream. The screams and laughter of the kids on the hill sounded muffled and distant. I could hear the gurgling of icy water flowing fast under a thin crust of ice. I stood silent for a moment, listening. A startled bird flew out of the trees.
    â€œDid you hear anything?” I asked.
    Sydney shook her head, but Felicia was pointing into the woods. “Maybe?”
    I started running again, into the trees, in the direction the bird had come from. In a couple of minutes I saw Ben, perched precariously on a rock, leaning over the icy stream, reaching as far as he could with a long stick held in his hand.
    I ran toward him. “Careful!” I grabbed the back of his jacket tightly. My heart was banging like crazy. “What are you doing?”
    â€œMy hat!” Ben pointed.
    I followed his gaze. His red wool hat was in the water, caught on some branches and just out of reach.
    â€œI’ll get it. My arms are longer.” I took the stick from him and helped him off the rock to more secure footing. For a kid who was supposed to be a genius, he sure could be dumb sometimes. He didn’t seem to have a clue how dangerous the half-frozen stream was.
    Ben tucked his bare hands under his arms. “Thanks.” He started crying, and Sydney put her arms around him.
    I managed to hook the hat with the stick and, with some difficulty, pulled it free of the branches it was snagged on. I dropped the sodden mass on the snow beside me and looked ruefully at Ben. “It won’t do you much good like that.”
    Ben made a funny choking sound, like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “No,” he said.
    â€œWhere are your mittens?” asked Sydney. She tugged his hands out from his armpits and looked at them. They were red and raw-looking. “You’re gonna get frostbite.”
    â€œTyler threw them in the stream.”
    I stared at the cold water rushing by. Ben’s mittens were probably miles downstream by now.
    â€œEveryone knows how dangerous this stream is. If you had fallen in…” I shook my